christineka

I think someone mentioned recycling my son's unfinished wood projects. I think that may work- I believe we have enough wood from what was supposed to be a tool box for each boy to make a set of tangrams. I like tangrams because we could talk about the history and the boys could make the different shapes out of their set.

For frames, look at door casing and other trim. Even 1x2 furring strips. Use a plastic miter box and back saw (lowes had a saw and box kit for under $10). The 1x2 is like a dollar for an 8 foot piece.

I looked into making frames from trim. It was really expensive- unless I did my calculations incorrectly.

Do you happen to have a Freecycle group in your area? I post there sometimes when I need something for scouts that most people would throw away (ie wood scraps).

http://www.freecycle.org/

I am the admin of the freecycle group. I've got leftover 2 x 4 pieces offered so far.

Skill Awards came about with the Improved Scouting Program of the 1970s, aka "Urban Scouting," as it took the " OUTING out of ScOUTING," and was a major fiasco. From 1972 to 1979, it was possible to get Eagle Scout with out camping. William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt had to come out of retirement and write your husband's handbook in order to save Scouting.

 

The concept behind the Skill Awards was that the scout mastered certain set of skills on one topic and received immediate recognition. IMHO, Skill Awards are the only they got right.

 

As for the book not being useful today, I completely DISAGREE (emphasis not shouting). While the advancement sections may be useless today, the book has more info on traditional Scoutcraft than the current handbook. In fact I had to copy sections of the book to teach IOLS b/c the current book is inadequate to useless on some topics.

I have a really old girl scout handbook I picked up at a yard sale. It's full of useful information- out of doors, and indoors stuff. I am a bit of a hoarder... I have my old girl scout handbook (also has useful info in it), my brother's webelos book, and my husband's bear book. (From reading the webelos' book and talking to my dad (old scouter), I finally figured out why the old guy at webelos' camp said the boys were earning most of outdoorsman at his station, but in reality only marked off one requirement for the badge.)

One idea is rubber band shooter. Glue a clothespin on. Do you have den dues ? The dens don't get any pack money for projects in my pack either. We just come up with a cost per scout for a project and the parents pony up. We made squirrel release boxes for the dept of conservation. Cost for cedar boards and screws was about $15 per scout.

Rubber band shooter sounds like a good boy thing. I cannot imagine that gluing the clothespin to the wood is going to work for long. Any ideas on how to attach it so that it will last a while? Screw it on?

Let me think about it.

we don't usually spend much on craftsman things. I'd ask the parents if they have any scrap wood you could use. I'd ask my pastor and the people at church if they have any scrap wood things. Definitely ask the people who may come in an make a project with the boys for their recommendations for the cheapest, scrap wood projects using whatever they have laying around.

 

go to home depot, get paint stir sticks, usually free if you just get a few at a time. make the mini shelving unit someone linked to with rulers. have them cut, sand, glue, paint with whatever leftover glue or paint you can find.

also you can use the paint stir sticks sanded down really well, use shoe polish for stain drill a hole in one end and put a shoe lace thru and string up beads or buttons or whatever that you can find to show what they did for the year. look for the pattern for the old cous stick from the old webelos leader book.

the little blocks make one den worths giant jenga game (familyfun or whatever it's called now has directions), you can also google KUUB it's a swedish lawn bowling game. we made a den set out of scrap wood pieces including a scrap dowel someone had from a closet bar they replaced. have the guys sand them, paint them, etc.

have them make their own career arrows, see if the cc would pay for those. check a local bow shop and see if they will help you out--a local bow shop sells us the arrows for $6 but you could have the boys do something to pay for the arrows plain with just the feathers, lash on a fake rock type arrowhead, and then work with them to pinstripe paint colors on it as they earn badges thru the year.

have them cut the wood nicely, sand it, drill two holes, stick in 2 dowels (or pencils), paint it all up nicely. the you loop a rubber band over the two dowels and take a plastic spoon (or make a little spoon like thing out of wood pieces) and you put the spoon in the rubber bands and twist it round and round, put a small ball in the spoon and let go and it's a catapult. I'd count it for craftsman and/or engineer depending on how craft like it is.

similarly cut and shape a base piece of wood, drill a hole in the center and put in a long dowel, sand, paint, etc and it's a neckerchief slide holder.

have them try whittling a shape out of the softer of the wood you have to use as a neckerchief.

there are tons and tons of ideas that don't cost much of anything.

check with home depot/lowes, sometimes they do a birdhouse thing that doesn't cost anything and they provide the kits. sometimes joannes or michaels will do something cheap or free as well. also ask if they have any scraps that are too small to sell that could be used by cubs

 

I would consider asking your primary president or other stake leader if there is any way around this.

 

For metal working, get cans all the same size, freeze water in them, and using a big nail and a hammer, have the boys punch holes to make a pattern. use scrap candes (or tell them they ahve to provide their own candle), and a pipe cleaner or a piece of clothes hanger for a hanger for their lantern.

