Troop Meeting Ideas

[Stosh]

Just curious.... then when do the scouts have the time to do the typical FC teaching type stuff?  Are there other meetings schedule beyond the troop meetings for such things?

[Krampus]

Just curious.... then when do the scouts have the time to do the typical FC teaching type stuff?  Are there other meetings schedule beyond the troop meetings for such things?

 

In our unit we have Instructors that meet with the T2FC guys once or twice a month to teach the various skills. Camps are another place where this happens.

[Stosh]

In our unit we have Instructors that meet with the T2FC guys once or twice a month to teach the various skills. Camps are another place where this happens.

So then they don't do it as a patrol?....

[qwazse]

Just curious.... then when do the scouts have the time to do the typical FC teaching type stuff?  Are there other meetings schedule beyond the troop meetings for such things?

 

Growing up, we never did T2F in meetings. All skills were to be demonstrated at camp or with PL on your own time.

You read the book. You called your buddy. You tried to do what it said.

 

Meetings were when you brought a guest in to talk about stuff like an MB, scouting in the good old days, etc ...

 

I don't think this was a hard-and-fast rule. It's just how we organized. Indoors were for pool (in the Flaming Arrow patrol's room), air hockey (in the Cobra patrol's room), or ping pong (in the Wolf patrol's room). On nice days, it was dodge-ball in the back yard.

 

You know? Now that I think of it, for our SM seeming to be pretty uptight, he gave us space to be a depraved lot.

[Krampus]

So then they don't do it as a patrol?....

 

Nope. T2FC is taught by Instructors. The patrol method is used for all other things. PLs can work with Scouts in their patrol on requirements if they want to. About 70-80% is covered by the Instructors.

[Eagledad]

Just curious.... then when do the scouts have the time to do the typical FC teaching type stuff?  Are there other meetings schedule beyond the troop meetings for such things?

It's up to the scouts. Our philosophy is to encourage scouts to practice independent reasoning and decision making. Controlling their own advancement plan is a big part of that intention. New scouts are guided to ask their PL for help when ever they want to learn the skills and/or pass off requirements. Sometimes the PL takes care of it in the patrol, sometimes he sends the scout to ask the PLC.

 

Our troop has a 45 minute PLC meeting before every Troop meeting and everyone knows that the church is open during that time. Scouts use the time to meet with a MC counselor, work on rank advancement, get coaching for POR, advancement patrol meeting, or whatever scouting business they need to take care of .

 

On camp outs, the PLC always plans a couple hours of free time on Saturday and Sunday and a lot of scouts use that time for skills work.

 

And if several scouts need work on the same requirements, they might ask the PLC to plan a meeting on a Saturday morning.

 

It's all really up to the scouts. Honestly the adults don't pay that much attention because the scouts pretty much take care of it.

 

We don't use instructors or didn't while I was SM) much because we have a large pool of older scouts. Our SPLs quit using them because it was harder to keep them busy than finding an older scout willing to help. Honestly, the adults were not invited in that decision. But the system works, we average 1 Eagle every 1.5 months. My goals when we were developing the program was to remove any obstacle from a scout advancing at his own personal pace.

 

Barry

[KenD500]

Some of our skills instructions are advancement related.  First aid, cooking, knot tying - depends on the theme for the month.

[qwazse]

Oh, I almost forgot ....

 

NHB-PWD: No holes barred pinewood derby.

 

Bring down those old cars from your trophy shelf.

Modify as you desire, so long as they don't impede the other car on the track.

No weight restrictions. No design issues.

(Well maybe no incendiary mechanisms.)

 

If your CO has a smooth outdoor surface, you might consider a horizontal race.

Airhogs provide impressive propulsion.

If you're willing to jump through a bunch of safety hoops, model rocket engines turn the whole thing into a drag race. If you design it well, the cars could go against the grade. (Reverse PWD!) Figure out when the average motor is spent and design the track a little longer. At the end, launch across a sand pit -- points for distance.

 

Spoiler alert: most cars won't survive more than two races.

 

No patch, no trophy, just bragging rights. Maybe first in line for snacks.

Edited February 12, 2016 by qwazse

[TAHAWK]

• "WIlderness Survival"

Skills being taught.        Prioritizing needs to survive a crisis

 

Materials needed.       > wilderness survival scenario - copy for each patrol

                                    >large selection of items - most useful for scenario but some not useful for given scenario (e.g., pot; compass; first aid kit; knife; rope; matches; flashlight)  Duplicates, especially for                                             best items suggested

                                    >score sheets for competition

                                    >token of victory for winning patrol (whittle out and paint a large wooden match or compass with loop of string for attachment to patrol flag)

                                   > each patrol's flag

 

costs involved              As near ro $0 as matters.  

 

Amount of time to set

up, practice or train.   Presenter needs to practice his "Needs for Survival" presentation.

                                   Knowledgeable person gives score of 0-10 pts for value of each item given the scenario

                                   Takes ten minutes to set up table for competition

                                   Takes ten minutes to score

                                   Takes ten minutes to present results as discussion of best choices

Number of people

involved                      One presenter; one scorer for each patrol to note items selected in competition phase; scorer to determine points earned; person to give value to survival gear items.

