Jr. USA Shooting Team 2008 Award

If your cub scout has just finished day camp and/or has thier BB belt loop, check into this award/patch for thier patch blanket.

USA Shooting has a Junior team. Qualifications include everything that the boys need to qualify for the BB Belt loop. If you have that, and have a BB gun, down load the target from http://www.nssf.org/JrUSA/PDF/08RifleTarget.pdf. Read the qualifications for the award at http://www.nssf.org/JrUSA/ and do as it says.

Once your scout earns his 35 points with 5 shots or less, you can order this free award.

Always use caution when shooting BB's. Follow BSA safety guidelines and never allow your boys to shoot unsupervised.

Presidential Volunteer Service Award

The Presidential Volunteer Service Award is a relatively new award that honors anyone who volunteers. There are levels of service. Bronze, Silver, Gold and the President's Call to Service Award. This is a great program to get your boys involved in, especially since they are already volunteering for lots of other service projects via cub scouts. Both children and adults can earn the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Award time frames are the current calendar year with the exception of the lifetime volunteer award.

The criteria is as follows:


Bronze

• Kids: 50-74 hours
• Adults: 100-249 hours

Silver

Kids: 75-99 hours

Adults: 250-499 hours

Gold

Kids: 100+ hours

• Adults: 500+ hours

Presidental Call to Service

4000 hours over a lifetime

www.presidentialserviceawards.gov for more information about this program.

This is not a BSA Program but it goes well with the volunteer attitude of the cub scout program.

Elective 10D

Wolf Elective 10D Make a traditional item or instrument that American Indians used to make their lives easier is one of the more difficult electives.

We chose to make the Plains Parfleche. It started out being a difficult elective, however, after an hour, we finally figured some easier ways to work on it.

We chose to use canvas material, since we already had some. I punched sewing holes for my Wolf cub and he used plastic lacing to "sew" it together. Use a small hole punch. It worked easily through the canvas. If you choose to use the plastic lacing, cut your "sewing" end off at a 45 degree angle to make a point. This will make it considerably easier than if you have a blunt end of lacing. Those two hints should help considerably if you choose to do this elective.

We checked out this website and got ideas for our bag... there are lots of styles to choose from. http://www.morningstargallery.com/parfleche/07.html

One of the great things that this project made us realize (as simple as it was in comparison to making one from leather ... from killing the deer to tanning the hide) how hard people had to work without modern tools like sewing machines and ready made material.

This is a great activity if you want to get into deeper subjects like modern conveniences...

BSA Family Activity 4

This weeks BSA Family Activity comes from the Teaching Responsibilty section of the BSA Family Award. The teaching responsibility section we are working with is Being Prepared. You may choose one of these activities to fullfill one of the Teaching Responsibility.

From the BSA Family Workbook: The Purpose of Being Prepared is to help the family realize the importance of being prepared for situations that may occur and identify areas where they need to become better prepared.

Some activities are:

• Let family members assemble a first aid kit for the house and one for the car. Explain to children how each item is to be used. Wolf Elective 16C


• Teach first aid skills to the family, make sure that they know what first aid means : Aid given first, before professional help arrives. Learn what to do in the case of minor cuts and scratches(Wolf Requirement 3C), Severe bleeding, fainting, broken bones, burns, stopped breathing, and poisoning. Parents and older children can take a first aid course together, through the Red Cross or another group. Emergency Preparedness Award


• Role play with your children how to say no if someone offers them a cigarette, an alcholic drink, or drugs, including medicines their parents or doctors have not said they need. Wolf Requirement 12B


• Review the rules for internet safety (Internet Scout Patch). Make a small chart listing the rules and place one by each computer in the house.


