Is there enough to do in 12 months?

[Enigmanupe]

Hello!

 

I am a beginner in leading a pack. My organization has recently chartered a new pack and I am taking the lead in starting a Den of Tiger Scouts. As I look through the Tiger Cub Handbook, I see that there are 5 sections which include activities that will help the tigers achieve their next bead (family, go see it, and den activity). From the look of things, the first five months are taken care of in those 5 chapters (assuming these scouts can earn all three achievements during the month). The question I have is what happens after those 5 months? If we're shooting for a 12 month program, how do we handle the next 7 months?

 

Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[msnowman]

Hi again.

 

This is a problem with have with some parents...as soon as the badge is earned we get the "Do we have to keep coming back now?" What I tell them is that the Badge is not the goal, just a means to an end. There are also tons of elective to do, beltloops to be earned, Bobcat that can be worked on once Tiger is earned, etc. There is the Cub Scout Outdoors award and Leave no Trace that can be earned, etc. In short, 12 months sometimes isn't enough time to do a full, well-rounded program.

 

Michelle - CM - P102

[Cubmaster-Fred]

I agree. There is so much to do and earn in 12 months. Don't forget that the Pack will have many things planned for the summer months to earn the summertime award.

 

Don't forget that during the year you will get new boys and you will have to repeat some of the Den and Go-see-it items.

 

And remember boys like to have fun, so if you went to the Police Station go to the Fire Department. Change it up. If you make it fun, like my wife did, It will take at least 2-3 months to give the boys all the knowledge they need to earn Bobcat.

 

And like it was stated, belt loops, belt loops, belt loops.

 

CMF

[lynncc]

get a copy of the program helps. Lots of great ideas with monthly themes to go by.

[Lynda J]

Not only will the pack have pack activities but your district will also have events and so will your council. Our district has at least one major event for Cubs each year and the council has Cub Fun Day. And Tiger Play Day. Though you are limited on camping your pack can have a family camping trip. I keep trying to remind leaders and parents it isn't how fast you get through the program it is how much the boys learn getting there. You don't have to only do the thinks in the book. YOu can do all kinds of other crafts and activities. There are several places you can order "Fun Patches" they cover all kinds of activities. Visit a fast food restautant. See what goes on behind the counter. CHeck with your local Home Depot about their kids Saturday. They can do all kinds of things there. YOu don't have to sit down and do the activites in the book in order and be limited to doing only those.

The most important thing is MAKE IT FUN, KEEP IT SAFE

[Enigmanupe]

Ok, I think I'm beginning to understand. Regardless of what you're working on, Tiger or Bobcat, you still have two den meetings, a go see it, and a pack meeting? Should every meeting be an opportunity for them to earn a bead or work closer to their next badge?

 

As we head into another year of tiger scouts, can you provide for me a general overview of what happens in your pack?

 

Ex. September to January we're working on Tiger Scout Badge. From February to May we concentrate on our other achievement badges. Do you mix it up? When would a normal scout reach Tiger status?

[msnowman]

Should every meeting be an oppurtunity to work towards their next badge? That depends on if they are having fun or not. Den meetings shouldn't be just about progress. Sometimes just having fun is nice too. One thing our guys have always enjoyed is a "Games" night. All we did was play various games, some board games (Chess, they didn't know it counted towards a beltloop), cooperative games (the human knot game), even active games (Mother may I?)

 

How things go in our Pack will differ from yours and everybody elses. We run a 12 month program, with one activity each in June, July and August. Our August thing is our welcome back to scouting for our existing boys and we traditionally have an ice cream social. In September den and pack meetings start again. With weather a factor, we try to do a lot of outdoorsy things between September and November before weather and temps push us inside. Our boys generally earn their rank by February or March, but this may not be the norm for all groups.

 

Beltloops and such are worked into the den meetings as it fits either the Program Helps or the leaders plans. So I guess yea, we mix up achievements with other "elective" parts of the program, thus why our boys don't finish their ranks until March or so.

