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My pleasure, @InquisitiveScouter! 3:30 isn't bad! I guess it helps that you must all have been sober 😉 It's too bad that program was cancelled, because culture has to be lived. It's one thing to briefly meet people on holiday or at an international camporee or jamboree, and completely different to live with people from another country in their country. Even as an expat or an immigrant you bring with you a cultural bubble if you and your partner are from the same other place. You also understand your own culture better by comparison. My American husband called me a pagan for ten years befo

make and print your own basic topo maps at caltopo.com

I think another fun orienteering-based activity would be to take a hike and do a scavenger hunt along the way for features that would be listed on a map: old stone wall, streambed, large rootstock, lone tree, reentrant, etc. If you can get a trail map, even if it isn't a topo one, they could draw in the symbols that correspond to those features. Or even without a map, just have some large copies of the symbols and when they find something that is represented in the list show you the symbol.

I haven't even started planning it, but here are a couple of resources I have: https://www.floridaorienteering.org/tutorial/littletroll.htm - this is a progressive program that we did with my kids when they were little. It no longer exists, but explains what it was like while it was supported. - another good progression with additional information on setting up training sites, preparing to go to a meet, etc

P.S. Approaching Midsommar 1987, I had the distinct pleasure of helping to construct the midsommarstång!! I went into the forest to help gather flowers and birch branches for the pole!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9bJpgyf1X4&ab_channel=GraceonTour The Swedish Scouts taught me the song, "Lasse går i ringen", and on Midsommar, we tried to break the record for dancing!! (Apparently, there was such a thing.) The sun set around 10 PM (IIRC), but I only made it till about 3:30 AM before I gave out 😛 Sunrise was about 4:00 AM!!! A new world of history, culture, food, and l

AES, I experienced this while I was in Sweden as well, and looked (admiringly) at it as a deep connection to familial, community, and cultural roots. You have expressed well exactly what the issue is here... people who have no connection with something deeply meaningful (to those with a connection to the culture) are making attempts (often poor) to copy (with sometimes embarrassing results) for no reason other than some fictional ceremonial purposes. Thank you for putting a "Scandanavian" slant on the context of this discussion. It is helpful to shed light on the issue. (Min fafar

If we can't ensure that all regalia used is good to hi quality in every lodge, I have reservations about making this process a key part of the program.

I may or may not have been able to convince my husband to let our child join scouts without observation. He was very opposed in large part because he had a bad experience (ordinary bad experience, not abuse) in cub scouts himself. He's still opposed, but what made it possible to join without causing a family rift was that I could be there for literally everything. I am trying to get him to come to more scout things to convince him further that our pack takes youth safety seriously and does follow the scout law.

Frankly, it also hurts recruitment of trained leaders: many people don't sign up for something blind. The all-natural intoxicant called "wood smoke" has sealed many a deal.