Week 1: Call of the Wild, Camper & Bear Necessities Adventues for combined Cub Scout Dens

Please Note: This activity is for small combined dens to complete Call of the Wild (Wolf), Bear Necessities (Bear) and Camper Adventures (Arrow of Light) in approximately one months time.  I suggest that LDS packs plan this activity the same month as the Father & Son camp out or cub scout day camp.

1. Gathering Activity (15 minutes) - Frisbee & Cones - Set up small cones (like these) in a line spread apart over the area being used.  If the scout throws past the first cone they get 1 point, past the second is 2 points...ect.  If they hit the frisbee with a cone it's 5 points.  I went around to each boy and asked them their favorite camping activity and wrote it on strips of paper which I prepared for a later activity.  I also signed in each scout on this form.

2. Opening which includes Prayer, Pledge, Scout Oat and Scout Law

3. Talk Time:  Introduce this month's adventures.  We will learn how to identify animals, knot tying, camping skills, geocaching and about the weather...  Make sure to talk up the father son camp out with the boys  (Also inform parents that this will help their child meet requirements for their adventure belt loop)

4. Animal Identification Part 1.  I created a simple PowerPoint picture presentation identifying animals, snakes, birds and insects from our area of Texas that you can find here.  I downloaded a recording app on my phone called Smart Voice Recorder and recorded sounds clips of each bird or animal which I found on You Tube or the internet. The boys really liked hearing the sounds and recognized many of them,

Part 2 The second part of this activity was a game identifying animal tracks by giving each boy a copy of this guide. Tape larger images of the tracks on the wall with a number by it.   Then make a small sheet for each boy listing an animal and a blank line to fill in the number of the track they think correlates.  I did it this so that we weren't wasting time by having the boys write the names of the animals.We did 10 tracks but that may have been too many.  Make sure the tracks don't look too similar because it's harder for the youngest boys. This activity could go faster if you just show them a track and have the boys call out their guess till they get it right.


5. Outdoor Code:  Have a poster prepared and recite the Outdoor Code. A detailed description can be found here.  (Call of the Wild #7a)

The Outdoor Code:

As an American, I will do my best to

Be clean in my outdoor manners

Be careful with fire

Be considerate in the outdoors

Be conservation-minded

6. Next, Have a poster prepared and recite the Leave no Trace Principles for Kids (Found in Wolf Handbook).  Talk briefly how these principles support the outdoor code (Call of the Wild #7b)

7. Show boys the 6 essential items for camp outs:  first aid kit, water bottle, flashlight, trail food, sunscreen, whistle. Have Bears write items in their Handbook   (Bear Necessities #3)  What other items the group should take along on the camp out? Have Bears write in Handbook (Bear Necessities #4)

6.Optional if time permits - Camping charades Game - use strips of paper with camping activities gathered during the Gathering Activity.  We only had time for each boy to go once. (Wolf: Howling at the Moon #1 partial )

Closing Prayer & homework assignments

• Wolf Homework:  Call of the Wild Requirement 3 in the Wolf Handbook and write the name of each animal and how they identify it.  Do at home or at Father son camp out.
• Bear Homework:  complete their camping list for Bear Necessities #3-4 if not finished. Plan a cooked lunch or dinner, make a shopping list and help shop for food.  Help cook the meal at the Father son campout or other outdoor event/home if not going on camp out. (Bear Necessities #5)
• Webelos/Arrow of Light - Handout copy of outdoor code and Leave no Trace Behind Principles for Kids - Have them practice and recite from memory to the best of their ability to Akela (parent) or den leader (Call of the Wild #7b)

Text or email parents with assignments.

Record Completion of Requirements

Week 1 Animal Identification Powerpoint for Cub Scouts

Identifying animals in south texas from Deanna Welch

This Presentation is to help pass off the requirement for Wolf: Call of the Wild #4

Creating Contentment Seminar - Review

It's time for another Gabby Mom's review.  This product couldn't have come along at a better time.  This week I've been stretched really thin between heading north to attend doctor appointments with my sister for her cancer treatment,  then heading south so I can be with my husband and support my mother-in-law during her back surgery and somehow try to homeschool my 6 children in between.

Mrs. Lorrie Flem says in this seminar, "No matter what state you are in, you are resting in His will."  No matter how stressful my circumstances may be, no matter what's going on, no matter what I have or don't have, God is in control and I am in His waiting room, so to speak.  I am in His perfect will which is why I can be content. She made a quick reference to the biblical account of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by his brothers who had sought to take his life.  Joseph eventually rose to the highest position, right under Pharaoh, and was God's instrument in saving the people and saving the brothers who tried to kill him years before.  Joseph said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20 

Lorrie teaches that happiness and contentment is a choice.  Despite what life brings, I can choose happiness. It's a decision that's not dependent on what I have or what happens to me.  It's a decision I have to make.  I think that's why I love the story of Joseph so much.  He could have exacted the ultimate revenge on his brothers during this famine, but instead he saw how God had used this for his good and to save the family he lost years earlier.

So let me give you a few details about the Creating Contentment Seminar.  It's a little over an hour long.  You'll be able to watch a slide show while simultaneously watching a video of Lorrie speaking.  Make sure you can watch on a device, like a computer, that is compatible with flash player (my I-Touch and new Tablet are not).  Right now the seminar is half price at only $3!!!  Can't beat that!  It includes 14 ways to grow contentment.  Just when you think it's over, Lorrie then goes on to teach you how to get what you need and about change, specifically using the example of the marriage relationship.  And last but not least, it includes tons of scriptural and faith filled encouragement!  Thanks for another great product Eternal Encouragement!

FYI, go here to check out another seminar available on March 1st called True Womanhood is not for Wimpy Women.

Disclaimer: I have received this product in return for my honest review.

Helping Hands at Home

For the Gabby Mom's this month I'm reviewing this kindle book from Mrs. Lorrie Flem called Helping Hands at Home.  You do not want to miss this offer.  It is a 30 page e-book packed FULL of how to clean your bathrooms and kitchen.

I must admit that I zeroed right in on the bathroom tips because cleaning bathrooms wasn't a priority in my house growing up as a child (and trust me, with 6 kids it should have been!) and has been one area of cleaning that's always baffled me to keep up with.  Well, no longer!  Lorrie gives step by step instructions about how to get and keep the job done, and even better, how to teach your children to do it. 

I immediately went to the store and bought new cleaning supplies and made a cleaning kit for both bathrooms.  Then I spent some time teaching my 7 & 5 year olds to clean one bathroom and my 11 year old to clean the other.  They thought it was fun!  We haven't been able to finish the job as fast as Lorrie says it can be done, but I imagine that takes practice.  Wow, what a difference!  I no longer cringe when I go into the bathroom because of how neglected it has been.

The bathroom tips alone  in Helping Hands at Home is worth the .99 cents it cost on Amazon for this little treasure.  But wait! There's more.  Next you'll get to learn a step by step process to clean the kitchen.  We actually already do a lot of her steps already but I plan on implementing a few more of her strategies. 

But wait! That's not all!  You also get all kinds of other helpful tips to make your life easier and I love the recipe's to make your own cleaning products.  I made the laundry soap and it was easy and CHEAP.  I probably won't try the other cleaning recipes till after I deliver my baby but they look to be very easy and cost effective. 

Thanks again, Lorrie of Eternal Encouragement, for offering such a helpful product to help women like me.  You can't beat the price for the quality and information.

As a member of the Gabby Mom's Program, I received this product for free in return for my honest review.