PACK AND DEN ACTIVITIES

Alice, Golden Empire Council

Check out the Ethics in Action activities about “Friendship” for some great ideas that can help boys understand friendship and overcome bias, gaining a new regard for how alike, different, and unique they are.  Other Ethics in Action themes cover disabilities and being different.

Invite parents to come to den meetings and share stories about their countries or origin, cultures and what friends do together.

Assign different boys each week from within the den or pack to team up and find out about each other, then share what they learned about different boys at the next meeting.  After being paired with a different boy each week, the boys will know a lot more about each other – and that’s the basis for friendship.

Have the boys vote on their favorite things to do with a friend, then try different favorites each week at the den meeting.

Have a Scavenger Hunt for Friends:  give each boy, family or den a list of people to find – someone who collects stamps, has initials that spell a word, has been to Disney World, has had a broken arm, traveled to five states, etc.  This could be a month-long game or a Gathering Game for the pack meeting.

Have treats that must be shared – one long length of licorice for example.  The boys must agree how the treat will be divided, then come to Akela and explain BEFORE they can eat the treat!

Another great food to share – make a giant sandwich that everyone contributes to, a fruit salad, a soup that everyone brings a veggie for, or, most fun of all, a giant ice cream sundae.  Use a raingutter lined with foil, then add ice cream and toppings.  Each person gets a bowl and spoon and takes their pick!

Make cookies, then divide them into small baggies – give two to each person, but tell them to share one with a buddy.

Prepare a “community” trail mix – have each person bring an item to add, then mix them all together while you talk about why that item is good to have.  Then everyone gets to fill a snack bag with some trail mix and the den can go on a hike. OR Have everyone bring a snack to share on a den hike – two cookies, two boxes of raisins.  Let the boys share or mix and match.

Try the “Funny Feet” game at your Pack meeting.  Arrange to have five or six  people go to another room and remove their socks and shoes, sit on the floor, and hide behind a sheet or curtain.  Only the soles of their feet should show, no clothing.  Have the rest of the group come in and try to guess who the feet belong to.  Person with the most correct guesses wins.

Have a “Snowball Fight” – Give each person a paper with questions on it, like “What is your favorite sport?”  When everyone has filled out the answers to the questions, have them scrunch up their paper.  When you yell “Snowball Fight” everyone throws their paper – after a few minutes, everyone has just one paper – they read about the friend who filled out the page and everyone tries to guess who it is!

Another “oldie but goodie” game to make friends is to bring out a roll or yarn or string and a pair of scissors.  Ask everyone to cut off a length – BUT don’t tell them why!  Now each person must take a turn to talk about themselves while they wind the string around their finger – whether that takes ten seconds or ten minutes!

Decorate your Pack meeting with life-size silhouettes or paper figures made by having each boy lay down on large paper or cardboard in some fun pose, while someone draws around his body – if boys are going to fill in clothes and features, guide them to really look at how far down their eyes begin on their faces – have them look at a photo of  themselves to make a more accurate drawing.  A boy could be “flying a kite” and you could even add a real kite attached to the wall above his silhouette – or have every boy pose doing a different thing that friends like to do together.

If you make silhouettes, have a parent’s contest to see if they recognize the boys – some are obvious, but parent’s often have trouble picking out their own sons!

For your pack meeting, set up different activities and games that “take a friend” to do – anything from board games to marbles.  Give everyone time to choose and try an activity before giving out the awards.

Send secret code messages throughout the den and pack – Try all kinds of different codes, from the string code to the telephone code.  Lots of ideas in the Wolf book also.

Memories make friends – make a den or pack scrapbook – solicit photos and memorabilia about past den or pack events.  Let each den do a section about their den and the boys.  Show off the scrapbook at pack meetings, Roundtable, district and council events.

