BROWNIES
Torchlit tour
What you'll need
- A dark, outside space
- Paper
- Pen
- Torch, one per group
Aim of the activity
Discover more about nocturnal animals, then become an explorer in the dark and see what you can find!
Choose four outdoor areas that girls can safely explore in the dark: bushes, trees, a wall, flower beds and looking up at gutters/roof tops. You could create cut-out animals and place them around these spaces.
Step by step
1
Do you know what a nocturnal animal is? Creatures such as owls, bats and hedgehogs are all nocturnal, as they only come out at night. Can you name any more?
2
As a unit, come up with some animals you think you might see, and noises you might hear. For example, you might see a moth flapping about, hear an owl hooting or watch a bat whizz past.
3
Get into five groups. It’s almost time to start exploring, but first you need to practise. Choose a member of your group to hold the torch, then have everyone stand in a line behind them. The most important part of being an explorer is staying quiet, so you don’t scare any animals!
4
Do a lap of your meeting space to practise being quiet. Are you ready to go?
5
Your leader will send you to explore your first area. Turn off the torch, close your eyes and listen. What can you hear? Are there loud and quiet noises? Stand still for a minute and count three animal sounds.
6
Turn on the torch and shine it on the area you’re exploring. What can you see? Any animals? Remember to look closely as they may be very small. Quietly tell your leader what your group discovered, and they will keep a list.
7
Change the person being the torch holder, and go to your next area to explore. Are the things you’re hearing different? Did you see different animals?
8
Keep going until you have visited all of the four different areas.
9
Your leader will go through the list of everything you saw and heard. Put your hand up if you heard the noise or saw the animal. Are there any that you didn’t see or hear? Exploring at different times of day can mean you discover lots of different animals.