What Makes Good Pack Meetings?

[SeattlePioneer]

Boys LIKE and are MOTIVATED by competition.

 

 

 

So I like to use competition to motivate boys during pack meetings. That is typically either individual competition of some kind or usually inter den competition.

 

It's not used or intended to be sharp competition with winners and losers.

 

 

Just as an example, I've had dens make "sleighs" as den activities, then had den relay races at the December pack meeting. One boy in the sleigh gets towed around the race course, and then boys swap out.

 

 

 

They make their own competition.

 

 

 

 

[mdp3612]

I've found the following work best at Pack Meetings, songs , skits, small art projects and food, oh did I mention FOOD!!!! Make it a dinner, with everyone's busy schedule everyone love to be able to sit down and eat beforehand. Plus keep it simple.

[SeattlePioneer]

Skits? Really? I find that most skits are poorly rehearsed by den leaders and MANY boys are too shy to speak loudly eneough to be heard.

 

Bears and Webelos can maybe do skits reasonably well, but I avoid them for Tiger Cubs and Wolves in particular.

 

Songs are better and can be done more reliably. But the key is usually to choose a simple song with a familiar melody, and often a poor choice of song leads to a poor performance. A lot of den leaders don't have much skill at leading songs and do a poor job, which doesn't help matters.

 

Small art projects--- I like to make decorating pretty much any project a den does a part of the program. Some boys really like that and others couldn't care less. The problem is that if you make an art project the OBJECT of a den project, the boys that don't care about such things rapidly become bored.

 

As an example, we made paper airplanes and then decorated them and had contests flying nthe planes, with a boy receiving a sticker for their airplane each time they won one of the numerous contests. Boys were welcome to take as much time decorating their airplanes as they wished, or they could ignore that part and go on to flying their airplanes.

 

[mdp3612]

We have a den leader who loves to sing songs with the kids and it goes over very well and most songs are do as I do say as I say. Our tigers did a skit for the end of the year banquet that they spent time over the last month rehearsing and it was great. We did lego christmas stockings at our holiday party that went over great. It's up to the commitment of the leaders to make it work.

[SeattlePioneer]

I don't doubt for a minute that a talented person can get great results leading a song. My experience is that the average den leader doesn't care much for leading songs, usually does a poor job of choosing and rehearsing songs.

 

Songs are likely to be better than skits, though, especially for Tiger Cubs and Wolves.

 

Just out of curiosity--- how did your Tiger Cub den do with skits this past year?

 

[mdp3612]

They did fantastic, they did the bubblegum skit. We only do one den skit per pack meeting, our wolfs did a skit for pinewood derby that involved making cardboard box race cars and they raced them and had pit crews

[dedkad]

I'm really interested in the idea of den activities at a pack meeting. In my time, we've never organized a pack meeting that way, so I'm curious how you'd do it.

 

Would your pumpkin carving by an example of a den activity, or are you thinking of something different?

What we did this year was assign each den leader a pack meeting. It was their den's responsibility to come up with the program for that month. As one leader put it, it was their job to "entertain" the rest of us for 1 hour. Many of the dens used that as an opportunity to showcase or complete some of their den requirements. For instance, my Webelos put on a puppet show to earn their Showman badge. The Bear Den constructed a bunch of games to meet one of their requirements and the whole pack got to play them. The Tiger den leader scheduled a hike for the pack to meet his hiking requirement. Some dens had a speaker come to speak to the whole pack on a subject that would meet a den requirement. So I wouldn't really call what we are doing at the pack meetings a den activity. It is a pack activity that meets a certain den's badge requirements.

[King Ding Dong]

Skits can work if the den practices a few times. The point is getting the boys up in front of a crowd. Magic shows are great. There is a Cub Scout magic book I got used on amazon for about $5. Can be a simple as tying a knot in a rope by crossing your arms and grabbing the ends. The songs that get the whole pack involved are the best. The BSA needs to put more videos online of stuff like this instead of charging for CDs and DVDs.

