WEBELOS

Attention Bear Leaders –

Your bears become Webelos on June 1.  Are you ready??  Be sure to take Webelos Leader Position Specific and Outdoor Webelos Leader Training as soon as possible.  Sign your Cubs up for Webelos Resident, if your council offers it!!!  If they don’t, sign them up at a neighboring council’s camp (e.g. Southern NJ’s at Pine Hill Scout Reservation!!!)

Webelos Resident Camp

Adapted from: Flint River Council,
 Coronado Area Council, and Southern NJ Council

The purpose of Webelos Scout Resident Camping is to have fun and to want to continue to camp every summer in Boy Scouts.  Most councils offer Webelos Resident Camp for boys going into grades four and five next fall.  These boys will be your first and second year Webelos Scouts during the upcoming Scouting year.

Webelos Resident Camp can include:  camping, campfires, swimming, snorkeling, polar bear swims, cooking some of your own meals, archery, bb-guns, hikes, ecology study, star study, Scout's Own religious service, sports, games, wood projects, conservation, and much more.   The boys are kept busy and have a great time.

Webelos Resident Camp is also -- the sounds of boys’ laughter as they do fun events and activities.

Most camps have Evening Events designed so that Scouts can have fun and compete.  There may be more Activity Pins time in the evening, too.  AT my Webelos Resident Camp in the evening we do star study with two local astronomy clubs, Cub-Anapolis Racing, water bottle rockets, water carnival, watch a movie (Down and Derby), have our Interfaith Service (National has dropped the term Scouts Own which has been in use since Baden-Powell named it.  I do not know why).  All this activity keeps everyone busy until bedtime so they don’t get time to be homesick!!!

The program should be set up to encourage Webelos to attend both years.

• Some councils arrange their camps so that the Webelos I work on the basic camping skills and Activity Badges.  And the Webelos II work on more advanced activity pins and can begin learning to become self-sufficient, self-reliant campers.
• Other councils offer activity badges over a two-year cycle.  They have even number year and odd number year badges with some (typically Outdoorsman and Aquanaut) offered each year.

Webelos Resident Camps vary in length but generally all involve several days and nights camping away from home.  It is recommended the length be less than a full week. 

There will be various activities and competitions for the Webelos dens to participate in. Camp should be designed for Cubs to come and participate as a Den, whether it is their normal Den from home or a provisional den set up at the camp with members from several packs. Den will generally make flags and create den yells.  They will participate in games, competitions, classes and campfire (skits, songs) as a Den.

Activity Badges offered typically involve the outdoors.  Outdoorsman, Forester, Naturalist, Aquanaut, and Geologist are typical.  Projects (Crafts is a dirty word to me) often involve wood and may be aimed at Craftsman requirements.  Depending on camp staff and facilities parts of Scientist and Engineer may be offered.  Sportsman fits neatly with games.  (We usually do Ultimate) and Artist and Readyman have been worked in occasionally. 

Leadership opportunities will occur during the Camp.  Using them will help the boys begin to see how a Boy Scout patrol will operate.  Let some boys start taking the lead and organizing the skit or the flag creation. 

It is, also, a great time with your son.  Several days, just you and him, together.  No work to get in the way.  No distractions (almost, in an ideal world).  You can really learn about each other and bond.  But you will have to know how to listen.  (That two ears, one mouth thing)  Ideally there should be one parent/adult for each Webelos Scout.  Different councils will have different rules on this.  Check with your council.

The first step is to read information your council supplies on their Webelos Resident Camp – flyers, brochures, perhaps a Webelos Camp Leader Guidebook.  They may mail it to you or post it on their web site.  Some councils even have a DVD you get or can borrow to show at a pack meeting and find out who wants to attend. If you contact your Scout Service Center chances are (Johnny Mathis, 1957), they can arrange for a Webelos Camp Staff member or a leader who has attended the camp to talk with you or come and do a promotion at your pack meeting

Don't miss the fun.

OUTDOORSMAN

OUTDOORS GROUP

Sam Houston Area Council

The Outdoorsman Activity Badge requirements are FUN, and give the Webelos a chance to learn new skills that will prepare him for Boy Scouting.  Camping, outdoor cooking and fire safety are all part of enjoying living in the outdoors.

