PACK AND DEN ACTIVITIES

DISCOVER NATURE
Santa Clara Area Council

No matter where you live, there is a world of undiscovered secrets of nature still waiting to be explored. This month our dens have …(briefly describe some of their theme activities). There are many more interesting activities to help Cub Scouts learn more about the world of nature and to develop an appreciation of it. We have at our feet a vast continent to explore - a world to investigate and discover. It is as near as your own backyard, a nearby park, the woods and fields or even a country road. These places are inhabited by many kinds of insects, birds, plants, animals, trees and other forms of life. Continue exploring the world of nature and you will find many wonderful things! Boys will also enjoy making an etching of the headstone.  Many tombstones have interesting quotes or sayings.  Hold a piece of paper over the stone and rub the side of a pencil lead back and forth across the paper with gentle pressure.

TREK THROUGH NATURE
Santa Clara Area Council

No matter where you live there is a world of undiscovered secrets of nature still waiting to be explored. Take a trek, a hike or a simple walk through your neighborhood park and become a naturalist studying all the nature around you. Take time and learn to develop an appreciation of all the nature that surrounds us.

NATURE: EVERYWHERE AND ALL THE TIME
Santa Clara Area Council

It is exciting to learn about animals, birds and insects, flowers, and trees, rocks, soil, weather, water and stars! Nature is everywhere all the time-- -in cities, in the woods and fields, in the winter, spring, summer and fall. Nature is not confined by time and place--- it is everywhere. But where to begin? How to begin? All you need to start is an inquiring mind --- and eyes, ears, nose, and hands. Use all senses to gather information from the world about you. In the beginning we might just as well make up our minds that we are never going to know all there is to know about the subject. Remember that it is not so much knowing the names and identifying everything but the joy in making the discovery that counts. Nature is something we can enjoy no matter where we go in the world. Nature is something we should enjoy and respect. Let's step out into the world of nature.

BIRD FEEDERS
Santa Clara Area Council

You can make a bird feeder from a variety of scrapitems. Fill your completed feeder with seeds, suet, raisins, crumbs, etc., and tie it to a tree with heavy string or cord.

1. Cut a hole in the lower side of a plastic bleach bottle, which has been washed and rinsed well. Then glue the bottle to an aluminum pie tin.
2. Use a mesh bag from onions or potatoes.
3. Scoop out an orange or a grapefruit.
4. Fill a plastic berry-basket with suet.
5. Roll a pinecone in peanut butter and seeds.
6. Cut a large square hole through two opposite sides of a milk carton, leaving a border on all four sides. Lay a dowel across the bottom and secure it with string.
7. Remove the cardboard tube from a coat hanger. Insert the open ends of the wire into a corncob.

EAGLE PICTURE
Santa Clara Area Council

Design the body and wings of the eagle by overlapping leaves. Cut the head of the eagle from construction paper. The leaves may be painted lightly with brown tempera.

Tibetan Zoo Memorization Trick
Sam Huston Area Council

This is a popular challenge for summer campers. “See if you can memorize this list of things that you might see at the zoo.” And a strange zoo it is. Start with saying the first line and have them repeat it. Then say the first and second before they repeat it. Then the first three in order, etc. If Baloo can memorize this and deliver it, it is a lot more fun.

• 1 hen
• 2 ducks
• 3 Canada geese
• 4 rumbling rhinos
• 5 corpulent porpoises
• 6 pairs of snow leopards
• 7000 school kids who forgot their lunch money
• 8 spider monkeys from the ancient forest canopies of Zimbabwe
• 9 emanating, ruminating, fulminating wart hogs, with particularly puny pairs of tusks
• 10 prancing, parading, preening peacocks, who scratch, peck and squawk…all at the same time.

Sweet Gum Mouse
Alapaha Council

Almost all the supplies can be gathered on a nature walk for this Sweet Gum Mouse.

Materials

• Sweet gum pod/ball with stem, Dried (without seeds)
• Acorn or other small nut
• 2 (5 MM) Wiggle eyes
• Tacky glue or Low temp glue gun
• 2 tiny Brown pom-poms
• Dried pine needles
• Scissors
• Slice of dead tree branch or other piece of wood for base (about 1/2" thick and 2" across)

Instructions

Glue the pod to the wood with the stem sticking out. The stem will be the tail. Glue the acorn to the other end of the pod, slightly at an angle for the head. Glue on the wiggle eyes and then the pom-poms for the ears. Cut the dried pine needles to the desired size and glue on for the whiskers.

