Campout with Webelos what to do

[sause]

Hi all

We are having our campout with three of the packs in town in Nov. I would like to give the boys some things we can do to make it fun for all. Something diff. then the same old stuff (fire building, first aid ect ect.) We have 25 Boy Scouts coming and about 20 Webelos plus their patrent. You all have great ideas . Thanks John

[CNYScouter]

Some of the things we did on our WEBELOS campouts were to have the Boy Scouts setup and run the events for the WEBELOS.

 

The Scouts have done the fire building, First Aid, etc. but now they get the chance to teach these to the younger guys.

 

One activity that worked well was a Map and Compass course. Have a few of the scouts set up the course (this can take a while)and then have the WEBs go through the course later.

 

We also found doing Foil Dinners was a big hit.

Having the boys make their own dinners seemed to go over really well. And there is very little cleanup.

 

Make sure you have the Boy Scouts plan a campfire for the evening. This always went over with the Webs.

[WDL Mom]

Hi,

 

We just got back from Webelos Woods. The guys actually enjoyed the first aid. They got to bandage each others arms and heads. They wore the stuff all day and one boy wore it all the way home!

 

We had a games station with the giant skis... 7 boys on two boards, with 7 ropes. They have to come up with a way to move the group without stepping off the skis.

 

Another popular station was leather working where the guys made a wallet. They had to stamp the leather, put it together and stitch it up. They had a blast. Plus, it counts for Craftsman pin!

 

Foil dinners were great. We also did banana boats in foil as well.

 

Have a great time!

[oldsm]

A couple of years ago we decided to try something different. Instead of doing a weekend camping trip geared to the Webelos, we do a day hike. We're fortunate to have some well-blazed trails in our area with varied terrain (moderate-to-steep slopes, stream crossings, some scrambling), and my troop likes to do backpacking.

 

We take the Webelos on a hike of suitable length, maybe 1-3 miles depending upon the group. The Boy Scouts travel with full backpacks. We ask the Webelos to carry day packs (usually a school backpack). Each person carries their own water, mess kit, rain gear, etc., but we try to keep it very light for the Webs, although we do let them take "ownership" by having each of them carry some of the food.

 

We pair each Webelos with one or more of the Boy Scouts. The boys lead the hike, teaching compass skills, how to read blazes, tree identification, water filtration/treatment, etc., along the way. Midway, we stop for a backpacking lunch (always including soup or ramen or some such thing cooked quickly and easily on backpacking stoves. The young guys really enjoy seeing how they can enjoy a tasty lunch with only minimal effort.

 

All of the parents hike together in the back - sometimes quite a way behind. That gives our adult leaders a chance to talk with the prospective parents, and lets the Webelos have fun with the boys they're [hopefully] going to be joining.

 

Doing this kind of hike is a lot less work than a camping trip. Most of the Cubs in my area have already done first aid stuff, foil dinners, and the like, so this is really different for them. It has worked very well for us.

[eagle90]

Ask your Webelo leaders what they need to accomplish. At this time of year, most Webelo dens are looking to finish up some of their skills before crossover. For example, last year our Webelo leaders said they needed the Forester badge. Our scouts led them thru it. Next weekend we are taking the Webelos out with us again, and this year they need to do the Outdoorsman. So we are setting up a program to do that. This gives our scouts experience at teaching skills and helps the Webelos out with something they need.

[EagleInKY]

Teambuilding activities can be lots of fun. Get the scouts and Webelos to work together. Let the older scouts run the event.

[jr56]

My unit has done what eagle90 suggested. Find out from the Weblos Den Leader what requirements the Weblos need to cover, and have the boy scouts plan a program to cover them.

[SemperParatus]

All great ideas so far.

 

I have found that punching things up a bit when you have a good size group like that, can really help to create a positive experience. For example...

 

Rather than sitting around doing some first aid practice, have a disaster day drill with multiple dilemmas, fake blood, command center, etc.

 

During a hike, maybe have some boy scouts stationed to arrive on trail at different times to impart wisdom to the webelos. Maybe there are twelve stops along the way with each memorialized by a discussion of each of the points of the Scout Law. Before withdrawing back to the woods, the scout could leave the hikers a token of remembrance (e.g., two ropes tied together symbolizing loyalty, a penny to symbolize thrifty, etc.)

 

A search and rescue drill can be much more than a game of hide-and-go-seek. Make it seem real to them and it will be much more interesting than wandering around in the woods pretending to look for someone. Uh-oh, has anyone seen Johnny lately...

