Games for Small Dens

[momofcandj]

I have a den of 4 Webelos I. I spoke to the Webelos II leader and he does not want to combine dens. So that option is out. It seems I rarely have all 4 boys at a meeting due to sports and other things. I need some new or different ideas for fun, active games. The boys have about had it with the various relay/ running type games. They do like them but want some more variety. We have a nice inside and outside area to play in. Just most things I see are for larger groups. Anything for 2 to 4 boys is good. A lot of times I have just 2 boys and thats really hard to come up with new and exciting things.

[gcan]

i have a den of 2 Web 1's, lol. We usually meet with the Web 2's (as that is my son's den and i'm supposed to be the assist. for them, lol). But on occasion, we meet with maybe my son as an extra 3rd boy. We actually have a lot of fun and get a lot more accomplished then at the larger meeting!

 

We meet in a HS classroom, so we have access to the chalkboards- the boys all get to be up there together and sometimes 'race' to get something on the board. I can keep thier attention longer because when they are taking turns, each boy only has 2 kids to wait before it's his turn again (for making up part of a story for showman, writing on the board for Fitness saftey rules, ect).

 

And they tend to do some pretty elaborate projects when 2 or 3 boys are combining efforts! Instead of making small craftsman projects, the boys are eager to tackle a few big ones like building shelves, and maybe even the downhill derby 'launch'.

 

And hey, it's still recruiting time! maybe you will pull in an extra kid or two this fall!

[clydesdale115]

Do you have a Den Chief? It might be good to hook up with a troop and see if you can get a Boy Scout to come down as your DC. They usually have good ideas for games and such, and it would add an extra warm body to your team :-)

 

Check out the Cub Program Helps - current and old ones. We didn't usually follow the monthly theme as Webs but there are plenty of game ideas in there you could probably fit into your Activity Badges. My general plan was one high energy/one low energy activity or one indoor/one outdoor activity each meeting.

 

Sometimes just changing things up can provide the interest you need. Instead of trying to come up with a "sport" activity, perhaps just hold your entire den meeting outside. Or have the boys set-up a tent in the room and hold your meeting sitting inside the tent. Maybe you could have your den meeting at one of the Scout's home and include backyard play time - they'll make up their own fun!

 

Or how about this: Include den time for your boys to visit a younger den (Tigers? Wolves?) and let your den teach them a game. A Tiger or Wolf DL would probably jump at the chance to have a group of Webelos come lead an activity!

 

clyde

 

 

 

 

 

[Novice_Cubmaster]

Hi momofcandj,

 

Ok -you asked the Web2 DL about combining dens & got turned down.

 

Assuming that:

A) the Web2 den isn't already huge

B) your 4 Web1's aren't troublemakers

C) you'll stick around as an ADL if the dens combine

go put your case to your Cubmaster.

 

A den of 4, that often has only 2 at a den meeting, is going to be hard to sustain. If combining dens increases the odds of keeping your 4 in scouts, then you have a compelling argument that may get support from the rest of the pack leaders.

 

 

NC

[gwd-scouter]

If the Webs II Den doesn't want to combine for entire meetings, how about suggesting that they join you in a game at the end of the meetings? Their Den vs. yours. One week your den could be responsible for coming up with the game, they plan the next.

 

We used to play a game that worked out well with a small number of boys. Using a ping pong ball, set your boys evenly around a round table. The boys sit resting their chins on the table. Then the object is to blow the ping pong ball around trying to keep it in the middle. If you use a rectangular table, you can set up goals on both ends and the boys, in teams, try to score goals.

 

Getting a Den Chief to help out is a great idea.

[printman31]

Mom,

I was wondering if you bothered to plan your den meetings around the schedule of the sports activities. Another option would be to team up with the Bear den instead of the Weblos II den. Your Weblos can be a benefit to the Bears just as you thought the Weblos II den can benefit your den. Ultimately it would be better to team up with the Weblos II but that's probably not going to happen.

[momofcandj]

The Web 2 only have 3 scouts but they have finished the Webelos badge and Arrow of Light, so they are just doing activity badges that the boys want while waiting for the cross over. My Webelos just started so they need to do all the basic first year stuff. Im not really sure why they didn't want to combine as we would have swapped to their meeting time, but whatever.

 

The bears have about 8 scouts. There were only 2 last year so we really had a great recruiting this year for that age, however we had those 2 in our den as we had a split bear/ wolf den. Those 2 scouts made it really difficult and my scouts really don't want to be paired up with them for anything. They never wanted to do anything active or anything that seemed like learning, well if you throw those 2 things out the window, there isn't much left in scouting...lol.

 

I did ask about a den chief but none of the boy scouts are trained to do that. I had one that I thought was interested enough to do the training but he never followed through.

 

The wolf leader might be interested though. Right now I have a Wolf and a Webelos 1 myself, so my Webelos 1 usually helps out with the games.

 

I do try to go around sport schedules. But the problem is that sometimes a family decides on the spur of the moment going out to dinner is more important, or the other kid has something come up and they go to that, or just a bunch of things like that. I've offered to switch nights, but everyone claims the current night and time are great for them.

 

The scouts do get the stuff accomplished. I was just thinking if it was more fun with different games they would be more helpful reminding parents and saying, hey its my scout night, forget about doing X, I really want to go to scouts.

[printman31]

One game that might interest you is the mouse trap game.

 

Items needed will be 2 tables, 6-8 mouse traps & LOTS of paper.

 

place a table on each side & set up mouse traps evenly for both tables. seperate boys evenly & have them sit in front of each table. Crumble up the paper into balls. Rules are you have to stay seated No knees, standing or squating). Each side throws paper until the other teams traps have all been tripped.