PACK & DEN ACTIVITIES

Sam Houston Area Council

Wolf Achievements and Electives

Achievement 2 – Your Flag

Elective 11b – learn and sing national anthem

Elective 18f – Outdoor Adventures

Bear Achievements and Electives

Achievement 3 – What Makes America Special?

Webelos Activity Badges

Aquanaut Activity Badge

Geologist Activity Badge

Cut 5-Pointed Stars in One Snip
Alapaha Area Council

• 9 safety pins, 1 ½ inches long
• Red, white, and blue plastic beads, 4 mm diameter

• 9 safety pins, 7/8 inches long
• Red, white and blue seed beads

• String a pin with 4 red and 4 white beads. Start with white and alternate colors. You will end with a red bead.
• String 3 more pins the same way.
• String a pin with four blue beads, then , with a white, red, white and red bead.
• String three more pins the same way.
• Use a butter knife or pliers to bend open the non-fastening side of the pin. String the eight pins on this non-fastening side.
• Put the four red and white pins on first. Then put on the four red, white and blue pins.
• Pinch the pin closed.

This Is essentially the same project, but explained slightly different.  I thought I would run both versions to try and help everyone out.  CD

Flag Seed Bead Pins
Alapaha Area Council

To make these pins, all you need are safety pins and seed beads.  It would be handy to have needle-nose pliers and a small flat-head screwdriver.  For these patterns, you will need 13 safety pins, one large safety pin, and red, white and blue seed beads.

Basic instructions

• 
  Open a safety pin and slip on seed beads according to the column on the pattern.  Once all of the beads are in place, close the safety pin.  You may want to pinch the end of the safety pin with the pliers so it will not pop open later.  Repeat this for each column of the pattern.

• Open the large safety pin.  Use the screwdriver to gently pry apart the coils at the end of the pin.

• Slip the loop of the first beaded pin onto the larger one.  Pull it down to the coils of the larger one, all the way around, and up to the head of the pin.  Do the same for the rest of the pins, being careful to keep them in the correct order!

• Once all the beaded pins are on the large safety pin, squeeze the coils closed again with the pliers.  It is now ready to be pinned on to whatever you wish.

Flag Seed Bead Patterns

B = Blue Bead

R = Red Bead

Plain = White Bead

Lifesavers® Firecrackers
St. Louis Area Council

• 1 package of Lifesavers
• Red masking tape
• Small foil stars
• 7”-8” Silver Pipe Cleaner

• Cover a roll of Lifesavers (except for the ends) with red tape and randomly glue on foil stars.
• Insert the pipe cleaner into the Lifesavers' holes, leaving at least 2" of the pipe cleaner “wick” exposed.
• Glue two foil stars together back to back at tip of wick.

Really Rock-It
St. Louis Area Council

Materials:

• 12” Pieces of 1” PVC pipe
• 6 ½” of ¾” predrilled wooden dowel
• 3” X 4” wooden base
• Round piece of leather
• Screws
• Tape
• Stars or holiday stickers
• 1” cork
• 10” Length of metallic string
• Large metallic confetti (optional)

Directions

• Paint wooden base and pre-drill hole for a screw.
• Screw predrilled dowel into base.
• Cut a piece of leather into a 1" round and screw or tack into top of dowel piece.
• Decorate PVC pipe with tape, stars, flag stickers, etc.
• Using cork for top of the rocket, thread string through the cork, knot end, and tape other end to PVC pipe.(Leave 6" to 7" of string to "catch" the cork as it pops off the end.)
• Pull up the pipe and push it down and the cork will pop off, creating a rocket effect. For a colorful explosion pour metallic confetti into the PVC pipe beforehand.

Firecracker Neckerchief Slide
St. Louis Area Council

Materials:

• 1 Piece of ¾” x  3” dowel rod
• 4 Strips of ¼” x 3” red pipe cleaner
• 1 Piece of ¾” x 3” blue construction paper
• 1 Silver or Gold stick-on star
• 1 Piece of PVC pipe, 1/4” x 1”
• 1 Piece of red pipe cleaner, 1” long

Directions

• Sand the dowel road and paint it white, let it dry.
• Next, glue the red pipe cleaner pieces on at spaced intervals so it looks somewhat like the drawing below.
• Glue the blue construction paper at the top, going around the dowel rod.
• Bend the bottom of the 1" piece of red pipe cleaner about 1/4" and glue it on the top (at the center) so it appears to be the fuse for the firecracker.
• Glue the star in the front at the top of the firecracker, on the blue ribbon.
• Glue the piece of PVC pipe on the back for the neckerchief to slide into.

Bead Flag Pin
Alapaha Area Council

Our dens always had a great time with these beads.  The big unsorted jugs are usually very reasonable but then they do require time to sort.  The boys especially liked making picture frames at Christmas time and mounting their pictures in them to give to parents.  There are lots of other patterns available at http://www.perlerbeads.com/   CD

Materials

Small Hexagon pegboard for Perler (fusible) beads

Red, White and Blue Beads

 Pin Backing

Glue to attach pin to fused beads

Follow the pattern to make your pin.  White beads have an X,  The plain white circles are empty,

Iron it according to the instructions that come with the beads.  Boys can help with the ironing, but please don’t let them iron on their own.

