Your Top Ten Favorite Cub Scout Activities

[kjones9999]

We have hit a brick wall with our calendar planning.

 

We plan to do the Space and pinewood derbies, and model rockets, as well as an astronomy night.

 

We are trying to build a pack, so I am trying to keep it fresh and fun!

 

Just as a survey, what are your favorite cub scout activities for meeting night or any night?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[EagleBeaver]

Den jack-o-lantern decorating contest before halloween.

Woodworking - make pinewood derby car stands, birdhouses, or other simple items.

Zoo Visit - bring in birds of prey or reptiles.

Magician

[EagleBeaver]

Den jack-o-lantern decorating contest before halloween.

Woodworking - make pinewood derby car stands, birdhouses, or other simple items.

Zoo Visit - bring in birds of prey or reptiles.

Magician

[Basementdweller]

Pack hike

 

Our park system has owl hikes, bat hikes, coyote hikes.....the boys really love it....

 

Water Quality monitoring work shop by the soil and water conservation district....the wade kick up bottom sediment and catch bugs and crayfish, minnow and other creek critters....

 

Earth Day outdoor conservation project or clean up

 

District halloween or christmas events

 

Blue and gold

 

 

[Eagle92]

What outdoor activities do you do? Camping is very popular, in fact i lost a family b/c we didn't camp enough for them.

 

Other things we have done are special overnighters: NC Zoo, NC Aquarium, USS YORKTOWN, etc. Can't wait for USS NORTH CAROLINA to have overnighters, just pray they run them like the USS KIDD did in Baton Rouge, LA i.e. tour guide assigned to your group and takes you on tour as long as your groups wants and includes areas not open during the regular tours, i.e engine rooms.

 

Had the Order of the Arrow come in and give a performance. May need to get them since the lodge is #1...in Northern Singing

 

Raingutter Regatta is also a good one.

 

Also we have a "sports nite" of kickball or basketball between the den meeting when final advancements are due, and the last pack meeting of the year.

 

Also what are some of the activities that your district and council offer? I know of several units in my district who do not take advantage of any of the council activities: resident camp, day camp, family camp, cubmobile, Webeloree, etc.

[CCbytrickery]

Too many to name, so here is our calendar for this year:

 

Aug: welcome back meeting--dens bring assigned sides/desserts/etc, pack does main course. all summer awards (loops/etc) are awarded. We do a slideshow of photos.

 

Sept: Reptile man at p.m. (pack meeting); also doing popcorn kickoff. (Not too many acitivites here, dont' want to panic the new parents!)

 

Oct: One night campout, to introduce the new parents to our scout camping ways. Hold a Bobcat den to get the new boys their Bobcats (Webelos run it). PM: ambulance is coming to visit--the EMTs will talk about their jobs and show off all their toys.

 

Nov: Cuboree! PM: Either our local weatherman or Mad Science will come visit.

 

Dec: Caroling at two local nursing homes. PM: Santa comes with a present for all the kids (scout or sibling).

 

Jan: PWD clinic--come and use woodworking tools to make your car! Campout--a full weekend in cabins! PM: We are trying to get NASA to send us an engineer or astonaut (oooooohhhhh) to come with displays and to talk up science/engineering/technology for the STEM projects. If not, I'm not sure what we'll be doing.

 

Feb: PWD; B&G (we advance our T/B/W/W1 here); Battle of Oleuste (spelling?); remote control airplane Show; PM: Whichever didn't come in November--weatherman or Mad Science.

 

Mar: Camping for a full weekend--we hold Crossover for the Web 2s at the campout and the newly annointed Boy Scouts get to cook breakfast Sunday morning! PM: ??

 

April: Frog Jog; PM: ??

 

May: Campout on the USS Yorktown! PM: Cake Bake--bake a cake, toss/share/take home, bring canned goods for the local food bank.

 

June: Sleepout at the local baseball field.

 

July: movie and a picnic!

 

 

We do most woodworking/going to zoos or museums/etc on a den by den basis. Also, we have had the now Bear/Wolf dens get together to work on sports belt loops together. We promote the council events very rarely--only Cubaree and camps. Council events here are usually poorly run--overcrowded, underplanned (for example, not having items avialable like port a potties, items for actiivites at summer camp, etc).

[5yearscouter]

Lots and lots of ideas. I have so many ideas that we voted on the ones we wanted this year and were a bit bummed we had to take some off the list. we'll put as many into den stuff as possible, and save some new ones for next year.