• Review the safety equipment needed for any sports your children play. Make sure that children have and use helmets when bike riding, inline skating or skateboarding. make sure that helmets are properly fitted. Wolf Requirement 9E


• Children need to know how to contact their parents, family members and emergency help. Role play with your children some telephone situations like the following:


• >> Pretend to call 911. tell the emergency, give the location and stay on the line until the operator tells you to hang up. Wolf Requirement 9A


• >> You are home alone and someone calls to speak to the parent. What can you say so that the caller does not know that you are home alone? Wolf Requirement 9C


• >> You answer the phone and it is a salesperson asking for information about your family. Wolf Requirement 9C


• >> You answer the phone and the caller says things that make you feel uncomfortable or uses bad words. Wolf Requirement 9C

These are all great activities for your family.

Puddle Jumpers

We tried making Puddle Jumpers (Wolf Elective 7B) tonight. They were easy and both my Wolf cub and Sprout enjoyed playing with them. All you need is 2 of the same sized cans (we use larger cans to counteract any clumbsiness... large fruit cocktail) and some cord. Poke holes in the cans with a can opener, string the cord through and viola! Instant entertainment.

Puddle Jumpers are an easy elective to get done and actually keep the boys entertained for a few hours.

Craft ideas

I have recently been scouring the websites and catalogs for craft ideas for my little Wolf Cubs that will match up with some of the activities this year. Check out www.orientaltrading.com to find lots of cute crafts to do with your boys.

You don't have to buy a craft for 12 kids, instead you can use these as ideas for things to do with your boys to keep them busy this summer. Check out your electives and type in some of the key words for your electives and see what comes up for craft ideas. Then see what you have at home that will work for that craft. For crafts under "Indian Lore" search for "western crafts". You may need to search several catagories to find what you are looking for, but you'll find lots of great ideas.

Have fun and get your Wolf credit at the same time : )

Leave No Trace

Are you taking the boys out for a short hike or outing in this beautiful weather? Discuss with your boys the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines and then on 3 seperate outings practice the frontcountry guidelines.

The Frontcountry guidelines are:

• Plan ahead
• stick to trails
• manage your pet
• leave what you find
• respect other visitors
• trash your trash

There are 6 requirements for the Leave No Trace Award:

• Discuss the importance of Leave no Trace frontcountry guidelines
• On 3 seperate outings practice the frontcountry guidelines
• Wolves complete Requirement 7 (Your Living World)
• Participate in a Leave No Trace-related service project
• Promise to practice the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines by signing the Cub Scout pledge
• Draw a poster to illustrate the Leave No Trace guidelines and display it at a Pack meeting.

This is something that you can do fairly easily if you are already out enjoying nature with your boys.

BSA Family Activity 3

The BSA Family Activity this week is from the Developing Personal Strengths section. You will need to do 2 activities from the Developing Personal Strengths section. You may choose one of the following activities if you want from the Learning Duty to God section.

From the BSA Family Workbook: The purpose of Learing Duty to God is to help children learn more about the teachings of thier family's religious faith and belief.

1. Go on a family hike and acknowledge the beautiful things in nature that God has created. Pick up and litter that you may find, and talk about taking care of our world. (Leave No Trace, Wolf Requirement 7D Pick up litter)

2. As a family, attend a religious service in a church or other setting where people gather to worship. (Wolf Requirement 11C practice or demonstate your relgious beliefs)

3. Learn how to say a grace, prayer, relgious thought or inspirational message. (Wolf Elective 11E Sing a song that would be sung as a grace before meals.)

Something Fun

Here's another easy and fun thing for the boys. Boys Life Magazine has an Act Green patch. Boys simply need to send in a postcard to the address below with how they are acting green and Boys Life will send patches to the first 2000 respondants.

Acting green can be as simple as "turning off the water when I brush my teeth" to "composting" and anything in between.

Send submissions to:
Boys Life Magazine/Act Green
271 Madison Ave Suite 401
New York, NY 10016

Paddle Boats

We tried Wolf Elective 5F tonight. Building a rubberband paddle boat. This was an easy elective and the boys adored it. We chose to make our boats out of high density foam flooring and coroplast board (glued on top) for strength. We cut the foam boat out and then laid a coroplast layer on top to add rigidity. Odd I know. but that's just what we happened to have handy.

