Need some Pack Meeting Game Ideas

[Scoutfish]

Been with my pack little over 3 years now.

 

I was an active parent who bec ame a ADL who trained to be a DL,

but was asked to takeover as CM.

 

A little history:

 

The pack has always been a great pack. Had great leaders, great parents and great scouts. But not enough leaders or active parents. Some people wore two and three hats...which means the program was unintentionally somewhat neglected.

 

Den meetings were too many scouts for not enough leaders. 95% of stuff was done inside at a table.

 

Pack meetings were sorta dullish, pack meetings were long drawn out announcement sessions with some awards handed out in between clapping.

 

Summer fun days? Ummm...slip and slide and a water hose. Everybody line op and wait your turn to slide down and then run back and wait again.

 

I was told that hardly anybody showed up for some summer funs days and NOBODY showed up to others!

 

So after I became CM last June, I decided to step up the fun factor.

 

First summer fun day, we went fishing. Second, we went to a National Park where a major event happened that helped lead us to the Revolutionary War. Had a guide dress in period costume and "enroll" the scouts in the king's army.

 

Third, we went to a WWII battleship ( USS North Carolina BB-55).

 

I dressed up as a pirate and talked like one too for the entire pack meeting to promote our pirate themed pack campout - where I also dressed like and talked like a pirate. ( almost coughed up a lung doing it too!)

 

Next to last pack meeting, I dressed up as a ballerina ( pink unitard and tutu with my scout hat, necker, BSA socks, and boots.) because I lost a bet to the scouts. They laughed and giggled and had a blast......... And most are pretty much done with therapy now too!

 

 

WE been singing , hollering and yelling more and jumping around and running around more at pack meetings.

 

WE just went to a ball game last night as our first summer day this year and led the opening ceremony at a baseball game. I am thinking of doing the same thing and having a second summer fun day for this month as well!

 

Anyways, not trying to toot my horn, but just showing that I have worked to step things up and get the boys excited about pack meetings and fun days...which is working great so far.

 

Here's the problem: Singing and hollering gets old after a while. You can only dres up so much before Social services investigates ( just kidding okay?)

 

So I'd like to do somethinmg the pack has never done before: Have games for the cub scouts during pack meetings.

 

No, not a ton of games or have games all night long, but just something to break the pattern.

 

I just have NO IDEA WHAT! I have looked at a long list of games on boy scout trail, but most are either outdoorsy or for older kids.

 

 

Something short and sweet , but fun.

 

 

The thing to remember is we have pack meetings in the sanctuary of a church.

 

Okay, lay you proven and time tested ideas all over me.

 

I appreciate all your help and ideas!(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

[ScoutLass]

This works well outside or inside, though you might not have the space in the sanctuary. You use marshmallows or some other theme-appropriate candy (we did this for Valentine's and used sweetheart candies) The boys hold a plastic spoon in their mouth, hands behind their back. The boy behind the first in line place a candy on the first boy's spoon. He races to the finish line, where there is a can, and has to drop the candy in the can without taking the spoon from his mouth, then races back to the line. Once he gets back, the next boy races forward and tried to drop his candy in the can. This goes on for a predetermined amount of time. The den with the most candy in the tin at the end wins. (We give out den flag streamers for the top ranking dens at pack games).

 

Another one is a table game, but works well when you're trapped inside. Give each den a bag of mini-marshmallows and toothpicks. Set a time limit for the game. Once it starts, the boys race to build the tallest structure using only the toothpicks and marshmallows. Another option is to just have them build a structure (I've also seen it done as building a snowflake with the picks and mallows) and give awards for most creative, most funny, largest, etc.

 

I have a ton of games. I'll try and post more when I have time!

[ScoutNut]

We make aisles on the either side of our meeting area, and run relay races. Having 2-4 races running splits the kids (we include siblings) up so it does not take as long. Parents of the kids in each race group supervise the races. We run these before award presentations so having the parents in charge gives the den leaders some time to organize for awards.

 

We still do fun themes, even though BSA has dumped them in favor of Core Values, so the race varies depending on what the theme of the evening is.

 

For a space, or dinosaur, theme, we have done the "hatch the egg" (space alien/dinosaur) race where the boy runs to a chair, and "hatches" a blown up balloon "egg" by sitting on it and popping it, then races back. We have done a feather toss relay for Indian themes. A snowball relay shoveling cotton ball snowballs from one bucket to another using a spoon. Dress-up relays are fun. Wheelbarrow, or octopus, relays using groups of 2-3 at a time. The hula hoop one is always fun, and can be a bigger challenge if you include parents.

 

There are lots of ways to do these, they are active, fun, can include everyone, and they go fairly quickly.

 

 

[SSScout]

Need: 100 plus 3x5 cards, Large paper bag, marker.

 

Write the Cub Scout Promise, one word on each card. Then write the Law of the Pack on the cards, one word on a card. Place in bag and shake it up.

