So how much is too much

[Basementdweller]

So how many pack activities do you plan a month, beyond the den meetings that is?

 

We plan 2 or 3 a month, Very rarely is there any cost involved other than a sack lunch and all are optional. I have the CC complaining that all this is costing too much and alienating part of the pack???? There is no cost involved so I don't understand, He is claiming some parents are complaining to him, I am not sure he is being entirely truthful or bending the facts to suit his needs.

 

Anyone have any experience with this.

[EagleBeaver]

Offering a pack meeting and some pack outing each month sounds great to me. That is what our pack does.

Some parents feel that missing a scouting activity might mean their son misses some advancement opportunity and will fall behind the other scouts. They might a bit too focused on the badge collecting than the scouting.

Cost is sometimes measured in ways other than $$$ - time, missed opportunities, and required commitment for example.

[Eamonn]

Sometimes it's not what you do, it's the way that you do it.

 

I'm not that sure that a Pack needs that many Pack activities.

I'm not sure if bringing the entire Pack together can really offer the Scouts age appropriate activities.

Parents and Den Leaders have a lot on their plates.

Many kids of Cub Scout age are involved in other activities all of which seem to want to drag the parents along.

The poor Den Leader who signed on just to lead a Den, finds that along with the weekly Den Meeting and planning for the Den Meeting, that there are leaders meetings, Round-table meetings, Day Camps, Resident Camps, Scouting for food days, Christmas activities, Good Turns, Pinewood Derbies, Pow-Wows, training's, Pack picnics, Fishing derbies.

That isn't counting the other activities that other kids might be involved in.

Lord help him or her if they also have a girl who is involved in a lot of activities.

Rather than see a Pack doing too much, I think an active Den is a much better way to go.

Eamonn.

 

 

[Basementdweller]

Well, a bit more information, The dens have never schedule anything on their own.

[CMPA]

We have a pack meeting each month and we try to have 1 event a month. Some months end up with 2 events, some don't have any depending on when things get scheduled. I also encourage the dens to do activities when possible.

[hot_foot_eagle]

Our Pack schedules one Pack meeting per month and one other activity. We used to do quite a bit of camping, but it seemed like only a small number of people would attend. Now we do more day trips and have better success - until baseball season, but that's a rant of its own.

 

I can say from experience that if the dens are not active, good Pack activities can keep the boys (and parents) involved and excited about Cub Scouts. More than one a month might be too much, but it should work if everyone understands that you come to the ones you can, and don't worry about the others.

[Basementdweller]

Currently we have a monthly hike, and something else. This month was crowded we ended up with 6 events. It happens, But as you said, there is a core group that attends them all, a few more attend some of their choosing and a few chose none. Today we have our earth day project with a local park, yesterday we had a council earth day day camp, Last weekend we had our hiking program, the previous weekend we hiked, Next weekend there is a camp out and the following weekend is another Civic park clean up. The last 6 weeks or so has been very busy.

 

The way I see it, We need to offer a variety of activities and let the parents chose. During the summer We have two monthly events planned plus the resident and day camps. So it is going to be a busy summer.

 

In the past about 6 family's got together and attended these events, The other family's complained they were being excluded, so that is how all of this ended up on the Pack calendar and now they complain about it, as well.

 

FYI, these families are going Backpacking outside of Cub Scouting because, Cub scouts aren't supposed to do such activities. Poppycock.

[Lisabob]

"This month was crowded we ended up with 6 events."

 

Egads. This is on top of weekly den meetings? That's 10 cub events in a month? That's a cub event every three days, on average.

 

We would have had complaints if we'd scheduled this much stuff in one month too. I was one of those folks who was active in almost everything the pack did (in fact I planned a lot of it). I found that if we got much over the weekly den meeting + monthly pack meeting + one or maybe two extras, attendance dropped way down. This was true even when the additional events in question were really worthwhile. We eventually learned that we had to pick and choose what we would participate in.

 

Maybe, in a very large pack, you'd have the number to sustain and justify so much activity. In our pack, with between 20-40 boys, we did not, and the handful of leaders who did attend most stuff would have been burned out all that much faster if we'd tried to keep such a pace. As mn_scout says, it isn't always about the monetary cost.

 

 

[ScoutMomSD]

WOW - that is a lot of events.

 

I know with one cub and one middle school girl who is also a cadette scout, this is a LOT to put on parents.

 

Also if the boy is in sports, there is no way you can do both. My son is in Baseball and there is a minimum of one game and one practice (some weeks we had two practices). Then at the 1st to 4th grade there are usually at least 1 to 3 birthday parties per month.

 

Many of our scouts are also catholic and have requirements for church that are once a week.

 

I think one pack meeting, one event and one or two den meetings is more than enough. In April and May I literally have NO weekend days without something going on for one of the kids, and many times both.

 

Without adult involvement you will sink your pack and as a parent I know I would have to pass on 75% of the activities if there were that many

[Eamonn]

A lot would depend on the size of the Pack?

Back when I was CM the Pack was up to about 70 Cub Scouts.

 

Moving that lot along with parents and siblings was a real task.

You also need to be careful that the program you are offering is one for all the Scouts, not just the ones who share your interests.

Eamonn