What makes the best pack meeting ever, real or imagined.

[noname]

Real life is that our pack is a one man show but I can imagine a great meeting all the same. What makes a pack meeting great? Entertainment, projects, competitions? Please let us know.

[packsaddle]

Snakes. Lots of them. Ones they can handle and wear like neckties. Ones that scare mom and little sister. Ones that bluff and hiss and play dead. Ones that look really big. Ones that let the cubs pretend THEY are snakes and make up contests about snake things. Snake-shaped treats. Snakes on flags. Games that involve slithering. Snake puppets that the boys can use to make up stories about snake things. Let their imaginations run wild.

[noname]

Snakes? I love it!thanks.

[raisinemright]

One year, I came across some souvineirs from a guy I met who races every year in the Iditarod. So, for our pack meeting, we hald a Pack Scoutitarod. We zip tied a Klondike sled made from a Flexible Flyer to a mechanics creeper, made a lead line from some rope and made teams of scouts. They scout dogs had to pull the mucher around the gym. The musher had to use verbal musher signals to lead the dogs around the course. The musher had to stop at a checkpoint and feed his dogs a cracker before feeding himself. Then move on for a timed lap.

 

It was so over the top I was certain we'd never do better. I was right.

[ScoutNut]

What makes the best Pack meeting ever?

 

That's easy! Having FUN!

 

More hands on kid fun, less sitting on hands listening to adults talk.

[SeattlePioneer]

Personally, I like to have a fun den competition at each pack meeting. Boys love competitions!

 

A variation on raisinemright's sled race is the sleigh race we did at the December pack meeting. During the month, dens designed and made their own "sleigh" usually from a big paper box and some rope.

 

They cut down and decorated the box. At the pack meeting, we had a relay race with one Scout in the sleigh being pulled around a race course, and then a new boy in the box until everyone had a turn being pulled around the race course.

 

Another competition I like was race setting up tents. Each den got a self supporting tent and the race was to see which den could set up the tent the fastest, get everyone inside, zip up the tent and give their den cheer first!

 

I'm helping with a Boy Scout recruiting night December 10th, and I'm going to suggest that as an activity for the night, with each new boys at the meeting put in charge of a patrol to lead them in setting up a tent they've never seen before.

 

Of course, there's a second part to the race: STRIKING the tent and getting it put back into the bag.

 

 

[SSScout]

 

One of the best Pack meetings we ever had, I have to thank my dad for. Understand, now, this is my son's Pack and I am the CM, and my dad has been dead and gone many years.

Among his "gear" and tools, I inherited a block and tackle. About 300 feet of 5/8 manila rope and two double pulley blocks. Old, wood sheave blocks. With this set up, properly done, a fifty pound pull can hoist 200 pounds. I've used it many times for pulling trees over and moving rocks and other projects.

So we set up a tug of war, and then rig the blocks and have the boys pull the parents on a rug. And then have the boys "run the rope" as sailors would have done. And then have the smallest Tiger out pull three dads. And then we did the tug of peace, where the boys sit down in a circle, the rope is passed around them and tied together, then, cooperatively, they stand up, all leaning back on the rope circle.

That, and the Hawaiin luau Blue and Gold we had with an erupting volcanoe (PM for those details!) and Cub Leaders in lava lavas.

[5yearscouter]

My absolute favorite was the year we had a CM or ACM from each of the 5 rank levels. So we put on a big celebration of America Blue and gold. Just normal burgers and hot dogs american picnic style. Kids came up and sang the abc's of america song and my kid puked and went home early. (that part was NOT THE BEST as my dh took him home, and I washed off my feet (luckily I had on a green scout skort) and wore a borrowed pair of flip flops for the rest of the night.

 

anyway.

the cubmasters got together with some parents and surprised me by hiding behind the curtain at the school once the kids started singing, and then they pulled back the curtain and lip synced to Celebration.

 

And then the fun started.

 

then CM came out on stage dressed as Abe Lincoln with a black leather coat and did a 4 months and many weeks ago a cub scout and his parent joined our pack and called the tigers up on stage.

 

so then Uncle Sam ACM with a huge long beard(naturally) and a big red and blue top hat came on stage and said his "I want YOU" thing to call up the wolves on stage.

 

And we had the statue of liberty ACM with his long blonde hair dressed in a green sheet and torch came out and gave out the bear awards.

 

Betsy ross ACM woman 5th grade teacher who had the costume came out and did the webelos badges

 

and then they all did some patriotic thingy and gave out the arrow of light awards (crossove was the next week with campfire)

 

The amount of laughing, joking, good quality fun, how many pictures were taken, videos(which I never got a copy of)

and guess what EVERYBODY PAID ATTENTION!!!

 

I have a few others like that.

The Luau with the cubmaster in a coconut bra and grass skirt(and shirt) dancing the hula. The volcano launched the rank awards out a bit of a high velocity but then the kids started running around everywhere laughing their heads off.

 

oh the chinese new year pack meeting. I made a fake chinese dragon from directions on familyfun.com to make a crocodile. I had it sitting on stage on a bar stool backed up to the curtain. we did some stuff and then my older son a boy scout snuck up on stage and got into the chinese dragon and started dancing around with one of his friends behind him underneath the red plastic tablecloth. we had hidden awards in the mouth of the dragon and the dragon danced around and then went up to the cubmaster and spit awards out. it was kind of silly but went over great!

 

so I'd say silly unexpectedness.

 

This year's blue and gold is a pirate theme. wonder if award cannons will be shot out of a fake pirate ship on stage while the cubmaster is dressed as captain jack sparrow?

 

I do have a lot of experience with just plain simple things that went over, but I loved the cubmasters I've had that wanted to dress up and be silly. The first one to do that started out simple, he wore his bathrobe and a crown to the knights in shining armor pack meeting and dubbed all the couts with one of the scout laws (johnny the brave etc) with a fake wooden sword as he gave out their awards.

 

he went and got his boat for the raingutter regatta pack meeting and it was a "full size" wearable cardboard boat with pretend motor on the back and wore a captain's hat. the kids were on the edges of their seats waiting to see what was goin to happen next month.

 

[briantshore]

Indoor Snowball Fight. Kids - vs - Adults

 

I work in the retail buisness. Our store saves plastic shrink wrap that comes with boxes of merchadise. I got the ok from the store manager to use some of this materal. During lunch hour for 2 weeks I made plastic snowballs and sealed them with packing tape that I bought. My goal was 400 snowballs, but I think I ended up with around 300. Our church has a gym, and we split them between the kids and the adults and let them have fun. No parents were allowed to miss out on the fun. I have them in my basement to be used again next year.

 

[briantshore]

Indoor Snowball Fight. Kids - vs - Adults

 

I work in the retail buisness. Our store saves plastic shrink wrap that comes with boxes of merchadise. I got the ok from the store manager to use some of this materal. During lunch hour for 2 weeks I made plastic snowballs and sealed them with packing tape that I bought. My goal was 400 snowballs, but I think I ended up with around 300. Our church has a gym, and we split them between the kids and the adults and let them have fun. No parents were allowed to miss out on the fun. I have them in my basement to be used again next year.

 

[briantshore]

Indoor Snowball Fight. Kids - vs - Adults

 

I work in the retail buisness. Our store saves plastic shrink wrap that comes with boxes of merchadise. I got the ok from the store manager to use some of this materal. During lunch hour for 2 weeks I made plastic snowballs and sealed them with packing tape that I bought. My goal was 400 snowballs, but I think I ended up with around 300. Our church has a gym, and we split them between the kids and the adults and let them have fun. No parents were allowed to miss out on the fun. I have them in my basement to be used again next year.