Need ideas for Cub Scout recruiting booth....

[WestCoastScouter 10]

At the kid festival coming up next month at the local park, we are going to have a recruitment booth sponsered by the District.

 

We want some activity for boys that will walk up to do.... Pinewood Derby Track is probably tooooo long... per park staff.

 

Any other ideas to give prospective boys something to do, to encourage parents to sign them up ??

 

 

[Pack212Scouter 10]

Raingutter Regatta works well. Have 1, 2 or 3 sets of tracks with some premade boats to race. They are only 8-10' long. Something else that is fun is 2-litter water rockets. If it's in a park, that is doable, but the area for launch needs to be about 60' or so to allow for the return.

[fgoodwin 23]

Maybe you could get a nearby troop to setup a monkey bridge? We always had one at the Montgomery County Fair and it was very popular, especially with younger kids.

[insanescouter 10]

if you have the contacts get a scout or two made up to look like they are hurt ... kids seem attracted to the looks of it ... don't do anything to extreme or may scare people away ...

 

something we have done at the boy scout level is setting up a small campsite and provide scout lead tours...

 

we also once had a contact for a soft serve ice cream machine (we live in the hot desert) that sort of worked .. had long lines but well to be honest no extra sign ups ...

 

you may want to try some craft like make first aid kids out of the old 35mm film containers

 

any way just a few ideas I am tossing out ... not sure if any are worth 2 cents though

 

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

http://twitter.com/insanescouter

 

Helping leaders one resource at a time....

[SSScout 1616]

fgoodwin: It still is popular, we set up in three weeks in Gburg...

However, if the park folks say a PWD is "too long", I dare say a good Rope Bridge will also be "too long", but no harm in asking.

 

Free bags of popcorn are always poular. Ask your local mutiplex for donation... Chances are they use already popped corn and you can get it by the huge bagful.

Knot tying, tug o' war, Scout stickers to hand out, mini Boys' Life mags to hand out.

Check with your Cub Scout Day Camp folks for local ideas.

Don't forget some Cubs to assist the table.

 

Have fun! Make it infectious!

[ScoutMomof5 10]

From our last recruitment, I found out that the boys like to get reallllllly involved. We had different crafts for each level. Tiger - mask, Wolfs - bead necklace, Bears - Dream Cather, Webelos - First Aid Kits. Plus the one thing we had for everyone was making "No Bake Fudge". That was a big hit. Of all the boys who showed up for the evening, only one didn't return,

[AlFansome 10]

 

I asked my soon-to-be 5th grader and he said, "Alka-Selzter rockets! Total!" (I guess "totally" is an '80s thing!)

 

I was thinking the same thing. Get a bunch of Fuji 35mm film canisters (the clear kind, not the black/grey ones). Fill 1/4 to 1/3 with water. Add a 1/2 tab of Alka Selzter. Put on cap. Flip over and put on the ground. Wait 30 seconds (or less).

 

To make it more personalized, give the boys some construction paper and tape and they can add a rocket cone on top and some fins and decorations to make it look like a real rocket. Tell them that the Alka-Seltzer is the "fuel" and play up the whole blast-off thing, height record, etc...

 

I did this with my son's den when I was Tiger DL and this past year his Webelos I den did it for the incoming Tiger recruits. Works great, all ages enjoy it, and it's cheap and easy and FUN!

 

Other ideas...

 

- Catapults made from 1/2 gallon milk carton, plastic spoon, pencil and a rubber band. (Should be able to find on the web)

 

- Paper airplane contests