Bear Achievement 8 the past is exciting

[AKdenldr]

A parent is stepping up to do this achievement for our den. Looking for things that your boys enjoyed and interesting ways to deliver this item.

 

Thanks in advance

[SctDad]

THE PAST IS EXCITING AND IMPORTANT

 

Visit your library or newspaper office. Ask to see back issues of newspapers or an almanac.

 

Most libraries have local newspapers and possibly books on local history

 

Find someone who was a Cub Scout a long time ago. Talk with him about what Cub Scouting was like then.

 

Look around the council and ask for cub scouts from the past. I am sure you will find someone, they may even have one of those rugged uniforms of the past.

 

Start or add to an existing den or pack scrapbook.

 

YOu can do this with construction paper and staples, or get famcy with a commercial one from michaels crafts.

 

Trace your family back through your grandparents or great-grandparents; or, talk to a grandparent about what it was like when he or she was younger.

 

Look for a family tree, of make one of your own, send it home with the boys and have them bring it back in a week

 

Find out some history about your community.

 

Refere back to the library

 

Start your own history: keep a journal for 2 weeks.

 

Maybe make them a journal and give a reward for those that fill in the most days

 

 

[GKlose]

One of the things I did, with both of my sons' bear dens, is the family history/tree part.

 

I showed them a document I started with (an uncle drew an actual tree, with family members as branches, going back to the earliest known relatives -- albeit, with a lot of mistakes). Then I showed them how I looked up more information and showed them the "standardized" genealogy sheets I created. Took just a couple of minutes. We talked about "relative" and "ancestor" and terms like that.

 

Then I gave them a blank copy of a kids' genealogy form I found (I don't know the link, but I think it is easy to find by Google searching for "genealogy for kids" -- this form was on a PBS kids' site). Then I had them sit down with a parent and fill in everyone they knew (parents, grandparents).

 

Altogether, I think it maybe took 15 to 20 minutes of den meeting time.

 

I didn't have my stuff in a genealogy program at the time, but I do now. I probably could take a laptop and show them stuff going back quite a few generations.

 

Guy

[theysawyoucomin']

Play Marbles.

 

Build a crystal radio. There are hundreds of examples of "radio for the masses" and radio ownership growing in the teens, twentys and 1930's.

 

Walk through an old cemetery. ask the boys to note how old people were. Relate it to todays swine flu and vaccinations.

 

Talk about occupations that are not there anymore.

 

Find and visit a woodworker that only works by hand.

 

Go to an archive and show them a city directory prior to phones. Many wonderful adds and occupations there.

 

Discuss the roles of men and women.

 

Talk about job safety and how that has changed.

 

Borrow a dutch oven froma Troop and make an apple pie. Discuss cooking methods over a fire.

 

Visit a nursing school and talk about medicine/health issues.

 

Research every day products like Lifesavers candy and others. Pepsi went belly up sveral times before success. Cracker jacks came on the market with hundreds of carmel corns . The prize mattered.

 

Look for an old farm machinery group in your area. Those old grumps love to show off thier machinery.

 

If you need some pages copied from the 1930 cub book pm me and I can show you old requirements.

[NWScouter]

Old magazines are fun, I know when I was young I enjoyed looking at old Boys Life, LIFE, LOOK and National Geographic.