PACK/DEN ACTIVITIES

Northwest Suburban Council

Activities

Have ice cube races. Make colorful cubes with food dye. Devise an incline using a smooth surface like a vinyl tile. Race the ice cubes down the incline.

Freeze large blocks of ice in trays without dividers (remember those?).  Unmold and allow scouts to sprinkle salt on them. Observe the fantastic shapes produced by the uneven melting.

Create ice cube rivers. Make a sand mountain and place ice cubes on top.  Watch the melted water make rivers down the side of the hills.

Create ice cube pictures on the hot sidewalk. Look at the design made by the melted cube on the walk.

Ice Cube Painting. Make ice cubes in an ice cube tray. When halfway frozen, stick a Popsicle stick in. When ice is completely frozen, you are ready to begin.  Sprinkle some powdered paint on a piece of paper. Use different colors.  Give each scout an ice cube with stick and let him rub or drag it on the paper.  Ask them what is happening to the powdered paint.  What has happened to the ice cube?

Have the scout's paint using lemon juice. Let the painting dry overnight.  It will be invisible.  Place each boy's paper under several layers of newsprint.  Lightly iron over the paper with an iron set on high (no steam) until the artwork appears.  Ask scouts to guess why the pictures appeared.

Sun Prints

Materials: Objects that would make an interesting print, dark colored construction paper.  Have the scouts place the objects on their construction paper.  Take their creations out into the direct sunlight and leave them outside all day.  At the end of the day, go outside and check to see what happened to the construction paper! 

You can make neat critters by gluing eyeballs on seashells.

Sand Dough

1-cup sand, 1/2-cup cornstarch, 1 tsp. cream of tartar 3/4-cup hot water, Mix sand, cornstarch and cream of tartar in an old saucepan.  Add hot water.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is very thick and can't be stirred further.  Cool slightly and mold into various shapes use plastic molds or let scouts create their own designs.  Allow to dry. Paint if desired. (Store leftovers in airtight container.) What a fun way to make permanent sand castles for your sand table (with those sandcastle/beach plastic pail sets). Add some plastic people figures and instant kingdom!

Use shells at the balancing scale. The scouts compare the weights of various shells, predict which ones are the heaviest and lightest, and try to find combinations of shells that, when placed on the scale together, will balance.

Place the paint at one end of bulletin board paper; then place a dishpan of water and an old towel at the other end of paper. Have each scout take turns stepping in paint and walking across paper.  Have them rinse feet and dry them.  Label each scout's footprints with he's name.  Paint glue on the areas of the paper surrounding the footprints; then sprinkle sand over the glue.

You can also make a bulletin using this paper.

5 dish pans 1 - with sand in it (beach) 1 - with dry navy beans in it (pebbles) 1 - with cooked green spaghetti (sea weed) 1 - with shaving cream with a little blue food coloring (sea foam) 1 - with salt water (ocean)

The scouts take off their shoes and socks and waited patiently to walk on the beach. Explained that when you go to the beach you first walk on the beach then through pebbles and crushed shells then some sea weed as the wave splash they create sea foam and then you finally reach the ocean.  Placed everything in a line on long white paper.  You will have to add a little water to spaghetti to keep it moist. Used towels at the end to step on and wipe feet off.

Mother's Day Flower Jar
Northwest Suburban Council

Remove the label, then clean and dry any sized baby-food jar.  Cut a small square of Styrofoam to fit inside the jar lid and glue it in place.  Cut small silk flowers to fit inside the jar.  Push flowers into foam.  You may want to put a bit of white glue on the bottoms of each stem to better secure them.  Cover the foam with some colored Easter grass.  Put on the jar and twist it securely onto the lid.  Glue eyelet lace around the jar lid to form a "collar."  Tie a 9" piece of ribbon into a bow and glue this to the front of the jar.

--Pack 114

Father’s Day-Floppy Disk Photo Cube

Terrific for Dad's desk at work or home!

