Pack activities for Tiger to Webelos

[ScoutLass]

I found 83Eagle's comment interesting over on the other thread, about the difficulty to design pack activities that interest both 6 year old Tigers and 10 year old Webelos. Personally, I haven't run into much of an issue with it. We're a smaller pack (around 25 boys), so maybe that's why. Maybe it's easier to know the boys' individually and have a good grasp on what will excite them when there are fewer kids.

 

So, in the interest of sharing ideas, I was wondering what other packs have discovered that work well for all ages. We have a pack activity monthly outside of the pack meeting.

 

I'll start by listing a couple pack activities and pack meeting things that are a hit with all ages.

 

Activities

 

1) Stomp rockets. Tigers (and most Wolves) get a lot of help building their rocket from their parents, while most Bears and Webelos build their own. The older boys get especially creative with the design. All ages-- including adults, get a huge kick out of launching them.

 

2) Fishing. Always a hit, though a few boys get a bit squeamish when they actually catch one. Usually the older ones

 

3) Astronomy night. We have a local astronomy club that will take out packs to see the stars through their big telescopes. The club members are really good at talking to the boys at their individual level, so the older boys get to see/understand more than the younger boys.

 

Pack Meetings:

1)Gingerbread houses. Prebuilt gingerbread houses the dens decorate during the meeting are popular. Tigers go crazy with the frosting and candy; Webelos go crazy with in depth designs and additions.

 

2)Competitions of any type, but especially relays. The t-shirt relay is a hit, and actually gets more challenging for older boys since they are bigger and the shirt isn't as loose on them. http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/game/game-524.asp

 

3)Building contests, as dens or individually. Legos are always popular, as are toothpicks and marshmallows. Naturally, the older boys come up with more complex designs, but the creativity of the younger boys is pretty impressive, too.

[83Eagle]

We had great success with minute to win it games and would do it again.

 

Sock wars was a huge hit and would do it again.

 

We dressed the leaders as turkeys for thanksgiving...that was a riot...I'd probably wait a few years to redo that.

 

Camping expo with different stations for different activities...setting up tents, making s'mores, knots, etc., that worked well.

 

The three derbies.

 

Hmmm...come to think of it maybe it's not so hard after all. I would say by about the third year of the rain gutter regatta they've had enough though.

[83Eagle]

Duplicate post(This message has been edited by 83eagle)

[ScoutLass]

I agree that you can't do the same thing every year, and that is one of the most difficult parts. A great idea is only great the first couple of times, but oh, those great ideas are sometimes so hard to come by!