Showing off your impressive skills
“It’s all about the timing,” explained Doody, who has been running our circus skills activity on Bard’s Guild this week. “You’ve got plenty of time as long as you throw them above your head.”
We arrived just as the latest group of young people were learning how to juggle scarves. It was fascinating to watch the simplicity of the tutorial, versus the frantic attempts at catching pieces of red, white, and blue fabric.
The i.CIRCUS team has been a firm fixture at around 250 different Jamborees, camps and Scouting days for over 20 years. From toothbrush twirling to tightrope walking, unicycling to stilt-walking, at the heart of the experience are learning a new skill – precisely what WINGS encourages.
There’s always a bit of fun involved too. Doody explains: “We do mess about and get the young people to take our invisible goldfish somewhere to stop them overheating. It’s nothing more than a big bag full of nothing, tied with a knot, but it’s always good fun.”
What you might not consider with circus skills are the cognitive benefits. “Juggling, especially, connects the main parts of the brain. It creates new synapses and neural pathways, which can help, for instance, with information retention. If a young person spends ten minutes juggling before revision, it’s been scientifically proven to help retain knowledge. And it’s great fun!”
We asked the questions that no-one else dares to. “Chainsaws” was the response, when we asked what the most impressive thing that Doody can juggle. Do NOT try that at home. “I also love doing fire performances,” he said. “We can’t do it at this camp because of the naked flames and the dry ground, but we usually do some fire juggling.”
Away from the juggling act, unicycling is another popular activity. “It was a bit bumpy at the start of WINGS but over the days, it has become flatter and easier to unicycle on,” he added. “We have had about half a dozen young people who can go halfway around the field. Some, however, less successful.”
What does success look like for an activity team on camp? “So many things,” explained Doody. “Yesterday, for instance, we took a Canadian lady – I won’t disclose her age, but she’s north of my age and I’m 58,” he said. “We had her walking independently on stilts. She couldn’t believe it. We also had Scarlet on subcamp who could only do one hula hoop on the first day, and she went onto get the daily record. Success is also based on how much my feet ache. 27,000 steps a day!”
Doody has been ably supported by a team of five, including little mascot George, who is not afraid of getting involved and supporting the participants. “Mischief makers” is how Doody describes his team. “They do what they need to get the youngsters to try stuff.” Leaders can have a try as well, showing that you’re never too old to learn new tricks and skills.