SUGGESTED PATROL ACTIVITIES

• Practice putting up different kinds of tents.
• Demonstrate how to make an improvised bedroll
• Practice building a fire for cooking and a campfire, and have a patrol cookout.
• Have a knot-tying contest or play knot-tying games to learn and improve skills.
• Study and learn fire safety rules including no flame lights in tents and no liquid starter for charcoal fires.
• Learn several cooking techniques, including the foil pack method.
• Contact a local Boy Scout troop and arrange to camp with them.
• Make camp gadgets and go camping
• Have a Scout visit a patrol meeting and show the boys his pack.  Have him describe the different kinds of packs and what he carries in his.

WHY DO WE CAMP?

The primary reason for camping is so that the boys learn conservation and respect for nature.  Your example as a leader is very important.  They should see in you the concern for our environment that they will learn.  Make sure that they understand that it is best to leave a campsite in better condition than when you came.  It is okay to pick up litter that you did not place there, etc.

UP AND DOWN

Plan a whole patrol meeting on the camping theme.  First demonstrate how to set up a tent properly, including precautions on handling to avoid damage.  Then divide the patrol into two teams and give each a tent bag.  On signal they must race to set up the tents. 

Once both tents are up, allow boys to climb inside to have a secret meeting.  Take off shoes first.  Inside, they have ten minutes to plan a song or a short skit to entertain the other boys at their campfire.  Ring a bell to call the boys out to the campfire.  Choose one team to lay the firewood.  Talk about fire safety.  Have the boys circle around the campfire.  Teams take turns entertaining each other.  Leader gives closing and the other team put out the campfire properly.  Take down the tents, sing taps and go home.

Taps lyrics are “Day is done.  Gone the sun, from the lakes, from the hills from the sky.  All is well, safely rest.  God is nigh.”

TEACHING KNOTS

Try to teach basic knots over an extended period.  Do not try to teach them more than two knots in any given meeting.  Most boys will start to get confused after the second knot.  Master the square knot and clove hitch first, and then add the others.

Repetition and using them for a real purpose is the key to learning knots.  Once you have introduced them, keep including the skills in various games and other activities.  Using rope of two different colors helps some boys see more clearly how knots are correctly tied and lessens confusion.  Boys will need individual attention in learning and demonstrating these knots; so try to get some help in watching them tie them.  Your den chief would be good at this.

There are six taught in this activity badge.  Be sure to teach them in practical situations so that they will know what to use them for!  The uses of the required knots are listed in the Webelos Scout book along with the instructions.  Use a lot of knot tying games (Webelos Leader Guide) to make it fun, and use ropes for other games as well.

HOW DO I USE IT?

Even though we teach the boys about the outdoors, we often forget to help them think about how to use the equipment that they have in an emergency.  This is a fun discussion exercise to use with your boys.  Here is a list of equipment the boy has been left alone with, in a remote location:

Pail                           Flashlight            Large blue tarp

FM radio                    Compass                Pocket knife

Rope                       Fishing pole                    Whistle

                                    Map

• If he were lost in the woods, which items might help him find his way back?
• Which items might be used to get help?
• Which items might be used to make himself comfortable?
• Would your choices be different if you might be lost for many months?
• If he only had one of these items, which would it be?  Two items?  Three items? …

EDIBLE CAMPFIRE

Use this for a patrol activity to teach proper fire building techniques.  As boys are building their individual fires, explain why each step is important.  After the fire is built, enjoy eating this treat!

• Napkin – designates a cleared area
• Miniature marshmallows – for fire circle
• Small cup of water – to extinguish fire
• Shredded coconut – kindling
• Skinny pretzels – tinder
• Fat pretzels – fuel
• Candy corn – fire

NO SLEEPING BAG?  NO PROBLEM

Do you have to have a sleeping bag when you go camping?  Certainly not, and during the warm months in many states (e.g. Texas), lighter sheets and blankets can be much more comfortable that a warm sleeping bag. 
What is most important is:

• Provide a barrier between you and the ground that keep you dry if the tent gets wet.  This can be as simple as a sheet of plastic.
• Provide some padding under you, so that the rocks and roots under you don’t keep you awake.  An extra blanket or a closed cell foam pad will work nicely.
• No pillow is required.  A cloth laundry bag or pillowcase holding your extra clothes makes a nice pillow at night, and your next day’s clothes are easy to find.
• Blankets are the best things to use as a sleeping bag substitute.  Wool in the winter and synthetic in the summer can keep you toasty warm.  A piece of plastic over the blanket and under your body can add to how warm it keeps you on a chilly night.
• Whether using blankets or a sleeping bag, it is more comfortable to have a sheet next to your body.  Fold a twin-size sheet in half and safety pin it on the sides.

