Activities at home/hospital

[Cambridgeskip 658]

So I'm after ideas.

I have a 12 year old scout currently in hospital. I won't go into full details as that's not appropriate but it's not covid. She's had a week in ICU and will now be on a general ward for several weeks after which it is going to be months of rehab.

She is an absolutely mad keen scout. Not one of the comes along but it's nothing special types. She's in the sign up for everything, covered in badges brigade.

So we're looking to try and provide some kind of program for her that she can do in hospital and/or at home. So involving stuff either she'll have to hand or we can easily get delivered. One tricky bit is that probably for a few months yet it can't involve her having to move her legs. Crossing our fingers that will change in due course. It's not urgent, I think she and her family have not enough on their plate right now with adjusting to what is a possibly life changing situation! More something to put together over the next couple of weeks.

So looking for ideas. Any thoughts?

[InquisitiveScouter 1653]

What rank is she?

[malraux 369]

Were this the BSA scout program, I'd point to the option of lots of online merit badges currently available. I'm assuming this is the UK program, so I can't offer specific suggestions, but it would be something to look into.

[SSScout 1615]

Morse code.   Get a ham radio (do they call'em that in the UK?) into for her to connect with folks around the world. Jamboree On The Air doesn't happen for awhile, officially, but hey, QSL  card collecting is a neat thing.... 

[Cambridgeskip 658]

1 hour ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

What rank is she?

We don't really have ranks as such here. The nearest we have are the Chief Scout awards. So within each age group there is a Chief Scout Award to work towards

Beavers (6-8) Bronze

Cubs (8-10) Silver

Scouts (10-14) Gold

Explorers (14-18) and Network (18-25) Diamond, Platinum and Queens Scout.

So my scout is working towards her Chief Scouts Gold.

To do that she has to complete all 9 of the scout section challenge awards plus any 6 activity badges (what you would call merit badges) of her choice or 6 staged activity badges at an appropriate staged level (staged awards can be earned at any age from Beavers through to Network, I certainly wouldn't could First aid stage 1 for a scout but would count stage 3 or 4.)

She's super keen though! Our last camp she plunged off into the woods during some free time to do some foraging for edible plants and is never happier than producing a fire from soaking wet wood!

1 hour ago, malraux said:

Were this the BSA scout program, I'd point to the option of lots of online merit badges currently available. I'm assuming this is the UK program, so I can't offer specific suggestions, but it would be something to look into.

Alas we don't really have much material for that sort of thing, something I think we could do with working on! I might point her towards some BSA material and get her to work towards those instead

[yknot 1338]

Birding is something you can from a window almost anywhere and is something she can do even if her life situation has changed.  Some hospitals have bird feeders outside patient lounge areas. Cornell University in the states has some great online bird ID courses she should be able to access. There are some apps she can download to a phone to ID calls. 

[Cambridgeskip 658]

1 hour ago, SSScout said:

Morse code.   Get a ham radio (do they call'em that in the UK?) into for her to connect with folks around the world. Jamboree On The Air doesn't happen for awhile, officially, but hey, QSL  card collecting is a neat thing.... 

Now that is a great idea! Not sure how the hospital will react to us trying to get one into her. No harm in trying though!

[MattR 2659]

Without ranks she could use the merit badges as intended, a way for young people to learn about some interesting fields.

If she's at all interested in leadership then turning some of those merit badges into a program for your unit might be a way to create some interaction between her and her friends.

Finally, ask about eventually having patrol meetings in her rehab facility. Scouts is about having fun with friends.

[qwazse 4342]

Also, if there are any badges that require fitness tracking, rehab is a good opportunity to do that sort of thing.

[Double Eagle 128]

With all the badge experience, what a great time to flood the room with reading material for an eagle-type project (not just a one-time deal) and start getting ideas on that.  If an OA member, how about starting a "where to go camping" guide for new units with information gathered from her network.  This is an opportunity to draft a scouting event/program for those confined to a room or bed.  Turn this into a learning opportunity and get others involved so she is not alone in this endeavor.

[scoutldr 726]

In one of the Facebook groups, a Scouter was looking for overseas pen pals for his/her scouts.  I referred them to this Forum and mentioned @Cambridgeskip.  Hope you don't mind.