Gathering Activity: We filled a disposable dish with rice and gave the boys 5 marbles each (Note to self.. Get new rice without sand mixed in it!) Have the boys stand in a line about 5 feet away and take turns trying to throw a marble into the dish. (I used rice to pad the landing and indoor carpet was helpful too) After all were done throwing, we collected the marbles and then each boy took a step back and we did it again!!! Simple! Stop after 15 mins. (This activity was adapted from a washer game in the Wolf Den Leader guide which I highly recommend you own if you are a den leader! It was a hit!)
Opening: Use den duty chart for: attendance, prayer, pledge of allegiance, Scout oath and law
Talk time: I had pictures spread on a table of buildings and locations in our town that I was able to find and print off Google images. The boys were directed to go take a look. I kept quiet and told them to just take a look. It didn't take too long before they started recognizing local places. I was able to show them pictures of the original hospital, theater and school in our town followed by the current ones. This led to a discussion how communities change. Lead the conversation into how changes affect the area: Examples: Lots of building affects plant and animal life, water sources have to be developed, pasture land disappears, Larger population can lead to more crime, litter, hunger or homelessness and as cub scouts we want to grown up to be leaders and help solve these problems.
Lead the conversation into ways that the cub scouts could help solve these problems. I told them we are going to do a community service project but they need to vote on one and we are going to present it to our pack committee leaders at the end of our meeting for approval. I printed more pictures of ideas they could choose from if they couldn't think of any ideas themselves (ex: scouts cleaning, local food pantry...)
Here is a possible list (see also Wolf Handbook)
1. make gift baskets for elderly people with no families
2. Clean or beautify a cemetery, community center, campground, park, river, school, parking lot...
3. Stock food at a local food pantry (call your local pantry first to find out if its an option)
4. plant a tree native to your area
5. plant flowers native to your area in a public place
6. visit a senior center
7. perform yard work for an elderly person
Discuss how and who will present service project idea to committee.
Activity 1: time changes collage. Give scout paper or poster board and glue. Let him pick community pictures from Activity 1 to make a collage.
(Council Fire #3a, 3b)
Activity 2: I arranged ahead of time so we could present our idea to the committee during our meeting. (Council Fire #4a)
Activity 3: Balloon Hot Potato - We used the game from this link. I put question or tasks in each balloon based on our previous meeting. (like: who won the obstacle course, say the scout oath...) The scouts had a hard time popping the balloons, so my husband used a tack and popped them while they were trying to sit on them. This game was a huge hit!
Record completion of requirements for Wolf: Council Fire #3a, 3b, and 4a.
