PACK & DEN ACTIVITIES

Many of our servicemen and servicewomen are being called away from their homes.  And some of these Patriots own pets.  Contact your local animal shelter to find out a way to seek information on how to adopt their pets while they are away.  Where I live our local no-kill shelter, the Ark, is providing information about how to help.

We used this same ideas and also made Santa Claus windsocks.

Toilet Paper Roll Turkey

Take a toilet  paper roll tube and cover it with brown construction paper. Trace both hands on white paper and let child color feathers. Cut out hands. Cut thumb off. Lay tube horizontally. Glue hands to back of tube. Cut out peanut shape for head and glue to the front of tube. Use a red piece of felt to droop down from top of his head. add wiggle eyes.

That’s for the Birds—Suet Recipes

I am having a Suet-Making party Yes, an
It’s for the Birds Party

TIP:  I am using some old cake pans   to pack these in until they get hard enough to remove.  Also, remember, be very careful having melted suet around the Cubs.  Ideally, for this activity, have everyone wear old clothes, and buckets with warm soapy water for clean up.  Sometimes you will be only to find suet at a Butcher Shop if you can’t find that, try lard of shortening.

Soft Suet

4 1/2 cups ground fresh suet

3/4 cup dried and fine ground bakery goods (whole-wheat or cracked-wheat bread or crackers are best)

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/4 cup millet

1/4 cup dried and chopped fruit (currants, raisins, or berries)

3/4 cup dried and fine ground meat (optional)

Melt suet in a saucepan over low heat.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Allow the suet to cool until slightly thickened, stir it into the mixture in the bowl.  Mix thoroughly.

Pour or pack into forms or suet feeders; smear onto tree trunks or overhanging limbs and branches; or pack into pine cones.

Hard Suet Cakes

1/2 lb. fresh ground suet

1/3 cup sunflower seed

2/3 cup wild bird seed (mix)

1/8 cup chopped peanuts

1/4 cup raisins

Melt suet in a saucepan over low heat. Allow it to cool thoroughly, then reheat it.   Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Allow the suet to cool until slightly thickened, then stir it into the mixture in the bowl. Mix thoroughly.  Pour into pie pan or form, or pack into suet feeders.   Optional or substitute ingredients: millet (or other birdseed), cornmeal, cooked noodles, chopped berries, dried fruit.

1 part peanut butter
1 part shortening
1 part flour
3 parts cornmeal
1 part cracked corn
black oil sunflower seeds and/or mixed seed

More Treats

1 part Melted Beef Suet
1 part Peanut Butter
6 parts Cornmeal

Melt Suet then mix in Peanut Butter and Cornmeal. Spoon into paper-lined muffin tins and cool. Store in freezer till needed.

1 pound Suet in small pieces
1 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Chunk-style Peanut Butter
1 Cup mixed Wild Bird Seed
1 Cup Sunflower Seed

Melt suet over low flame. Stir in rest of ingredients to blend. Pour into paper-lined muffin tins. Chill until hardened. These may be frozen also.

2 Cups Bread Crumbs
1 Handful Nuts (unsalted)
3 Chopped Apples (seeds too!)
2 Handfuls raisins
1 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup Cornmeal
1/2 Pound Ground Suet
1/2 Cup Flour
1 8 0z. Jar Peanut Butter
1 Cup Wild Bird Seed

Mix ingredients and add enough bacon drippings to hold it all together. Shape into balls or press into pine cones. Freeze leftovers.

You may also make a simple Suet Feeder out of a milk carton. Just pour hot ingredients into the carton, let cool then cut the sides out.  Other ingredients that you can add or just set out on your feeder are: Ground eggs shells, fine gravel or sand (for grit), cheese, dry cereal, coconut (raw), cornbread, cracker crumbs, dog biscuits (chopped fine), ears of sweet corn.  Don't forget the seeds from all of your veggies!

Litter Basket Slide
Simon Kenton Council

Materials Needed: Jet Dry basket (from dishwasher), black plastic bag, pipe cleaner, paper and glue.

Instructions: Thread the pipe cleaner through the basket and form a ring for the neckerchief.

Glue the black plastic into the basket to form a trash bag.  Make a little sign with paper that says “Litter” and glue the sign to front of basket.  Fill basket with wadded paper scraps and glue in place.

Turkey Slide
Simon Kenton Council

Materials Needed: 1 large orange chenille bump, one 4" white pipe cleaner, two 1" yellow pipe cleaners, 8 - 10 orange feathers, two 1/2" squares yellow felt, half of a 2" Styrofoam ball, glue, brown paint, two 4mm wobble eyes Instructions:  Cut the 2" Styrofoam ball in half and paint brown and set aside to dry.  Shape chenille bump and glue on eyes.  Take the yellow pipe cleaners and bend 3/8" into an "L" shape.  Cut the yellow felt to make feet and glue to the yellow pipe cleaner.  Glue the end of the chenille bump into the center back of the ball.

Glue feet on back of the ball at bottom. Glue 8 or more feathers around the back of the styrofoam ball and glue 2 small feathers in the side for wings.  Finish by gluing a 4: pipe cleaner loop into of the back.

Write a Hometown Hero Tall Story
York Adams Council

It’s highly unlikely that the boys want to sit down with pen and paper in hand and write up their own stories—too much like being in school!  So, instead, have them work together with the leaders to create a tall story of their modern-day hometown hero.  Start with a whiteboard or sheets of newsprint hung on the walls.  You will need to coach/coax them in coming up with a “hero,” but if you start with a “main event” that the hero accomplished, things should flow fairly well from there.  For example, if you give them some ideas for the main event, like “forming the Susquehanna River,” or “raising the Blue Mountain,” then they can come up with the hero and how the event was accomplished.  Gather as many ideas as you can from them and then help them put together a chronology or timeline. Finally, piece together an outline for the few paragraphs the story should be and help them draft it.  When it’s all done, make sure it gets printed in the next Pack Newsletter.