What follows is the what I
used to present this promotion.
Each unit should sit down in
Aug. or earlier ( Annual Pack Planning Conference) and plan out the
entire year's program based on the twelve monthly themes, set up
your budget and determine the objectives for the year. Advance
preparation ensures a well-rounded program of fun, variety, action,
and purpose. Incoming families will like seeing what the pack
program is about. Having a calendar of pack activities to give to
your parents will show that your pack is well run and will be an
asset in the development of their son's growth. Also, at the pack
planning conference choose a school night coordinator for your
School Rally. The School Night Coordinator and Rallymasters are
short term jobs that should be included in list of positions that
need to be filled on a yearly basis to "help the pack
grow."
As a coordinator you will be in charge
of these duties:
Boy Talks at schools
School Night for
Scouting fliers get sent out on time.
Posters in school,
businesses, churches, etc.
Boys wear uniforms day of school
rally.
Parents who are leaders have lunch with their son on day
of rally wearing leader uniform.
Have messages put on the
marquees at schools and businesses, subdivision.
If your pack has
a web site announce it there and put the URL on your fliers.
Pack
set up pinewood derby, pushmobile or some kind of activity after
school during the week prior to School Night.
Cubs do the school
or PTA flag ceremony prior to School Night
PA announcement in
school on day of rally.
Articles in local newspapers,
subdivisions newsletters, as well as school and church
newsletters.
Spots on local radio stations-Derrick and I worked
on this. We are trying to take full advantage of all the free
publicity we can get as should your pack. Set up a display in you
local school, community center, bank, store or church. Plaster
information around town about your program. Get your sign up night
date out to all that you can.
Shoe polish messages on Pack family
cars when they drop off and pick up their kids at school. Leave
answering machine messages. Boys in den meeting make yard signs and
then place them out in their own yard.
Chalk messages on
sidewalk. There are links for recipes for sidewalk chalk in my Web
Sites area.
Mayoral proclamation in your town.
Fliers in or
messages on grocery bags.
Banners or portable sign on well
traveled roads.
Rallymaster
A rallymaster is a parent or two or even three that
will go into the classrooms and talk to the boys about their packs.
No one can do it as well as they can since they know their pack
best. If you want more boys in your pack, the enthusiasm of the
Rallymasters is going to make the difference. If your rallymasters
don't show that Cub Scout spirit, the kids and parents will be
looking somewhere else. You will spend about 5 - 7 minutes in each
classroom getting the boys excited about the pack program. The time
you spend in each classroom shouldn't be long it just has to be
enthusiastic. You need to let them know some of the activities done
by your dens, pack, district and council.
The Big Night Has Arrived - School
Night
Set up your sign up night with different items for
the boys and their families to see what Cub Scouting offers. Items
such as: pack calendar, pictures, pinewood derby cars, patches boys
have earned, the American, pack and den flags, crafts the Cubs have
done, possibly a mock camp site set up. Any items that tell what
your pack is about. What follows are some ideas that were compiled
from Stephanie, a Cub Scout RT member in Maryland.. She got all this
great information from Scouters who are on Scouts-L.
SCHOOL NIGHT FOR SCOUTING
IDEAS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Set up about 6 "Olympics"
stations (frisbee throw, toss dice into pan, etc.). Make lots of
medals ahead of time, and make sure each boy gets one. Ask a few Boy
Scouts to come (in uniform, of course) to help with the games and to
talk to the kids about their experiences in scouts. (This would also
give the boy scouts a sample of what being a Den Chief would be like
and possibly get them interested in participating in that program.)
If you have enough helpers, you can offer both active and non-active
games and let the children choose which they want to do. We usually
brought a pinewood derby track and several cars and let the boys
race them. It always worked. One year one of the den chiefs was
wearing his patch vest and many boys spent the entire time listening
to him describe the activities that went with the patches. Have the
boys put on a play. I used to like "The World's Ugliest
Man." Very funny play. Rehearse them, and then have them stage
it for the parents. Agent X is a lot of fun, too. A good gathering
activity. The "turtle" races, with a wooden cutout of a
turtle on a string (from the Cub Scout Leader's How-To Book) are
always very popular. Another idea is to bring in some big cardboard
boxes, provide plenty of tape, coloring or paint, and an adult to
cut doors and such with a box-cutter or utility knife: let the kids
go to town on making a fort, castle, maze, or whatever. After that,
they can get inside and play tank. For the last several years my
troop has assisted our local cub pack with their back-to school
night. The pack has a opening ceremony which is then followed by the
new cubs leaving the hall and going into another hall/school gym. We
have some boy scouts who set up 4-5 round robin stations. We split
the kids up, and they get about 6-10 minutes at each station. By
splitting the kids up into smaller groups, it makes things easier to
control. Stations can be basic first aid, simple knots, fun games,
etc. -- basic skills that the kids have to join in and do. This
gives the pack leaders some quiet time to talk turkey with the
parents. The pack leaders like it, and the kids (scouts & cubs)
think it's great.