SUCCESSFUL OUTDOOR COOKING

It is important that Webelos are allowed to cook on their campouts.  With a little bit of supervision for the sake of safety and health, the boys should be able to prepare their own breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  Don’t be afraid to give them a chance to cook your food AND to clean up afterward.  If they clean up, they will learn not to be so messy while cooking.

Simple breakfast items:

• Pre-mixed Pancakes, just add milk or water.  Don’t forget the oil on the griddle.
• Dice potatoes and fry.  For more flavor add salt, pepper, onions and bell peppers.
• Bacon, and this can provide cooking oil for the pancakes and potatoes.
• Boiled mini link sausages.
• Toast bread over a fire, with sticks holding the bread.

Simple lunch items:

• Keep simple quick and easy with sandwiches.  Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches can add some challenge.
• Open a can of their favorite soup.

Simple dinner items:

• Foil dinners.  Best if you use Extra Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil.  Foil dinner success comes when the raw potatoes, vegetables and meats are cut very small, there is a lot of moisture in the food or added with barbeque sauce, and you carefully seal folded edges.  Use a Sharpie marker to write names on the outside, and cook on edge over hot coals.
• Hotdogs on a stick over hot coals.
• Bake rolls in a Dutch oven or wrap dough on a stick over hot coals.
• Bake a fruit cobbler in a Dutch oven (the official Texas state cooking implement).  Line the Dutch oven with heavy duty foil to avoid any clean-up.

Baltimore Area Council

The best way to work on the Outdoorsman Activity Badge is on a Parent-Son overnight campout.  Policies of the Boy Scouts of America encourage one or two Parent-Son overnights during the year when a boy is a Webelos Scout.  This is not full-fledged Boy Scout camping---only a taste of what is to come when the boy joins a troop.  After a Cub Scout becomes a Boy Scout, he will become proficient in handling himself in the woods.  As a Webelos Scout, he should not be expected to completely master any of these skills--only to have a little fun in the woods.

Most Webelos cannot wait for the first campout.  But some are really not ready for it when they go.  Good planning and assistance from the parents is important to make the first campout away from home successful. 

Make sure that new boys that have not camped have the back yard experience first.  They will probably be in and out all night, but it will help raise their confidence.

If you are using state parks, call ahead for reservations.  Most will save you a space if you send in the required deposit on time.  Make sure you get permission to use private property, and fill out a Tour Permit to get clearance from the Scout Service Center.  When you are planning, use these topics as brain teasers.  Make sure you consider these for a successful campout.

• Adult assistance - Son and one, not more than two boys to one adult.
• Location - Distance, time and transportation
• Food - Dietary problems, weight, water, refrigeration, trash disposal.
• Cooking - Basic food groups.  Keep it simple.  Try it at home first.
• Sanitation - Safe water, proper dish washing, showers, hand washing, latrines.
• Safety - No hatchets, axes, or chain saws.  Buddy system everything!  Follow fire rules.  Gas fuels - adults only!
• First aid - Medication for boys, allergies, nearest medical facility, good first aid kit (you can make it yourself).
• Activities-       Activity Badges, Tracking, Hiking, Orienteering, Campfire, Swimming, Fishing, Knots.
• Plan B-          Something to do if the above activities cannot be done because of weather, etc.

Camping

• Campsite - Watch for low areas that may be a runoff or stream if it rains.  Check for dead branches overhead that may fall if the wind blows.
• Tents - Seams need to be sealed before first use.  Practice set-up and teardown, in daylight and darkness, before the trip.
• Bedding - Make sure it’s suitable for the weather.  Remind the boys to change into clean, dry clothes at night before bed, not in the morning.