Materials:  6 Old 3½" Floppy Disks, Blank Index Stock, 6 Photos You Can Cut, Low Temp Glue Gun, Double Stick Tape

Instructions: Lay one disk face down on your workspace.  Use a low temp glue to attach one disk to each side and a disk on the top.  Cut six pieces of index to 2-1/8" x 2-3/4".  Use double stick tape to attach one to each floppy.  Cut photos to 1-7/8" x 2-1/2"  Use double stick tape to attach photos in the center of rectangle index leaving a white border around each picture.

Life Preserver Slide
Northwest Suburban Council

On a piece of Styrofoam about 1/2" thick, draw a 3" circle and cut out.  From the center of the circle, remove a 2" circle. Loosely wrap cord around edge of styrofoam and bind in place, as shown, with red "Mystic" tape.  Print "Cub Scout" on one side and "Pack No. ---" on the other.  Insert and glue ends of a piece of white chenille into back for ring.

Fun Fact

The average American eats 13 pounds of tomatoes a year (plus 20 pounds a year in the form of ketchup, salsa, soup, and BBQ sauce).

A 5-ounce tomato has only 35 calories.

Even though tomatoes contain only moderate amounts of vitamins A and C, they rank third in our source of the vitamins, since we eat so much of them!

There are more than 1,000 varieties of tomatoes currently being grown in the U.S.

Last summer we went to the Gulf Shores in Alabama.  I collected many shells, and boy did they stink.  Upon returning home, I looked up on the internet on the way to clean seashells.  The source I found said 50% bleach/50% water.  Being just a little too lazy to look for my rubber gloves, I reached into the solution, many many times to swish the shells around, not even thinking about what was happening to my hands.  I kept on swishing the water around even when my hands became slightly tingly.  It took nearly five days for my hands to stop tingling and return to their normal color as opposed to that bright red.  Be careful especially with your Cubs if you decide to clean shells.  DON'T BE LAZY, FIND THE RUBBER GLOVES AND WEAR THEM!: )

Shell Crafts
Circle 10 Council

Ideas for things you can make using shells you can purchase at the craft store or bring back from the beach.

Fish: Use a pair of flat shells.  Glue cotton to the rim of one shell and then glue the rims together.  Insert the tail and fins  (small shells) between rims before the glue dries.  Glue on other small shells for eyes and scales.  Paint.

Flowers and Small Animals: Use shells and pipe cleaners.  Glue pairs of shells together, rim to rim, for bodies, heads, buds and flower centers.  Insert pipe cleaners between shells for necks, legs, and stems.  When needed, smaller shells can be glued on for legs, wings, tails, fins, eyes, petals, and leaves.  Assemble pieces. Glue in place, and paint with enamel.

Planter: Use a very large, spiral-type shell.  Fill the cavity of the shell with dirt, for a real plant, or florist’s clay for an artificial one.  To decorate the planter, make a path, small animals, and flowers with small shells.  You may paint the planter and decorations.

Baby Carriage: Use a pair of shells of similar size and shape.  Glue pieces of pipe cleaners to the back edge for a hinge.  Add bead legs, paint and decorate with small shells.  Glue on a pipe cleaner handle.

Flower Candleholders: Use a jar lid, thick plaster of paris, and shells.  Pour thick plaster into lid and insert ends of shells, in petal-like fashion, leaving enough space in the center for a candle.  Glue a narrow strip of felt around the base and add felt leaves, radiating from the base.  To hold the candle in the center, drip wax and place candle in the melted wax.

Trinket Holder: Use a spiral-type shell with an opening to hold small trinkets, gold gift card, and stovepipe wire.  Remove the string from inside gold gift cord and insert stovepipe wire.  For legs, bend wire cord as shown, shape to fit under shell.  Glue, paint, and decorate with pearl beads.

Small Basket: (For Blue and Gold favors) – Use a flat shell and sired cord.  Bend the wired cord for a handle and glue to each side of the shell.

Display: To display your creations at the pack meeting, use bits of clay or pipe cleaners to attach the shell figures to a net.  Add glitter and small shells or pebbles for more decorations.  Set display on a “beach” of course sandpaper or covered cardboard.