Use of Monthly Themes?

[reiguy]

I am taking over CM of our Pack and have served the last two years as asst. CM. Our 'tradition' is such that we really don't incorporate the monthly themes into our program planning. Each Den pretty much figures out its own agenda for the monthly Den meetings over the course of the year and the focus is heavy on advancement oriented activities. It is worth noting our Dens only meet twice a month. Thus less time for added activities or prep for the monthly Pack meeting as one might have if Dens meet 3 or 4 times a month. We run ten Pack meetings a year, August to May. Five of these are pretty much pre-planned - Aug we hold a recruitng kickoff and Rocket Launch at the Park, November - Bobcat ceremony, January - Arrow of Light ceremony, Feb - Blue and Gold, May - Carnival at the Park. The other five are then 'open' and typically our previous Cubmasters have filled those Pack meeting by inviting someone in to speak on a special topic -e.g. F16 pilot, Archaeologist, etc. They are not related to the themes. By all accounts our Pack is considered very successful - we have between 40 and 60 boys, recruit well, retain well, quality unit, summertime award etc. My question to the forum is that this mode of operation at the Pack meetings seems to make them less interactive from the Den involvement perspective. They become announcements, special speaker, award giving, etc. I am well aware of the many ways to incorporate Pack Pizzaz and plan to do so, but my Den Leaders resist the use of themes because it is 'added work' from their perspective. What we do now works, but I feel the Pack is missing some things by not really taking advantage of the theme concept. If I can get a few theme months incorporated in the year I think this will be an improvement - e.g. in September having our Model Railroaders come in and present and follow the pack meeting script in the program helps. Anyways I would appreciate hearing how extensively other packs incorporate themes - we all have a lot to cover each scouting year and only so much time. Thanks much!

[Tami the Mom]

Hello! Well, we only include monthly themes when we are having a celebration type meeting - B&G, crossover, sometimes holiday parties also use the theme. We've also seen some resistance by denleaders to matching their activities to the monthly theme. They plan their meetings around what their boys need to advance. That's ok, I suppose. We ask them to help their boys prepare a show & tell of what they've done this month to present at pack meetings. We decorate the room with theme ideas, serve theme-related snacks.

[ScoutNut]

As a Pack we do not always use the National themes. Sometimes we will switch themes, or use our own, it all depends on what we are doing for the month or what sounds good to us. Like your Pack, we have some events that we do each year. October is our Halloween party, December is our Christmas Pot-Luck dinner, January is PWD, & March is Showtime. These Pack meetings each have their own, built in theme. We also do other yearly scheduled Pack meetings that can have various themes. February's Blue & Gold, April's Cardboard Box Derby, & May's Graduation each use a different theme every year. Sometimes it is the National theme, sometimes it is different. This year our Box Derby theme was space and every den made a space vehicle of some sort. For Graduation we went with the bug theme & made paper cicadas, ate ants on a log & ticks on a toilet seat, & used a "cocoon" (my tent with 2 doors) for the boys to "evolve" to their next level.

 

Our Dens run pretty independently. Sometimes the den leaders will do theme related activities, but it is up to them. Most of the rank activities are done at home so the den meetings are not 100% requirements. They work on some rank, some electives, some Pack meeting prep, & some other things. Every month a den is the host for the Pack meeting so that den must work on their flag ceremony, gathering activity, & coordinate snacks. Bottom line is we do not push theme usage on the dens.

 

 

[Lisabob]

The pack we were part of seldom used the themes, and when we did, it tended to be far less structured than in the program helps. For example, we might decide to use a craft or a game, but not the whole monthly plan as laid out in the program guide. And we felt no compunction to use the themes in the months suggested either (with some common sense as a guide, of course - outdoor water themes in January tend not to be a great idea up here in the frozen tundra).

 

Like ScoutNut, our den leaders were free to choose themes or not, as they preferred. Exceptions tended to be for Blue & Gold (where we tried to have a common theme across dens for the month).