 

Standard things to include on your calendar

recruiting night(s)

Blue and Gold

pinewood derby

re-charter dates

fundraising dates

be sure to put in some committee/leader meeting dates

campouts 1-3 a year

hikes w/ campfire programs (at campout or instead of campouts if you can't do 3 campouts).

pencil in crossover dates

 

make a list of things you might not include but may be of interest:

district and council events (like if webelos camps, resident camps, day camps, but also district pinewood derby, etc).

 

local community things (parades you might want to walk in, community fairs to have a booth/activity/recruiting or sell popcorn), fire safety day[we get to sit in the trailer that fills with smoke and try to escape and try to put out a fake fire with the fire hose-- quite memorable], memorial day flags at veteran's cemeteries in the area, zoo special events or free weekends at the science museum etc)

 

Make sure you don't schedule againt school vacations and big holidays as competition--someone always tries to put a spring campout on easter weekend for some reason.

 

then make a list of service project things you could do: Something for your chartered organization, caroling for an old folk's home, scouting for food, socks for the homeless(sock wars), etc.

 

then the list of all the rest that you could plug in.

look at tiger go see its and other rank required or recommended outings and see if it's something the whole pack would be interested in.

that would give you things like

trip to the local tv station

get locked up at the police station

work at a historical house decorating it for the holidays

 

*make models and model stands--which gives you things like raingutter regatta(we always make our own cheaper than the kits) this year our blue and gold is a pirate theme and we'll have raingutter pirate boat races.

but also train races--there are wooden train kits online for cheap, glue them together, be careful with the wheels and they can race in the middle of the pinewood derby track lanes. that was a blast!

 

Pack wide sports/olympics never seems to come off so well, but a bike rodeo/ride seems to work great. start by having a local bike shop check the boy's bikes and do tune ups and then go to a safe neighborhood for a ride.

 

We had a morning of fishing and afternoon at the pool then evening pizza and campfire program that was great.

 

see if you have a close ski lift that will do rides during the summer. the kids loved goin to the top of the big mountain in the ski lift.

 

And schedule some just "plain" pack meetings with fun stuff happening as a game as gathering or at the end. Kids don't care if they are racing across the floor sliding on paper to pretend they are skiing as long as it's a competition and there may be snacks available. check out games in the cub scout how to book for ideas. a big hit has been indoor volleyball with a big playground ball as gathering this year cause boys can join no matter what time they ge there. can't seem to get the kids to not play it, someone always seems to bring a ball every month.

 

 

[AnniePoo]

I'm out of the pack now, but the Cubs always like an outdoor pack meeting with a bonfire. Boy Scouts helped with fire management & safety.

[SSScout]

Build the Pack by building the Dens. Work with and encourage the Dens to not only earn the ranks, but do stuff . These are the "gangs" the boys should be "hangin'" with. The Go and See should not stop with Tigers.

Any dads old Scouts? Ask'em to lead a short hike and show'em the beaver sign or woodpecker nest in the tree. Sit down at a clearing and read'm a Thorton W. Burgess story, or one from Ernest Thompson Seton, that's just the place.

Is there a dad or maom with an interesting place of work? I was a Street Supervisor for the Transit Service. Real easy to arrange an upclose tour of the maintenance shop. Big busses, engines, grease, smells, tools, noise, dirty smiling workers, what more does a boy want? Almost any kid would love to show off his mom or dad's work.

A whole Cub Pack is often unwieldy for some outings (overnight on the ship or lockins at the museum are real good Pack do's) but the Den is the easy go anywhere group. Couple of cars and off you go. Take the bus or subway or commutter train downtown to the museum, "getting there is half the fun".

Bears and Webelos should earn Whittlin Chip. Ask a local Scout Troop to lend you some good instructors (preferably Scout, but an adult will do). Come and do it at the Den meeting.

Leave the Pack meeting for awards and BIG fun.

And don't say, "that'll never work. It can't be done." Yes it can; make the phone call and say "Cub Scouts" and watch the doors open....(This message has been edited by SSScout)

[Eagle92]

One thing I did last year, and will do my best to repeat, was hold my den meetings outside while the weather is nice.

 

Last year we did a campfire with storytelling for one of the Bear requirements. Problem was that we got inundated with new Tigers and Wolves, and we had 3/5 of the pack around my campfire. Good news was that we have enough marshmellows. bad news was that we didn't have enough sticks or space fore everyone to roast at one time.

 

As Green Bar Bill said, "SCOUTING IS OUTING!"