Here's something interesting. If you choose to build this project, experiment with the size of the paddle. The shorter ones go faster, but the longer ones are stronger. Interesting experiment if you want to teach your child a few physics lessons.

Outdoor Activity Award

Here is another super easy award to earn if you are sending your boys to day camp this Summer.

The Outdoor Activity Award has the following qualifications:

• Attend Day Camp (Wolf Elective 23E)
• Complete (Assemble) Wolf Elective 23B Explain the basics of how to take care of yourself in the outdoors.

Next, complete 4 of the following:

• Participate in a nature hike (Leave No Trace)
• Participate in an outdoor activity such as a picnic (Wolf Elective 18A) or park fun day
• Explain the Buddy System and tell what to do if you are lost (Wolf Elective 23C and 23D) and explain the importance of cooperation.
• Attend a pack overnighter (Wolf Elective 23A)
• Complete and outdoor service project in your area.
• Complete a nature/conservation project in your area. (Wildlife Conservation Award)
• Earn the Summertime Pack Award
• Participate in a nature observation activity. Discribe/Illustrate and Display your observations at a den or pack meeting. (Wolf Elective 13A if you choose to watch birds)
• Participate in an outdoor aquatic activity. (Swimming Belt Loop)
• Participate in an outdoor campfire program. Perform in a skit, sing a song or take part in a ceremony. (Wolf Elective 23G)
• Participate in an outdoor sporting event. (there are many outdoor sport beltloops available and also corospond with Wolf Electives 20A-O)
• Particpate in Scout's Own or other worship service. (Wolf Elective 23H)
• Explore a local city, county, state or national park. Discuss with your den how a good citizen obeys the park rules.

As you can see, you are probably doing many of these activities with your boys already, so go ahead and grab the award!

Gas prices got you grounded?

Gas prices have definately got us grounded around our house. And I am looking for quick and easy activites for the boys to do without actually driving anywhere. Here's a list of fun, busy activities to do with your boys at home.

Wolf Elective 8B ~ Help an adult do a job using a wheel and axle. You can have them pull a wagon and pick up sticks or rocks in the yard and move them into a pile or have them help move plants or mulch as you work with flowers or a garden.

Wolf Elective 18A ~ Help plan and hold a picnic with your family or den. Move your lunch outdoors and have a picnic!

Wolf Elective 18B ~ With an adult, help plan and run a family outing.

Wolf Elective 18C ~ Help plan and lay out a treasure hunt.

Wolf Elective 18D ~ Help Plan and lay out an obsticle race.

Wolf Elective 18E ~ Help plan and lay out an advernture trail. In a park or play ground, set up 5 games scattered around the park.

Wolf Requirement 7C ~ With an adult, pick up litter in your neighborhood

Have fun getting these easy electives!

BSA Family Program Activities 2

This week we are selecting one of the following activities for the BSA Family Award from the second catagory: Strengthening Family Relationships. You may select one of these activities as the first of two Strengthening Familes Activities. There will be more activities from the Strengthening Family Relationships in the coming weeks to select your second activity.

This weeks selections come from the "Making Mealtime Meaningful" section.

From the BSA Family Workbook: Purpose: To make mealtime a more meaningful for the entire family and to help children develop mealtime social skills.

1. With your children, plan several days of meals together. Make a list of ingredients and check to see what is already on hand. (Wolf Requirement 8B)

2. Let each child help prepare a meal for the family. Help set the table, cook the food and wash the dishes. (Wolf Requirement 8C)

3. Have a backyard cookout. Give each child a task in preparing or cleaning up the meal. (Wolf Requirement 8E)

Wolf Den field trip

We are scheduling a Wolf Den Field Trip for Monday August 4th to visit Metro's Recycling Center for Wolf Requirement 7C. It is the only day that we will be able to get in before school starts and the Recycling Center only does tours on Mondays and Fridays. This is a free activity and the tour lasts just 1 hour and the kids get a "recycled" product at the end.

