Wolf Den Update 10/09/2017

Wolf Elective Adventure: Hometown HeroesThis week the Bears and the Wolves worked together. Those who went to the Revolutionary Germantown festival shared their experience with the rest of the dens and talked about famous people and places along with their significance in history to complete Hometown Heroes requirement 1. The conversation then turned to a conversation about freedom and the significance of the American flag, setting the tone for the Council Fire Adventure in the near future.

Wolf Adventure: Howling at the MoonThe wolves then moved on to Howling at the Moon as planned and completed requirement 1, showing that they can communicate in multiple ways.  They completed this task by learning about and practicing communicating with each other using morse code, nautical flags, and semaphore flags.

Next week the Wolves will continue with Howling at the Moon and likely move to Council Fire after that.

 

Tiger Update 10/09/2017

Tiger Adventure: Games Tigers PlayThis week the Tigers worked on the Games Tigers Play adventure (page 42 in the handbook) which is designed to will help boys develop appropriate emotional responses, engage in shared decision making in group settings, and encourage an active and healthy lifestyle.

They played Synapse, Twister, and the boys created and played their own game called “Attack the Monster”. These games allowed the boys to build their own teams and showed the importance of team work.

The Tigers completed requirements 1 and 3 this week. Next week they will pick a healthy snack and explain what makes it healthy (requirement 2) which, along with their home assignment (see below), will complete the Games Tigers Play Adventure.

At Home (homework)
Each Tiger will need to create a game of his own and play it with his family before the next meeting (requirement 4). He will then discuss and play the game with our den next week.

Important News: Please be aware that the Boy Scouts of America has updated the advancement requirements for Cub Scouts but have not printed new handbooks with the updated requirements. As a result you may notice that some of the requirement numbers we mention are different than what is in the handbook. Below is a link to an addendum that contains the updated requirements to supplement your scout’s handbook We have also updated the requirements on our website

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2016 Tiger Requirement Modifications

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2017 Revolutionary Germantown Summary

Revolutionary Germantown

We had several scouts attend the festivities at Revolutionary Germantown.  Everyone had a great time exploring what life was like in Colonial America before watching a reenactment of the Battle of Germantown.

Throughout the course of the day our scouts participated in many hands on activities that let them not only learn how things were done in Colonial America but they were able to try many of those tasks themselves. Some of the activities were:

  • Making paper from old rags
  • Weaving baskets and paper by hand
  • Spinning wool into yarn
  • Weaving textiles on a hand-held loom
  • Making Tricorn hats
  • Coring Apples
  • Churning ice cream
  • husking acorns and making acorn flour
  • Trying different types of jellies and jams all made with period correct recipes and methods.
  • They met General Washington.
  • They met British and Colonial soldiers.
  • They were recruited and mustered like soldiers
  • and so much more..

Those in attendance completed the following requirements:

Tigers

Wolves

Bears

Webelos/AOL

 

Bear Den Update 10/02/2017

Bear Adventure: Fellowship and Duty to GodOn Monday, the bear den started by going through the advancement requirements and discussed a little about what each adventure entails and they were very excited to hear that they will get started this year with pocket knives. They then started with a generalization of the Fellowship and Duty to God adventure in which Bear Cub Scouts will have opportunities to be good neighbors as they reach out in fellowship to those in their communities. Cub Scouts will experience the universal principle, common to many religions, that we should treat others the way we want to be treated.

Next week they will go deeper into this adventure and explain how they do their duty to God, to name and discuss someone of faith that they admire, and how they will continue to show their duty to God.

At Home (Homework)

This adventure requires the assistance of families and loved ones in order for the scouts to make the most of the adventure.

  • Please discuss with your scouts someone of faith that they admire. It can be a person within your family, someone you know, or even a holy figure in your particular faith.
  • Help your scouts prepare a list of things that they can do to practice their duty to God according to their beliefs. We will then ask the scouts to select two of them to practice for two weeks.
  • The scouts are welcome to bring in something religious and meaningful to them to discuss.

Wolf Den Update 10/02/2017

Wolf Elective Adventure: Cubs Who CareOn Monday, the wolves completed the Cubs Who Care elective adventure which was started at the Open House on 9/25/17. They completed requirements 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, completing more than the four required to complete the adventure.

This adventure is intended to help Wolf Cub Scouts learn about physical disabilities, which are more easily and readily understood at their age than are learning disabilities and mental impairments. They examined how sports such as ice hockey, soccer, and basketball have been adapted for blindness and paraplegics; they learned about invisible disabilities such as mental health issues or those caused by brain injury; they drew a picture with and without a blindfold and discussed how they had to adapt with with techniques such as finger placement and not removing the crayon. Lastly they talked about famous people with disabilities such as Albert Einstein, Stevie Wonder, and Cher.

Next Week

Next week the wolves will be working on either Howling at the Moon requirements 1-3 though if the weather is nice they may also do Air of the Wolf requirements 2a & 2d.