PERSONAL WORK SURFACES
Sam Huston Area Council

Each boy can make his own personal work surface, so that when he is doing any kind of art or craft he can use it to work on top of and not have to worry about damaging a table or having to share table space. They can also be easily stacked and stored.

To makes 12 work boards.

Materials:

• One 4’x 8’ sheet of 3/8” plywood
• Hand saw  and Coping saw
• Wood stain (optional)
• Sandpaper, Pencil

Using a handsaw, mark and cut the plywood into twelve 16”x 24” boards.

Mark rounded corners with a pencil and the edge of a drinking glass, and cut with a coping saw.

Sand the edges until they are very smooth. Wipe off all sawdust and stain the boards on all sides and edges with a light colored stain. Let dry overnight before using.

TIGER DECORATIONS
Sam Huston Area Council

Materials:

• Paper plates (smooth kind)
• Orange tempera paint
• Black markers, white pipe cleaners
• White construction paper
• Scissors, crayons, white craft glue

Cut out the eye and ear shapes and color them. Paint the back of the plates orange. When dry, draw the strips with marker. Glue on the ears and eyes, bend a pipe cleaner and glue on to make the mouth.

Or make a paper bag tiger puppet.

Magnetic Animals
San Gabriel Valley Council

These bendable, fuzzy magnetic animals are simple to make and great to play with later. They make wonderful refrigerator magnets that you can pose in incredible ways. If you make more than one, you can create an adorable group of critters. Remember to keep all magnets away from computers.

Supplies needed:

• Colored pipe cleaners (the thick, fuzzy ones and the metallic ones are great for this project)
• Small doughnut-shaped magnets, some tiny, some larger (available at hardware stores)
• An old scissors or wire cutter to cut the pipe cleaners

Monkey:

1.Twist two long pipe cleaners together to make a sturdy double pipe cleaner.

2. Attach the long double pipe cleaner to a large, doughnut-shaped magnet (this will be the monkey's head, body, and tail). Wrap the pipe cleaner around the magnet a few times to secure it.

3. Twist a second long pipe cleaner tightly around the other pipe cleaner (this will form the monkey's long arms). Attach a small, doughnut-shaped magnet to the end of each arm (these magnets will be the monkey's hands).

4. Twist a third, shorter pipe cleaner tightly around the body pipe cleaner (this will form the monkey's short legs). Attach a small, doughnut-shaped magnet to the end of each leg (these magnets will be the monkey's feet) and the tail.

5. You can now pose your monkey in any way you'd like, attaching it to the refrigerator or other iron or steel surfaces.

Wolf Desktop Organizer
San Gabriel Valley Council

• 1 cereal box
• Scissors
• Pencil
• 1 or 2 large brown grocery bags
• White glue
• Black marker
• Poster paint, optional

Directions:

1. Cut the cereal box into two triangle-shaped pieces by cutting from the bottom corner to the opposite corner at the top. You may want to get an adult to help you with this.

2. The bottom triangle of the box will be the wolf’s body (you could also use the top to make a second wolf if you want to). You can leave the inside the color of the box, or you can paint it with poster paint, if you want to have a colorful wolf.

3. Cut apart a brown paper grocery bag and lay one side on your work surface, plain side up. Using your pencil, trace around the bottom edge and side edge of the box triangle on the brown paper, to make two strips. Cut these strips out, leaving about ½ inch (1.3 centimeters) extra on each side of the tracing.

4. Glue the two brown paper strips to the bottom and side edges of the box, folding the extra paper along the edges onto the sides of the box.

5. Lay out another side of the brown paper bag on your work surface, plain side up. Using the pencil, trace around the two flat triangle sides of the box. Cut out those triangles.

6. Glue the two brown paper triangles (plain side facing you) onto the sides of the box. The box should now be covered on all sides with brown paper.

7. Using what’s left of your brown paper bag, or a new one if you need to, draw the shape of a tail for the wolf, with notches along the sides to make it look fringed, and the shapes of two pointed ears. Cut out the tail and ears.

8. Glue the tail to the underside of the box at the open side, so it points backward from the opening. Glue the ears to the sides of the box, towards the top where the head is.

9. Use the black marker to draw the legs and feet on either side of the box, as if the wolf is sitting. Then draw the eyes on either side.