Promise hands

You’ll need

A4 paper
Coloured pens or pencils
Scissors
Copies of the Beaver Scout Promise

Before you begin

Follow the instructions to make your own Promise hands, so everyone knows what they’re aiming for.
You can use any colour of paper, as long as it’s light enough for people to be able to see what they write and draw on it.
You can print or write out the text of the Beaver Scout Promise, or you can download the Promise poster. Don’t forget to make sure you include all of the versions.

Make Promise hands

Everyone should draw around both of their hands on a piece of paper, and then cut their hands out.

People can work in pairs to draw around their friend’s hands, or draw around their non-writing hand twice and flip one over once it's cut out.

Everyone should write ‘I promise to do my best’ on the index (pointer) finger of one of their paper hands. They should start at the bottom of the finger (or the bottom of the hand, if their writing is big), so there’s enough space.

People could copy from the printed (or written) Promise. It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfectly spelled or the neatest writing.

Everyone should write ‘to be kind and helpful’ on the middle finger of the same paper hand.
Everyone should write the last line of their Promise on the ring finger of the same paper hand.

The last line of everyone’s Promise starts with ‘and to love…’ Different people will finish the sentence with ‘God’, ‘our world’, ‘my Dharma’, and ‘Allah’.

Everyone should write or draw five good deeds they’ll do on their other paper hand. They should write or draw one good deed on each finger. At least one of their good deeds should be based on their Promise.

People’s ideas may include tidying up after a meal, donating some things to charity, helping an older neighbour with their parents and carers, picking up litter, helping at their place of worship, or handing out books at school.

Everyone should decorate their paper hands.
Everyone should put any leftover paper in the recycling bin.
Everyone should show their parents and carers their Promise hands, so their parents and carers know what good deeds they’re going to do.

Check back in

After a little while, everyone should bring their Promise hands back.

The person leading the activity may decide to keep a photo of them just in case anyone loses theirs.

Everyone should see how many of their good deeds they’ve managed to do, and talk together about what was easy and what was tricky.

Reflection

This activity helped you to develop your beliefs. What does your Promise mean to you? What did you Promise to do when you made your Scout Promise? Sit with your Promise hands, and listen to someone read the Promise. The Scout Promise isn’t just for during meetings, it’s there for every day of the week and everything we do. Think about times when you’ve done the things in your Promise — can you think of a time when it was difficult to do your best, but you tried anyway? What about a time when you were kind and helpful? What about when you showed your love, whether it was for God, your world, your Dharma, or Allah? It’s not always easy to do these things, what’s important is that we try our best.

This activity also helped you to care. Why do you think ‘to be kind and helpful’ is included in your Promise? How do you feel when people are kind and helpful to you? Is it nice to know your actions make other people feel that way?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Scissors: Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.