ScoutLass 10 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I'm working on our summer program. We have June and August covered, with our year-end picnic and our August campout. For July, I was thinking of a "nature day" in a local park that has hiking trails, gardens and a picnic area. I'm thinking of a 4 or 5 hours day with both activities and hiking. Probably a bring your own brownbag lunch sort of thing. I need a couple of inexpensive crafts and activities that appeal to all the den ages. Anyone have any nature-themed craft or game ideas to share? Hoping to get about 15 to 20 boys and siblings to show up. Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Why not call the local park system office and volunteer to do a conservation project???? Not sure the age of your boys, but they will appreciate tearing out weeds or planting trees much more than some sort of craft project. How about fishing derby, nature scavenger hunt, Hikes are good but most little guys are only good for a mile or two at best. Why not some free time in the woods???? Bring a lawn chair and let the boys enjoy the woods. Our boys love it, flipping over logs and looking for salamanders, and lizards.....bugs and slugs...... You don't have to plan every second. Link to post Share on other sites
Scoutfish 16 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Our Tigers had a combination nature trail hike / fishing event combination event at a local municiple park. They built 3 bird houses and mounted them to 4 X 4 posts at a previous den meeting and on the day of the park outing, they took turns with post hole diggers and a level and tamping dirt back in. All they did before hand was contact the park supervisor and explain what they wanted to do, and the morning of the event, the park supervisor went out and pick 3 spots scattered around the park and put a neon orange X on the ground to show where to put the birdhouses. So, it was [pretty much a full day event with hiking, fishing, lessons in ecology, community service project as well as a woodcraft project all built into one. They also cooked cheseburgers and hot dogs. THis was just the Tiger dens, but it could easily be adapted for all ranks of the pack. Link to post Share on other sites
ScoutLass 10 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Great ideas! We already do a couple of pack and den conservation projects each year. Unfortunately, this year a large number of our boys can't make summer day camp because of other obligations, so to make it up to them we are doing the nature day as sort of a one-day day camp. We aren't scheduling every minute, but want one game and one craft. I'm thinking of combining the game with the hike, and making it a scavenger hunt hike. Encourage the boys to actually stop and look around instead of racing each other back to the trail head! There will be unstructured time around a couple structured activities, much like a campout. I'm thinking of ending the day with a short campfire program and roasted marshmallows. I'll admit, I have an ulterior motive. We are finally getting a few more families to join us on our campouts, but we still have some holdouts. The common refrain seems to be "camping would be fun if it wasn't so boring. You can only look at so many trees!" I'm hoping a day trip in the woods will encourage a few more families to attend the overnight and two-night events. Link to post Share on other sites
Scoutfish 16 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 There is a hiking activity...who's name suddenly and totally escapes me for some reason...that will keep them interested and wanting to hike as much as they can. Give all the scouts a small notepad and a pencil or pen. List 4 or 5 random colors and ask the scouts to write down everything they see while hiking that is that color. For example: Red : Newt, lizard, salamander, Japanese Maple tree leaf, holly tree berries, wild flower, etc... Yellow: Wasp, Honeysuckle flower, Finch Blue: Wildflower, Bluejay, ...and so on. Or write the alphabet vertically, and they write down things they see that start with the same letter. For example: A: Apple tree B: beetle C: Cicadia D: dragonfly E: Earthworm and so on. Give a ribbon to the scout who finds the most or weirdest stuff It's like an academic scavenger hunt...but I cannot remember what it is called right now to save my life! Link to post Share on other sites
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