Packing

• Use checklist in book.
• Have a “shakedown”; see what the boys pack early.
• Raingear (big plastic bags are cheep).
• Put things in small plastic bags. It keeps them dry and organized.

Homemade Mess Kit: Staple together two aluminum foil pie plates for thickness.  Staple together two more.  Use one double thickness pie plate for the top of mess kit, the other for the bottom.  Fasten together on opposite sides with paper clamp.  Tie a leather shoelace through hole in paper clamp. To make a strap to hang on belt or bicycle handlebar.  This mess kit will hold a collapsible cup, and plastic fork and spoon.

Roasting Tools -- Wiener or marshmallow roasting utensils are made from wire coat hangers, which have had the paint sanded or burned off.  Handles are either pieces of wooden dowel or spools glued together.  Be sure the holder is long enough so you can stand back from the fire when using it.

Hand washer:

Materials needed:

• 1 large bleach bottle or milk jug
• 1 bar of soap
• Leg of old panty hose
• String and knife
• 1 roll of paper towels
• 1 sturdy stick and small twig

Directions:

• Punch a hole in each side of the bottom of a bleach bottle or milk jug. 
• Run a string through one hole and out the other. 
• Wrap each end of the string around the ends of a sturdy stick.  (First slide the roll of paper towels onto the stick.) 
• Bring ends of the string together and tie. 
• Then hang over tree limb. 
• Slip the bar of soap into the toe of the panty hose. 
• Tie to handle of the bottle. 
• Punch a small hole about 1 inch from the bottom and plug with a small twig.  
• Remove twig to use. 
• You may wish to tie the twig to the handle with strings so as not to lose it.

Den First Aid Kit

A number of kits are on the market, but as a Webelos den project, you can make one for the den.  The first aid kit is best packed in a waterproof container such as a plastic refrigerator box.  (I hope they mean a food storage box for refrigerator not the box that your refrigerator arrived in.  No one could lift one of those if it was full of First Aid supplies J J   CD)  Here are some items that can be considered standard; soap, box of adhesive bandages (assorted sizes and waterproof), adhesive tape, sterile gauze pads (small and large), burn ointment, small scissors, tweezers, a packet of needles, safety pins, ammonia inhalant capsules, chopsticks, salt tablets, snakebite kit, poison ivy lotion, tablets for digestive upsets.

Trail Snacks

Have the boys prepare a trail snack to take with them.  See recipes below: 

Hiker's Nosebag This and That 

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb. seeded raisins
• 1/4 lb. seeded raisins 
• 1/4 lb. Cheese
• 1/4  lb. peanuts 
• 1/4 lb. Chocolate
• 1/4  lb. chocolate bits
• 1 apple
• Some favorite sugared cereal

Directions

• Put all ingredients in a plastic bag)
• Mix well
• Eat and enjoy

Games

Map Concentration: Let the boys make sets of map symbols on index cards and play a game of concentration.

Clock Hike: Each boy picks a time, then using a compass with north as 12 o’clock, you simply hike a predetermined number of paces that the “time” dictates.  Then use the next boy’s selected time for the new direction.  Teaches a little of compass usage and provides some exposure to what they will get into in Boy Scouts.

Webelos Handbook -- Aside from the fun the boys will experience on the overnight campout, they should complete enough requirements to earn the Outdoorsman Activity Badge by the time they return home.

In addition, certain requirements for other badges can be accomplished while on a campout.  For example:

Geologist- Collect 5 geological specimens that have important uses.
Naturalist - Be able to identify the poisonous plants and reptiles in your area.  Observe wild animals in their natural habitat. Describe what you saw and what they were doing.
Forester - Identify 6 forest trees and tell what useful wood products come from them.
Traveler - Make a list of 4 nearby trips.  Act as navigator on one of them at least 25 miles long.  Pack a suitcase for the trip.  Check the First Aid Kit in the car.

Baltimore Area Council

The best way to work on the Outdoorsman Activity Badge is on a Parent-Son overnight campout.  Policies of the Boy Scouts of America encourage one or two Parent-Son overnights during the year when a boy is a Webelos Scout.  This is not full-fledged Boy Scout camping---only a taste of what is to come when the boy joins a troop.  After a Cub Scout becomes a Boy Scout, he will become proficient in handling himself in the woods.  As a Webelos Scout, he should not be expected to completely master any of these skills--only to have a little fun in the woods.