This tour also fulfills one of the 3 requirements for the Beautification Scout Award that Metro offers as well.

Currently there are only 5 spots left for our group tour. Please let me know if you plan on attending since there is a cap on how many people can attend each tour. Email me for our group tour time.

Attending:
TR4
LM3
JL4
JG3
RJ3
LD3

Saturday July 5th Build a bird house at Home Depot!

Saturday July 5th, the Home Depot Kids Workshops are building a bird house! The kids workshops are FREE and they supply the kids with aprons, safety goggles and the tools neccessary to complete the predrilled and pre cut project. Kids who complete the projects receive a project pin and they also get to keep thier little orange aprons.

Satisfies the following:
Wolf Elective 13F if you put the bird house up outside
Wolf Requirement 5E Make a bird house
Wolf Requirement 5D Using a hammer

You can find out more information at http://www.homedepotclinics.com/

Partial credit towards World Conservation Award as well

Beautification Scout Patch

Did you know that Metro Nashville offers a Beautification Scout Patch? Wolf Cubs must complete activity #1 and then 2 other activities.

1. Plant a tree
2. Visit the Recycling Education Station in Nashville (Wolf Requirement 7C)
3. Have an aluminum can collection through your troop
4. Make a campaign slogan or advertisement for one thing everyone can do to reduce his or her waste
5. Take a tour of the local landfill
6. Learn about composting http://www.nashville.gov/beautification/Publications/HomeCompostingFlyer.pdf
7. Organize a litter clean up with your troop, family or friends. (Wolf Requirement 7D and can also be used as a Leave No Trace Service related project)
8. Participate in the Great American Clean Up in March, April or May
9. Plant a flower bed or wildflower meadow (Wolf Elective 15B)
10. Participate in a Ring around the School clean up (Davidson County Schools)

Here is the link for the Beautification Scout Patch program.
http://www.nashville.gov/beautification/scouts/index.htm

Have Pets?

You can fulfill several Wolf Electives if you have pets and these activities are easy to do.

Elective 14A is simply to take care of your pet. Understand how to feed and what to feed your animal and how to keep their homes clean and healthy. Easy right? If you have pets of any kind, you already know this, so go ahead and get credit! You can also get credit for the BSA Family Award (Teaching Responsibility: Developing Responsibility credit)

Since you're already talking about animals, talk about Wolf Elective 14B, Know what to do when you meet a strange dog. This a good time to talk about this because the kids are outside playing anyway and it's good safety advice and everything you need to know is right in the Wolf Handbook.

Wolf Elective 14D goes hand in hand with the other two and talks about Rabies and what to do when you see an animal acting strangely. Again, good advice for those of us who like to send the kids outside for the summer.

These are easy Wolf Electives to earn and the time is right with the kids being outside to go ahead and talk about it.

Easy Bird House

Wolf Elective 13F is to put out a bird house. If you build it, you can also get credit for Wolf Requirement 5E (Make a bird house). But this doesn't have to be a complicated thing. Check out this easy bird house you can make if you have swallows in your yard ... http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/birdhous/swallow.htm

It's simple and easy and can probably be made from scraps of wood laying around the house or shed.

This activity fulfills the following:
one of the requirements for the World Conservation Award
Wolf Elective 13F
Wolf Requirement 5E

If you use a hammer to build this project, you can also get credit for Wolf Requirement 5D and Requirement 5C if you screw it together

BYI: Back Yard Investigation

We've lived in our house for 12 years, and today, we discovered for the first time that we have a red mulberry bush! This is the first year that we have had mulberries at our house. Imagine the boys excitement to learn that we had this tasty fruit tree in our yard and that they could pick and eat the fruit. It was an opportunity to take family time together and to also teach the boys about leaving berries for the other critters. We found deer bedding evidence right under the tree as well.

