To ask, if you daughter attends/attended Brownies...

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...how they found it?
What sort of activities did/do they do?
Which activities did they particularly enjoy?
Are/were they involved in deciding what activities the unit did?
Did they do many badges?

I ask because I am an assistant leader at a Brownie pack and I feel we are a bit stuck in a rut doing craft activities, games, wordsearches and nothing particularly exciting. There is a new programme we are launching in January and I will be stepping up to begin taking over from the current leader who is hoping to retire. I am looking for ideas and opinions from parents across the country. Thanks in advance.

I forgot berry picking - that's one of our Cubs favourite annual activities! We take them to the local park (our "Outdoor Den) for the first session after we finish on the water every year (so usually the 1st or 2nd weekend of October) and pick blackberries for an hour. They then go to the playground for about 20 minutes while the leaders set up a camp stove to cook the berries with some sugar and a dash of water (and try to pull out any stalks and leaves that have made it in).

Then, just before parents are due, we give them a slice of icecream in a bowl, with a spoon of stewed berries over the top (and this year, a digestive biscuit - which they really liked). They can choose no berries, or no icecream, if they like. Because they are cooked, any bugs etc are killed (and we give guidance at the start to pick from knee height up).

And YYY to the amazing levels of paperwork and thinking that are involved as Section Leader rather than just a leader.

But the Kids will have ideas that help you build a programme - you can't do everything, but it can help to focus ideas.

My DD is in Rainbows but will be finishing at Christmas. She loved it and had great leaders. In the summer they used to do most meetings at the local park and also used Scout run climbing centres a lot. They do do lots of craft as well but she loves that, so fine for her.

@Becles thanks I will check out this season Facebook groups. Luckily I have been a science teacher in the past so I'm quite happy with risk assessments, paperwork, parent communication etc. And my husband works in finance so he is going to help me out on that.

Luckily the two current leaders won't be leaving entirely, they will still be around so I'm hoping they will help me with the transition. There is also another new leader so we will be doing it together. The plan is to gradually hand over from January and be pretty much starting properly from September. So I shouldn't be dropped in the deep end too badly!

@BiddyPop the berry picking sounds so fun! What a great idea!