*****************************************************
What always works for us is some physical
activity. We usually have our bicycle rodeo then. Kids love it and
see how much fun we have. From Ed Dunn's District Executive Survival
Guide:
(1) Have a paper airplane contest.
(2) Make up a list
of possible outings and activities, being sure to include things
that the Pack (or dens) has done in the past. Give the list to the
boys and ask them to circle the ones they would most like to do.
(Some of the activities will have a cost associated with them, and
should be marked accordingly: $, $$ or $$$; there should only be a
few with multiple dollar signs.) This list will give the boys an
idea of what Cub Scouts do, and can also be used to help recruit
adult leaders by showing them concrete ideas for activities to
organize (it's the unknown that scares most of them off).
****************************************************
From Stephanie in the Four River
Disticts, Maryland
Some of the games and activities we've
done include:
Pass the hula hoop around the circle Supplies:
hula hoops
Divide the kids into 2 or 3 equal groups; each group
forms a circle holding hands, with one pair reaching through a hula
hoop. On the signal, they must pass the hula hoop all the way around
the circle without letting go. (The smaller kids get a kick out of
this, because for once they have an *advantage* over the big kids
because they fit through the hoop easier!)
Wrestling
clothespins
Supplies: wooden clothespins (round ones are best);
crayons or markers; sturdy rubber bands; shoe-box tops (optional)
Have each child decorate a clothespin to look like a person, then
find a partner to wrestle. Wrap a rubber band around the pair of
clothespins once or twice, then twist one clothespin several times
to wind the band up tight between them (be sure to count the twists
so every match is equal). Carefully place the pins into the
shoe-box-top "ring" and let go. They will twist and jump
(to the players' delight); when they stop, the one on top is the
winner. Repeat as many times as you have patience for! Circle knot
(or whatever it's called)
Supplies: none.
Using 6-10 people,
make a circle. Everyone puts their left hand into the circle (don't
hold hands). Then reach in with your right hand and take the left
hand of anybody *except* the people beside you. Now, without letting
go, untangle the knot. (Have one or two adults or helpers to work
with the children and be sure nobody gets too rambuctious.) You
should end up back in the original circle (or maybe with two
interlinked circles). Teaches cooperation and teamwork; can be done
as a race, but I find it works better without the pressure of
competition. Sing action songs, like "Kentucky Fried Chicken
and a Pizza Hut"; "I Don't Care If I Go Crazy
(1-2-3-4-5-6-Switch)"; "Head, Shoulders, Knees, &
Toes", etc. The zanier the better! We have some of our
second-year Webelos act as helpers. Have them wear full regalia
(patch vest and everything) -- the younger kids are really impressed
by all the stuff they have on their uniforms, plus it gives them
something to talk about, explaining what each patch or award is for
(which can be helpful as an ice breaker). (Be sure to select Webelos
that are going to be *helpers* and not ones that would just
contribute to the chaos!)
Our "Back to School Night" is
generally the first meeting back after summer vacation to get all
our kids involved in the pack again. Last year we had a carnival
theme with several different games and relays. Most of them we took
directly from the Cub Scout Leader How-To Book (Pack Activities,
Rainy-Day Field Day) and the MacScouter's Big Book of Games. Here's
a list of some of the things we did:
1) Bowling for Spuds
(MacScouter's Big Book of Games)
Need 9" balloons, paper
cups, beans or rice, tape & potatoes. Put some beans in the cup
for weight, blow up the balloon & tape it to the cup. Bowl with
the potato. Gotta watch to be sure they roll the potatoes and don't
throw them.
2) Panty hose race (Cub Scout Leader How-To Book)
Need several pairs of panty hose. Teams of 2 race to put on the
pantyhose and then race across the room & back. We even had
leaders doing this one!
3) Twenty-Foot Relay (Cub Scout Leader
How-To Book) Need lemons & sticks. Relay teams use a stick to
roll lemons down a course & back.
4) Fluff (Cub Scout Leader
How-To Book)
Need paper plates & feathers A race carrying a
plate of feathers a certain distance & back without dropping
any. They must pick up any they drop before continuing.
5) Bean
race (source unknown) Need beans, toothpicks, bottles. Boys place
beans, one at a time in a bottle To top it all off, we had an ice
cream booth where everyone who wanted it could have a scoop of ice
cream. It was a big hit with most of the pack showing up and having
a good time.
In 1994 we held a Carnival at the local school IN
conjunction with School Night. Are You Kidding? you might say. Nay,
would be the reply. FAMILIES join Cub Scouting, not just the boy.
Moms will come with Johnny. I Want To Join, but if she is single
Mom, or Dad is at the salt mines, who's going to watch or attend to
siblings?? We smooth-talked the school into a "Welcome Back
Carnival", split the costs 50-50, then got local business
people to buy ads in the homemade "School Night Flyers"
that were a thread off of the stuff National cranked out. While
Johnny, et al were shrieking and laughing, we coffeed and cookied
the Moms and Dads... out of 63 known families who were there, we
ended up with 58, many of whom have recently graduated. The catch
line for the Carnival..."If You Think THIS is Fun, Wait'll You
Join Cub Scouts!"