 

Implementation           10: Presenter gives ten minute talk on "Needs for Survival"  1). Think straight; 2) 98.6; 3) water; 4) signaling; 5) safe movement; 6) first aid; 7) avoiding nature's perils; 8) sleep/rest;                                            9) food.

                                   15: Patrols meet (separately, of course) for fifteen minutes to discuss what stuff would be useful to deal with survival scenario they are each given in writing.

 

                                     5: Patrols are placed equidistant from table with survival items.  They cannot see items.  

 

                                  10: At "GO" a member of patrol runs to table and selects best item for scenario and runs back to patrol to tag next patrol member who repeats. (Each patrol gets same number of trips.)

                                  For small patrols, each person can go twice with each patrol getting same number of trips.  Scorer for that patrol keeps track of trips.

 

                                  When each patrol has finished, time is called and scores calculated.

 

                                  10: Patrol meetings while score is calculated.

 

                                  10: Results presented as an interactive discussion

 

                                  Award presented to patrol at closing formation.

 

 

                                 

 

                                    

•  

[KenD500]

Last night's meeting:

-Opening flags

-Skills instruction - Leave No Trace - leave what you find

-Patrol Meeting

-Inter Patrol activity - human-sized hungry hippos.

[TAHAWK]

And since it's the Patrol Method . . . .

[oldisnewagain1]

If I give them an idea, it's more in the form of a challenge. They have to figure out the details. For example

 

Build a Klondike sled from pallets only

 

Have a  "no-utensil meals" campout

 

Hurl a tennis ball across the field from here (It's to far to throw.)

 

(Not my idea) Build me a Ferris wheel without using nails

Edited March 8, 2016 by oldisnewagain1

[TAHAWK]

If I give them an idea, it's more in the form of a challenge. They have to figure out the details. For example

 

Build a Klondike sled from pallets only

 

Have a  "no-utensil meals" campout

 

Hurl a tennis ball across the field from here (It's to far to throw.)

We use a shorter field.

[oldisnewagain1]

We use a shorter field.

[SteveBowman]

 

Take the boys out to the woods/wilderness in winter or early spring (time when ticks and chiggers are not a problem) and give them a tarp and rope and have them set up a shelter (bring an ax so you can cut wood they may need cut). Review different types of shelters with the cubs before this activity begins. Have two groups do this activity against each other, if the den is large enough.

 

Take the boys out to the woods/wilderness in winter or spring (time when ticks and chiggers are not a problem) and go along a designated trail for awhile, then show them a map of the trail and get out a reliable compass and show them the direction to travel across a challenging hilly area off-trail (that won’t cause any negative effect to terrain, flora or fauna) to cross over to the other side of the trail and short-cut having to go the entire circle around the trail. Locally, I was going to take the boys to Rockwoods near Eureka and go north on the Kiln Trail for about a quarter mile until you cross over a small bridge and stream. At that point you will see a steep hill with rocks on your right (to the east). Have the boys traverse up this hill and give them your compass to use to continue on until they reach where the trail takes upon again (at that point the trail is close to the crest of the hill; they can follow it in either direction, but I would recommend heading south).

 

Take the boys out to a designated trail in the woods/wilderness and about halfway along the trail give them a tarp and rope and have the boys pull straws for the order of playing the injured one. They have to use the tarp and rope and whatever materials are available on the ground to build a device to carry the injured scout out of the woods. The boys take turns being the injured party being carried/dragged/pushed/etc…

 

Den or Pack Group Building Activity: Gather building materials to make structures. Divide boys into groups pretending they are American colonists needing to build ramparts (defensive structures) to defend major cities from British invasion. Then have them throw basketballs or soccer balls at the other team’s ramparts to see which rampart will stand the longest.

 

Helpful: Teach various styles of emergency carries and allow the boys to demonstrate.

 

Collaboration: Demonstrate some basic acrobatic moves for the boys to perform together such as the pyramid. Show these off during pack meetings.

 

Rites of Passage: Young people benefit in from rites of passage into adulthood. This experience for boys should entail something physically challenging and perhaps be a bit scary; something they must overcome. Perhaps a two-day hike where they bring all their gear for sleeping overnight. Want to make it extra-special: have the parents write a letter to their boys saying what they like about them and read these letters around the campfire & you can even have the boys write the same for their parents.

 

Work with the boys to set up slackline/ropes across a stream and have the boys traverse across.

 

Contact Conservation Department for volunteer opportunities such as river cleanup.

 

Establish a connection to a local historical site; visit them with your scouts and let your den/troop help preserve the landmark. See if they will let you dig for artifacts.

 

There are lots of abandoned, small, historic cemeteries overlooked and overgrown; adopt one of these and take care of it.

 

Travois Race: Go out to a woods/park with fallen trees that aren’t picked up, break into two teams, supply rope and have each team build travois with logs and branches from the woods making two branches go across the travois for one cub scout to sit on during the race, and then race the travois against each other in a clearing in a straight line or a circle. (Siebert Park is ideal for this, plus they have a cool cave).

 

Build a rope bridge across a stream and have a goal of transporting supplies over this bridge without getting them wet.

 

Contact Dept. of Conservation, get materials on local birds, go to an area park and separate into two groups and make a list of the different local birds on a grid sheet and see how many of each the different groups can spot.