Make a special den flag or create a special den activity t-shirt.  One simple way to do it – choose cut-outs representing den activities, such as a hammer, music note representing a performance the den attended, a flamingo representing a visit to the zoo – lay the cut-outs on a plain t-shirt, then color the surrounding area of  the shirt using a spray bottle with a small amount of acrylic paint and some water.  The finished shirt will look like spatter painting.  Make a stencil and add your Pack and den numbers by over spraying with a second darker color.

Find some pen pals for your den – especially fun when you choose another country or part of the USA – check under Websites for links.

Bubbles and friends go together – Furnish various kinds of bubble “wands” for everyone.  Pour bubbles into a shallow bowl or plate, then mix in food coloring (I used this with a Wolf den as a fun way to make primary/secondary colors for the Artist elective).  Everyone gets a large sheet of white paper, then blow the bubbles and “capture” them on your paper.  Show off your Bubble Art at the Pack meeting.

Make a den or pack “Friendship Mural” or Scrapbook – have the boys think about things they have done with friends, or friendly things that they have done or had done to them – they can either use magazine cut-outs or draw pictures, or even just write a short story.  Share the mural or scrapbook at the Pack Meeting.

Buddy up the boys or families and have them play Double Number Maze – on a piece of paper, write numbers 1 through 20, scattering them randomly all over.  Now write them all over again, trying not to have matching numbers too close to each other.  The object is to make a line connecting two of the same number, without crossing another line. Play till someone can’t connect any two of the same number.  You could also use letters instead of numbers, or if the boys get really good, mix letters and numbers!

Make a list of some famous buddies – like Mickey and Minnie, or Mutt and Jeff – put one of the names on the back of each person, and have them find their Buddy by asking questions that can be answered by a “yes” or “no”

Build A Den Doodle/Flag

York Adams Council

Does your Den have a Den Doodle yet? I sure hope so for your sake and the sake of the boys. The Cub Scout Leader's Book and the How To Book cover the importance of the den flag and give lots of ideas for designing and making a den doodle.  These are great "team builders" and should be a part of every den. They also provide some extra incentive to the less enthused to keep up the good work (when they are recognized publicly through displaying the den doodle).  Then, make sure the pack is "on board" with the whole den doodle operation as well. Does the pack give out doobies to hang on the colors each month?  Ask the Cubmaster to start providing a theme-related doobie when the den does something neat at a Pack Meeting!

Friendship Survival Kit 

Sam Houston Area Council

This would be a great item to pass out to all your new Cubs this Fall.  Use it as an induction ceremony  CD

Materials:

Small bag (Ziploc® works well,

Labels for each item (small strips of paper or cardstock) or a sheet telling what everything in the bag is and why it is there.

Materials to go in the bag

Toothpick                         Band-aid                     stick of gum

cotton ball                           eraser             happy face sticker

small candle                    small rock                    rubber band

roll of Lifesavers candy (or one of the individually wrapped Lifesaver candy,

Labels (or information printed on a sheet)

«  Toothpick – “To pick out the good qualities in everyone”

«  Band-Aid – “To heal hurt feelings”

«  Gum – “A reminder that friends stick together”

«  Lifesavers – “A reminder that friends sometimes need our help”

«  Cotton Ball – “To cushion the bumpy roads ahead”

«  Eraser – “To remind you to always start each day clean”

«  Happy Face – “Smiling is contagious”

«  Candle – “Remember to share the light with others”

«  Rock – “To remind you of the stability of your friendship”

«  Rubber Band – “To remind you to be flexible when dealing with friends”

With glue, attach the labels to the objects.

Label the bag – “Friendship Survival Kit”.

Once items are dry, put them all in the bag.

*Depending on the age group the labeling could be done before meeting time and then the boys would just need to assemble the survival kits and while doing that you could lead a discussion about how to be a good friend.

Frame A Friend Or Family 

Sam Houston Area Council

Materials:

Empty CD case,

string,

various decorations – see list below for ideas,

family picture or other photos,

glue

Instructions:

·         Start by taping the family picture on the inside of the CD case facing out. Some pictures may have to be trimmed in order to fit inside of the CD case. If you still have one of the inserts that came with the CD originally, it could be used as a pattern for sizing.

