PACK & DEN ACTIVITIES

GOOD BUY

Early this Spring I bought a mesh bag a WalMart that is filled with thistle seed.  The bag is about 3 ½ inches wide and 6 or 7 inches long with a drawstring sewn into the top.  The little mesh holes are kind of tiny.  This little bag, which is refillable, hangs on our maple tree.  I watch goldfinches cling onto the mesh and eat seed.  To me, this is so fascinating.  Understand though, growing up I never thought much about birds and how or what they ate.  Mostly, I threw out pieces of bread for birds way back then or when I saw birds eating they were picking up their food from the ground.

Another good buy was a suet feeder for the birds.  I bought a green kind of like a cage which hold a non-melting suet cake, again this is refillable.  Throughout the summer I have watched blue jays hanging on this basket like cage eating.  Just yesterday I bought suet cake that is berry flavored in hopes of attracting more songbirds instead of bluejays.  This fall I am having a friend over to make a batch of suet cakes to feed the birds over the winter.  When I do that I will be providing the recipes that I use.  In turn, your den could help feed birds over the winter with suet cakes.  In the meantime you could be saving those little green baskets that cherry tomatoes come in to use as a holder for suet cakes.  Another item I plan on using for my homemade suet cakes is a very old 9x13 inch cake pan.  If you don’t have one look around at thrift stores or garage sales.

Fun Facts

Hobo's from the mid 1910's to the 1940's  would carve various images into a Buffalo Nickel. The obverse was usually carved with the image of a friend, an acquaintance, a self portrait, a clown, a famous figure, etc. Occasionally the bison on the reverse would be transformed into an animal such as a donkey or an elephant. These coins would then be traded for a meal or money. Some of the hobos were extremely talented and their works are eagerly sought after today.

Now is the time to dazzle your Cubs with some useless  facts

7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.
Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.
Every day more money is printed for monopoly than the US Treasury.
Men can read smaller print than women, women can hear better than men.
Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers were all invented by women.
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 m.p.h.
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning!

Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying

Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigleys gum

State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs have only about ten.

The average ear of corn has eight hundred kernels arranged in sixteen rows.

The volume of the earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean. 

Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza everyday.

1961 was the most recent year that could be written upside-down and right side-up and appear the same. The next year that this will be possible will be 6009!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

Twelve new moons of Saturn have been discovered. . The new discovery brings the planet's total to 30, the most in the Solar System.  All of the new moons are small -- between 6 and 30 kilometers in diameter -- and all are moving in irregular, tilted orbits.

Bath Tissue (aka toilet paper) trivia

Other than its intended use, consumers report using bath tissue for a myriad of tasks:
nose care 60%
wiping small spills 17%
removing make-up 8%
cleaning mirrors 7%
cleaning child’s hands/face 3%

All Aboard!
York Adams Area Council

Following  is an idea from Mike Hicks that he put in his council’s powwow book.

How about a trip on a plane, train, or boat?  September is a great season for traveling.  How many of the boys have ever been on a train ride?  I checked the Amtrak website (www.amtrak.com) and they have half-price tickets for children under 15 and  additional group rates for 20 or more people.  With our proximity to Baltimore, DC, and Philadelphia, it   would be pretty easy to arrange for a Saturday or Sunday train excursion. Also, check out this website for some charter boat points of contact

(http://thechesapeakebay.com/cheapeake_bay_char

ters__upper_.shtml). I’m never one to shy away from cold calls to see if someone would help out the Cub  Scouts.  It’s worked wonders for our group.  Give it a try.  Call someone and ask if they have a spare hour or two to give a tour on their boat and maybe a trip   around the dock for the Cub Scouts.  As for planes, have you been to the Observation Gallery at BWI?

Here’s an extract from the BWI website

(www.bwiairport.com):

A Gallery Worth Observing

While you're in the Terminal, you really owe it to   yourself (and to anyone traveling with you) to visit the BWI Observation Gallery. It's an awesome 12,300 square feet of aeronautical curiosities and educational exhibits.  Check out the cockpit of a real Boeing 737 or learn something about the many   systems in use in a state-of-the-art international  airfield.  You can even eavesdrop on conversations between the tower and pilots as aircraft come and go.  Kids will find much to do (and learn) and everyone from 4 to 104 will love the massive windows overlooking the field. There is even a children's play area on the lower level of the Gallery.  Best of all, it's free.

Coal Garden
York Adams Council

Place a small piece of coal in a bowl.  Sprinkle one tablespoon of salt over the coal and then carefully pour two tablespoons of water over the salt.  Now add two tablespoons of laundering “bluing”, three drops of mercurochrome, and three or four drops of food coloring.  Take this concoction home carefully.  After several days, there should appear a colorful, moss-like growth covering the coal.

Make A Recycled Train!!

Circle 10 Council

Materials:

Cereal boxes and other small boxes like Jello boxes

½ gallon milk or juice cartons

Oatmeal round boxes

Old thread spools

Small paper plates (dessert size) (also can use frozen juice can lids)

Cotton balls or polyester stuffing

Construction paper

Glue

Tape

Markers

Buttons

Twine or yarn

Scissors

Straws

Tongue depressors or craft sticks

If you have enough stuff, each boy can make his own train or get a large piece of cardboard and have each boy make a ‘car’ for the train.  Lay out the “track” with tongue depressors/craft sticks and straws.

The Oatmeal round boxes make wonderful “engines”.  Use the used thread spool as the smoke stack, with a small box for the engineer’s cab with the wheels of juice can lids or paper plates.  Have the boys use construction paper to cover the boxes and make the front apron.  Then use the yarn or twine for the bars on the wheels.  Gluing some polyester stuffing or stretched cotton balls on top of the thread spool gives the look like a working steam engine.

The rest of the cars can be made out of the cereal boxes.  Cut one in half and make an ore car.  Using the juice/milk cartons just flatten the top down and tape it down for another type of car.  Follow the same procedure with construction paper and plates/lids for the wheels.

Have the boys decorate each car with the markers.

Connect the cars with the twine or yarn and place it on your track. Be sure to take one on Pack Night and show the rest of the pack.

Train Car Activity
Circle 10 Council

Materials – Large Cardboard boxes, paint, string, glue, wide ribbon (or rope), box cutters, paper plates, markers, construction paper, buttons and any other decorations.

Have each Den Leader be the “conductor”.  Use one large cardboard box per child. Cut top and bottom off. Make shoulder straps from heavy ribbon or string. Let them paint or decorate their own train cars. Use small painted paper plates for the wheels.  Give each family about 20 minutes to decorate their boxes (this can be done at a den meeting and then brought in.

Each den then “hooks” up and then proceeds to parade around the track singing “I’ve been working on the Railroad” at least 2 or 3 times.  The “judge” then gives out awards for the best looking, best decorated, best design, etc. certificates to the dens.