Are there established plans for the wood part of craftsman?

[christineka]

I asked my husband what he made for craftsman. He said he made a tangram set. That sounds like something economical and something boys would like. (At least my boy would.)

[5yearscouter]

Let's see for craftsman we did way more than we HAD to. People brought in ideas, some were more crafts and some were more skilled. we did some kind of project every month I think, rather than craftsman all at once, because it's fun to make stuff in the middle of more boring actiity pins.

 

for the display stand or picture frame, we made the "animal skin" patch holder out of the bear book--we never got around to it for bear, and as webelos they were all transferring to the tan shirts and needed somewhere to put the stuff from their blue shirts. Cut the animal skin out of chamois from the auto parts store, used scrap tree branches and leather shoelaces to tie the corners after first wrapping them with some wire I had to be sure they'd stay together.

 

Non wood projects we made clay neckerchief slides, we made metal juice can lides ito christmas ornaments, we got a leatherworking kit from the scout shop and a set of letters that the pack paid for as long as they could use for future years and everyone made a bracelet with their name, we made fishing line christmas trees, and god's eye neckerchief slides, and a carved animal neckerchief slide we got on clearance at the scout shop (the backs broke off so we glued on pvc). Always on the lookout for small crafty things to do that took a bit more effort. Oh yeah, we also got a birdhouse kit at the scout shop for ike 1.88 each, but had planned on doing the 1 board birdhouse with the boys making all the cuts.

 

a pinewood derby car, a stand for a pinewood derby car(from scrap pieces of wood) and we made buddy board walkers with the wolf den cause they needed help with the sawing and screwing and knot tying. We also made cous sticks that used to be in the webelos leader book, and a small toolbox and step stool for handyman. If you can get scrap wood, you can do all sorts of things.

[dedkad]

I took a little liberty with the picture frame requirement. Instead of having the boys make the frames from scratch, I bought picture frames for $1 each at Michael's and had the boys use a wood-burning tool to burn designs of their choice into the wood. They really liked that. Got the wood-burning tool for about $8 at Michael's using their 40% off coupon. Do you have a Michael's near you? You can print out 40% off coupons from your computer any time you want. You don't need to wait for Sunday's paper. Just do a search for Michaels coupon on google. Don't choose the link to Michael's, look for other sites that offer their coupons instead.

 

I also counted Pinewood Derby cars as one of the wood projects.

 

For one of the non-wood projects, I had the boys make birds nest necklaces that they could give to their teacher or mom for Christmas. The cost of materials is super cheap. I even found some "ribbon" in the local fabric store for $1/yard that looks just like silver necklace chain. They came out beautiful. I wear my necklace all the time. And for another non-wood project, I had them make gift boxes out of Christmas cards to put the necklaces they made into it. Here's a link to the birds nest necklace: http://www.lisas-craft-blog.com/2012/01/tutorial-wire-wrapped-birds-nest.html

 

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

Picture frames do not have to be fancy, or expensive. Get some cardboard boxes from your local grocery. Cut out squares of cardboard for your base. The square should be big enough to glue a picture inside with about 1-2 inches of room all around it. The "frame" gets glued onto the cardboard base around the picture. Craft sticks are great for this (and for a lot of other craft stuff), and are pretty cheap ($3.99 for a box of 1000 at S & S Worldwide online). You can have the scouts decorate them however they want. You can also get the boys outside to pick up old twigs. Twigs make a great rustic looking frame. Hot glue on some pine cones, or seed pods, and there you are.

 

You mentioned that you have a a Home Depot nearby. Both Home Depot, and Lowes, have FREE kids workshops once a month. Home Depot is the first Saturday, Lowes the second I believe. You need to register in advance, and you might have to have parents present, but the store provides all materials and instruction.

 

Also check out local craft stores. With the holidays coming up many will offer Kids Clinics that are either free, or low cost.

[5yearscouter]

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/external_frame.asp?goto=/webelos/w2/pdfs/book.htm

there are webelos activity ideas for all the webelos pins