Explore the wild and wooly West as you round-up new membership. This month learn about the Chisholm Trail and its hardships. Locate on a map the actual route that the cattle drive took. Find out what the cowboys wore and the safety reason for each garment. Learn about leather and rope-making crafts from each. Plan a field trip to see horses and wagons or learn about Western history. Learn to sing "Home on the Range" and other western songs. Experience trail food as everyone tries beans and jerky for dinner.
OCTOBER 2005 - To The Rescue
Cub Scouts will learn how to avoid accidents and be prepared for emergencies this month. Have a policeman talk about safety at home, at school and in public. Learn how to be safe around insects, snakes, animals and plants, or when swimming or riding a bike. Visit the local center for 9-1-1 calls so that Cub Scouts can learn how to call 9-1-1 and what information to give from the home, cell, or pay phone. Have an EMT teach basic age-appropriate Cub Scout first aid. Make first aid kits for boys' automobile, home or to carry with them. Use the buddy system during the den and pack meetings and have buddies develop a secret code or nickname. At the pack meeting, use games or mock accidents so that Cub Scouts can show they are prepared to come to the rescue.
NOVEMBER 2005 - My Family Tree
Is your family Irish or Italian, Hispanic or Greek? Learn where your ancestors came from and trace your family's heritage. Find out what they did and what their customs were. Every family is different, and everyone has something special to offer. Bring something from your family to the pack meeting for Show and Tell. Make projects about different countries to display at the pack meeting. Read stories from other lands and find out what types of games are played in those countries. Have snacks at your den or pack meeting from different countries. Have your Cub Scouts work on the Academics belt loop for Heritages or Language and Culture.
DECEMBER 2005 - Faith, Hope, & Charity
This time of year is packed with family faiths, hopes for the future, duty to God, and charity to all. Service projects are a way to give thanks while helping those in need in our neighborhoods and in our schools. Share family or historic traditions with your den or pack. Celebrate the holiday season with foods and crafts that are appropriate to the various faiths. Build a glove or mitten tree during a pack meeting or organize a food collection where everyone brings something to share with the needy.
JANUARY 2006 - Music Magic
Cub Scouts will get their vocal cords humming and their instruments strumming in a musical extravaganza! Learn to sing a variety of styles like pop, country, or barbershop. Work on the Academics belt loop or pin in Music. Learn the history of a particular song or songs or learn about the various musical instruments. Why not use odds and ends to make your own instruments and accompany the choir? Den meetings can be your "rehearsals" and the pack meeting your "performance!" Best of all, everyone can join in and sing along. Take your show on the road to a local community activity or to a nursing home. Music is a universal language, so help to bring joy to the world by sharing it with others. Earn the Music academic belt loop and pin.
FEBRUARY 2006 - Cubs in the Future
How will Cub Scouts celebrate the blue and gold banquet in the year 2106? What vehicle will take them? Will the stars be their guides? Make models of these new forms of transportation, a home or school of the future, and then use them as blue and gold banquet decorations. Create designs for future Cub Scout uniforms and awards. Build an exhibit of model campsites on a distant planet. Be creative with your futuristic menus. Top off the evening with intergalactic games.
MARCH 2006 - Cubstruction
Boys love to build things. This month have the dens work with tools and wood. Learn about different kinds of wood and where it comes from. Make gifts for your family or bird or bat houses for the community. Work with your family to make repairs around your home. Visit the local hardware store or home- improvement store and see all the different tools. Get permission to visit a local construction site. Since the best gifts are often homemade, make handcrafted awards to present at the pack meeting.
APRIL 2006 - Our Feathered Friends
Learn about the various birds that live in your area or about the bald eagle, our national bird. Observe and take pictures or make posters, feeders, or birdhouses. Visit the library or search the Internet for information about birds all over the world. Ask a conservation officer to speak about attracting more birds to your area. At the pack meeting, dens can present what they've learned about birds and the projects they've made. To stimulate interest in Boy Scouts, invite an Eagle Scout to talk about his experiences on his trail to Scouting's highest rank.
MAY 2006 - Diggin' In the Dirt
Cub Scouts can discover what Mother Nature hides in the dirt and how the soil helps plants to grow. Have a "One Inch Hike" to learn the many things that can be found in the dirt. Learn what insects or animals make their homes in the ground. Make a window garden or terrarium and plant seeds or plants. Visit a green house or County Extension Office to see what plants can grow without soil, what it takes to grow healthy plants and how to test the soil. At the pack meeting, show items found in the ground (i.e. rocks, shells) or have a seed-eating party with edible seeds.
JUNE 2006 - Invent a Reason to Celebrate
Check your calendar for a variety of holidays we don't normally celebrate. Did you know that every day in June is a holiday? June 15th is Smile Power Day, the 29th is Camera Day, the 10th is National Yo-Yo Day, and the 20th is Ice Cream Soda Day. Not only is June 14th Flag Day, but it is also Pop Goes the Weasel Day. You can celebrate a June holiday or create your own. Invent a new sandwich for Sandwich Day. June is National Accordion Awareness Month as well as Zoo and Aquarium Month. If you can't find a holiday for your den, you can invent your own and celebrate it at the pack meeting.
JULY 2006 - Red, White, and Baloo
Citizenship is taught through Cub Scouting. Our flag stands for our country. Learn about our flag and its history. How many different flags has the US had? Learn how to properly display the flag, carry it, and retire it. Display the flag on Independence Day. Learn about the many people who have given their lives for our flag and why we need to show respect when we handle our flag. Invite your local troop or VFW post to the pack meeting and have them perform a flag retirement ceremony. Practice patriotic songs like "You're a Grand Ole Flag" and "The Star Spangled Banner" and sing them at the pack meeting. Invite a veteran to be a guest speaker and talk about defending our flag. Let's all be proud of our flag and what it represents.
AUGUST 2006 - Scouting It Out
Get your Cub Scouts into the great outdoors and have fun, fun, fun. Enjoy nature and all it has to offer. Plan a pack outing that may include a pack family camp out, a hike, or a water party or just pack up the hotdogs and have a picnic. Teach the boys safety precautions for whatever activity you choose. Get out and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Please send me your comments, suggestions, additions, and requests.
Please send me your comments, suggestions, additions, and requests.
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