Activity details

  • 30 mins
  • ££
  • Outdoors / At camp
  • Individuals
  • Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers

Activity outcomes

Enjoy being outside, feel comfortable in nature, and feel connected to the natural environment.

Believe in doing the right thing, being trustworthy, and doing your best

You’ll need

  • Ingredients (see recipe) 
  • Embers of a campfire 
  • Fire and heat-proof plates 
  • Wooden skewers, soaked in water 
  • Wooden handled extendable toasting fork (optional) 
  • Paper towels 
  • A bucket of water and/or sand 
  • Fire blanket 
  • First aid kit for burns

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers 

Planning this activity 

  • Be aware that melted marshmallow can become extremely hot and burn mouths and skin. 
  • Marshmallows are not advised for children under 6 as they can be a choking hazard. Take a look at meal safety advice for four and five year olds to prevent choking. 
  • You could do this activity around National S’mores Day on 10 August. 
  • It’s important to use water-soaked wooden skewers rather than metal skewers, which could get hot and burn people’s hands. 
  • You could also use wooden handled extendable toasting fork, ensuring that hands don’t get too close to heat or fire. 
  • Remember to check your ingredients against any allergy or dietary requirements to ensure everyone can enjoy the recipe. This may mean using alternative ingredients. 

Building a fire and preparing to cook on a campfire 

Having a safe cooking source 

  • Make sure that everyone’s fires have been built outdoors in clear, open areas, with plenty of ventilation, and away from any areas where people will be sleeping.  
  • All the fires need to burn down to hot embers before they can start cooking. This increases the chance of the fuel burning without enough oxygen present, increasing the risk of carbon monoxide exposure. We have more guidance on different cooking methods. 

Getting ready to cook 

  1. Gather everyone together in a circle and tell them you’re going to make some s’mores. 
  2. You may want to run a fire safety talk and show people how to use the equipment safely. 
  3. Make sure the wooden skewers have been soaked in water, to prevent them setting on fire.  
  4. It’s important to use wooden skewers rather than metal skewers, which could get hot and burn people’s hands.  
  5. You could also use wooden handled extendable toasting fork, ensuring that hands don’t get too close to heat or fire. 

Ingredients

  • 2 chocolate digestive biscuits  
  • 2 marshmallows 
  • You could also use plain biscuits, and add chocolate spread, or pieces of chocolate. 

Cooking info

Prep time: 5 mins (soak your skewers!)

Cook time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

Make your s’mores 

  1. Gather everyone in a circle and tell people that they’re going to make s’mores. 
  2. Ask everyone to wash their hands.  
  3. Everyone should take a skewer and marshmallow. Make sure your wooden skewer has been soaked in water, to help stop it setting on fire.  
  4. Gently push the marshmallow onto the top of the skewer. 
  5. With adult supervision, everyone should toast a marshmallow above the embers of a campfire, until it’s golden and gooey.  
  6. When ready, remove the marshmallow from the fire and take a plate. 
  7. Now, everyone should take two chocolate digestive biscuits, making sure that the chocolate sides are in the middle, and make a marshmallow sandwich using the gooey marshmallow. 

Be careful, as the marshmallow will be very hot. You could use a fork to help you get the marshmallow off the skewer or clamp the marshmallow gently between the two biscuits, so you don’t need to touch it to get it off the skewer. 

  1. Wait for a few moments for the heat of the marshmallow to melt the chocolate, and for it to cool down a little. 
  2. Enjoy your gooey campfire treat!  
All about S’mores

Reflection

This activity gave everyone the chance to enjoy being outdoors, and learn how to use fire safely. Here are some questions you could use, to help people reflect on the activity. You could use these throughout the session or at the end.  

  • Why do we use wooden skewers rather than metal skewers to toast marshmallows? Why did we need to soak the skewers?   
  • When everyone’s finished using fire, what should they do to stay safe? 
  • What’s it like preparing food and eating outdoors? 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Fires and stoves

  • Make sure anyone using fires and stoves is doing so safely. Check that the equipment and area are suitable and have plenty of ventilation. Follow the gas safety guidance. Have a safe way to extinguish the fire in an emergency.

Food

  • Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing and preparing food and avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety and hygiene.

Flammable items

  • Always take care when using flammable items, especially if you’re near fire. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and guidelines.

Outdoor activities

  • You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.

Reproduced from the original post found on Scouts UK: https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/scrumptious-s-mores/