The Good Stuff

[WDL Mom]

Just returned from Webelos Woods this past weekend. The kids had a good time. They got to do a little first aid, some cooking, a little orientering and a leather project. I thought it was well run and age appropriate.

 

When I spoke to another Webelos leader afterwards he was a bit disappointed. He agreed that the program was fine, but, he wanted his boys to see "what boy scouts do". He wanted the Webelos to see the COPE course, the rifle range, the canoes etc. With Boy Scouts engaged in activities that the Webelos are too young to do. Not necessarily to participate, but to see what is coming down the road if they stick it out.

 

I see his point. The most excited Webelos I have ever seen were a group a year ago that got to actually participate in Klondike with a Boy Scout troop... they were pumped.

 

What is your opinion... keep it simple, fun and age appropriate? Show them some of the "good stuff", or get them involved in some of the "good stuff"?

[msnowman]

If it was a Webeloree than I think it should be kept age appropriate. Showing them boys having fun doing stuff they want to do but aren't old enough yet, at an event specifically for their age is akin to setting out a plate of brownies and telling them they can't have one.

(Does her best Snidely Whiplash impression WAAHAHAHA!)

 

They can see the cool stuff they will get to do by visiting a troop at a camporee or klondike. But at an event held just for them they should be able to participate in all that is going on. As an aside to that - showing them the program areas as part of a tour or telling them while on the BB range "over there is where you'll be able to do Rifle and Shotgun merit badges as a Boy Scout" is great....but taunting them w/ slightly older boys doing those things is a bit unfair (in my opinion). Again - its because the event was specifically for Webelos that I feel this way.

 

YiS

Michelle

[Lisabob]

 

To my mind, expecting a bunch of boys to watch other boys have fun all weekend without allowing them to participate is not a good plan and will quickly lead to boredom and frustration, not to mention 1,000x"how come WE can't do that too???". On the other hand, allowing scaled-back participation for webelos in a boy scout event (or running parallel programs and then letting them camp together in the evening) takes a great deal more planning to make it work smoothly, but it can be done. And maybe having some boy scouts come to a webelos-oriented event like a webelos-ree/webelos wood and do a demo could also be a good compromise, but I'd keep this feature short. 10 & 11 y.o. boys get antsy when asked to watch, not do.

 

Lisa'bob

[Trevorum]

Our troop is hosting the district's Webelos Woods in a couple of weeks. We've asked each troop to select a scout skill to demonstrate to the webelos. During the day, each den will rotate through about a half dozen such skill demos. We're not calling them events. They will be stuff that Cubs don't get to do like water purification (pumps, tablets, boiling, etc), alternative cooking (solar, hot rock, etc), backwoods first aid (splints, stretchers, etc.) Importantly, the cubs will have a chance to actually DO some of this stuff. We hope these skills will be cool and adventurous enough to whet the appetite of the propspective recruits.