Webelo II ideas

[mudman2003]

My den is into it's Webelo II year and finishing on Arrow of light. Between last scout year and resident camp, we have already completed quite a few Webelo badges and have plenty for the Arrow of light requirement.

I was looking maybe for some ideas of other fun things to do this year, maybe no so intense as a webelo badge. Maybe a building/craftsman project of some sort that was something really useful in the house or for the scout or a gift to mom. It could be something that takes multiple meetings to finish.

Any suggestions.

One idea I had was a shadow box or picture frame for the scouts to use to put all the patches, belt loops, etc they've accumulated over the 5 years into for display in the house somewhere. I figured between cutting, glueing, and staining, etc, that would take a couple meetings.

Any other ideas.

 

[Austinole]

So far, we've made a bird house (Bear), bat house(Webelos I), shelf/coat rack combo (Webelos I) and a tool box (bear father's day project), Hat rack (Wolf). Next up is a stool.

[King Ding Dong]

The Nova awards are fun and have recently expanded. Get outside, go on hikes, bike rides, go camping as much as you can. Try a cooler weather campout, close enough you can bug out if it gets to uncomfortable. This is controversial, but spend time deciding what kind of troop you want and research them thoroughly. The Biggest mistake I made was going with the troop at the school. It may be good for kids active in lots of sports but is not the program I want for my son. No summer program outside camp, no patrol activities, no winter camping, no canoeing on a river, once a year minimal backpacking, no active scouts over 14. I don't want to troop hop, so now I need to take the 6-9 months to select some possible candidates.

[Fehler]

Do some in-Pack service, like a joint paired-off meeting/activity with the Tiger or Wolf Den. Give them a small taste of helping the younger scouts, maybe they'll want to be Den Chiefs some time after they cross over.

[dedkad]

I think you are on the right track with building stuff. Getting them outdoors is also important. I have a night hike planned for my Webelos II this year. Bike rides, Frisbee golf, camping, field trips to cool places. Have them attend a few Boy Scout meetings and activities. Service projects for the community or for your charter organization are also important and build character.

[Stosh]

My last Webelos II event was a canoe/camping trip that I've mentioned in another thread. Of course I had been their DL for both Webelos I and II and we covered Arrow of Light the first year so they got to wear their AOL patch for a full year in the pack. Once I did that I began working on the outdoors skills and got them ready for the big final activity of the canoe/camping trip. Packing, setting up tents, canoeing, cooking, etc.

 

It was part of my Woodbadge ticket to do the Web to Scout transition. The boys were so well trained that once they got into Boy Scouts all of them earned FC within 6 months. The SM was kinda upset with me because he said these boys would not hang in on scouts because they had done too much too early and they would get bored. However, ALL eventually Eagled except one which moved away. I never heard if he Eagled or not.

 

It was kind of nice when one of the boys at his ECOH mentioned me in his comments as the only adult male other than his dad that had spent that much time helping him out.

 

Instead of doing just another craft project, get the boys out and look for some adventure, they'll appreciate it! Heck, prep all the hobo dinner fixins in a ziplock bag, charcoal briquettes in another, extra rain gear in their school backpack and head out of town on foot! Tell them they're going looking for adventure. Ask them to tell you when they find it. Kids at that age will certainly find something!

 

Stosh

[Basementdweller]

for craftsmen we made a boy sized catapult and angry bird setup......They cut birds out of sponges and we make buildings out of cardboard tubes.......it was a blast.......They would spend entire den meeting making buildings and then knocking them over...

 

We combined it with engineer and scientist if I remember right......I remember doing experiments with release points in the arc and number of bungees.....

[mudman2003]

Actually we do quite a bit of outdoors stuff, this is to take the place of a couple den meetings during the weeknight in like December/January (where here in NJ it's snowy and cold...LOL). We already did family campout in June with fishing derby. went hiking in May at an old scout camp, went bike trail riding in July, Webelo Resident camp in August, kickball night in August, camping in Sept with the pack, going camping in October as a webelos campout and in Novemeber camping with the troop at a pioneering weekend. As well as joinging the troop for Klondike derby and skiing this coming February. The troop we are going to is very active outdoor troop. They camp every month sometimes with part of the troop camping one place and part backpacking others. They backpack at least 4 times a year I think. They attend a local summer camp for a week and this year are also taking a group to Philmont. We also have a field trip coming up to a science show where the guy demonstrates all kinds of cool science expiriments.