Most Webelos cannot wait for the first campout.  But some are really not ready for it when they go.  Good planning and assistance from the parents is important to make the first campout away from home successful. 

Make sure that new boys that have not camped have the back yard experience first.  They will probably be in and out all night, but it will help raise their confidence.

If you are using state parks, call ahead for reservations.  Most will save you a space if you send in the required deposit on time.  Make sure you get permission to use private property, and fill out a Tour Permit to get clearance from the Scout Service Center.  When you are planning, use these topics as brain teasers.  Make sure you consider these for a successful campout.

• Adult assistance - Son and one, not more than two boys to one adult.
• Location - Distance, time and transportation
• Food - Dietary problems, weight, water, refrigeration, trash disposal.
• Cooking - Basic food groups.  Keep it simple.  Try it at home first.
• Sanitation - Safe water, proper dish washing, showers, hand washing, latrines.
• Safety - No hatchets, axes, or chain saws.  Buddy system everything!  Follow fire rules.  Gas fuels - adults only!
• First aid - Medication for boys, allergies, nearest medical facility, good first aid kit (you can make it yourself).
• Activities-       Activity Badges, Tracking, Hiking, Orienteering, Campfire, Swimming, Fishing, Knots.
• Plan B-          Something to do if the above activities cannot be done because of weather, etc.

Camping

• Campsite - Watch for low areas that may be a runoff or stream if it rains.  Check for dead branches overhead that may fall if the wind blows.
• Tents - Seams need to be sealed before first use.  Practice set-up and teardown, in daylight and darkness, before the trip.
• Bedding - Make sure it’s suitable for the weather.  Remind the boys to change into clean, dry clothes at night before bed, not in the morning.

Packing

• Use checklist in book.
• Have a “shakedown”; see what the boys pack early.
• Raingear (big plastic bags are cheep).
• Put things in small plastic bags. It keeps them dry and organized.

Homemade Mess Kit: Staple together two aluminum foil pie plates for thickness.  Staple together two more.  Use one double thickness pie plate for the top of mess kit, the other for the bottom.  Fasten together on opposite sides with paper clamp.  Tie a leather shoelace through hole in paper clamp. To make a strap to hang on belt or bicycle handlebar.  This mess kit will hold a collapsible cup, and plastic fork and spoon.

Roasting Tools -- Wiener or marshmallow roasting utensils are made from wire coat hangers, which have had the paint sanded or burned off.  Handles are either pieces of wooden dowel or spools glued together.  Be sure the holder is long enough so you can stand back from the fire when using it.

Hand washer:

Materials needed:

• 1 large bleach bottle or milk jug
• 1 bar of soap
• Leg of old panty hose
• String and knife
• 1 roll of paper towels
• 1 sturdy stick and small twig

Directions:

• Punch a hole in each side of the bottom of a bleach bottle or milk jug. 
• Run a string through one hole and out the other. 
• Wrap each end of the string around the ends of a sturdy stick.  (First slide the roll of paper towels onto the stick.) 
• Bring ends of the string together and tie. 
• Then hang over tree limb. 
• Slip the bar of soap into the toe of the panty hose. 
• Tie to handle of the bottle. 
• Punch a small hole about 1 inch from the bottom and plug with a small twig.  
• Remove twig to use. 
• You may wish to tie the twig to the handle with strings so as not to lose it.

Den First Aid Kit

A number of kits are on the market, but not make one as a as a Webelos den project.  The first aid kit is best packed in a waterproof container such as a plastic refrigerator box.  (I hope they mean a food storage box for refrigerator not the box that your refrigerator arrived in.  No one could lift one of those if it was full of First Aid supplies J J   CD)  Here are some items that can be considered standard; soap, box of adhesive bandages (assorted and waterproof), adhesive tape, sterile gauze pads (small & large), burn ointment, small scissors, tweezers, needles, safety pins, ammonia inhalant capsules, chopsticks, salt tablets, snakebite kit, poison ivy lotion, tablets for digestive upsets.