 

A dessert competition is a gotta-have. Everybody loves dessert.

 

If you can include some sporting activity - volleyball, ultimate, softball - go for it.

 

Have fun.

[ASM59]

Good Day,

 

As others have stated, we always try to work with the Webelos on an Activity or two while they are with us on a campout. It seems that Forester is an activity that our Webelos leaders have felt uncomfortable teaching, so they have asked for the Troop's help. The document at the link below was put together by our Troop to help with the Forestry Activity. We will typically have one or two boys "teach" each requirement. We typically do the requirements that are in bold print. Only 5 are required but we like to take them on a hike as well. On that hike I will typically point out 6 or more native tree species and we can discuss some of the uses of those trees.

 

http://www.60408.com/scouts/misc/Webelos-Pins/Foresty/Forester.pdf

 

ASM59

[sause]

Thanks

You gave me some great ideas to pass along to the troop. Asking the Webelos leaders what they would like to do is grest. Also having fun facts during the hike is something we have never done but will be great.

Thanks again

John

 

[red feather]

We recently had an overnight with a group of Webeloe 2nd years. The Saturday activities were planned by our PLC and the evening activity was the retirement of 12 USA flags and 1 Swiss flag. All scouts were involved and several of the adults. Impressively planned by the PLC.

 

The next morning the W2s and our 1st year patrol were tasked with the duty of recovering the grommets. They were up at dawn to recover the grommets. ALL of the them! The grommets will be placed at the base of a flagpole that was saved from demolition and will be placed at a new construction site. (Eagle project)

 

During the scouts activities on Saturday we met with the adults and talked about our troops philosophy and about the gear that new scouts will need and will eventually need. Reports are that the information was appreciated and many questions were answered.

 

All in all a great overnight.

 

yis

[Eagledad]

HI all

 

What a great subject and everyone has great suggestions. I would kike to add that our troop never plans a campout for Webelos. Instead we plan a Troop campout and if the Webelos plan to come, we then have the Troop Guide ASPL and ASM make the agenda work for the Webelos.

 

We've do this for a couple of reasons. One we want the Webelos to experience a typical Troop Campout. The other is we don't want to plan a campout around Webelos and then have none show up. We have had years were Webelos visited on three campouts in a row. We have had a Den leader call only a week a head of time trying to fit a visit in.

 

All that being said, we had Webelos on our Shot Gun Campout, mountain biking campout, Rapelling campoout, and a Troop Camporee campout where the scouts had to hike, bike and canoe to 15 different scouts skills stations. We make modifications where they have to made like Webelos can't rapel, so they did boulder hopping. We had Boys Scouts in the canoes and we give help where skills such as navigation was required.

 

Typically Webelos are so tired on Sundays, they can barely cook breakfast. But what I think they enjoyed the most was being included and treated as part of the troop, not as visitors. I remember one Webelos parent asking if all our campouts were as action packed as the they were on. I told them they are all different, but typically everyone is a sleep by 10:00 Saturday Night.

 

I remember a Biking campout where the Webelos where riding near the egde of the lake. One parent asked if I would go tell them to get away in case they fell in. I said if they fall in, they will learn that it was a stupid idea. As luck would go, it was that parent's kid who fell in. He didn't say anything the rest of the day, but I knew he was mad. A week later that dad called me and said he was trying to convience the whole Den to join our troop. He said his son went home and told his friends how stupid he was for riding so close to the very cold lake. He would not do that again. After that, the dad was convience the boy run thing worked. Dad and I became very good friends after that.

 

I do think doing and activity badge is a great idea and can also be done as just a Saturday morning or afternoon as well. Also, don't discount Webelos just visiting a campout. Once in a while we get a den that has something going on but would love to spend a Saturday on the campout with the troop. In every case those Webelos joined our Troop.

 

I am really enjoy each idea presented here. Hope we get more.

 

Barry

[pargolf44067]

We are having our campout with two packs' Webelos in a couple of weeks. We have planned to work on Naturalist/Forester as well as Map and Compass. The scouts will teach some of the finer points of scout skills (firebuilding, knots, first aid) and we are planning to do a geocache that is based in the scout camp where we are going. We will put some Webelos in each patrol and they will help with the cooking and clean up. We are not doing anything specifically for the Webelos (we have first years' that need the hiking and nature requirements yet) and we will hopefully show the Webelos what a true Scout campout is about.