 

Of course we also do school recruitment night during the school open house, have a holiday party near Christmas, our Pinewood Derby is January, Blue & Gold is February, AoL is usually March. By then the weather is better and we head back outside. In May we do a service project at one of the town parks and our May pack meeting is a show/recruiting of some sort. One year it was a Magic show put on by the Scouts, the next year we had a Magician for our show, this year was a Talent show....at which every single Scout presented something....they all took part. We end with a Bridging over and Cookout in June.

 

Best of luck with your fresh program.

 

Michelle - CM - P102

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Here are a few things that might help you: The first is the guide that you get from the Cub Fast Start site. It is a mini program helps for first den meetings for all levels.

 

http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/faststart/art/06-801.pdf

 

The second is a Tiger Den Meeting Planner form. It gives you directions for each part of a meeting and places to write out what you will be doing.

 

http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources/33221/34-13.pdf

 

Tiger Dens are different from all other Cub Scout Dens. Each boy is required to have an Adult Partner (parent) with him at all times. These adults should be included in everything the boy does. That means that if the boys are playing a game, the adults are right in there with them playing too. Another difference with Tigers is that a Tiger Den, although it does have a Den Leader, is run using Shared Leadership. Each Tiger Team takes turns putting together & running the den meetings & field trips. Depending on the number of Tigers you have this could be anything from a full month (or more) of meetings to only 1 or 2. The main thing is that the Tiger Den Leader is really more of a coordinator & resource.

 

 

[ScoutNut]

An overview of my Tiger Program & our Pack year:

 

Aug - Pack Committee solidifies Pack calendar for the year. Pack Activites include District Day Camp & Pack Picnic. New Scout registration day is held at end of Aug.

 

Sept - Den meetings start. Tigers work on earning their Totem, making their Tiger Scrapbook for activity 1D, & deciding which Tiger Team is doing what. First Pack meeting is a welcome back with a big Bobcat ceremony for all of the new Scouts & Wolves. Tigers receive Totems & all awards earned from June-Sept are awarded. Popcorn sale starts.

 

Oct - All dens, along with working towards rank, work on creating their spot in the Pack Haunted House. Pack meeting is a Halloween Party. Pack Haunted House is held on the Saturday closest to Halloween to raise food for the Food Pantry. All family members participate in the haunting.

 

Nov - Pack meeting depends on theme. We may do a movie night this year & show either Down & Derby (supposed to be released to DVD this Fall) or Follow Me Boys. Dens try to work on outside things while weather is nice.

 

Dec - Dens work on making ornaments for trees around the church along with regular stuff. Popcorn sale ends. Pack meeting is a holiday party with boys receiving their Pinewood Derby cars. Pack meeting ends with the Popcorn Cream Pie Toss by the top 10 sellers at the leaders of their choice.

 

Jan - Dens work on rank stuff. Pack meeting is Pinewood Derby race.

 

Feb - Scouts earning their religious medals are recognized at Scout Sunday mass. Pack meeting is the Blue & Gold banquet to celebrate 76 years of Cub Scouting. Boys who have finished their rank requirements are awarded rank. 5th grade Webelos recieve their AOL. Crossover ceremony is held for 5th grade Webelos going to Boy Scouts.

 

March - Dens work on creating their Cardboard Boxcar for rely race at Pack meeting.

 

April - Dens work on skits for Showtime Pack meeting.

 

May - Pack meeting is graduation ceremony. Hopefully this year it will be combined with a camping trip & include a campfire ceremony.

 

June - Pack Committee creates tenitive calendar for next year, securing meeting dates.

 

June, July, Aug - 1 or 2 Pack activites each summer month.

 

 

[Enigmanupe]

Let me just say how much of a valuable resource you guys are. THANK YOU for spelling some of that stuff out. (printing page)

[Cubmaster Jerry]

Alot of great ideas here for you! I will also add that you don't have to do every requirement in the first five months. Spread it out. Also, you can work on the electives while you work on the badge requirments. You just can't award them until the badge is awarded. This will help with the parents who may ask if they have to keep coming.