Trail Snacks

Have the boys prepare a trail snack to take with them. 
See recipes below: 

Hiker's Nosebag This and That 

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb. seeded raisins
• 1/4 lb. seeded raisins 
• 1/4 lb. Cheese
• 1/4  lb. peanuts  
• 1/4 lb. Chocolate
• 1/4  lb. chocolate bits
• 1 apple
• Some favorite sugared cereal

Directions

• Put all ingredients in a plastic bag
• Mix well
• Eat and enjoy

Games

Map Concentration: Let the boys make sets of map symbols on index cards and play a game of concentration.

Clock Hike: Each boy picks a time, then using a compass with north as 12 o’clock, you simply hike a predetermined number of paces that the “time” dictates.  Then use the next boy’s selected time for the new direction.  Teaches a little of compass usage and provides some exposure to what they will get into in Boy Scouts.

Webelos Handbook -- Aside from the fun the boys will experience on the overnight campout, they should complete enough requirements to earn the Outdoorsman Activity Badge by the time they return home.

In addition, certain requirements for other badges can be accomplished while on a campout.  For example:

Geologist- Collect 5 geological specimens that have important uses.
Naturalist - Be able to identify the poisonous plants and reptiles in your area.  Observe wild animals in their natural habitat. Describe what you saw and what they were doing.
Forester - Identify 6 forest trees and tell what useful wood products come from them.
Traveler - Make a list of 4 nearby trips.  Act as navigator on one of them at least 25 miles long.  Pack a suitcase for the trip.  Check the First Aid Kit in the car.

ARTIST

MENTAL SKILLS GROUP

Great Salt Lake Area Council

Cub scouts is for learning and experimenting.  We have the opportunity to share the information we have gained from our experience.  You may have a family member or a friend who has a talent they would like to share.  Try something that you haven’t tried.

OBJECTIVES

• To allow Webelos to experiment with different art media
• To give boys a sense f pride an accomplishment in their work
• To familiarize Webelos with the color wheel
• To introduce Webelos to various art mediums

DEN ACTIVITIES

• Invite a school art instructor or an artist to your den meeting to discuss basic art and to answer any technical questions on the requirements, which may come up.
• Let the boys study the color wheel and practice combining paints making shades and tints with tempera or watercolor.   http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/style/color/wheel.html
• Have modeling clay and material on hand for making models.  See Webelos Scout book for instructions on modeling a head. http://www.pioneerthinking.com/modelingclay.html
• Make mobiles. http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/paper_craft_2.html
• Make constructions - simple designs in space.
• Visit an art museum and look at the design ideas put into each display. 
• Make drawings from nature - birds, animals, plants, flowers, etc., scriber in the pencil (with the original drawing under it). http://drawsketch.about.com/

MODELING CLAY
Great Salt Lake Area Council

RECIPE 1

Mix together:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1-cup salt
• 1-cup water
• Food coloring is optional.
• Store in refrigerator.

RECIPE 2

Mix and cook over low heat until mixture thickens:

• 1-cup salt
• 1-cup flour
• 1-cup water
• Food coloring is optional.

Cool before using

Snack Food Sculptures
Great Salt Lake Area Council

Ingredients

Bread sticks                 pretzels                  potato chips

Cheese curls                 crackers                        popcorn

Other interestingly shaped foods

Sour cream               cream cheese                onion soup

Directions

• Soften cream cheese
• Blend in the soup mix and enough sour cream to make a thick paste
• Use paste to glue the snack foods together into a unique creation

Abstract Art
Great Salt Lake Area Council
Tune: I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover

I’m watching you painting an abstract painting,

And wond’ring what it can be.

Could it be mountains or could it be trees?

Could it be puppies or could it be me?

No use explaining, what you are painting

‘Cause even then I could not see

What you are painting in your abstract painting,

It’s all just a mess to me

Baltimore Area Council

For many people, art is the way they make their living.  For others, it is a recreational activity which develops into a lifelong hobby.  The Artist Activity Badge won’t make an artist out of every Webelos Scout, but it should help each boy better understand how the artist works and what he’s trying to express.

If you are not familiar with color charts, design, sculpture, mobiles, and constructions, you may wish to enlist the help of an experienced dad or mother or an art teacher.  Beginner’s books on art will also be helpful.

