I LOVE having my scouts make neckerchief slides. For one thing, slides are always getting lost, especially the ones you buy from the Scout store.
For the first aid kit in the film canister, I punched 2 holes in the side of the canister (fairly close together, but far enough that they didn't soon become one hole). We threaded a pipe cleaner (chenille stems?) through the holes, then around the scarf and twisted. For the front, I used small round white stickers and had the boys use a red marker to make a red cross before sticking it on the canister. Another item we put inside - a small piece of paper with emergency phone numbers. It could also include emergency medical info - allergies, medications, etc.
I like to make slides to go along with the monthly theme. My first ideas came from the program helps book (that one was using popsicle sticks to make a piano keyboard). When we studied our home state, I cut the outline of our state from Fun Foam and let the boys decorate. I thought of putting a star where our city is and our Pack # and city name. The boys are much more creative than I am and had lots of fun with the sequins and markers.... After the glue dried on the front, I attached pipe cleaners to the back.
At my last den meeting, I took the pictures of the 75th anniversary award patches and reduced them on the copier. Then we traced the shape onto heavy cardboard, cut it out, then used glitter glue to put a 75 in the middle, and....whatever those creative boys wanted around it. After the glitter glue was dry, I glued a piece of 1/2" pipe to the back (I'm anxious to see if I like the 1/2" pipe or the pipe cleaners better).
A couple of years ago, around Pinewood Derby time, I found a candy mold for race cars. I filled the mold with plaster of paris, then stood up a circular key ring in the plaster of paris (the first ones I bought were too big). When dry, the boys painted the front. After the paint dried, I sprayed with a clear coat to add shine and keep the water-based paints from running. I recently purchased a Christmas candy mold from the clearance rack. This idea originally came from my Wolf/Bear Den Leader specific training, where the trainer passed out Fall items (leaves, pumpkins, corn-cobs, etc.).
At a Round Table breakout session, a leader had found flexible plastic key chains in the shape of our state (an advertisement for a business). She removed the ring, then had the boys glue one of our state quarters to the solid back side.
Often, this can be a quick craft project to break the monotony of those den meetings that involve too much talking/discussion and not enough hands-on activities.
Hope you have fun with these ideas!
