slides

[richwebelomom]

Our pack is thinking of having our own unique slides instead of buying new ones every year. Where does one find such a thing? I can get patches, kerchiefs, caps, shirts; but no slides.

[scoutldr]

Welcome to the forum, rich! The best slides are those that are home-made! There are many possibilities...leather, wood, rope, even plaster of paris (think candy molds). My den (circa 1985) made slides out of 35mm film canisters ... containing a mini-firstaid kit. Your scout shop may have some leather slide kits. There are some that require whittling, but Cubs are probably too young for that. You can check out eBay for some ideas...search on "neckerchief slide" and "woggle".

[Stosh]

Our honor patrol makes their own Turk's Head woggles. It takes about 10 minutes and when they lose it, they can replace with another 2' piece of parachute cord in about 10 mintues. The nice thing about it is one doesn't have to rubber band the neckerchief, tie knots in it an do all sorts of strange things to keep from losing the slide. If they lose it, just make a new one. White cord is the color of their patrol woggle that goes with their patrol neckerchief.

[ScoutNut]

Your Scout Shop sells slide kits. They have numerous leather and wood carving kits that need only have a ring of some sort hot glued to the back. There is not to much in the way of ready made slides other than the official ones.

 

I vote on the side of homemade slides. I make slides for all of the boys for their May graduation. Usually I will use tree limb slices and burn in something. I have done the level picture (Wolf, Bear, W, arrow of light), paw prints, initials, etc. I have also used "woodies" from the local craft store & colored them with sharpies. Little wood miniatures used for doll houses work well at times as will any small object. Magnets can be fun too, just take off the magnet & glue on a loop.

 

You could have each den create their own den slide.

 

If you do a search on necker slides or woggles you should find a lot of ideas. Also check out sites for Girl Scout SWAPS. These are meant to be pins, but change the pin back for a loop & you have a slide!

 

Have FUN!

[richwebelomom]

I appreciate the quick replies from fellow scouters. I love to make homemade slides too, but I don't think I am going to get the other leaders to do this, even with their den. I could be wrong, that has happened once or twice in my lifetime. so I am thinking that I will be stuck with the job of making these for the 50 odd boys we have. No problem; I will fit that in between the 60 hours I work at my real paying job and the "one hour a week" I spend at my cub job. I have searched the internet and many scouting, kerchief, patch, hat and pin sites with no luck except the stock slides and collector's slides.

I think I will throw this back in the committee's lap and see what they come up with.

Thanks for all of your help.

[dan]

Many years ago when I was a den leader, we made many slides during den meetings. Walnut shells make great slides, split them half epoxy a piece of PCV or PVC in it, give it to the scouts and have them paint them, they make great turtles with pieces of butter tubs cut out for legs and heads! Cheap hot wheel cars glued to PCV is great for pinewood. I found a bunch of small frogs at a dollar store, expoyed them to PVC the scouts loved them.

I know it does not help, but making slides is a great den activity.

During a meeting we also made a slide holder, to hold all of the slides.

[anarchist]

hold on richwebelomom...

 

In addition to the difficult ones the scout stuff people have some nice LEATHER slides. Simple laced together "cones" of cow hide. These in many cases are packaged in den size project packs(groups of eight).

 

You can then decide if you want to get a small leather tooling kit for the pack and each den "stamp out" patterns, which is a hoot or perhaps paint or "stain" the leather or just lace the things up and use them au naturel...I carry five of them in my glove box for "lending" to our boys at special events (flag cerimonies, picture ops, service projects) when their slides have gone missing.

 

just a thought

Anarchist

[ScoutNut]

If you don't think the den leaders would buy into this as a den activity, consider using it as a gathering activity for a Pack meeting.

 

We did the film canister first aid slides this way. Find something that fits the theme of your Pack meeting & have adults man the hot glue gun or epoxy. Fun foam works well for slides also.

 

BTW - If you end up doing all of the slides yourself, make the slide a simple one (ie-small wood disc from craft shop w/Pack # & boy initials written with perm sharpie, or a sml BSA sticker, & hot glue a pipe cleaner loop to back). A simple slide should not take all that long to make. Give yourself a long lead time, involve other family members, & do a few each night. I have a full time job, work with my Tigers, wear various other Pack & District hats, & still find the time to do 35-45 slides each May.

 

 

[scoutldr]

"An adult should never do what a Scout can do for himself."

 

- Baden Powell

 

I think you are missing a great opportunity for the scouts to make their own memories. I have hanging on my kitchen wall the Corkboard/blackboard that I made as a Bear (circa 1963). My Mom had it in her kitchen until she passed in 1995...now I have it. It's not much, but I still have it and remember the day(s) we made them in Mrs. Weigandt's garage.

[Stosh]

Here's the whole picture.

