Week 5: Cub Scout Obstacle Course

We have a small combined wolf, bear and webelos den, but due to boys moving away and summer vacations we only have 1 wolf this month and he has a lot to finish by his birthday.  I combed thru the requirements to make sure we hit as many as possible in this obstacle course as well as adding some obstacles just for fun. (Those not included, were done at cub scout day camp) It was awesome!. After going thru the course (about 2 1/2 mins long) the boys were breathing hard and wanting to rest!

You may wonder how I can pull this off with just one lone wolf.   Easy...we have two 11 year old scouts that regularly come and we, the leaders, have other children.   It can be very helpful to have our numbers padded for certain activities.

Here are the Wolf requirements this activity will meet:  Counsil Fire #2 & 6b, Paws on the Path #8, Running with the Pack #1, 2, 3 & 4

First,  I mapped it out on paper. (Sorry about the poor lighting in this picture... best I could do with a baby sleeping on my lap!)  This map came in handy as I guided the boys thru the course!

Gathering Activity: Play catch with a partner 10 feet apart.  Give instruction as outlined in the Wolf Handbook.  Once they are proficient have everyone move back a step. (Running with the Pack #1)
Next we made a  Den Duty Chart by letting the boys choose the duty they wanted to perform each week. I prepped ahead of time by printing out the duties on a chart and laminating it. As the boys chose a duty,  I wrote their name on the chart with a white board marker.  My chart included: Take Attendance, Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath and Law and Meeting Helper (Council Fire #1 Mark complete after 1 month)

Opening: Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath and Scout Law

Obstacle Course:  We discussed good sportsmanship before starting our game as outlined in the Wolf Handbook ( Running with the Pack #4) I actually had to take some more pictures the next day to show you each station.  It was too fast paced at our activity to get all the pictures I wanted.

Here goes...

1. Monster Stomp - Stomp on one soda can and add to a recycle pile.

Note: be sure to transport smashed cans to a recycling bin. (Council Fire 6b). 

2. Front Roll - (Running with the Pack #3)

3. Walk 5 steps backwards (Running with the Pack #2)

4. Frog Stand (Running with the Pack #3)

5. Back Roll (Running with the Pack #3)

6. Running thru the ropes (for sideways balance Running with the Pack #2) - made out of PVC stakes and parachute cord.

7. Hurdles - make with swim noodles and
ground stakes ( we made PVC stakes but wooden dowel rods work too). We had 4 hurdles spaced about 15 feet apart.  Another option is alternate going over one, then under the next...

8.  Mini Trampoline - 10 jumps

9. Balance Beam (Running with the Pack #2)

9. Ring Toss and Drive the Green Machine around the cones - Make rings by taping the ends of a pool noodle closed with packing tape.  Line 4 cones in a line about 15 feet apart and place rings a few feet from the cones.  Boy runs down the line throwing loop over cones.  At the last cone, he hops on the green machine and drives around each cone in an alternating manner (figure 8 style)  to the finish line.

 We had a drink station set up to refresh them after the course. This is how my husband cut the PVC pipe to make stakes.

Map activity - When the boys finished the course we moved to a table set up with map making supplies.  The boys drew a map of the obstacle course and we used a compass app to label North on the map (Paws on the Path #8)

At the end we served light refreshments. Everyone really enjoyed this activity!  Cub Scouts is fun!

Week 4 Bear: Fur, Feathers and Ferns for Combined Dens

We just finished Twilight Camp (some areas have Day Camp) and families are heading off for summer vacation. Camp is such an asset to small dens in meeting requirements for multiple ages.  Because I'm in a small combined den of wolf, bear and webelos, I have to send homework home regularly.    I only have one Bear and he is going out of town for a month so I decided to have one activity for the Bear's Fur, Feathers and Ferns Adventure and pick out the activities that parents just may wish the den would take care of so they don't have to worry about it at home.  So here goes...

Gathering Activity:  Knots - We did this for 10 minutes.  This is a target activity aimed at those scouts who may not have met all the requirements for knot tying.  For example,  the Bears and Webelos have to teach a younger scout how to tie certain knots. The other boys can practice knots they know while you target the scouts who need to pass off a requirement.(Wolf, Call of the Wild #2, Bear, Bear Necessities #8, Arrow of Light, Camper #5)

Activity 1: Composting- I really did not want to send the boys home with their own little gross cup of compost  (especially since 2 of the boys are my own ) so we discussed the purpose of composting and made a composting bucket.  My husband (and den leader)  drilled the holes in the bucket beforehand.  I used the tutorial I found online here. We did not add Bokashi and I added water after we brought it back home.  Here is what we used in our compost bucket:  bag of used coffee grounds donated from Starbucks, a few kitchen scraps (avocado skin, egg shells, veggie scraps), dead leaves from a limb pruned from our tree, grass clippings from a freshly mowed lawn and a little leftover potting soil we used in the next activity.  The boys had an impressive knowledge of composting and they enjoyed adding layers to the bucket.  I promised to roll the bucket everyday and bring the finished product back in a few weeks.  I'll add a picture of our finished compost. (Bear: Fur, Feathers and Ferns #6)

Update:  Here is a picture of our beautiful compost after a few weeks. Truth be told I wasn't very consistent at rolling the bucket everyday, but look how awesome it turned out!  I can't believe how easy that was!  I really want to plant something now!