[jc2008]

Skits? Really? I find that most skits are poorly rehearsed by den leaders and MANY boys are too shy to speak loudly eneough to be heard.

 

Bears and Webelos can maybe do skits reasonably well, but I avoid them for Tiger Cubs and Wolves in particular.

 

Songs are better and can be done more reliably. But the key is usually to choose a simple song with a familiar melody, and often a poor choice of song leads to a poor performance. A lot of den leaders don't have much skill at leading songs and do a poor job, which doesn't help matters.

 

Small art projects--- I like to make decorating pretty much any project a den does a part of the program. Some boys really like that and others couldn't care less. The problem is that if you make an art project the OBJECT of a den project, the boys that don't care about such things rapidly become bored.

 

As an example, we made paper airplanes and then decorated them and had contests flying nthe planes, with a boy receiving a sticker for their airplane each time they won one of the numerous contests. Boys were welcome to take as much time decorating their airplanes as they wished, or they could ignore that part and go on to flying their airplanes.

People who are comfortable in front of a crowd and able to speak up and not worry about how silly they look are few and far between. We typically don't have much time during Den Meetings to rehearse skits so when we are asked to do a skit its usually something simple that the kids can learn in 5 minutes before the Pack Meeting. We are lucky though because my husband (the den leader) can be a total obnoxious and loud goofball and the other den leader in our den plays the "deadpan" roll which is even more hilarious at times.

 

I think something that is missed is at the Cub Scout age, the repetition is important for the kids. Sure we all know "Row row row your boat" but we have to remember our kids are just learning these songs that are classic to us. So repeating songs we have done well with before is not a bad thing, because the kids get the practice at them.

 

You just have to hopefully identify someone with a great energy who isn't scared to stand up and use it! Not every Den Leader has that energy or ability.

[SeattlePioneer]

<< We have a den leader who loves to sing songs with the kids and it goes over very well and most songs are do as I do say as I say. >>

 

What about the OTHER den leaders?

 

[King Ding Dong]

<< We have a den leader who loves to sing songs with the kids and it goes over very well and most songs are do as I do say as I say. >>

 

What about the OTHER den leaders?

My kids hate it when I read to them, much less try to sing. We did some songs this year but it was really just to check off electives. I love how the book assumes you know the "tune" they are sung to. Even some mp3s of the songs would be nice.

 

BS leader training was full of songs, but they were the follow along, do as I say songs. Those work better with boys. You know flap your arms shake your foot hokey pokey type.

[mdp3612]

Lets face it not every Den Leader is a singer we all have our strong points. Me if I tried to sing it would sound some where between a dying moose and a water buffaloes mating call and that's being nice. But there will always be those Den leaders who can stand up there and get the kids to sing.

[ScouterWamp]

Pack Meetings ARE all about showmanship ... whether it is with competition, skits, songs, or awards, it's how you interact with the Scouts. Keep the meetings lively, engaging, and interesting (these are for the Cubs, not the parents). We have a monthly theme and the Pack Meeting sticks with the theme ... songs, jokes, and activities. We will open with a flag ceremony and go into "role call" (always loud and boisterous) and straight into a song ... usually brining the parents and leaders in, as well. Sometimes we will have the Dens talk about what they did, sometimes we will focus on the theme.

There will be a physical activity (relay race, obstacle course, game, etc) combining the Dens (as has been mentioned earlier, this is a Pack event, mix up the Dens, let the Scouts get to know everyone else) run by the Cubmaster and Den Leaders (siblings invited, parents stay behind). Following this is the "downward" trend for the meeting (settling them down), such as presenting advancements ... all other awards are presented at the Den Meetings (we learned a long time ago, it is too easy to turn a Pack meeting into a BORING awards show). At the end, the CM will actually sit down and have a "personal" chat with the Scouts as his Cubmaster minute .. this is directed to the Scouts, and should have the Cub Scouts' full attention. Then close.

 

Big thing to remember, make the Pack Meeting all about the Cub Scouts and keeping them engaged. Any announcements which need to be made, have the CC make them during the activity when the Cubs are otherwise engaged. This has worked for us for the last few years.