Summertime Award and Activities

[Sparkie 12]

A few other things i'm thinking about....

 

Do you give the boys segments or patches (larger) for the activities they have done? The boys love getting these! I ask because a couple years ago i encountered a pack that gave them out ONCE a year! Well what good is that? i can't imagine why they would give them out only once a year! Our boys get like 5-6 each month minimum (if they attend den meetings and pack meetings). This also encourages participation.

 

Another thing you may want to try next year, is to have the boys who participated last summer (meaning this summer) make a little poster of all the fun things they did and talk about it. I do this at our April or May meeting. The boys love talking about what they did, they get all excited, and the other boys ask lots of questions. I doubled our day camp participation the first year.

 

Glad i could help, have a great summer!

 

Sparkie

[Laurie 10]

This is fun Sparkie--the idea sharing

 

We do not give much out to the boys, and that is due to finances. They do get advancements during the school year, but during the summer, pack meetings must stop due to so few leading and attending. Our boys received day camp patches from camp--loved it and loved the patch. I asked the CM if we could now afford (after our recent fundraiser ) to do something special to recognize our boys. They did an exceptionally good job, and I believe they should be acknowledged before the pack. He agreed, and he'd like to have custom patches done up as well. Additionally, I'd like to have the boys who attended summer camp and ran the first fundraiser open up the first regular pack meeting. Again, CM agrees. I like the poster idea. In thinking ahead, I'm very much in favor of using the reading patches, one or two sports patches, and the family activity book. The boys all have required summer reading, and if they share some info on their books with the dens/packs, we'd be reinforcing what school is doing. They'd get a cool patch too, and our boys love patches. The sports--most are involved in some sort of sport already. The BSA Physical Fitness might be a good idea, or perhaps focusing on a couple of the Sports and Academics belt loops. Summer seems perfect for this, and to me, it is very doable and adds a tangible object to the activity. I'd like to see the boys claim bragging rights all they can. Reading is a big deal to me because of 6 boys in one den, only 1 did not need help reading his Bear book. More thoughts? Anyone else too? TIA!!