Cub Scouts

Cub Scouts love to run and play together outdoors. Take advantage of summertime. Have the boys plan and participate in a picnic (Wolf elective). Ask for volunteers to make an obstacle course in their backyard (be sure to ask parents). Take time to work on the feats of skill for wolf age boys and building muscles for bear age boys.

Cub Scouts

Summertime is in full swing and a good time for boys to be having outdoor fun. Our July plans include day camp, the Bear requirement for games, the Wolf requirement for making good choices (also a Bear elective), and learning to sing Choose the Right if the boys don't already know it (be sure to include a discussion on agency to complete a Faith in God requirement). The Cub Scout core value for July is courage so be sure to discuss how sometimes it takes courage to make good choices.

A good story that goes along with this is called Another Kind of Courage from the Friend magazine (June 1986). Years ago I had some boys act out scenes from this story for a slide show to be used in Sharing Time (back when we had to use real slides and a slide projector). It would be fun to have the boys act out scenes from the story to be shown in pack meeting as you read the story.

Activity Day

Here's a fun idea for your activity day girls to do during July. Play some old fashioned games and make pioneer dolls--either cloth, yarn, or sock dolls. There are lots of ideas if you do a web search for "pioneer doll making" or "handmade rag doll." You can make them with fabric scraps or handkerchiefs and very little sewing.

Cub Scouting in Small Units

I recently visited with a friend who works with BSA. I was telling him about the annual plan I had put together for combining our wolf and bear dens (see my post on annual planning) . His comment was: "Oh, like the Year A and Year B plans." He then told me about the BSA materials available that work through all the requirements for boys to get their rank advancements while being combined in dens. These are really good references with ideas that can be used if you are combining 2 dens together or all dens including Webelos together. How have a been a Cub Scout leader for 15 years and never heard of this? This plan is designed to be used by either small units that need to combine dens because they don't have enough boys, or by larger units that need to combine dens because they don't have enough leaders. The PDF versions of these materials can be found here for Year A and Year B.

I also recently heard David Beck (current LDS General Young Men's President) talk about 'Real Growth through Scouting.' The LDS Church would like to welcome boys who are not LDS into our LDS scout units. Brother Beck emphasized that this is not to be used as a proselytizing tool, but only as a chance to bless the lives of all boys-whether they are LDS members or not. So if your unit is small, look for those other boys in your neighborhoods who could benefit from the Boy Scout Program. Welcome them into your units, encouraging these boys to do their best at doing what they believe is their duty to God.

Cub Scouts

For June our Cub Scout plans have included doing the bicycle requirements for both our wolf and bears. The boys are out of school, the weather is nice, it's time for outside fun. The eight year old boys need to learn about bike safety, and the nine year old boys have several additional requirements. Pick out the requirements your are most comfortable with, but they can't get too many reminders on safe biking practices. Here are some good ideas for bike games you can do with the boys that could be done in a parking lot or large driveway. I like to show them the photo of my son's bike helmet. He was in a bike mishap and cracked his helmet, but had no head injury. It's a good reminder of the importance of wearing a helmet.

Annual Plan for Combined Wolf & Bear

In our pack we have combined the 8 and 9-year old boys together in one den. Because of this we have re-worked our calendar so we are doing similar things at the same time. Sometimes everybody does everything, and other times we split the boys to opposite sides of the room with one leader helping each group.

Here is the calendar we are using. Combined Wolf & Bear Annual Planning Calendar

Cub Scouts and Food

Cub Scouts love to eat. This month we had the nine year old boys each take a week to bring a snack they had made. We talked about junk food and the food pyramid-which is now called the food plate. The boys made no-bake cookies. We cooked an outdoor meal. (Hot Dogs and S'mores, along with chips and a veggie platter). Here's an easy way to make s'mores: use the fudge covered graham crackers and skip the chocolate bar. Also I recently saw them made by topping the marshmallow with a chocolate kiss candy. The cooking requirements need lots of things to be done with their families; so I typed up a list the the requirements and told the parents which ones were being done in den meeting and which ones needed to be done at home.

This is a good month to have the boys do the Faith in God requirement that asks them to help plan, prepare, and serve a meal.