Hunter – Mental Badge: Art

Help children plan a wall mural art project for their Caravan classroom. Secure permission from the church to do so. Line the wall with butcher paper. Choose a theme for the project. Once completed take a picture of the wall mural.

Materials: Butcher paper; washable paints; sponge or bristle brushes

Ideas for Murals: Missions and Me; “I Believe;” statements of Faith; drawings of trees, animals, birds and flowers from the Outdoor Badge

Quester – Spiritual Badge: Missions

For the Caravan club opening help children plan a five–minute talent on the topic of missions. Check with the NMI president to see what the church is doing locally for missions. Caravan children can highlight a missionary family the church supports, a region or a special church project. Check with Children’s Ministries for available children’s mission video. (1-888-644-4510).

Sentry – Elective: Travel

Help children plan a five–minute commercial on a possible vacation site for a Caravan club opening. Children may write the script, direct, act and participate in the skit. Be sure to include: the destination, list of items needed for the vacation, the type of clothing they should bring, and possible souvenirs.

Scout – Elective: Cooking 2

Obtain permission to use the church kitchen. Bring ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. Make chocolate chip cookies for other Caravan classes.

Pathfinder – Elective: Gardening

Make a flower pot garden. Buy pots, potting soil, and seeds. Have the Caravan class plant vegetable seeds in a flower pot. Children will care for them throughout the Caravan year. At the end of the Caravan year, make a salad with vegetables raised by the children.

Materials: Large flower pot or planters; potting soil; vegetable seeds (cherry tomatoes, lettuce, or cucumbers); gloves; small shovel

Trailblazer – Social: Personal Care and Appearance

Develop a skit for the five–minute talent at the Caravan opening session. Have two children explain the need for one aspect of good hygiene (brushing teeth, washing face, combing hair). Make this a humorous skit by having one child stand behind a screen with arms in front of the other child. The child in front will explain the need for good hygiene, while the child behind attempts to perform the act described by the other child.

Materials: Towels; water; toothbrush; toothpaste; soap; comb; extra T–shirts; table with tablecloth covering children’s feet when they sit.

Christmas Badge Builders

Here are some Christmas crafts for Searchers, Explorers, Adventurers.

Searcher Snow Globe

Materials: Clear glass jar (jelly jars, peanut butter jars, baby food jars); crushed egg shells from hard boiled eggs; mineral oil, glue or hot glue gun; red or green felt; small Christmas objects to place inside snow globe (human, animal, and Christmas shapes)

Instructions: Trace the shape of the lid on the felt. Cut out felt and glue to the top of the lid. Next, glue your snow scene to the underside of the jar’s lid. Set aside. Add mineral oil and crushed eggs shells, and tightly screw the lid back on. Take the hot glue gun or glue, and carefully glue the lid to the glass jar. Let the snow globe set until the glue is dry.

Optional Ideas: Try using white glitter or small cut out glitter shapes instead of crushed egg shells.

Papier Mache “Snow Explorer”

Materials: Water; white flour (one part to one part water); strips of newsletter (about one–inch wide); poster paint; toothpicks; three sizes of foam balls (3 balls per child); cardboard.

Instructions: Mix flour and water in a large bowl. Two cups of each per child is a good amount to start with. Mix until it makes a smooth paste. Using toothpicks, connect the balls, with the largest ball on the bottom and the smallest at the top. Dip the newspaper strips into the paste one at a time. Remove the excess paste with your finger, and lay the coated newspaper strips on the snowman form. Smooth out any wrinkles, and continue to place coated newspaper strips over the surface of the balls until they are completely covered. Cut cardboard into squares large enough to mount the snowmen onto. Paint or decorate the cardboard squares and set aside. When the surface of each snowman is completely dry, decorate it with poster paint. Glue each completed snowman onto a cardboard square.

Option:Use buttons, toothpicks, and various craft items for decorating the snowmen. Consider decorating them with the Caravan theme or with a Caravan sash.

Adventurer Angel

Materials:Mini clay pot; one–inch wooden ball; eight–inch square of material and floral wire for wings; material for hair (Spanish moss, curly doll hair); flesh–colored acrylic paint; glue gun and glue sticks; tacky glue.

Instructions: Paint the one–inch ball flesh color. When it dries, use glue to attach the ball to the bottom of an inverted clay pot. Glue a small amount of “hair” to the top of the angel’s head. Next, use hot glue gun to secure the wings onto the back of the pot.

Option: Paint the clay pot in various colors using acrylic paint or spray paint. Use buttons to decorate the body of the angel.

Optional – Gum Ball Ornaments

Materials: Gum balls; wooden toothpicks cut in half; Styrofoam balls; 12" pieces of ribbon

Instructions: Poke one end of a toothpick into a gumball and the other end into a Styrofoam ball. Repeat until the ball is completely covered with gumballs. Tie a 12" piece of ribbon around the ball for hanging on the tree.