Pack Activities and Meetings

[willingandable]

Our pack is getting ready to plan the new year and I would love to hear what other packs are doing. How often does your pack meet? What kind of activities or outings does your pack do? What do you do at your pack meetings? Some of our pack meetings are so boring. I would love any suggestions and ideas that you have.

[Pack212Scouter]

We are also planning our next calendar year now. Our Pack has Den meetings every Monday night. Once a month we cancel Den meetings for a Pack meeting. Our activities include a fall campout (usually Cub-O-Ree in October), A Webelos winter camp (right after New Years), an early spring campout (March) at Scout-O-Rama, and a late spring campout (our own in May). Usually around early October we do a Raingutter Regatta with a camp-in. Pinewood Derby is early Feb. We do an AOL & ceremony in late Feb with crossover in early March. We moved our Blue & Gold to April and use it as an awards dinner for everyone. Interspersed are some cleanup service projects, and usually help with a Habitat for Humanity homebuild in October. We are also volunteering to help with two ALS walk/runs. As for summer activities, we try to plan 1 or two a month. Usually a bike clinic/ride & picnic; a push cart derby; rock climbing at a commercial facility; and sometimes a skating or bowling party.

[msnowman]

Meetings are boring, you sure have that right. One thing we've started doing (since I read it on a helpful message board) is to stop calling our Pack Meetings "meetings". If you start thinking of them in a fun way, eventually you will plan them in a fun way. For example - our March Pack meeting was focused on getting the parents to sign their little darlings up for camp. So, on the Pack calendar it became "March Camping Madness" - I set up a "campsite" complete w/ tent, campfire (electric), chairs, camping gear, etc. It got the boys excited and asking questions. They all wanted to see the inside of the tent, etc.

 

I know changing the name doesn't sound like a big deal, but it will force you to think about the event differently. May is our "Pack Magic and Talent Show" - what things do you get at a show? Well we will probably have popcorn, maybe tickets, etc. Meetings are dull even for adults - but shows? Those are fun and entertaining.

 

To answer your other questions:

Our Pack gets together once a month for the (activity formerly known as) Pack Meeting. I'm not a big fan of rigidly sticking to the theme of the month, but I use them as they fit for us. We meet regularly from September to June.

 

However, we do also conduct 1 or 2 Pack wide activities in July and August for National Summertime Pack Award. Those are usually quite well attended. Things we have done include Summer resident camp as a Pack, appearing in local parades and (the biggest hit) a Fishing Derby. Towards the end of August, just before they go back to school we usually have a "Goodbye Summer" Ice cream social (bring a friend and a topping to share).

 

During the winter we usually go sledding, although this year instead of sledding at the church we went to a local tubing hill for 3 hours of tubing. That was a great hit.

 

Other things we do include Council Spooktacular, Scouting for Food, a New Years Eve Family Pizza/Movie night (5pm-8pm, no midnights for us). The Webelos groups usually attend Webeloree in September, and spring camporee in May. In June we do our bridging over/graduation/whatever you choose to call it. For 3 years this has been a big cookout activity. This year it is going to be an early evening campfire event.

 

Hope this helps and good luck with your planning.

 

YiS

Michelle

[DanKroh]

Our pack meets once a month (a Friday night) and has another activity about every other month (sometimes more often).

 

We have some traditional pack meetings that have the same theme every year:

Dec is some form of outside entertainment (magician, animal show, planetarium visit, etc.)

Feb is Blue & Gold

March is Pinewood

May is a family cookout

June is a campfire graduation

 

For our other meetings, we frequently use the themes suggested by national, even if we rearrange the order of them a bit.

 

One of my Woodbadge ticket items this year has been to increase the level of participation by the boys at pack meetings. We've had every den do *something* at each meeting, be it a song, a skit, a presentation. Having lots of games to burn off energy is a good thing as well.

 

The activities outside the pack meetings might be a family bowling night, a day hike, a local water park, etc. We usually have one "overnighter" during the school year; past trips have been to the Museum of Science, the Battleship Massachusetts, and an indoor rockclimbing facility. We also usually do a winter cabin "freeze-out" camping trip. During the summer, we do at least one event a month; in July, a hike or other outdoor event, and in August, a weekend camping trip.

[ManyHats]

We're still planning this summer. Here's what we did/doing this year.

Aug - Roundup & town parade

Sept - Field day

Oct - Halloween party

Nov - Campout & BS cooked Turkey dinner over camp fire.

Dec - Christmas party and parade

Jan - Mini golf, lazer tag and games

Feb - Cake bake/auction

March - Pinewood Derby

April - Blue & Gold graduation

May - Luau

June - campout & Day camp

July - possibly cave trip

Aug - Minor league baseball game

[John-in-KC]

Don't ask me why, I don't understand. The Boy Scout Annual Roundtable Guide is a bin item, but the Cub Scout RT Guide is a pay item. Sigh.

 

Here is a great but non-BSA resource. The themes are indeed from the National program.

 

http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Training/Roundtable/Handouts/

 

All this goes back to a personal adage: "Knowledge IS power... but only when it's shared."

 

Have fun with your Packs and Dens!

[msnowman]

Something I forgot that is hugely popular (though it may be a regional thing) is our Christmas Cookie Walk.

 

Our December activity is usually "show based" - this past year the Webelos I & II put on a "slightly twisted version of Twas the Night Before Christmas". But one of the things we do afterwards is a cookie walk.

 

If you are unfamiliar with a cookie walk it is pretty fun. First you ask each family in the Pack to bake/buy/otherwise provide a couple of dozen cookies (type is unimportant). You give each child a decorated coffee cans (usually wrapped in holiday paper) and a baggie or two. Using the baggie as their "plastic gloves", they walk down the line of cookies and fill their can as they desire.

 

At lot of churches use that idea as a fundraiser at their Christmas sales - with the cans being $5.00 each. We do it just because its fun. After the cans are filled the children (we include siblings in this) visit with each other and with Santa while enjoying some punch.

 

YiS

Michelle

[Lisabob]

I can't agree more with msnowman's comments about meetings vs. shows! We actually changed packs after our 1st year in cub scouts because, while the den meetings were awesome, the pack meetings bored even me to tears! My son hated them and didn't want to go. Our whole den moved to a pack that had "activities" instead of meetings. They went places, brought in interesting people, involved each den in the meeting, etc..

 

Some of the things that stick in my mind (it has been 4 years since my son was a cub) as having been big successes:

**zoo trip with docents who did animal show&tells (followed by a pack overnighter at the zoo that night)

**"extreme egg drop" contest (who could protect their airborne raw egg best - you can get as fancy or simple with this as you want, but be sure to lay out some ground rules first - lots of info on web about this. We launched our "egg rockets" using some of those rubbery stretchy bands that come with nerf target practice toys)

**any outdoor activities at local/state parks, including short hikes/scavenger hunts and picnic food/games

**fishing derby

**anything that includes a camp fire

**hands-on science fair (prepare for a mess but can be loads of fun)

 

Hope this helps a bit!