Webelos and belt loops

[Austinole]

I plan on recognizing individuals by the award they earned by doing the BL requirements if they've already earned the BL once.

[Austinole]

Hopefully, we can do the extra work to earn the pin.

[ZScout5]

Only award BL the first time they earn it. The second time as a den leader my husband knew to leave some BLs for Webelos year.

 

Try to do some of the non BL requirements for the Webelos pins.

 

At a pack meeting, have the whole den talk about the activities they did in their den meetings this month. Not "we did x BL".

 

My council is now allowing districts to invite Bear scouts to their April and May Webelos Overnights. The Bears will not be Webelos until June 1, so they cannot earn the Webelos pins. However, I think they are being told to submit the pins as earned after the council promotes all scouts the first weekend in June.

[Scoutfish]

My pack will award any scout any beltloop they have earned once...for that rank year. But if they do it agin next year...depends on the activity.

 

If a scout plays baseball, as a Tiger, then a Wolf, and plays it again as a Bear or Webelos, we will award him with it again 1 time each of the following rank years.

 

Here's why: t-ball, coach pitch, player pitch. The level of skill and what the scout does and learns each year increases just like the scouting ranks.

 

Same with fishing. For some of our scouts, the first time they go fishing( say as a Tiger) daddy puts a piece of bait on the hook, and casts the line for them, then hands them the rod. If somethin g bites, daddy might even reel it in for them.

 

As a Webelos we watch the boy tie his own rigs, snell his own hook, bait the hook, pick a spot and cast to that spot and work the line ( if jigging) or tend the line if just sitting and waiting. We see him reel the fish and even adjust the drag on the reel. Then watch his bring the fish in....by himself.

 

Kinda makes you wish there were different levels of beltloops for the same type of beltloop.

 

Of course, the D

l's have alot of discretion on the beltloops.

[5yearscouter]

"5year - While belt loops are required for some Webelos Activity Badges, the only Badge that is required for a Webelos to earn, that requires the earning of a belt loop, is Citizen. All others are optional Badges, or optional requirements. "

 

I understand that Citizen is the only required webelos activity pin that is required for Webelos badge or AOL.

 

Of course the AOL requires 8 other badges in varying areas so it is likely that a boy will complete another activity pin that includes a belt loop as a requirement or as an "easy" option.

 

I recommend that a Webelos den leader try to introduce each of the 20 activity pins to their den, so boys with different interests all have a chance to shine. The sports fanatics can work on those 4 belt loops and the nerds that love science can sport the science belt loop as part of scientist. It keeps den meetings more interesting if there is always something new or different going on, not just pencil whipping the book to check off 8 badges and be done.

 

Of course, Den leaders don't complete all requirements of all the badges, leaving lots of room for each boy to pick and choose the badge they are interested in enough to complete on their own or a badge the boys didn't think they'd like, they all clamor for the den leader to help them complete. Like communicator they were all "do we have to" cause it seemed to them to be more school work, and then they started doing secret codes and morse code back and forth and they turned it into kind of a spy game and wandered off into other areas of electronic communication.

 

 

We try to give a well rounded introductory education, so to speak, in all the webelos activity pin subjects to help them be ready for boy scouting. Helps if they've gone with their den and studied signs of wildlife in naturalist, they can more easily find the 10 animals when they are working on that achievement in boy scouting; they've worked on the map and compass belt loop/pin under traveler, so they are not as intimidated when it's time to orient a map and use a compass as a boy scout; they've worked on aquanaut so the swim test isn't such a scary thing as a boy scout first time jumping in the pool with all the eyes on them at summer camp.

 

[5yearscouter]

As for Bears going to Webelos day camp type thing before they are Webelos...

 

I will suspect that no matter what activity pins they do at that camp, they will be a bit rushed, and not quite completed. As a going into webelos den leader, I would treat it as an introduction to the Webelos activity pins, and an introduction to being Webelos. I would note everything they do there, but not plan on "signing off" on any particular thing in anyones books.

 

Once the event is over, and the boys actually start doing webelos, I might sign stuff off that was done at that time. I would go thru the requirements and make my plan for the year of which activity pins to do in what order. When we are working on a particular activity pin, if some boy comes to me and says I did this at that camp, and I know and watched them do it with some measure of understanding or ability at that event (I expect webelos to do most of the time, not just attempt to do) then I'd sign that part of the achievement for them. But for many things we are likely to do that particular thing again, especially since we are bound to get more kids in our den at August roundup and unless it's an optional activity pin we'd have to go back and review it anyway for the new guys.

 

I use it as a way to reinforce to the scouts now that most skills in life are not just one time and done, eh? But I wouldn't be cranky about it, and I wouldn't deny anyone anything, and I'd make it fun and do it a different way if we are repeating it if at all possible so they'd never really notice I made them do it 2 times.

[momof2cubs]

Our district holds Webelos Woods in late April, and the bears attend. They are allowed to earn the Outdoorsman pin too. I assume that since it is a district event, and district allows it, it's not an issue with council.