You can make hardening clay and have them make a project--neckerchief slide or an arrowhead to go on their career arrow, or something to hang from their cous stick. more than just cut something out of clay and let it dry. I'd count it for artist if they do a good enough job,to show the overlap between art and craftsman projects.

 

there are a bunch of pow wow books that have tons of ideas for craftsman type things that don't involve a lot of cost. consider a check online at baloos bugle and boy scout trail and other sites like that.

Primary presidency has told us that they want nothing more to do with scouts, so not to bug them.

 

I'm looking into stuff. The boys need to learn about tool safety, do the wooden projects, and make a frame. They've already completed projects out of other materials. I checked the leader how-to book. I guess we could make frames from craft sticks. Kinda overused, but we could do it.

Builfing block sets. Giant Jenga game. Model ships. Shoe stands.

I like that giant jenga set. I will see if I can get enough, long enough scraps rounded up.

One idea is rubber band shooter. Glue a clothespin on. Do you have den dues ? The dens don't get any pack money for projects in my pack either. We just come up with a cost per scout for a project and the parents pony up. We made squirrel release boxes for the dept of conservation. Cost for cedar boards and screws was about $15 per scout.

committee member pointed out that the boys need not earn every badge, so she recommending just skipping it. Her husband had volunteered to help, but she says he's too busy. I have other helpers lined up, though.

One idea is rubber band shooter. Glue a clothespin on. Do you have den dues ? The dens don't get any pack money for projects in my pack either. We just come up with a cost per scout for a project and the parents pony up. We made squirrel release boxes for the dept of conservation. Cost for cedar boards and screws was about $15 per scout.

The cc member told me to supply plans to the families and tell them craftsman was an at-home badge. Seeing as how I have to get guys to come in to help with this badge, it's definitely not going to work as an at-home badge for my kid. We have pieces to past wood projects still sitting in our house, not assembled.

One idea is rubber band shooter. Glue a clothespin on. Do you have den dues ? The dens don't get any pack money for projects in my pack either. We just come up with a cost per scout for a project and the parents pony up. We made squirrel release boxes for the dept of conservation. Cost for cedar boards and screws was about $15 per scout.

LDS scouting can require no dues and no materials or anything. It's all paid for by the church. (The members do pay tithing to the church, then it is disbursed.)

 

So these projects don't have to be anything difficult? The description made it sound like they shouldn't be as easy as the wolf projects. We could easily cut these into triangles and call them door stops. Maybe we could cut the block down a little before attaching the clothespin and have them whittle a groove in the end for the rubber band?

As for Artist, remember that Art covers a wide range of subjects. In cub Scouts for our art belt loop we did cupcake decorating, mixing the primary colored frostings to see what colors you could make with them. A Cake Decorator is an Artist, they just make edible art. A chef is also an artist and can probably explain how artistry is part of the work of a good chef (presentation, color, texture etc).

Great info! I hadn't thought of mixing frosting. That would be much less expensive than mixing acrylic paint. (We did acrylics last time and I had a heart attack every time a boy squeezed paint out of the tube. I bought the expensive paint for my family and let the cubs use it because I knew the cost would never be approved by the cub committee.) I know the grocery store bakery has tours for preschool kids. I will call and see if they'd allow cub scouts.

The one-member cub committee has told me that I am not allowed to spend any money to buy materials for craftsman. (I'm really irked at this because I know there are ample funds, which will not go with us to 2014. If we don't spend them, they will disappear and we will be given a lower budget allowance in 2014. We have spent $0 on den meetings to this point, $80 on blue and gold, pinewood derby and camp were paid 100% by a fundraiser. Budget is $1000. Not sure how much awards cost, but I would be shocked if we were anywhere close to having spent our budget.)

 

Anyway, I have no money, but I have a newly finished basement and kept the ends of the wood that was used to frame my house. The pieces are 8-18 inches long. I don't know what thickness they really are, but I'm sure they are whatever is standard size for framing. My little kids use them to build forts and houses on the porch, but I am willing to donate them to scouting. What can the boys make out of them?

I was reading my husband's scout book (published 1979) and came across skill awards, which are like cub scout belt loops. I gather that they were discontinued. Did anything replace them? I guess this book isn't much use for scouting today. I will have to suck it up and buy a new one...

h- and I found out about leader-specific training on the district webpage, It's at the end of the month. I've been doing cub scouts for over a year and a half. I didn't know they did in person training any more. I sent an email in to the cub committee member to see if our pack could pay the $5 for me to attend. (And possibly another $20 for the other 4 leaders.) I went to one of those training meetings 12 years ago. My superior told me about it. I assumed news of such a training would go through the channels and get to all leaders. Apparently not.

Oh, I'm looking forward to boy scouts, when I'm not the leader for my kid any more. It'll be great to send him off to other people.

