Encampment Ideas

[bandboy123]

I am chair of a committee to plan and run a Boy Scout Activity area at our council encampment in May, and need to come up with 8 or so activity/skill areas. Attendance should be 1000 cubs and scouts. The Cubs have teir own area under a different committee. I would appreciate any ideas that you have seen work well for a one day event like this. The theme is "A Celebration of Scouting".

 

Thanks!

[Fuzzy Bear]

You may want to contact organizations that could sponsor large events. They would have volunteers that could run the area and handle large numbers. They might also have other resources that you would not have access.

 

American Red Cross- First Aid races or contests or learning

 

Spelunker Association- climbing, knots and ropes, blind-fold walk

 

Engineer or Science association- an event that would use principles to move objects or use imagination and principles to accomplish a task

 

a Teacher Association- to come up with New Games where the game is made-up and then played.

 

FB

[OldGreyEagle]

With a theme of a "celebration of scouting" you could have a few re-enactors become B-P and Dan Beard and a few other of the scouting founders and roam around talking about how scouting was "back then". The B-P double could center around a Brownsea island station and the activities could be based on the original Brownsea island program.

 

The Dan Beard charactor could be around the Sons of Daniel Boone exhibit which would display the aspects of that program that became part of the BSA and have the boys try their hand at those activities. Muzzleloading here?

 

And then the local OA chapter could be "tapped" (I love saying that) to do a station of the orgins of the OA on Treasure Island. I could see an archery station here.

[Eamonn]

As a Council we have a Council Event the year after the Jamboree. Our numbers are about the same as yours. 2002 the theme was Moving. Each district was given an area to deal with: Earth, Sea, Air and Ground. It was held over the coldest, wettest weekend in May that has ever been recorded!! The one before was kind of neat it dealt with wars!!

I think that you will need to have a lot more activities than 8 to keep everyone interested, no one is going to want to stand in line for ever!!

Early Scouting is easy to pull off have a group do a Brown Sea Island camp and invite the traveling Scouts to play the games that were played by that First Group of Lads.

Pioneering is my big thing, invite Scouts to help build something and maybe cross over a monkey bridge or something.

The OA is good for a couple of stations maybe the Dance Team. I was really taken with the Indian Lore exhibition at the 2001 Jamboree. Scouts got to try their hand at bead work and they had a Native American Fellow who is a Scouter he was outstanding.

Black Powder guns and that sort of thing are always a hit with the Scouts.

Buckskin Games can keep a lot of people busy.

You might want to invite the guys who have outstanding patch collections to set up a display.

You could invite the International Division to send the display that they have.

A fashion display of Scout Uniforms through the ages might be fun.

Looking back through old Scout Handbooks should inspire you to do a lot, maybe some stuff on signaling: Morse code and Semaphore.

The time we did War, we had local school bands come and play music from the different time periods. I really got into the big band swing stuff.

You might want to show a movie one night. Follow Me Boys is cute!!

We have a guy in our Council who is really into the history of our camp. He has all sorts of neat stuff, you might want to just display this or add to it. In this months Scouting Mag. They have Scouts making a historic record of veterans, by inviting them to talk into a tape recorder about how it was. You could do the same thing have a group of Scouts make recordings with either video or just photo. Make copies and sell them or just show them at the camp fire.

I could go on forever!!

You need to form a very enthusiastic hard working committee and go wild.

Eamonn

[Greeneagle5]

You might get some good ideas from the USMA Camporee Webpage : http://www.usma.edu/uscc/dca/clubs/scou/index.html

 

West Point hosts approx. 125 + Troops every Spring for a very active and well planned weekend. Also, Geo-caching events and Team (patrol)Orienteering Challenge competitions are always exciting large group possibilities.

 

G5(This message has been edited by Greeneagle5)

[bandboy123]

Thanks for some great ideas everyone. The encampment will be held at a local private airport (very little air traffic) and we will have static displays of airplanes, helicopters etc.....as well as (hopefully) several fly bys from the Air National Guard (a separate committee is working on that.) Another possibility is a flight simulator. Possible parachutists club involvement. In addition, I have a hard working Cub committee working on Cub activities. Many thanks for your input. I think the ideas regarding reinactment are super.

[frank10]

You can't miss with flint and steel. Our troop sets upo a booth at the shows and the kids go to town on it. Our booth always has a lone of scouts waiting for a turn.

(see pir booth at http://www.onmyhonor.com/events0102/fall01scott/page4.html )

 

Note: I can provide info on getting the kits wholesale if you are interested.

[Greeneagle5]

With an aviation theme, you should consider contacting :

 

http://www.youngeagles.org

 

We had a multi-district camporee a few years ago at a regional airport , offering the Aviation MB. Young Eagle Flights were a tremendous hit with the Scouts. Every Scout desiring to fly was given the opportunity.

G5