Webelos Scouts will learn to be more observant in this Activity Badge area as they learn to distinguish between colors, tints, and shades.  They should appreciate and be more aware of design and color in nature as they learn about these elements of art. They will develop creativity as they practice design and work on sculptures, mobiles and constructions.

Field Trips

• Attend an art exhibit or visit an art museum.
• Visit your community or village center and look at some of the sculptures, statues, and fountains.
• Keep an eye out for special art shows in the Sunday paper.  Major art galleries and museums usually have an exhibit on display.
• Take walking tour of an art plaza in your area, to see excellent examples of sculpture in the statues you can find there.
• Visit the art department of a local college or an arts festival, and watch an artist at work.

Speakers

• Art instructor
• Artist

Pack Meeting

• Demonstrate a color wheel. 
  Using poster paint, start with the 3 primary colors of red, yellow and blue, mix a little blue with the red to make violet and gradually mix in more blue to make blue violet.  Then do the same with yellow and red, and red and blue.

Den Activities

• Let the boys study a color wheel and practice combining paints making shades and tints with tempera or watercolor. 
• Ask boys to make a profile of a family member and an original picture at home.
• Design is basic in all art.  Have boys make two designs each of straight line, curved line, and a composite of both types of lines.
• Have each boy make a pencil sketch of a bottle, dish, or other still object.
• Hold an “Art Can Be Fun” night for the Webelos den families.
• Have modeling clay and material on hand for making models.
• Start simple sculptures to be finished at home.  (See Webelos Scout book)
• Make mobiles.  Boys can bring some of materials for mobiles from home.
• Have boys make drawings during a nature hike of birds, animals, trees, insects, plants, etc.

Afterimages

Eyes are funny things.  Sometimes they can fool you. 

Here is proof.  Get some pieces of brightly colored paper, cardboard, or cloth.  Be sure the colors are bright. 

Use red, green, blue, yellow, orange, and violet. 

Cut 3-inch circles from the colored sheets. 

You’ll need a sheet of black and a sheet of gray paper or cardboard, too. 

Go outdoors in the bright sunlight or sit under a bright lamp indoors. 

Put the red circle on the black paper and look at it steadily for at least thirty seconds.  Be sure not to move your eyes.  Sometimes the experiment works better if you shut one eye. 

Now take the red circle away and continue looking steadily at the black background.  You should see a circle on it, but the color will be green not red. 

Try the experiment again, with a gray instead of a black background.  The gray will also appear to be green. 

Turning off the light or moving into a shadow sometimes increases the effect. 

Try again, using a green circle.  The afterimage will be red.  Use a blue circle and the afterimage will be orange. 

An orange circle will give a blue image;
Yellow will give violet and violet yellow. 

We say that opposites are complementary colors. 

We can arrange them in a circle as shown. 

The order of colors, starting from violet to blue is the same as in the rainbow.

Many of the beautiful effects in paintings come from “retinal fatigue”.  The eye can get tired, just like a muscle . 

It gets tired from looking at just red.  And so, when you take the red away, the retina of the eye tries to see just the opposite , or complementary color.  Look at the circle you made again and see if you can determine the afterimage or complementary color to red-orange. 

What about blue-green?

Kim’s Game:

Arrange 20 objects in an orderly fashion. 

Have the Webelos study the objects in silence for 20 seconds. 

Then each player returns to his seat and writes the names of as many objects as he can remember. 

The one who names the most correct objects wins.

Artist’s Quiz:

Match the answers on the right to the clues on the left.

• A primary paint color                      a.            Violet
• Genius Kit                                    b.          Design
• Arrangement of shapes or lines          c.            White
• A secondary paint color                   d.             Blue
• Mixture of blue and yellow              e.   Construction
• Hanging shape                               f.             Green
• Mixture of blue and red                   g.          Orange
• Add this color to make a lighter hue  h.          Mobile

Police Artist Drill:

Use an enlarged sheet of head sizes, hairstyles, eyes, mouths, noses and ears to trace an approximate likeness of a well-known person.

Let each boy take a sheet of tracing paper and move it around, selecting appropriate features for the likeness he is creating.

You might want to add this selection of features by tracing some hairstyles, mouths, or ears from magazines or newspaper ads.