Time	Description of Activity	Activity Area and/or Method
2pm	Coming In	Put out bedding and store bag safely
2.30pm	Gather Logs	Rules, expectations, toilets, hygiene and fire. Award the Headbands and explain how feathers had to be earned. These were awards for bravery.  A Leader to be in charge of feathers. Have tokens for each Leader to award the Beavers which they can exchange for feathers.
3pm	Activities	Make a Tribal Mask
		Make a Tribal Drum photo frame
		Make Totem Poles
		Make a wigwam
		Make a tipi
		Make Cattle finger puppets
		Make a tomahawk
		Make Friendship bracelets
5pm	Clear Away	Put all activities into baskets. Clear away and wash hands. Lay tables.
5.30pm	Food	Dinner time
6pm	Clear up	Time for Beavers to wash up and put pots away.
6.30pm	Walk	Coats and shoes for Cowboy Hunt.
8.30pm	Hayfields	Return to Hayfields. Wash & change.
9pm	Supper	All sit quietly and have supper at tables.
9.15pm	Campfire	All sit around campfire. Campfire songs and a story. Read the Comanche story below. Try to obtain a copy of Brother Eagle, Sister Sky from the library.
10pm	Bedtime	Teeth and bed.

7am	Rise	Wash & Dress
7.30	Breakfast
8am	Wash up	Tidy up and put bedding away. Pack bags ready for home.
8.30am	Dream catchers	Each child to sit and make a dream catcher. If weather is good, all out onto field for a run about with headdresses and tomahawks.
10am	Games and songs	Up river
10.50am	Gather Logs	Award badges, congratulations and home.

 

For cowboy hunt, copy a picture of a cowboy from the internet, put 8 per sheet and print off 3 copies. Cut out cowboys and laminate. Cut out laminated cowboys. These can be pinned to trees, play equipment etc in the park. Make sure they can be reached by the children. Take the Beavers to the park in the dark with torches. Split into teams with an adult per team. Adults are there for safety. Send the Beavers on a Cowboy hunt! The team that capture the most cowboys win another feather each for their headbands.

Once, long ago in the land of the Comanche, there was a great drought and famine and pestilence. The dancers danced to the sound of the drums and prayed for rain. They watched and waited for the healing rains, and danced again. No rains came.

 

Among the children of the tribe there was a small girl named She-Who-Is-Alone. She watched the dancers and held her warrior doll. Her doll wore beaded leggings and a headdress of brillant blue feathers from the bird who cries "Jay-Jay". She loved this doll very much. Her doll was the only thing she had left from the happy days before the great famine took her parents and grandparents from her.

As She-Who-is-Alone sat and held her doll, the Shaman, or Wise Man, came to speak to the people. He told them that the Great Spirits were unhappy. He said that the people had been selfish, taking every thing from the earth giving nothing in return. He said that the people must make a sacrifice and must make a burnt offering of their most prized possession. The Shaman said the ashes of this offering should be scattered to the home of the Four Winds-North, South, East and West. When this sacrifice was made the drought would cease. Life would be restored to the land.

The people talked among themselves. The warriors were sure it was not their bow that the Great Spirits wanted. The women knew that this was not their special blanket.

She-Who-Is-Alone looked at her doll, her most valued possession. She knew what the Great Spirits wanted and knew what she must do.

While everyone slept she took her warrior doll and one stick that burned from the teepee fire and made her way to the hill where the Shaman had spoken -"Oh Great Spirits," she called out, "here is my warrior doll the only thing I have left from happy days with my family. It is my most valued possession. Please accept it."

Then she made a fire and thrust her precious doll into it. When the flames died down she scooped up a handful of ashes and scattered them to the Four winds-North, South, East and West. Then, her cheeks wet with tears, she lay down and fell asleep.

The first light of morning woke her and she looked out over the hills. Stretching from all sides where the ashes had fallen, the ground was covered with flowers, beautiful blue flowers, as blue as the feathers in the hair of her beloved doll.

Now every spring the Great Spirits remember the sacrifice of a very small girl and fill the hills and valleys of the land now called Texas with beautiful blue flowers. And this is so to this very day.

GAMES

UP RIVER

The Beavers stand in pairs in a circle, one behind the other and facing inwards. Those in the inner circle are rocks in the river and the others are Indians in their canoes. On the command ‘UP RIVER’ the Indians start to walk around the circle. On the command ‘DOWN RIVER’ they walk the other way. Other commands are

Swift River – beavers run

Shoot the Rapids – run in and out of the rocks

Indians – everyone makes an Indian war cry whoop noise

Take cover – continue in the same direction back to places.

The Indians and the rocks then change places and the game starts again.

 

MEDICINE MAN’S BONES

A number of items, at least two per beaver are spread over the floor. You can use plastic drinking strays cut in half. These are the bones of the animals and enemies of the Indians. The Beavers are the young braves being taught to hunt by the medicine man. The ideas is that the beavers should move stealthily and be able to ‘freeze’ as needed.

Starting at one end of the hall, the medicine man (a leader) moves slowly forward with the braves spread out behind him. Each brave must try to pick up the bones as they go without being seen by the medicine man who frequently turns around. As the leader turns, every brave must freeze and anyone seen moving must go back and start again. The winners are the team with the most bones.

 

SKUNK TAG

This is a game that was actually played by Sioux Indian children.

Explain what a skunk is. Two people are chosen to be skunks. The others run about but anyone touched by a skunk must stand still on one foot and hold their nose until freed by being touched by another player. Change the skunks frequently and if you end up with the leaders being the skunks it should be possible to catch everyone and have the whole colony standing on one foot and holding their noses.

 

FLOATING FEATHER

Play in lodges or small groups

For this game you will need a few small fluffy feathers.

Players sit as close together as they can. A leader drops the feathers from above and the beavers’ blow or flaps their hands to keep the feathers floating. If the feather touches somebody then they must pay a forfeit, decided by the person on their right.

 

INDIAN TRIBES

Beavers scattered around hall when the leader says the name of a particular tribe the Beavers have to behave like that tribe

Sioux – warriors     Apache – Stealthy Hunter s

Cherokee – farmers     Navaho – excellent with bow and arrow

War dance – go round in a circle doing a war dance.