 

Webelos are the transition years from Cubs to Boys. If during these two important years they are continued to be "cared for" and never given the opportunity to do it on their own, they will miss out on one of the most important aspects of the Webelos program. The gears shift and the adult leadership begins the process of the boys taking leadership opportunities and the fate of their own decisions and actions into their own hands. If a boy makes a lousy slide, so what, at least he made it. Anytime something gets handed to them without any personal investment it will be of lesser value to the boy. If on the other hand an Eagle Scout stands up at his Court of Honor wearing the slide he made as a Webelos, there will be many people at that event who will notice and appreciate it as much as the Eagle.

 

I had a boy lose a hand-tied Turk's Head woggle on a day hike on a campout. He was upset. I handed him another piece of rope and told him to just make another. Later that evening I notice he had a woggle holding his neckerchief once more, but I also noticed the rope was not the one I had given him. He had gone back and searched the entire hike trail until he found the original. Never underestimate the value of one's own hands. The lesson you are teaching is not slide making, it is memory making. :^)

 

Stosh

[gwd-scouter]

Well said, jblake. My boys, too, have custom slides they made while they were still in Cubs and wear them once in a while.

 

richwebelosmon: why would your entire pack have to have identical customized slides? As others have said, this a great project to do within den meetings regardless of rank. If a particular den is not interested in making custom slides, so what? Your pack probably has custom T-shirts which would certainly make all the boys stand out as one unit more than identical neckerchief slides would.

 

The Dens could make this a project toward your end of the year pack meeting when all the boys are promoted up to their next year. The Wolf Den could make slides that will reflect either what they did as a Wolf or what they look forward to as a Bear. Then the slide could be presented at your Pack's graduation Pack meeting.

 

Seems to me that would have a lot more meaning to the boys than something generic that's handed out to everyone.

 

Unless you really want to do this yourself for all the boys in your pack, save your energy.

[local1400]

I have several of the old plastic Magnusson slides that the kids love. I am not too handy with carving-- well, I may be too OCD and can't stand it if one side does not perfectly match the other. Next thing you knoe I've got a toothpick! Does anyone have any of those old plastic slides unpainted and unbroken? PM me if you do and are willing to part with them. I especially want the frying pan, totem pole, arrowhead, and boot tread. Neal slides are nice, but are too collectible to wear.

[Lisabob]

Slides are fun and can be really easy/cheap. A hot glue gun and a little imagination are really about all you need. If you need starter ideas:

 

*check out the monthly program helps for cub leaders,

*or check Baloo's Bugle online here (I found 599 hits related to slides: http://www.usscouts.org/GoScouting/index.asp

*or google them.

 

I am in agreement with various other posters on two fronts though:

 

1) Don't feel like YOU need to do this - get the boys (in your den) involved. They'll enjoy it more than you might think.

 

2) So what if the other dens don't do it. Maybe, just maybe, your den can "lead the way" and some of the other boys will start asking their own den leaders if they can do it too. If not, too bad - not your problem.

 

 

[richwebelomom]

Hey guys and gals. If there's one thing I know, scouters always have lots to say on anything to do with scouting.

I was asked by our committee to find slides that could be purchased for the pack, so we would not have to purchase new ones every year for each new rank. The idea is that we give them to the boys as a graduation gift. So that is why I was looking for premade but "cool" ones and asked for your input. I too like the homemade ones, and we have made them for our den.

Herein lies the problem: We wanted to give the same slide to all of the boys as a gift from the pack. There aren't really too many places (I only found one besides the scout shop) to chose from. Local places don't make them either.

If we have the boys make their own, then we can't give them unless we give them the raw materials. I don't have a problem with that. Other people might.

On the other hand, maybe this is something that could help to bring some unity to the pack.

We are unfortunately going through a time when we beg for help and no one comes forward. WE have only webelos leaders and one wolf leader coming to leaders meetings. Not everyone is trained, and no on seems to care about anything beyond their own den. I sent an email out to all the leaders regarding this issue and have gotten only one response.

Sorry for venting, but I feel I need to explain the way things are in our pack, and why I asked the question in the first place. I know this is going to open up a whole 'nother flow of responses, which is not my intention.

[Lisabob]

Ah ok, so that's a different dynamic. So then, maybe get together with one or two other parents who are willing to help you out (don't need to be den leaders - draft a parent from each of several dens if you can) and make some slides together. In an hour or two you can be done as long as you pick a reasonably simple design.

 

I think if I were in a position to sell the committee on this, I'd go in with a couple of examples to show them. Remember KISMIF (keep it simple, make it fun). Maybe once they see that slides can be easy, fun, and cheap to make, they'll be less resistant. Because you're right, it isn't easy to find them pre-made except for the standard issue slides that the scout shop sells.