tdk101

We have been going to our district day camp for 6 years. About 3 weeks before camp there is a training for all adult volunteers where they do Youth Protection training, safe swim, etc. They go over what the responsiblities of the den leader will be. They go over buddy system and schedules. We do have a theme each year. Our day camp is from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. On Monday, every camper must go through the registration line to make sure that all paperwork is complete and medical forms are complete. You are told which den number you are with. It goes pretty quick if all pape

When my older son's den was moving on to Boy Scouts, the boys and their families gave us a gift certificate to a local restaurant but the best gift was a plaque that had 5 group pictures on it - 1 from each year the kids were in Cub Scouts. That is proudly displayed in our living room.

Mom : someone created a pattern. The only sewing was at the shoulders. They were able to cut it out in one piece. I don't know if they just made a pattern or used the actual vest to create the pattern. I know they got red felt cheap at Walmart or JoAnn Fabrics. Hope that helps.

The boys in our den did not want to wear the patch vest so we took a binder and got the whole sheet plastic page protectors and slid colored cardstock in each protector. The boys then took velcro and attached it to the patch and then stuck it in their binder on any page they wanted to. They took markers and could write a little something about how they got the patch or when they got it. The velcor allowed them to take it out of the book and wear it on the uniform as many patches have the little button loop. Then they could change the patches as often as they wanted to. We got the bind

Our PWD has Cub Scout divisions for each rank level and then the winners from each rank go for the Pack Cup. We also have a sibling division for any sibling in grades 5 and under, a Girl Scout division and then an 6th grade & up division. All divisions follow the same rules. It has worked very well for us. We charge the non-Cub Scouts $5 for the kit and then a $2 entry fee to help cover the cost of trophies or medals and patches. The families love it because everyone gets to participate in the fun. After the official racing, the track is open for free racing and you see famil

In my son's Wolf den, we got Home Depot or Lowes to donate a bunch of wooden kits they had left over and the boys built it. Then they wrapped it with newspaper (recycle) and tied it with a knot (another requirement but don't know which one) and then gave it as a gift to whomever they wanted.(This message has been edited by tdk101)

Eliza - they are not using glue this year. You just wrap the bands tightly and then as a new color is added it continues along the way until she is done with that color. When she is done with the color, she cuts it off a little longer so the next color will wind around it. The nameplates were printed on cardstock and had a hole punched in it. Then it was attached to the rawhide. Some of the arrows will take several hours of work but the kids were very excited to have them. The parents seemed to appreciate it as well.

I tied each color off in knots and used a dot of glue. This years are being done by continuing the strand and then winding the next color over it. There are only 2 knots - 1 at the beginning and 1 at the end. This method uses a little more thread but the end result is much neater. We did Tiger(orange), Wolf(red), Gold arrow (gold), silver arrow (silver - however many they earned), religious emblem (purple - if they earned one), Bear (aqua), Gold arrow (gold), silver arrow (silver - however many they earned), Webelos (navy blue), Webelos activity pins (grey - one for each one), religi

We made them for our boys last year - first time ever our Pack has done this. We used the colored threads that are used for cross-stitch and made bands for each rank that the boy earned. We had seen some that were painted but that was not working out as well. They were time consuming but came out awesome and the boys loved them. I am happy to see that the Pack is continuing the tradition this year as well. Also all of our boys did not earn the AOL at B&G. The ones that were done and wanted to move on did and the rest finished at the end of the school year. Some went to Boy Scout

My sons Wolf den grew to 18. We got two ADL for the den and each week they split into 3 groups - the groups change weekly. The boys then rotate through the 3 leaders. It works for most activities. They are still one den but get into smaller groups for activities. May not be the perfect solution but it seems to work for us. We realize that down the road, the boys may need to be split into 2 dens. For whatever reason, this den saw a ton of new recruits (9 new scouts) this year. We have an awesome leader. The 2 dads that stepped up to be ADL had boys that were active last year. We a

We broke tradition last year and had some scouts earn AOL and crossover at B&G in February. Our pack had always done it in May prior to that. There were some scouts that wanted to wait until May. All the boys in the den - including those that crossed over - were allowed to participate in all Cub events until the end of the year as a den. Our Pinewood Derby was in March and we also had a Space Derby in May. They were all kept in the loop with e-mails from the Pack and could participate in any of the events. We kept them on our e-mail list through the summer. We have a camping trip to

We do them as desert for our Blue & Gold. Everyone present gets to vote on different categories and then we all dig in and enjoy! We gave out the golden wisk for the top voted cake. A wisk from the dollar store spray painted gold. Kids loved it.(This message has been edited by tdk101)

We use scoutlander. It is free and meets our needs. It can be a little slow at times. Out troop is now using it too. We like that there is a public part of our site and also a private part to the site that only members can view. It has been a very valuable tool for us.

