The Beavers from 7th Port Howth Sea Scouts meet every Friday at 6.15 and try to be outdoors as much as possible.  They are blessed with their location and spend a lot of time in Deerpark, the hills of Howth and on the beach.

You will often see them on hikes including night hikes, building shelters in the woods, playing games outside, cleaning up the beaches and doing scavenger hunts - the list is long! 

And there’s still plenty of time to work on the Dublin Bay Biosphere badge!

Using your senses

To help the Beaver scouts hone their observations skills they went on the same hike twice, once in the dark in winter and again on a lovely May evening. 

The beavers were encouraged to talk about what was different on each hike - the weather, how things looked and the sounds they heard.  On both hikes they stopped to observe the sounds around them and on the summer hike the Beavers wrote down or drew pictures of what they heard. 

They also went on a bug hunt to observe the insects underneath their feet.  They talked about the best place to find bugs and how to be kind to the bugs and not harm them and then they explored the woodland floor looking for bugs and documenting their findings.

Learning

On every hike and outdoor activity the Beavers learn as much as they can about their surroundings.  The different types of trees in Deerpark, including the beautiful yet invasive Rhodedendrons!  They did a coastal scavenger hunt and identified the different types of shells and seaweed on their local beach. 

Before going on the bug hunt they learned about the different types of bugs that can be found in the Dublin Bay Biosphere area and where they can be found.

Taking action

As well as learning about bugs and hunting for them the Beavers wanted to help them so they spent an evening making bug hotels for them to put them in their gardens.  

They also discussed what the Beavers could do themselves and with their families to take action and they were all very concerned about litter in the area especially on the beach.

A litter pick was organised and they spent a full hour at one of our Friday sessions picking litter on Claremont beach.

Congratulations to all the Beavers from 7th Port Howth Sea Scouts and their leaders for earning their Biosphere Badges.
The Biosphere Award is open to all young people, Scout or non-scout. You can learn more about the award here.