Explorers Chef Activity Badge

If you love getting creative in the kitchen, mastering new cooking skills, or exploring the stories behind your favourite dishes, then you'll love the Explorers’ Chef badge!

Complete three activities. You could:

1. Discover - Choose a recipe, a cooking technique or a traditional food, and find out about its history.

   Have a go at making something using traditional methods and ingredients, avoiding modern techniques.

2. Experience - Hold a cooking competition with your Unit or District.

3. Mobilise - Look at the social issues that surround our food production, and see if you can take any actions to reduce their impact.

   This could involve researching certain ingredients, or visiting production facilities or farms.

4. Solve - Plan a recipe or menu that you would make in your usual kitchen facilities. Then, try and make that using a different cooking facility.

   For example, you could try camping stoves or a campfire instead of a normal kitchen. Think about how you could improvise utensils and maintain hygiene.

5. Create - Create a menu for a specific event.

   This could be anything from a gala style dinner, or a street food tasting night!Build your budgetandshopping list anddesignthemenufor the event.

Tips

• Make it your own
• Use this badge as a way of expanding your food horizons. You could visit a country where the food intrigues you, learn and use a technique that is unusual or even think about growing your own ingredients for your cooking.
• To get the badge, you can either try some of our example activities, or come up with your own with support from a Scouts volunteer or trusted adult. The activities should be challenging for you and take a reasonable amount of time.
• Guidance for Leaders
• Offer flexibility and encourage Explorers to tailor their badge to their interests and skill set.As a rough guide, an Activity Badge should be achievable within 3 weeks of activities.
• Everyone has different skills and experiences, so try to consider their starting point when choosing what they will achieve.
• Safety fundamentals for Explorers to consider
• • When taking part in any activity, remember to let someone know:
    • Whereyou’re going.
    • Whoyou’re with.
    • Whattimeyou plan to be finished.
    • A plan forcommunicatingyour progress.
    • Ask forhelpif you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
  • Take note of and apply the top safety tips from theGuidance for Food Safetywebpage to keep yourself and others safe in various kitchen settings, including when using different stoves or cooking at campsites.
  • Be mindful of food allergies and intolerances by always checking ingredient labels and avoiding cross-contamination. Use separate utensils and preparation areas for allergen-free meals to keep everyone safe.
  • Complete your own risk assessment based on your plans and ask an adult volunteer to check it for you.
  • If cooking together in groups, assign someone the role of reminding everyone about key safety practices and supporting those who are cooking.
• Safety essentials for volunteers or responsible adults to manage activities safely
• • All activities for this badge must be safely managed and locally approved.
  • Volunteers must make sure they have completed a thorough risk assessment and taken appropriate steps to reduce risks.
  • Support Explorers in following and applying the top tips and information from theGuidance for food safetywebpage.
  • Use thesafety checklistto help plan and risk assess the activity.

July 2026.

Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities.See our guidance on flexibility.