Nanorover (Craftsman)

Craftsman #4 Nanorover

"Make a balloon-powered Nanorover!  NASA built a tiny rover just a couple of inches high to explore the surface of an asteroid and take pictures."

"You can build a nanorover too. Try this one, made from three styrofoam meat trays."
  
"This project is a little bit hard, so you might want to ask a grown-up or big brother or sister to do it with you."

First Aid Baseball (Readyman)

Webelos: Readyman

First aid baseball is a fun way to review first aid skills with Boy Scouts and Webelos. There are instructions for the game and a set of question cards included here. 

Turks Neck Woggle Slide (Craftsman)

Known as both a Woggle and a Turk's Neck, this neckerchief slide is fascinating. It takes about a half-hour to learn for a group of adults, but once it's learned well it only takes about 5 minutes to make. Suitable for Webelos and older. Click HERE for instructions.

Fire Starters (Craftsman)

Webelos Craftsman: Make 4 useful things (non-wood)

My 11-year-old son went on his first Snow Camping trip last weekend.  The older, more experienced scouts were building the fire, but having a tough time keeping the flame long enough to catch the kindling on fire.

My son gave them one of these fire starters that he made a couple of years ago at home.  It doesn't look like much, but not only did it light right up, it kept the flame going long enough to get the dinner fire going.  The older boys were very grateful for his homemade useful item.

Webelos boys will be going camping in the next year.  A homemade fire starter is a very useful thing to have, so easy to make, and very inexpensive.  Also, backpackers want to carry very little weight, and this very useful item weighs VERY little!

 

What you need:
A cardboard egg carton with the sections cut apart
Clothes dryer lint
A candle
Matches or lighter.
(To make it more obvious it was from an egg carton, we didn't cut the sections apart for the pictures, but you only need one section per fire.)

Put lint in the egg carton section, then drip wax over the top of the lint.  The dripped wax serves to 1) hold the fire longer, 2) hold the lint in place in the egg carton section, and 3) waterproofs the lint from the top.

30 Beautiful Trophy Stands for $50

In "This Old House"-style, Grove Rasmusson (Cubmaster) teaches us and shows us exactly how he makes 30 impressive Pinewood Derby trophies, each costing just over $1.50, depending on your available resources. In his own words:

     "Each year I make the awards for the Pinewood derby. The top piece is 5"x 1-1/4". The Middle piece is 5-3/4" high and the Bottom piece is 8" long. The whole thing costs about $50 depending on what you have around the house. 15 minutes long? I know, but I was pretty thorough! :)" Yes, the video is 15 minutes long, and it certainly is thorough. It makes it easy to craft a trophy worthy of displaying the cubs hard work for a lifetime. Click on the Cubmaster's name in the first paragraph to watch this video.

If you involve your den in making these, it can pass off:
Wolf 5 TOOLS FOR FIXING AND BUILDING
Bear 21 BUILD A MODEL  b. build a display for one of your models.
Webelos CRAFTSMAN  (technology) 1. Safe handling of tools. 2. Construct 2 different wooden objects. 3. Make a display stand to be used to display a model.

Den Meeting Ceremonies

Surprise! Ceremonies aren't just for pack meetings!

Most of the time, a ceremony during den meeting should be so simple and quick, ('tho dramatically presented) that there is no memorizing, just doing.  5 - 10 seconds. is all it takes to get these boys smiling ear to ear.

Ceremonies To Do in the DEN

How to Fold a USA Flag

While you can find ceremonies that give a meaning to each fold, they are just cool ceremonies.  There is nothing official about the meaning of each fold ... officially, they are just folds.

This is not the only way to store a flag.  You may fold it up into a rectangle, cover it so it will not get soiled, and store it flat (or upright, if it is held firmly in a box).  If it's on a pole, you may wrap it around the pole and secure it with rubber bands or ties and store it upright, leaning against a wall in a closet.

Never salute a flag that is furled (folded, wrapped, or gathered against the pole to keep it from touching the ground).

Please keep in mind:  When displayed, the flag should fall naturally and freely.  It should never touch anything beneath it (like a table or floor), should never be draped (like over chairs or boxes or tables), and should never carry anything or have anything placed on top of it.

Den Meetings for One Pack-Combined Den

Is your pack small enough that you need to combine all dens (Tiger/Wolf/Bear/Webelos) into ONE COMBINED DEN?  Scouting.com has made available two years' worth of Alternative Cub Scout Lesson Plans with you in mind:  Year A and Year B.

Scout Law Song & Other Ideas to Teach the Scout Law

According to the BSA, we are NOT to implement any part of the new cub scout program until the new cub scout program has been officially launched, May 2015.  This includes teaching and reciting the Scout Law and Oath. 

Having said that, and supporting that policy 100%, I have worried about how to teach these long recitations to my young cubs.  Not to worry, I can prepare to know it myself and get ready to teach the cubs in summer of 2015 with the following ideas:

HERE FROM SCOUTINGMAGAZINE.ORG are some ways to teach Cubs the Scout Law, worth checking out!

I like this catch song; a pleasant way to become familiar with the Scout Law:

"A Scout Is"  

CHORUS:
It doesn't say "could be",
It doesn't say "would be",
It doesn't say "might be",
It doesn't say "someday will be",
It doesn't say "shall be",
It doesn't mean "maybe",
  But notice that it says "A Scout IS"!

A scout is TRUSTWORTHY; a scout always tells the truth.
A scout is LOYAL; to his family, friends, and nation he is true.
A scout is HELPFUL; he helps his neighbors without pay.
A scout is FRIENDLY; to everyone along his way.

A scout is COURTEOUS; a scout is polite to all.
A scout is KIND; he'll help you up when you fall.
A scout is OBEDIENT; he follows rules willingly.
A scout is CHEERFUL; he does his labor cheerfully.

A scout is THRIFTY; a scout will work to pay his way.
A scout is BRAVE; he'll face the danger tho' he's afraid.
A scout is CLEAN; he keeps his mind and body clean.
A scout is REVERENT; he follows God faithfully.

Belt Loop Tracking Sheet

Above is a sample tracking sheet to be able to keep track of where each boy is on requirements towards each academic belt loop.  There are links below to print one for the Academic belt loops, and another for the Sports belt loops.  They are meant to be printed back to back.  I like to do it on cardstock, and I print one for each boy to be kept in my leader binder next to their tracking sheet for Wolf, Bear, or Webelos.  Then I have information on each boy.  It helps to do it this way if you do one requirement one week and a different one other weeks.  Not every boy is there every week.  By doing this, I can always know where each boy is at, and it is all in one place.

• To print the Academic Belt Loops tracking sheet, click HERE
• To print the Sports Belt Loops tracking sheet, click HERE
• To print the 4 page document that shows the requirements for each belt loop,click HERE

If they enjoyed what they've learned and experienced with any of the belt loops, they can go on to become "experts" in that sport or academic and earn their Sports or Academic Pin. 

Webelos Musts With Family

Certain WEBELOS Cub Scout requirements need to be done at home with the family.  Here is a list to give parents of things they do at home with their Webelos Scout.  There are certain things in the book that a Cub Scout Leader can not do with their scouts, and it gives parents a place to start when they want to help their son pass off some requirements. Click on the picture above for a printable format.

1 Doc = Cub Meeting Plans + Faith In God

Connecting Faith in God for Boys and Cub Scout requirements. (click HERE)

Connecting Faith in God for Boys and the plans from your Den and Pack Resource Manual (click HERE)