Spend a few minutes out in your yard this week and see what's new in your yard. I haven't found a way to tie it to Scouts yet ( I'm sure we can tie it to Wildlife conservation somehow), but it was fun to learn about our "new" tree and cook a mulberry pie together!

Something fun...

Here's something fun to do and it only takes a minute... visit the Boys Life website and submit your Scout's collection! It's easy and if they select your collection to print in the magazine, they will pay your Scout $10. Be sure to fill in your name and age as they will not accept any submissions over the internet from anyone under the age of 13, but I left my Scouts name and age in the comment box next to our collection submission.

http://www.boyslife.org/home/493/write-about-your-collection/

Check it out, maybe your Scout will be in a future edition of Boys Life Magazine!

We'd love to hear about what you collect... We collect "heart rocks" (heart shaped rocks) by the way : )

Fishing Anyone?

Are you taking the boys fishing this summer? If you are, you can receive lots of credit for doing that activity!

1. Fishing Belt Loop. Complete these three requirements:

A. Review your local fishing regulations with your leader or adult partner. Explain why they are important, and commit to following them.

B. Demonstrate how to properly bait a hook.

C. Try to catch a fish.

2. Wolf Elective 19A-F

19A. Identify 5 kinds of fish (Bass Pro Shops in Opry Mills has a great live display of sport fish)

19B. Rig a Pole and go fishing.

19C. Fish with members of your family and do your best to try to catch a fish. (BSA Family Activity and Fishing Belt Loop requirement)

19D. Know the rules of safe fishing.

19E. Tell about some of the fishing laws where you live. (Fishing Belt Loop Requirement)

19F. Show how to use a rod and reel.

3. Completing all of Wolf Elective 19A-F is one part of the World Conservation Award

4. BSA Family Enjoying Family Fun is to go fishing as a family and learn and follow local fishing regulations. (Wolf Elective 19C, part of Fishing Belt Loop Requirement)

5. Earn your "Master Angler Patch" By submitting the following:

A. Scout Name

B. Address

C. City, State, Zip

D. Date of Fishing Trip

E. Body of Water Fished

F. Distance from Home

G. Air Temp

H. Water Temp

I. Water Clarity (Clear, Slightly stained, Stained, Muddy)

J. Lures Used

K. Line Type

L. Type of Reel Used (Spinning, Spincasting, Baitcasting, other)

M. Number of Fish Caught

N. Species of Fish Caught

Submit info and a PHOTO from the trip to:

Master Anglers Program

FLW Outdoors

30 Gamble Lane

Benton, KY 42025

As you can see, one fishing trip can cover lots of awards and electives and many of the requirements (like learning fishing laws) are covered in more than one activity.

Have fun!

Go Fly a Kite

If you want to try building and flying a home made kite (Electives 5A-D) here are some things that we learned...

Elective 5B (make a paperbag kite) is super easy. Takes 15-30 minutes to create and you can use any kind of paper bag or gift bag. We didn't have any luck getting it to fly though. You may want to save this as a super windy day activity.

Elective 5C (make a 2 stick kite) is more time consuming and difficult to build. The instructions aren't quiet complete in the book and it's a very heavy kite when you use a paper bag. Here are some modifications that we are going to try for round two: use a plastic garbage bag instead of a paper bag to make it lighter. Add a drop of hot glue to the ends of the notches so that the string doesn't come out when it crashes.

Kite Flying statisfies Wolf Electives 5A, 5B or 5C and BSA Family (Family Fun) requirements as well

Lane Motor Musuem

Lane Motor Museum is Free for Dad’s (and kids) on Father’s Day

Lane Motor Museum is Free for Dad's and all children under the age of 18 are Free on Father's Day Sunday June 15th. They have over 150 mostly European cars and will be offering car rides in some of the vehicles. Details from their website are below and with Dad's and Kids FREE, that makes admission just $5 for Mom! I hear this is an awesome car museum and of course it also fulfills one part of the COLLECTING BELT LOOP (visit a collection, the other two requirements we have scheduled during the school year) and it also fulfills one of the BSA Family requirements as well.