 

I will have to look through merit badges again. (I flipped through my fil's books while visiting this summer and noted that aside from music, everything seemed difficult to earn.) I sent an email off to some guy in the district. If he's not the right guy, I'm sure he can direct me to the right one.

 

The boy, whom I taught bugle had a mother, who insisted he earn every merit badge. She read that bugling was the hardest, so started him early. (He hasn't earned it yet- he won't practice and you can't learn to bugle without daily practice.) I imagine it isn't very common for boys to earn- especially in my town.

Thanks! How do I find contact info for my district? I'm not too worried about my son earning the bugling merit badge too soon. He's never played a brass instrument and the bugle calls are not easy at all. He will have to practice daily for a couple years to play them.

 

N/m, I googled and the info I needed was easily found.

In 6 months, my son becomes a boy scout. I'm really excited about the bugling merit badge. (I had the opportunity to help a boy learn the bugle a couple years ago.) Maybe my son will start and find out that the bugle's too hard, but I've bought the bugle anyway and intend to teach all my children (including the girls) to play. Then I though, maybe I could be the bugling merit badge counselor. I know how to play I googled about being a merit badge counselor. There's an application- and I read about the duties. I think I could do those, but I'm a woman. Are women allowed to be merit badge counselors- or only men? What if when my son gets to be a boy scout, there isn't a bugling merit badge counselor in my town? Do I have to take him far away to one? (I live in area that is not known for being particularly musical.)

I talked to the parents this past February. I was told nothing more than the fact that the boy really likes treats. The problem with treats is that I don't agree with them. Not that I don't like treats, but that I don't think we need sugary goodies every week. I've brought healthy snacks before- but that was back when we had 3 leaders taking turns running the various parts of den meeting. It's been me every week, all den meeting long and I am not doing treats as well. Sometimes another leader thinks to bring treats and sometimes she doesn't.

Today we went to a water treatment facility that uses microorganisms to treat the water to make it irrigation compliant water. It was fascinating! Next we've got wooden crafts to make and I still need to find an artist willing to talk to the boys. In asking around, I have possibly found a woodworker. Would someone, who does woodworking count as an artist?

I am a webelos' leader, formerly bears. I've had the same boys for almost 2 years. There is a boy in the pack, who has asperger's and adhd. I understand that his rude behavior is linked. Today he was

poking fun at me in a very rude way. (What his uncle said about me and he was repeating.) He has

been rude to visitors that I've gotten to come help out. (Asked a boy scout helper, who's not white if he

was adopted- right in the middle of the presentation.) He insists upon treats every meeting, complains

loudly if we don't have them, and complains before he know whether we have them or not. He also

comes up with inappropriate actions for charades or scenarios, when having discussions. If he has a

negative feeling toward someone, it's very negative and very voiced. I don't do well at disciplining

other people's kids. Should I mention this to the parents? Is there nothing I should do about it at

scouts?

Thanks everyone! The boy, as stated is a Bear and cannot return to wolf (unless it's convenient to do such- such as earning his rank, but whatever)

Christina:

Coming late to this topic.

What's your position within the LDS Pack? I know the mother is a Committee Memeber of the LDS Pack.

You need to check with the DE for the Charter's on both Units. Since the LDS pays for all Charters, how is the Parents paying for the non-LDS Pack?

 

Once a rank is submitted to Council, the Scout is that Rank. So there really isn't any turning back in that area. Yes, the LDS has it's process. (Not debating that at all)

 

It's going to get weird quick when he gets to the 11 Year Old program. Since he is still within the Primary but can be in Boy Scouts. The 11 YO's basically kept seperate from the Troop in the LDS world. This is not the case within the non-LDS.

 

As for the Leadership part within the Primary, you might need to go to the Bishop and explain that these people are not living up to their Calling. My one suggestion is to see if there are Young Men who are Eagle's and not Married yet to see if they want to come help out in the Primary. Some of them just might love doing this. It's giving back to Scouts and their Ward.

I have asked the scout master if there were any boy scouts willing to help. There are none. The boy scout organization didn't have very good leadership, until a few months ago. Our ward has issues and not just with scouts.

I asked my husband what he made for craftsman. He said he made a tangram set. That sounds like something economical and something boys would like. (At least my boy would.)

There also are these for the woodworking adverse - http://pinterest.com/pin/398216792021348964/ Our Wal-Mart had the wooden rulers for 25 cents a piece and I think you could do this with $1 worth of rulers for each boy.

Rulers! What a great idea! Thanks.

Have you ever found home depot to give you a discount if you tell them you are buying the supplies for scouts? My totals for the 3 projects amount to $250 and that's for 7 of each. (One to make ahead, one to use as model along the way, and 5 for the 5 boys.)

 

Actually, I read the book again and the "challenging" part is for the non-wood items. Jacob's ladders sounds economical. The cub boys is only $30. Frames are expensive. Is there a cheaper way to do that?