mskohl

Well, my first time to run the meeting is done. I think it went pretty well. We only had about 30 min of Den time after the popcorn and field trip talk for the whole pack. Here's basically what we did: We had 2 new boys and 3 absent - total of 7 at the meeting: We introduced the new boys (they all know each other from school, but I'm still working on names) Showed and talked about the cub scout sign, salute, and motto. Said the promise again and talked about what WEBELOS means. A few boys initiated the handshake and taught the others (I was proud). Then, I started my little lesson on space. We talked about the Universe, Galaxy and our's being the Milky Way, The Sun is a star, what a star is, that an old star is a Red Giant and then becomes a white dwarf. Then I had them each try and name a planet. Some could and some couldn't. I gave them each a headband with the name of the planet and it's picture. They got to decorate it for a few minutes with space and star stickers, markers, crayons, etc. When they were done, I taped the ends together around their heads. I talked to them about the order of the planets and told them the sentence "My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" (even though Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore, they all thought it was). I took them outside (with the buddy system) to the playground where my husband had helped me by drawing the solar system. We had a big circle in the center for the sun, then each planet had it's ring. We had the asteroid belt, and my little 2 year old running in circles was a comet (yeah, didn't plan that, but it worked out lol). The boys found their planet and stood on their ring. We talked about how long a year was on earth (The whole time they were in Kindergarten and from one Christmas to the next). Then they got to run! I sent home a couple of puzzle pages and a sketch of the solar system. My goals were to introduce them to these terms and get the families talking about space so that for the field trip, they will have a little background knowledge. I will provide opportunity and tools to help them understand these concepts. And, as long as they 'do their best' and participate, I think we'll get the astronomy belt loop. Maybe we'll build a model of the solar system and knock out an elective too. I had a couple of seconds to talk to the parents (I think I'll start an email newsletter because it's really hard to get time at a meeting) and found out that one dad is an Eagle Scout, but he just has too much on his plate right now to be the leader. He volunteered to organize the 'Let's Go Outdoors' achievement. Another mom offered to do the 'Where I live', and I'll do the 'Keeping myself healthy and Safe' with the Eagle dad and my husband helping since they're both firemen. That just leaves 'How I tell it' and 'Making my family Special'. I think I'll approach parent individually. With 7 othe boys, surely 2 parents will give that time.

thanks for the replies. Things are getting a little clearer. How does this sound for October. I decided that since October is fire safty/prevention month and our F.D. does a big deal, that I'd try and line up the Keeping Myself Healthy and Safe Achievement. We have 3 meetings and our Pack meeting. Week 1 meeting - make a fire extinguisher (pringles can and baking soda), try on a helmet, talk about different types of fire, how to get out, and practice 911. Family - Practice Fire Drill/Escape Plan, check smoke detectors Week 2 Go See It- Tour the Fire Station (all the kids get to see the smoke trailer and other educational aspects in the previous weeks through the schools.)so the firemen said they'd get a little more hands on and expand a little more. Week 3 Make our own helmets and practice skit - a song about fireman and at the end, they get to squirt a little water at the audience. Electives: #27 Emergency!, #28 Smoke Detectors Is this okay, or do I need to have the dental and food pyramid stuff? Also, last week the cubmaster gave us a handout with the requirements for the bobcat. I hope the others have been working on it too. All our dens meet at the same place, so we open the meetings as a pack and say the Pledge of Allegience and the Cub Scout Promise. Hopefully the boys are getting it - they seem to pick it up faster than the adults. I anticipate everyone will earn the totem if not the bobcat by our pack meeting at the end of the month. Is this a reasonable expectation? thanks again and I appreciate those links.

Hey all. Well, I'm a brad new Tiger Cub Den Leader, and I really don't have a clue about what's going on. I was a girl scout in my younger days and that just doesn't translate well to tiger cubs. Plus, I'm having a hard time remembering the weekly meetings. So, the only tiger cub meetings I've been to were our first which was a get together/outdoor social, and the second consisted of the kids and adults sitting around looking at each other, until the cubmaster lead us on a walk. So, I get my book and my son gets all his stuff this week, I think. So, in the meantime, I've just done a lot of internet searching. I've found the Helps, but our pack has something else planned for this month and all the dens are kinda doing their own thing. Tell me what you think of this and I'll follow it with a couple of questions. Please forgive me if it's already answered in the handbook, I wouldn't know since I don't get mine for another day or two. The Pack decided to take a trip this month (it will be our 4th time meeting together) to the Air and Space Museum in a city about an hour away. It is mostly geared toward older visitors, but my 6 year old went last year and thought it was cool even though he didn't understand everything. So, I thought for our next meeting (my first for being the leader) we'd talk about stars and the solar system. We can talk about what a star is and that a group of them are a constellation. That a long time ago people imagined them as dot-to-dots and made them into pictures. Then, for a craft, they'll take cookie cutters and dip them in glue and stamp them on paper, then we'll glitter it up for a constellation. Another thing I'm thinking of is, teaching them a few facts about the planets and then letting them decorate headbands that are labeled with each of the planets and their pictures then taking the boys outside and letting them line up in order from the sun and let them run their orbits. What do you think? Q: The 5 themes for the Tiger Cub patch (Making my family special, where I live, how I tell it, keeping myself healthy and safe, and Let's go Outdoors)do these have to be followed to a T?, In order? Q: Do the Tigers get to earn belt loops or patches too or do we only get the achievement and elective beads? Thanks in advance.