Next, glue on the pin backing with one of the types of glue listed above.

Allow to dry.  The pin is ready to wear!

Baseball Game
Baltimore Area Council

There is nothing more “American” than Baseball. So why not have your Cubs build a baseball game for their own amusement?

Glue green construction paper to a piece of cardboard. Trace around a see-thru plastic lid from a vegetable or meat tray to determine the size of the playing area. Make the diamond and bases with felt tip markers as shown in the illustration. Punch round holes in each base with the tip of your scissors. The holes should be a bit smaller than the beads you are using as “players.” Place the beads in the center and glue the plastic lid in place. Then its... PLAY BALL!!!!! All bases must be covered with a bead to score a home run.

FIRECRACKER SNAPPER
Sam Houston Area Council

This is something which Granddad will remember, an old-time paper popgun made of cardboard folded over in an “L” shape.  The pop is made by a triangular piece of light-weight typing paper glued to the muzzle and folded inward.  Grab the handle loosely, raise it over your head and bring it down swiftly, so that the air movement makes the paper pop out and make a popping sound.

CANDLE-MAKING:
Sam Houston Area Council

• Melt paraffin wax in a clean smaller coffee can that is set into a larger coffee can that has water boiling in it. 
• Add a scent like peppermint oil or vanilla, to the wax.
• Add coloring to the wax: Food coloring, inks or candle dyes.
• Make wicks.  You can purchase wicks or you can make your own by dipping cords or heavy string into warm wax and allowing them to dry on a sheet of wax paper.
• Attach a wick to a stick (or pencil) and let the wick droop evenly on both sides of the stick, separated by about 4 inches.
• Dip the two wicks into the wax repeatedly.  The wax will build up and form two candles.

CAUTIONS

• Never leave melting wax unattended.
• Always use a double boiler or the coffee cup in a can method to heat wax.  Never place wax directly into a saucepan or heating device on its own.
• Never put water on a wax fire.
• Never overheat wax. Fumes from overheated wax can cause severe illness.
• As an added rule of safety, be certain to use a thermometer when working with wax.  Flashpoint is the temperature at which wax will combust. The Flashpoint is the absolute maximum that a given wax can be heated to.  If you're using Paraffin, the Flashpoint is 375ºF.

PATRIOTIC PARACHUTES:
Sam Houston Area Council

Materials:  15” squares, one ach of red, white, and blue fabric, 5” square of blue fabric, scissors, 4 pieces of 15” long string, rubber band, 1” diameter stone

What Fourth of July celebration is complete without at least one parachutist flying down from the sky.  Cubs can make their own parachute and fill the air with flying men.

1” in from each corner of the large square, nip a small hole, and thread one string in each hole,

Tie each string to the fabric with a square knot. 

Keep the loop through the fabric loose, as you tighten the knot about an inch from the fabric.

Lay the free ends of the four strings over the 5” piece of fabric and cover with the stone. 

Wrap up the fabric tightly around the stone and strings, and secure the bag by wrapping the rubber band around it several times.

Roll the parachute loosely from the top of the chute, toward the bag. 

Now toss it as high in the sky as you can.  It should parachute lightly to the ground.

Neckerchief Slide
Baltimore Area Council

Materials: One postage stamp, one piece of lightweight wood, one piece of 2-by-2-inch PVC pipe, paint, glue

Choose a new or canceled postage stamp. Cut a piece of thin wood (about 2 inches larger in diameter than the stamp). Paint the wood a color that will look nice with the stamp.

Glue the stamp to the front of the wood. When dry, paint over the stamp with white glue to give it a shiny effect and to protect it. Attach the PVC pipe to the wood.

Parade Wavers
Baltimore Area Council

Uncle Sam Windsock
Baltimore Area Council

The Firecracker Neckerchief Slide (M-80 style)
Baltimore Area Council

• Obtain a dowel rod ¾ or 7/8 of an inch in diameter
• Cut a piece to measure 2¼ inches.
• Prepare to drill three holes with a 1/16 inch drill bit.
• To make a hole for the fuse, drill the center of the length of the dowel about halfway through.
• Rotate the dowel one-quarter turn and draw a pencil line across the length of the dowel.
• To make holes for the back loop, drill two holes along the line a half-inch from each end.
• Lightly sand all surfaces with medium to medium-fine sandpaper. Smooth the edges of each end until slightly rounded.
• Paint the dowel red with either spray enamel or enamel model paint. Use several light coats rather than one heavy coat, allowing each coat to dry.
• For a fuse, cut a piece of candlewick or heavy cord about 1½ inches.
• Paint the fuse royal blue. After it has dried, glue the fuse into the center hole
• For the back loop, use a 2½ inch strand of 12-gage housing wire with plastic coating. Remove 3/8 of an inch of plastic from each end. Bend the ends at right angles so that the middle section matches the distance between the holes. Check to make sure the ends will fit before gluing in place.