At the next Pack meeting, when Johnny Cub is about to lead the Pack in the CSP, step up and say: "Pardon me Johnny, but I know you and all these Cubs know the CSP and the LotP, but (and here you walk back toward the parents lined up in the back of the room), I want to know if your PARENTS have learned them! Here, take a card please,(shake shake), yep, here ya go, "

And then ask them to come up front and arrange themselves, WITHOUT TALKING... in the proper order... The Cubs will love it.

Then , next month, do the Cubs. My experience is you can do this maybe once a year, with variations.

 

KiSMiF

[Tampa Turtle]

Get the Cub Scout How-To Book. Has many games, inside, outside, noisy, quiet, equipment, no equipment.

 

Balloon stomp was always a big hit.

[MarkF]

Our best games over the past year (actually, just since january for all practical purposes):

 

Minute to win it games, but beware. The kids loved them so much they played for the entire meeting (they were having too much fun for us to ask them to stop). Google minute to win it games and you'll get the nbc website that lists all the games, materials needed, video demos, and game play rules. You might also need to change some of the names, which are a bit suggestive.

 

Not sure what this one is called but it was a big hit as well. The CM brought this one. The kids each get one "stick." Our sticks were pre-made lengths of PVC pipe with caps on the end (so when used outside you don't end up bringing dirt and debris back home inside the end of the pipe). Each child holds their "stick" vertically, and a predetermined person (who can also act as a final judge) yells "left" or "right." The scout must let go of their own stick and grab the stick to their left or right depending on what was called. If their new stick hits the floor they are out until the next round. The round continues until one player is left (or the other boys get too bored, whichever comes first).

 

Miniature golf was a big hit (I didn't think so at the time but afterwards my wife told me otherwise). Follow the link here:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/activity/indoor_miniature_golf-1395.asp

 

I cut branches to size even though the site suggested wood dowels. I didn't have time to run by the store and they ended up adding an extra challenge to the game. Each team designed one or more holes for the course, and I brought lots of empty boxes, building blocks, etc for them to use as building materials. I also provided pencils and paper for them to use to design their hole(s). Markers were necessary so they could decorate their "golf balls" and clubs.

 

An evening of touch football when the weather warmed up proved popular, especially since the CM and I were also playing. The boys seemed to get a kick out of that.

 

I haven't tried this one yet but it looks very promising:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/ping_pong_air_hockey-519.asp'>http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/ping_pong_air_hockey-519.asp

 

Lots more games and activities here:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/cub-scouts/bear-scout-activities.asp

 

and here:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/ping_pong_air_hockey-519.asp

 

No affiliations and YMMV. Glad to see some enthusiastic leaders stepping up and making scouting fun again.

[MarkF]

Oops, my mistake Scoutfish, I didn't realize you were already looking at the boy scout trail site. I have found it to be a pretty good resource so far. When you have time, browse through the games and activities sections. There's some good ideas there. I have also used the Anti-gravity tent pole activity, and I also plan to use an activity where the boys are tied together as a group, and must walk from one side of a room/field to the other. I think this an old activity but what is old is new again. Don't be afraid to pull out old jokes, games or activities. Chances are they haven't seen them before.

[MarkF]

Ooops again, the links I posted before are a bit messy. Here's the one for the Ping Pong Air Hockey:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/ping_pong_air_hockey-519.asp

 

Here's the link for more activities:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/activity_search.asp

 

and here's the link for more games:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/game_search.asp

 

Hope they show up correctly this time. No affiliations, just sharing good resources.

[SctDad]

Maybe something like "Minute to Win It"

 

We have also played a game, "Are you Smarter than a Cub Scout" we used non-leader Parents. Winner got a BSA Silly band. Hey they were cheap.

 

I am going to try the minute to win it at our pack meeting this Thursday. Just got to figure out what blueprints to use.

[MarkF]

Found the name of that other game - falling staffs:

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/falling_staffs-2169.asp

 

Sctdad, these were the ones I thought about using:

 

The Nutstacker, This Blows, Baby Blockin, A Bit Dicey, Noodling Around, By a Thread, Chop Stack, Face the Cookie, Breakfast Scramble, Defying Gravity, Get Forked, Junk in the Trunk, Oh Nuts, On the Hook, Separation Anxiety

 

I think I ended up dropping some of them though. IIRC, I eliminated Junk in the Trunk, Oh Nuts, and Separation Anxiety. Look for the ones with materials you already have on hand or can obtain easily.

[Scoutfish]

THanks! I really do apprciate the ideas and suggestions.

[Phibbles]

We had a group game meeting last night. My favorite game was the Flip A Deck Relay. It really challenged the kids to talk to each other about what cards they had seen and what order to try flipping cards in.

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/flip_a_deck_relay-1985.asp

 

 

[Scouting4Ever]

Don't forget about Sock Wars!

 

We do a Fall Carnival with the Scouts. Each Den makes and brings a game. Candy for prizes provided by the Dens.