Can someone show me their Explorer Scout badge sleeve please?

[Upontherooftops]

Eldest child has moved up to Explorers and has just got his Bronze D of E. I've looked at the badge placement diagrams on the Scout website and I'm confused - it shows badges above the elbow and the D of E badge on the elbow with no badges underneath.

Usually when they move up we take all the staged activity badges that transfer over and sew them in one column down the middle of the sleeve, there are 10 to transfer so in one column it is way past the elbow. Then activity badges go either side of the column so we end up with 3 columns of badges down the left arm. The explorer diagrams all only have about 4 badges, what happens if you have more (which surely most explorers have ). Can badges go below the D of E or do you end up with it really crowded above the elbow?

Tried asking the leaders but they have a policy of not answering any questions from parents of Explorers which is fine, but they don't really answer the YP either so it's a little frustrating that we haven't managed to find the answer online. No one in their unit wears the shirt to meetings so DC can't work it out that way.

If anyone can explain it to me, it would be much appreciated.

www.scouts.org.uk/explorers/explorer-uniform-and-badge-placement/

Just sew them on as you would for scouts. It's no big deal.

Do the explorers actually want badges sewn on? My DS would see that as something too 'young'. He has an explorer polo shirt and hoodie which he far prefers to having to wear a shirt!

The activity badges sleeve put them in rows.
I have 3 rows offset
Young leader badges on the other side

DofE is worn as an activity badge

Ours are required to. As per op, they mostly don't wear the shirts to meetings but they're required to wear them for various District events. And the leaders are very particular then about inspecting it in advance. Our scouts (the 10 to 14 ones, not the explorers) don't wear the shirts to meetings either but a couple of times a year they'll check them pre an event and then it's supposed to be up to date with all badges sewn on in order for you to go on the next camp etc. I've known the leaders make people resew them if they were in the wrong place and frankly, life is too short for that and so we want them in the right place first time.

I think this might be the answer I needed - so it can go anywhere on the left sleeve like any other activity badge? I've overcomplicated it by thinking it needed to be on the elbow and the last thing on the sleeve as that was the diagram, but that was just coincidence?

I do like that our units let them wear t shirts and hoodies now but it does sometimes make the uniform shirts and putting badges on them seem a waste of time and money when it's basically worn for St George's, Remembrance and the odd photo thing. Youngest child's (age 11, just moved out of Cubs) Scout shirt is huge as I want it to last all 4 years if it's worn about 3 times a year only!

Gosh, that's pretty militant having to have the badges on correctly to go to camp! Surely the main thing is trying to make sure as many kids go as possible rather than worrying about badges etc, particularly with teenagers when trying to get them to do anything organised can sometimes be a battle!
Hey ho though, hats off to all the leaders and volunteers who work so hard to give the scouts / explorers the opportunities they do, militant over badges or not!

Absolutely, my kids have had a great time in Scouting, all the way through from Beavers and the leaders are amazing. I couldn't do what they do. We have a very waiting list as it's a good unit. They do allow non uniform most of the time, they're just very insistent on the uniform being correct on the rare occasions they make them wear it!

they're just very insistent on the uniform being correct on the rare occasions they make them wear it!

I agree with this totally and the fact your group has a long waiting list suggests the majority also agree

Scouting is a uniformed group.

My explorers don't wear uniforms to meetings( unless they've been helping at the cubs/beavers before).
We wear uniform for church parade, as a young leader, camp, parades, any fundraising events we do etc etc.

Militant badge police make me giggle but it is frustrating when parents get it very very wrong because they haven't asked or googled or even looked at other kids uniform!

The DofE isn't scout specific, it counts towards the platinum,diamond and queen scout awards which are worn on the right chest.
The illustration just shows what arm they can be worn on. You don't have to put them on the bottom.

In my experience apart from the staged badges not many explorers gain any of the explorer activity badges. Most just work toward their height chief scout awards and enjoy the social aspect.

Yes, I don't think the eldest will do many Explorer activity badges but he gets a lot out of scouting anyway. And I'm very grateful they're able to do their D of E via our District Scouts despite it not being scout specific. It's wayyyyy cheaper than doing it with his school and from what I hear from school parents, my kids' school don't seem to do D of E properly. The scouting leaders certainly make them do more and be more independent doing it than our school does.

Get him to look at the requirements for the platinum award.
He'll probably have done a few things to count towards it