This may not be by the book but this is how our Pack handles camping: The Council camp we use for our fall campout has 3 single room cabins. In the 6 years I have been involved in scouts, we have always taken all three buildings so none of them are filled to capacity. This also lets the boys graduate from the big cabin (usually tiger and wolf) cabins (although everyone is welcome in any of the cabins) to the other cabins. Funny how it works that way and it has been my experience the newer scouts like the main cabin because that's where we serve the meals and the experienced parents like the

I am the new Cubmaster for an active pack and am looking to incorporate some new outdoor activies to our Scouting year. One of the activies is I was considering was Geocaching. I don't have any experience geocaching but it seemed like it might be an activity the boys might enjoy. Since I have not tried geocaching yet (its on my to-do list)my questions are: Has anyone done it at a cub level? Is locating one cache enough or would you need to plan for multiple caches? Would one GPS unit be sufficient or would it be better to break the boys up into small groups? Thanks for your inpu

My husband printed out all of the patrol patches so the boys could see them. We then let them pick their top 3 by secret ballot. We then tallied all the votes and the top 3 choices made it to the final vote. We made a voter box and a ballot and then we had an election. This all tied in nicely because we were doing it while the presidential election and campaigning was going on. The boys had alot of fun about learning how the process worked. They ended up choosing the dragon as their patrol emblem.

Thanks for the replies. This was will be his first MB and he was a little disappointed that he might have to wait to earn the archery MB since he has enjoyed sport this since CS Day Camp. After his meeting today, I re-read both the Archery MB book and several on-line worksheets including BSA and found no mention of the any age requirements or requirement it be done at a BS camp. The person who cited the age requirement stated it was based on safety. My understanding based on what I read: The requirements do allow a coupound bow option and it simply lists requirements includi

My son is 11 and would like to work on the archery merit badge. He enjoys archery and has his own compound bow. Is there an age requirement for this merit badge? I have looked at the requirements and don't see one. One of his friend's parents insists that they must be 14 and have to do it at a BSA camp. Thanks for your help.

This year we did an AOL ceremony and a crossover at the Blue & Gold. This was the first time we ever did this - traditionally our pack crossed over in June. But we had 5 scouts that earned AOL and wanted to join Boy Scouts now (my son included). We still have boys that will wait and crossover in June. We did this before dinner. Then we had dinner (pot luck) and voting on a cake decorating contest. Once dinner was over, we had some leaders who wanted to give out some awards to their dens and we also gave out Good Turn patches. For entertainment, we host Cub Scout Idol - the boys in

Our CSDC has a family picnic on Friday after the day ends. Each family brings their own picnic. Often what happens is some people in the den get together and buy pizza and share. Everyone gets a make your own sundae at the end - no extra fee. I guess they used to do burgers and hot dogs but it got to be too much to plan the food and cook. There is some time to walk around to the program areas during dinner if the parents want to. Then they start the awards and skits around a campfire.

Our B&G is a potluck dinner. This year we have some of our Webelos 2 earning their Arrow of Light and Crossing over before dinner. After dinner we have judging by the kids of a Cake Decorating Contest. The boys bring the cakes already decorated. The winners get a Golden Wisk Award. Some den leaders are presenting some awards to the boys also. The funniest part is we hold a Cub Scout Idol talent show. The boys sign up and peform. We have 3 judges and the winner gets the Golden Microphone (dollar store toy microphone). Kids love it. Its a really fun event.

Last year our pack gave all of our Scouts at our Blue & Gold tickets for a door prize. The prize was a back pack with a few scout items inside (a small 1st aid kit, whistle water bottle etc). We are in the final stages of planning this years B&G and are trying to come up with ideas for a give-a-way. We would like to do something a little differnt to keep it fresh. We have a limited budget and having trouble coming up with different items that the boys would appreciate and are practical won't break the bank. Has anyone done something similar at their B&G that they wouldn't min

We have not had regular committee meetings in the past but we want to change that. Besides the CC and the members, who else attends these meetings? Do leaders? Do parents? Thank you.

My sons are 4 years apart and the younger one has been attending Cub Scout events and meetings for about 3 years now. This year he is a Tiger and could not be more excited to finally be a cub scout. He is so proud to wear his own Cub Scout uniform. He was never excluded in events. He has gone on camping trips with the pack, he's gone camping with my older son's Webelos den, he has participated in all den activities. The boys are great with him. We offered to pay for the fun patches but the pack always picked up the cost for all siblings.

We held an election of a den patrol - it was right about the time of the Presidential election. We gave them all the patrol patch pictures and they were allowed to pick their favorite 3. We called this the primary election. Then we tallied up those votes and took the top 3 vote getters and made a ballot. We took a box and cut a hole in it and put up poster board to create a voting booth. After the election they counted the ballots. They loved this and it gave them a sense of what an election by secret ballot was. They are now the Dragon Patrol. We did this in two meetings. We had one