·         Cut a 3-4 inch piece of string.

·         Tape it to both sides of the opening of the case on the inside. This keeps the case open in a standing position.

·         Decorate the front of the case around the edges of your picture with any form of decoration. Some ideas or themes could be dependent upon your picture.

·         Feathers, buttons, beads, felt cut outs, glitter (use cardboard strips to glued to the case to glue the glitter to), wood die cut outs, cotton balls (snow), stickers, etc

Funny Putty 

Sam Houston Area Council

Materials

1 tablespoon liquid starch,

food coloring,

2 tablespoons white glue,

a plastic egg or small Ziploc bag

Instructions:

«  Mix glue and food coloring together in small bowl.

«  Pour liquid starch into a second bowl,

«  Then slowly pour the glue mixture on top of the starch.

«  Allow the concoction to stand for 5 minutes or until the glue absorbs the starch.

«  Remove putty from bowl and knead. (At first, the mixture looks as if it's a mistake, but it isn't. The more you knead the putty, the better the consistency will be.)

«  Store funny putty in a plastic egg or Ziploc bag.

«  Press funny putty down on newspaper comics or pictures printed on inkjet paper.

«  Slowly pull the funny putty off of the paper.

«  The picture will transfer BACKWARDS onto the putty.

«  You can also roll your funny putty into a ball and bounce it.

Friendship Bracelet – Simplified 

Sam Houston Area Council

Materials:

Embroidery floss – many colors,

Masking tape

Instructions:

ü  Cut three strands of floss long enough to go around the Cub Scout’s wrist and be tied.

ü  Lay the three strands side by side on a table.

ü  At one end of the strands, tie all three strands together in an overhand knot.

ü  Tape the knot to the table with a small piece of masking tape, so that the other strands are able to be moved, but the knot is attached to the table.

ü  Braid the three strands together, alternating between the three stands, until about 2 inches from the end of the strands.

ü  Tie off to keep the braiding together.

ü  Wrap around your wrist and tie to secure.

Friendship Finger Paint  

Sam Houston Area Council

ü  In large saucepan mix 1 cup all purpose flour with 1 cup cold water.

ü  Stir until smooth.

ü  Then add another 3 cups cold water.

ü  Cook over medium heat, stirring till mixture thickens and bubbles.

ü  Reduce heat and simmer 1 minute more while still stirring.

ü  Divide into three heat-resistant bowls.

ü  Tint with food coloring.

ü  Cover and cool.

This makes a very good washable paint for finger painting or window painting!

How To Make The Magic Candle

Southern NJ Council

·         Use a tall white candle. 

·         Drill quarter inch diameter holes every two inches down opposite sides of the candle. 

·         Place scrapings of blue and gold crayons in the holes. 

·         Melt paraffin and whip with egg beater. 

·         Cover candle with whipped paraffin using a fork and give the candles a rough texture. 

·         As the white candle burns, it will drip blue and gold wax decoratively down the side of the candle.

Memory Book

Supplies:       Posterboard, yarn or brad fasteners, crayons, and hole punch

Cut posterboard slightly larger (1/2 inch) than notebook paper, or construction paper. 

Give each boy a front cover and back. 

Let your scouts decorate the front of their Memory Books. 

Now your scouts have their own scrapbooks for their Cub Scouting memories. 

Anything your Cubs do that will fit it here can now be kept and given to them when they graduate from the Pack or even passed on the Troop for when your Cubs become Eagles.

Watermelon Slide

Simon Kenton Council

Take a Brazil nut and paint to look like a watermelon.  After the paint  has dried, hot glue a drink tab or PVC pipe to the back of the nut.

CD Crafts

Mike, the USScouts.org Webmaster

As Mike sez, "Don't toss 'em.  Save 'em!"

