Holding den meetings in the summer?

[OldSchool Scout]

Our pack doesn't basically shuts down for the summer,but I was told that I'm free to have den meetings as normal and work on the Wolf requirements.Has anyone done this with success?

[dg98adams]

Get the Cubs out to parks, local camp, and hike. Have fun.

 

Easy to guide the fun to meet goals. Throw in a campfire or 2 and you are golden.

[Pack212Scouter]

There is nothing against having meetings in the summer, just most units don't do so. In the summer, quite often you run into situations of many Scouts not being able to attend because of family vacations, camps, etc. Personally I would be cautious on what you work on at a Den level, you don't want to leave these other boys completely behind. The new Cub Scouts 2010 program won't be summer oriented either, although you will be totally free to add as you feel a need. Our Pack tries to plan at least one activity each month in the summer. I would use the summer months to push the "fun" of Scouting. Plan activities, hikes, etc. rather than meetings.

[IM_Kathy]

when working with my son's den we did have summer meetings... as wolf/bear we worked on electives for our new level that way if a boy missed he didn't missed a "requirement"... as webelos we worked on pins that weren't required for webelos badge or AOL except for outdoorsman but we worked on it during a time when we knew all the boys would be there.

 

summer is a great time to get the group together and hit the zoo, take a hike, fly some kites, etc...

[ScoutNut]

Nope, I don't do weekly meetings during June, July, and August.

 

The Pack has 1 or 2 events each month, to add den meetings on top of that would be quite a lot. Especially when you figure in everyone's week or two of vacation (which we try to work around for the Pack events).

 

The den leaders need some down time to recharge and plan for the upcoming year.

 

Get your Pack to plan some fun events like a bike hike, fishing derby, picnic, Pack family campout, baseball game (some AA/AAA teams do Scout overnighters on the field after the game), etc. Attend your councils Summer Camp. Attend your District Day Camp.

 

Have FUN!

 

 

 

[Eagle92]

i am so glad that my pack doesn't stop over the summer. BUT we do cut back to two meetings/month, basically every other week. And there are more activities than meetings: Going to the 501st Star Wars reenactors display at the library, pool party, baseball games, etc.

 

Plus we are planning a trip to Patriot's Point and a day trip to DC.

 

The key is.... KISMIF!

[Lisabob]

We had very limited success with this. It was a combination of past practice/habits, burnout (for parents - leaders and non-leaders alike), and people's vacation schedules.

 

What we ended up with was making it "just fun" stuff, almost entirely outdoors. Getting together for a bonfire, going fishing, cub day camp, etc. These weren't weekly, and they were minimally planned.

 

You know, when I think back on it, if the regular school-year meetings had been as much fun (and as laid back) as the few summer things we did, we'd probably have kept more boys and their parents involved.

 

 

[Stosh]

When I was a Webelos leader, I held den meetings once a week year around. Summer is the best time of the year to get out of doors and do the really fun stuff. We did a lot of the pins during the winter when it was too cold to be out and with the shortened days, it got dark before we could get going with anything out of doors after school.

 

All winter long we made plans for the summer. In August, just before school started, we did a big "campout" with the dads. It was a blast and it gave the boys an opportunity to put to practice all that they had learned during the winter/early summer.

 

I started right after Blue/Gold in February and by August we had this mini campout to "celebrate" all that they had learned. Once we got back into the school year we geared up finishing up on the pins so that at the end of Webelos I all the boys got their AOL. They weren't graduating anywhere because they had a second year yet to go. The "second" year of Webelos II's was nothing but fun stuff. By August of the second summer the boys had a major campout from Friday through to Sunday. It, too, was a blast. The boys then began to focus on Scout type activities getting ready for the Blue/Gold where they would cross over into scouts. Remember they have been AOL for a whole year now and so the idea of "graduation" didn't have any affect. What they were looking forward to was not getting AOL and dropping out, instead they were focused solely on crossing over into Scouts. That meant that they went into Scouts in February and immediately began getting ready for Summer camp 5 months out. By the end of March they were all TF and by summer camp many where well on their way to SC and some of the more motivated boys were heavy into FC.

 

Out of the six boys in that den/program, five of them Eagled.

 

Stosh

[AKdenldr]

I planned activities during the summer last year-- you can add in a small amount of talking during snack. We earned the LNT and the outdoor activity patch. It set us up well for the Bear badge and really helped form the identity of the group.

 

I kept the schedule flexable based on their sport schedules and my family's summer schedule. It went well, seemed to be appreciated and more Dads showed up.

 

We live in the north and summers are busy, but we can't do many of these things during the school year.

 

The bear book is so much more flexable than the wolf book. If a boy misses something you can cover something else latter.