On This Vacation, Take Scouting Along

Boy Scouts should check with their Scoutmaster for anything that may be needed as proof that the requirement was fulfilled.  A signed note from a forest ranger or a museum curator testifying to what was done, might be all that is needed.

I looked through the Wolf, Bear, and Webelos books and came up with the list below:

Wolf Requirements

• Swim as far as you can walk in 15 steps.
• Make a collection of anything you like. Start with 10 things. Put them together in a neat way.
• Pick up litter you see. Put it where it belongs. Or recycle it.
• Plan a walk. Go to a park or wooded area, visit a zoo or museum with your family.
• Attend a concert, a play, or other live program with your family.

Wolf Electives

• Name 10 kinds of trucks, construction machinery, or farm machinery.
• Make a list of all the birds you saw in a week and tell where you saw them (field, forest, marsh, yard, or park).
• Fish with members of your family or a grown-up. Bait your hook and catch a fish.
• Know the rules of safe fishing.
• Know boating safety rules.

Bear Requirements

• Pick your favorite state or home state. Name the state bird, tree, and flower. Describe its flag. Give the date it was admitted to the union.
• Name at least five stories about American folklore. Point out on a United States map where they took place.
• Explain what a wildlife conservation officer does.
• Visit one of the following: Zoo, Nature center, Wildlife refuge, Game preserve.
• Find someone who was a Cub Scout a long time ago. Talk with him about what Cub Scouting was like then. (What did they do at den mtgs., pack mtgs., what kind of uniform did they wear?)
• Go on a trip with members of your family.
• Tell what to do in case of a water accident.
• Tell what to do in case of a car accident.
• Go camping with your family.
• Go on a hike with your family.
• Have a picnic with your family.
• Attend an outdoor event with your family.
• Visit a newspaper office, or TV or radio station and talk to a news reporter.
• Visit a place where computers are used. 

Bear Electives

• Visit a planetarium.
• Help your dad or any other adult rig and sail a real boat.
• With an adult, demonstrate forward strokes, turns, and backstrokes. Row a boat around a 100-yard course involving two turns.
• Ride in an airplane (commercial or private).
• Visit an art museum or picture gallery with your family.
• Take five pictures of the same subject in different kinds of light.
• Collect, mount, and label 10 kinds of rocks or minerals.
• Visit a burned-out forest or prairie area, or a slide area. Talk to a member of the U.S. Forest Service about how the area will be planted and cared for.
• With your family, visit a livestock exhibit at a county or state fair.
• Jump feet first into water over your head, swim 25 feet, turn around, and swim back.
• Swim on your back, using a resting stroke, for 30 feet.
• Rest by floating on your back, using as little motion as possible for at least one minute.
• Do a racing dive from edge of pool and swim 60 feet, using a racing stroke.
• Mark a map showing the way to a place you would like to visit that is at least 50 miles from your home.

Webelos Activity Badges

• Jump into water over your head. Level off and swim 100 feet, half of this using the elementary backstroke.
• Right after the swim, stay in the water and float on your back in a resting position with as little motion as possible for 1 minute.
• Do a surface dive and swim under water for at least two strokes before coming up.
• Swim on the surface for 50 feet, properly using a mask, fins, and snorkel.
• Visit the newsroom of a newspaper or radio or television station and find out how they receive information.
• Visit a construction job. Look at a set of plans. Tell your Webelos den leader about them. (Get permission before you visit.)
• Identify six forest trees. Tell what useful things come from them.
• Collect five geologic specimens that have important uses.
• Visit a museum of natural history, nature center, or zoo with your family, den, or pack. Tell what you saw.

• Help with a campout of 2 nights away from home with your family. Or go on two campouts of 1 night each with your family.
• With your family or Webelos den, plan and take part in an evening outdoor activity that includes a campfire.
• Attend a play. Describe the story. Tell what you liked about it.
• Get a map or timetable from a railroad, bus line, or airline. The line should serve the place where you live. Look up some places it goes.
• Use timetables to plan a trip from your home to a city in another state by railroad, bus, or airline.
• Find out what it costs per mile to travel by bus, railroad, or plane.
• With your parents or guardian, take a trip to someplace that interests you. Go by bus, boat, train, or plane.
• Pack a suitcase for a trip.
• Check the first aid kit in the family car.
• Visit a place where computers are used. Find out what they are used for.

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The most important thing to do on vacation?
Relax and Enjoy it!

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