Make a Clock - At many craft stores you can by a clock movement that will fit right in the hole in the center.  Paint a few numbers on the shiny side and you've got a fairly inexpensive clock.

Make a Holiday Tree - Save a bunch of them and towards the year end holiday season you can hot glue them together to form a triangle with about five or six across at the bottom.  Insert flashing holiday lights and you have an instant holiday tree with the shiny CD surface acting as a big reflector.  Great gift item to give from a den to a retirement home or to add to a church's festive decorations.

Make a Pyramid - On the other hand if you have loads of them, you could do three of them and make a pyramid with flashing lights on all three sides.  Don't know what you'd use if for, but I suspect somebody imaginative can come up with a use. ;-)

Orienteering - Use 'em for a set of trail markers or orienteering checkpoints - portable and reusable. Just paint them different colors. Collect them when you are done and use again.

Relay Race - Quick game - have a rolling contest to see who can roll one the farthest on its edge.

Trail Lights - Use the CD's for trail lights at night.  Fill a number ten can about a third full of water.  Put a candle through the hole in the CD. Place the CD/candle on the surface of the water inside the can.  Light candle.  When done blow out candle and turn upside down.

Night Trail Markers.  Paint outside edge about an inch all the way around with a color to denote the trail.  Place each CD on ground within view of the next.  Scouts with a flashlight aimed downward see the bright reflection from the shiny side (unpainted area).

Toss in the Bucket Game.  Mark a line. Place a wash bucket or wastebasket at a reasonable distance. Have Scouts try to fling the CD into the bucket for points.

Use the CD's for signaling (same way you used to use mirrors)

Tent Markers.  Each Scout's first name is on a CD. Run twine through hole and hang from tent pole.  Is said to help Scout remember which tent is home for a week at camp.

Cowboy Hat Decorations.  Cut off bottom half of medium paper cup.  Invert and tape to center of CD.  Paint light brown with dark brown hatband from ribbon glued on. Instant wild west memento.

Safety kit.  One disposable luminescent tube and CD for each family car.  You can buy the tubes at camping and auto stores. When you bend the tube the glass inside breaks and the chemical reaction produces light. By inserting the tube through the CD, you get a reflective surface making it easier to see the light.  Apparently you can also take this idea a little farther - leave a few inches of the tube on one side and put that and the edge of the CD on the ground pointed where you want people to see it.  Put several of these on the sides of a trail from a campfire area at camp leading toward the parking lot for visitors to help them find their way back to their cars.  Another use is as an ornamental sun-catcher. Use silicon sealer to glue two of them together label to label. Drill a small hole near the rim and suspend with string.

Pinewood Derby Center piece.  Run short sections of dowel through two evenly spaced CDs to form axle and wheel sets.

Use cardboard and masking tape to form the body of the car (use your imagination).  Decide what shape you want and make a template for the side of each car.  Cut out separate pieces for the sides. Cut out pieces for the front, hood, seat area, and back.  Tape together.  Spray paint the wheels black before assembly.  Spray paint the body red, yellow or whatever before assembly.  Sit the body on the dowels and you have a very large "derby car" center piece.  Additional suggestion is to paint several cars blue and several gold.  Use them for Blue & Gold table centerpieces. How's that for a very cheap project?

CD Farm Animals -
Materials:  Old CDs, felt or foam board, thin cardboard, markers, glue, scissors.

Cover CD with appropriate color felt for animal to be made.  Cut out head, ears, legs for the animal and glue to thin cardboard and then to CD.  Decorate with markers

MORE GREAT STUFF

Sam Houston Area Council

From the Cub Scout Leader How-To Book –

ü  Accentuate the Positive, Chapter 1, make everyone  feel wanted and positive about the group.  Den Doodles to bring your dens together as teams

ü  Razzle Dazzle, Chapter 5, really WOW! Them at the that first Pack Meeting!!