 

I do know some packs (typically larger ones) who use the themes religiously. If it works for them, that's great. But I think they are the exception rather than the norm. Also it helps if your Cub Scout Roundtable folks are working with the themes - demonstrating how to do the crafts, teaching the games/songs/skits, etc.. I've noticed that people are more likely to use those ideas from the program helps guide when they have had a chance to test-drive them first. This assumes anyone from your pack attends Roundtable!

[Lady_Leigh67]

For our new Pack, the monthly themes were a huge help for us. Plus, we went to Roundtable and got some really great ideas most of the time. Using the Program Helps just made it a no brainer for us, and took a lot of the stress off of planning each month. We are excited about some of the themes we have seen for next year and we already have incorporated a lot of ideas for them.

 

I think you find what works for your boys. But, it is fun to have everyone show off the monthly theme things that they have done during Pack Meetings.

[infoscouter]

The themes work well, when you're able to use them. They are not for everyone, though. The thing run the risk of losing is boy involvement in the pack meetings. If your dens aren't using the themese, then there is less for them to "do" as part of the pack meeting.

 

Pack meetings shouldn't just be boys and parents passively sitting, watching and being entertained. Pack meetings should *involve* the boys. Without the themes, then den leaders have to work harder to come up with skits, songs, demonstrations, etc.

 

Den leaders and parents like den meetings where they knock off a few requirements each week. It gets the parents off the hook for the advancement. It makes the den leader feel as if the meeting accomplshed something. But it doesn't prepare the Scouts to participate in the den meeting. That takes extra work on the den leaders part.

 

Use the themes as a way to give the Scouts something to DO at the meetings, even if it's just a couple games and a craft for a gathering activity. At least they'll be actively participating not passive.

[GopherJudy]

I used 5 of the monthly themes last year (2006-2007) when my boys were Wolves. I incorporated achievement/elective requirements when I could, we used the activity books & crafts from the den meeting in a box & I have even changed words to several songs for the boys to sing at pack nights! The boys love to sing & do skits & we would work on them at den meetings so they could sing & act at pack night. I would try & use songs & skits related to the theme. They had a blast! I pick & choose from the program helps book what I think would work the best & sometimes I get my own ideas! For BALOO Skies the boys made kites, it wasn't in the program helps but it was a Wolf Elective so it "fit in". I explain to the boys & parents what theme we're going to be working on. The boys love getting the monthly theme patches too! It's not difficult to incorporate the monthly themes in the den meetings, the Tiger DL, Bear DL & I (Wolf DL) used some of them last year.

 

 

For your pack night, the gathering activity could be from the monthly theme; the skits and/or songs that each den does could use the theme & a theme related activity. That is what we did last year & last year was the 1st time we did that; in previous years no theme was used & some of the dens had a skit or a song.

 

I have written some skits too; I did one for November's theme, Cubs in Shining Armor. The boys made knight helmets & shields, we practiced the skit & I was the Damsel in Distress!

I have changed the words of Monty Pythons "I'm a Lumberjack" to "I'm a Wolf Cub" & I changed the words of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to a song about insects for Mays theme.

 

I'm sure that there are ways to incorporate the themes into den meetings & pack meetings; even if it's just each den doing a skit and/or song that's theme related at pack meetings!

 

Judy

 

P.S. I hope that I've made sense as I was interupted several times & thoughts left my head!

 

 

[Jeffrey H]

We use the monthly themes for ideas, but we do not structure our Pack program around the monthly themes. Sometimes our Dens may use the monthly themes for their enjoyment and learning, but we do not use them formally at the Pack level. That said, we do encourage new Den Leaders to lean on the Program Helps for ideas to keep things running.

 

Keep a copy of the program helps handy, but don't be dependent on them. Remember, the Cub and Webelos Handbooks also provide a wealth of ideas.