Activity 2: The requirement is to plant a vegetable or herb garden.  I had an aloe vera plant that seems to stay alive without much effort on my part.  I don't have a green thumb and it's my only plant that hasn't died!  I did some research on YouTube university on how to propagate the aloe vera pups. With my Bear scout going out of town, I thought this would be the best bet for his garden.  My local grocer (HEB) had used containers they sold me for 50 cents and I had so many pups that each boy transplanted 2-3 in his pot.  What fun!  (Bear: Fur, Feathers and Ferns #7)

Opening:  Since we had moved back into the building to wash hands and cool off, we stopped here to have our prayer, pledge, scout oath and Scout law.

Activity 3: Vegetable Olympics - This was by far the fun part of our meeting!  Find the game here. We played the Bean Planting Relay.  Since we don't have a big group we just timed each boy and called out winners.  Next we had a Potato Piercing tournament. Yes... you can catch a potato on a fork if you throw it up and catch it.  We just so happened to have the exact same amount of girls in the building as cubscouts so we invited them to play the Rabbit Feed relay.  Boys against girls...What a Blast!!  Since the girls were having so much fun, we included them on our last game of  Vegetable Alphabet.  We didn't have time to do the game as listed here so I showed them an alphabet card with a letter on it and whichever team called out a food starting with that letter first, got the point.

This turned out to be a fun activity.  We closed with a prayer and had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

Week 3: 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.

Each activity has to flow quickly into the next in order to do it all in 1 hour. We did the gathering activity on the sidewalk.  While the hot dogs were cooking I called boys over individually and showed them how to read a thermometer.  When most of the boys were done with cooking, we started building the barometers right there on the sidewalk. We had a quick safety class and our Geocache was less than a mile away at a Dairy Queen.  We were able to lead the boys quickly thru the clues to find it since we knew ahead of time where the geocache was hidden.   And finally we passed out free Blizzard coupons to the boys that we had asked  the manager for ahead of time.  We got back to our meetinghouse with only 2 minutes to spare!  

1. Gathering Activity:  Have boys wash hands using a large bowl with water and soap (Wolf, Call of the Wild #5c) Using a Bunsen burner and a  no. 10 can with a vent cut in it,  have the scout cook a hot dog on a kabob skewers. (Bear Necessities #6) Show them how to read a thermometer while they are waiting for it to cook. (Bear Essentials #7 part)

2. Make a Barometer: Show the scouts this video on YouTube from if convenient (I used my cell phone) to instruct them how to make barometer.  Having the card stock paper already folded and taped ahead of time will be faster.  Scouts should place barometer indoors next to a window.  Bear scouts record temp and hi/lo from barometer everyday for a week. (Bear: part Bear Essentials #7)

3. Opening: Prayer, Pledge (make sure you have a flag outdoors) Scout Oath and Scout Law

4.  Class:  What to do if a stranger approaches. (see Wolf Handbook Call of the Wild 5a)  Have the scouts act out the situations so they will be able to remember the lessons better.

5.  Geocaching - Make sure 10 year olds are involved in the process of how geocaching works.  I used this website and app for our activity.  Make sure to have permission slips signed ahead of time. (Arrow of Light, Camper #6)

Homework:

• Bear - Record the temperature and barometer reading at the same time each day for a week.(Bear: to finish Bear Essentials #7)
• leaders- plan an opportunity for scouts to put on a campfire skits/song and include an impressive opening, Cubmaster's minute and inspirational closing...father/son camp out, cub scout day camp, the next pack meeting (Wolf: Call of the Wild #6, Bear: Bear Necessities #2, Arrow of Light: Camper #4)
• Record any homework assignments completed and stay in communication with parents to make sure they are accomplished
• Once the camp out or day camp is over, Weeks 1-3 completed along with all homework assignments, then the pack is ready to award the belt loops for Wolf: Call of the Wild, Bear: Bear Necessities, and Arrow of Light: Camper 

Week 2: 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: Discuss what makes a good tent site and set up a small tent with leader.  Take down and have boys set up themselves.  (If using a larger tent or if it's going slow have boys set up themselves the first time with verbal instructions from leader if needed because of time restraints.  Make sure 9 and 10 year-olds participate if they are unable to go on camp out). (Arrow of Light, Camper #2) (Bear, Bear Necessities #7)

2. Opening: Prayer, Pledge, Scout Oath & Scout Law

3.  Talk Time/Announcements

4.  Let's pretend you are on a camp out and there is bad weather.  It's so bad you may have to evacuate.  Discuss this PowerPoint Presentation or use Webelos Handbook pg. 157 to lead discussion.  (Arrow of Light, Camper 3a,b,c) (Wolf, Call of the Wild 4, 5b)

5. Teach knots

• Overhand knot - used for the start of tying a shoe, the keep the end of a rope from unraveling, to keep a rope from going all the way thru a hole or pulley (Wolf, Call of the Wild #2)
• Square knot - used to tie two ropes together, to tie packages, the end of bandages or to rig sails (Wolf, Call of the Wild #2)
• Two half hitches -  used to tie items to a post or tree trunk (Bear, Bear Necessities #8)
• Bowline knot - It's useful because it makes a fixed loop in a rope that won't slip (Arrow of Light, Camper #5 part - complete by teaching to a younger scout)

Record Requirements & pass out homework:

• Any boy who missed will need to learn knots at home
• Webelos - Practice Bowline knot (Camper #5) and teach to another scout
• Bear - Learn Two half hitches knot and teach to another scout (Bear Necessities #8) 
• Remind boys about the camp out and that they should help pick a campsite and help set up the tent