Lane Motor Museum website is http://www.lanemotormuseum.com/

June - Dads are Free this Fathers Day- Sunday, June 15 Don't miss out on this great chance to bring your Dad out for a free day of fun at the Lane Motor Museum! Dads are free all day (hours 10am-5pm) and special activities including car rides and demonstrations will happen between 11am-4:30pm including:
11:00-11:30 Rides in a 1958 Tatra T-603*
12:00-12:30 Rides in a 1956 Citroën ID 19*
12:30-1:00 Demonstration: Helicron*
1:00-1:30 Rides in a 1963 BMW 3200 S*
1:30-2:00 Demonstration: Peel Trident*
2:00-2:30 Demonstration: Davis 3-Wheeler*
2:30-3:00 Basement Tour
3:00-3:30 Rides in a 1958 Tatra T-603*
3:30-4:00 Demonstration: Ford Quadricycle*
4:00-4:30 Rides in a 1956 Citroën ID 19*

*Cars used for rides or demonstration are subject to change

BSA Family Activities 1

Enjoying Family Fun.

Here is the first set of activities for the BSA Family Award. Select one of these activities as one of two requirements for the Learning Through Family Fun and Adventure section. We will have others listed in the coming weeks for a second area of this topic.

This weeks activities come from the "Enjoying Family Fun" section.

From the BSA Famil Workbook: Purpose: To encourage family members to spend time together having fun and sharing adventures.

1. Hold a family game night. (CHESS belt loop if you would like to teach your Scout to play chess)

2.Visit a museum, art gallery or art exhibit. (fulfills one requirement for the COLLECTING belt loop.) We're going to take in the Lane Motor Museum near Opryland http://www.lanemotormuseum.org/

3. Go Bird watching. ELECTIVE 13D (also goes toward the *World Conservation Award)

4. Go on a famly bike ride, discuss proper bike safety. REQUIREMENT 9E and also fulfills the requirements for the Bike Belt loop.

5. Fly home made or purchased kites. If you choose to make home made kites, you can receive credit for ELECTIVE 5A, and if you choose to make one of the kites (or all of them)ELECTIVE 5B, 5C and/or 5D.

6. Plant a family garden. ELECTIVES 15 A-D depending on what kind of garden you choose to plant. This also fulfills some of the requirements for the *World Conservation Award.

7. Go fishing. Learn about local fishing laws and regulations. ELECTIVES 19 A-F depending on which activities you want to do. Also fulfills the Fishing Belt loop. And is part of the *World Conservation Award as well.

Like I said, there are about 100 activities, I just picked a few that went along with other scout awards. Email me for other ideas if you don't like any of these.

*World Conservation Award. Check page 226 in your Wolf Handbook for more information about the World Conservation Award requirements.

BSA Family Program

BSA Family Program Current mood: adventurous

Our family is participating in the BSA Family Program. This is a program designed to strengthen familes with a series of fun activities. We plan on doing our BSA family activities on Thursday nights, since we are already used to doing scouts on Thursday nights. The entire family gets the family award (patches or pins and certificate)

There are 10 activities that must be completed over 12 months. We plan on doing one activity each week to keep us busy this summer. All of the things listed in the book are probaby things you are already doing anyway, so you might as well get credit for it!

The program consists of 2 activities in each of 5 catagories for completion. The 5 catagories are:

Learing through fun and adventure
Strengthening family relationships
Developing personal strengths
Teaching responsibility
Handling difficult situations

Many of the items are also in the Wolf handbook, so you can get credit for the Wolf activity as well as the BSA Family Activity. Double the fun : ) I'll post some of the activities each week and the Wolf Requirements/Electives that also get covered with that activity. If you don't like the options for the week, email me, there are about 100 different activities in each catagory. I just don't want to list them all : )

Keep track of your activities by adding comments to this site. Let's encourage each other to have a fun family filled summer!
Jen