...stilt walking

Leg extensions that allow you to be above the crowd. Street performers do this with great skill and balance, usually dressed in costume. How do they manage to stay so high and up-right without falling over?

The skills can be learned at a lower level, literally. Why not build a couple of pairs of stilts?

Visit Rob's build ya own stilts at www-users.york.ac.uk/~rfs1/juggle/stilts. Also the Juggling Information Service (has information on a range of activities, some with 'Getting Started') www.juggling.org/help/circus-arts/stilts/making

Making stilts can be done as a project at Scout age, or above, or by asking for parental help (chance to use all those expensive tools that are given as presents!). You only need a couple of pairs to get you going, and they can be pulled out every now and again.

The trial and error of doing stilt walking, even at the lower level, is great fun. You might want to use them in relay races!

There is no need to build high stilts to start to learn how to do it, you can start at just a few centimetres for Beavers. You can also make the stilts variable using holes as various heights for the steps to be bolted in to.

To get a person to the stage of doing stilt-walking 'without hands' will need practice, confidence and expert tuition. Find out whether there is a local Circus Skills course that covers this.

Discussion: How difficult is it for someone to learn to walk with artificial limbs.