 

Also, don't forget Pack meeting events! Your Cubmaster may ask you to do a skit or song at a pack meeting. If he doesn't, ask him if you can. Depending on what you do, it could take you two meetings for the boys to learn the skit/song.

 

One other quick idea that goes along with making it fun. The Bobcat and other requirements that require memorization can be a little taxing for 1st graders to learn. Make a game of it rather than having them recite out of the book. This is great to do for all ranks.

 

Jerry

[madkins007]

Oh, boy! A chance to do my 'themes' speech!

 

Using themes is a GREAT help, but one that most young leaders don't quite get at first. Once you learn it, however, it will make a world of difference!

 

One day, one of my den leaders and I (the CC and ACM at the time) were talking about our son's upcoming birthdays. Since they are close together, we did them the same day.

 

The boys suggested a Star Wars birthday (this was just after Episode One came out). The brainstorming started. They could make Light Sabres out of foam pipe insulation. We could make popcorn balls and stick Froot Loops on them and call them 'training droids' after the ball that Luke fights learning to us the force. Ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate shell as Jedi Power Bars, learning some magic tricks to simulate Jedi mind powers...

 

Suddenly, the train jumped a track and the discussion became a 007 party! Then a WWII, then jets, then...

 

As the boys were making these gradiose plans, I pulled the DL over and told her that we were seeing themes in the making! In less than 10 minutes, these two boys had almost completely outlined several months of activities- with almost no repeats of things to do!

 

If you look at the Pack Meeting as being the actual party, and the meetings as the time to make the stuff, learn the tricks or skits, etc., you can see how easily you can use your den meeting time to have a lot of fun, do a lot of different things, visit a lot of different places (for the Star Wars theme, the local science museum, air force museum, or movie/tv studio are natual choices), and do a lot of other stuff.

 

Now- the TRICK is that you look at what you are doing, and at the list of requirements, loops, electives, etc. and see what fits where. Tweak a few things if necessary for a better fit.

 

Does the den meeting or month have to fit the theme 100% of the time? Heck no! Don't pass up on other things just because of the theme, and don't overwork the theme to the point of boredom.

 

 

 

Tigers is a bit different because the book activities sort of act as themes themselves, but there is no reason to limit things to just those!

 

Fill 12 months?

 

Once you figure out the magic of good themes, the problem will be what to cut out to keep it realistic!

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Enigmanupe - Are you getting the idea why it is a much better idea to recruit boys at all levels, and have a full Pack, rather than have a Pack of JUST Tigers? It just isn't as much FUN!

 

Something to keep in mind about earning rank achievements - 1/3 of all Tiger achievements (the ones marked Family) are to be done at home with the family. With Wolf & Bear 99% of the rank achievements should be done at home. Sometimes in Tigers a Tiger Team will do some family achievements in den meetings. In Wolf & Bear, most den leaders pick some achievements that they do during den meetings & let the families know that they are responsible for the rest.

 

What this means is that when/if a boy earns his rank badge is pretty much up to the parents. We usually shoot for February to have all rank achievements finished and most of the boys make it. However, some boys, & their families, are very motivated and will finish by Dec or Jan. Others can't seem to manage with out being lead by the nose, nagged, & pretty much have it dragged out of them. (How much effort does it REALLY take to walk around your house with your son & check for fire hazards or go outside and look at/talk about the weather? Course the really hard part is dating & signing the darn book!) These boys could take right up until the last Pack meeting of the school year in May or June to finally earn their rank. Some might not earn it at all.

 

So, don't think that 5 months to earn rank is a done deal. It is not. Be flexable, creative & make sure the boys are having fun. Recognize a boy for his achievements at the very next Pack meeting. This means that there should be boys receiving recognition for something at EACH Pack meeting.

 

BTW - The adults, especially the leaders, should be having fun too!

 

[stlscouter]

Whe I read the original post I didn't know you meant something besides selling popcorn-Scouting for Food, Friends of Scouting, Blue and Gold banquet, Day camp, and of course the 6 months of getting ready for PINEWOOD DERBY.

 

Just kidding.