 

 

Tiger Den Update 10/02/2017

Tiger Adventure: Tiger BitesOn Monday the Tigers worked on the Tiger Bites adventure (page 78 in the handbook) which is designed to introduce or reinforce healthy eating habits through food choices, and hygiene; introduce or reinforce good manners in relation to food and entertaining; and provide an opportunity for the Scout to provide a useful service to his family.

They played a game called “Yay or Nay” to help identify good food choices and after discussing the importance of hand washing both before and after meals they talked about the differences between fruits and vegetables and then used them to create a good snack choice and learning about what foods you can eat with your fingers.

The Tigers worked on requirements 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6; completing the Tiger Bites adventure.

At Home (homework)
The scouts, with the assistance of an adult, should pick a job to help the family at mealtime and do it for at least four meals (requirement 4). They should also practice their manners while eating and continue to discuss what makes a good and bad food choice with their families.

Open House Wrap Up

We would like to thank everyone that came to our Open House last night.  It was a great time for returning scouts and visiting scouts alike.  The scouts participated in a wide assortment of activities, round-robin style, that provided a sample of the types of activities available at the various levels of the Cub Scout program.

The Activities

Station 1 – Create a Secret Code:  This stems from the Tiger handbook and is an activity that plays off of the mystery and intrigue of cracking a code and solving mysteries. The scouts learned about Morse Code as well as made their own spy decoder tool. Coding is based in mathematics and is a very basic introduction into thinking mathematically without “doing math” per se.

Station 2 – Paper Airplanes/Effects of Air: This activity comes from the Wolf handbook and is part of a STEM based adventure that helps wolves explore the basic aspects of air. In this activity the scouts learn how to conduct an investigation, make a hypothesis, and experimentation. Not only did the scouts get to make different kinds of paper airplanes, they also could use different kinds of paper to test weight against air. And to add to the fun the scouts got to fly their planes seeing whose went higher, further, and faster.

Station 3 – Fish Identification: This activity is found in the Bear handbook but touches on other activities (i.e. art) in other handbooks. The scouts learned about different types of freshwater fish, including how to identify them, their preferred habitat, and their preferred foods. Afterwards the scouts drew the fish they learned about. In this activity the scouts learn about the hidden world around them, they practice observation skills, committing things to memory, and then recalling them later.

Station 4 – A Bear Goes Fishing: Also from the Bear Handbook and part of the same Adventure as Station 3. Fishing is a skill, one that can become a lifelong hobby or possible a career. It can be done alone or with family and friends. While one scout said it best “you have to be patient if you want to catch a fish”. This activity taught the scouts how to make a rod out of basic items and then test their hand eye coordination try to catch a “fish”.  It also help them work on problem solving skills as they had to try and hook a fish and adjust their lines – fishing as a whole can be used to teach several points of the scout law such as trustworthy, helpful, courteous, obedient, thrifty, cheerful, clean, and even reverent.

Stations 5 & 6: These two activities are part of the Aware and Care adventure in the Webelos handbook from the Webelos handbook that aims to foster an awareness and understanding of disabilities and challenges associated with different disabilities. Such an understanding leads to acceptance and with this understanding they can help educate their peers and prevent the hurtful exclusion of others.

Blindfolded activities: The scouts were blindfolded and took a moment to see life from someone else’s point of view. While blindfolded and had to try to perform simple tasks like walk around the table, locate a chair and take a seat, and get a drink off the table. To their surprise the cups were not of water but of a few plain M&M’s.

American Sign Language: This activity teaches that one can speak with their hands and listen with their eyes as they tried to recite the Scout Oath in American Sign Language

In doing all of the above, the following advancement requirements were completed:

Lions

  •      On your Mark requirement 1

Tigers

  • Curiosity, Intrigue, and Magical Mysteries requirement 4
  • Stories in Shapes requirement 1b

Wolves

  • Howling at The Moon requirement 1
  • Air of the Wolf requirement 1c
  • Code of the Wolf requirement 4b
  • Cubs Who Care requirement 2f
  • Motor Away requirement 1a

Bears

  • A Bear Goes Fishing requirements 1 & 3

Webelos/Arrow of Light

  • Aware and Care requirements 1 & 7e
  • Into the Wild requirement 6

Announcements

Wreath Fundraiser: On Monday we will be starting our wreath fundraiser. We will be selling Christmas wreaths and related items. For each item sold, scouts will earn $5 towards their dues.

Revolutionary Germantown Festival: Remember on Saturday October 7th, we will be attending the Germantown historical festival which includes a reenactment of the Battle of Germantown. More details coming soon.

Fall Fest Camping Trip: This date is rapidly approaching and we are going to start registering those who have paid. If you wish to guarantee your spot, be sure to get your money in. Details are on the pack calendar.

 

Weekly Wrap Up 09/18/2017

Weekly WrapupThis week was another light week as we wait for our open house next week. First here is a quick summary of what the dens did this week and then a few quick announcements (I know you all just heard the announcement song in your head when you read that).

Tigers & Wolves: (1st & 2nd grade) The Tigers and Wolves teamed up to complete establishing their den codes of conduct and went over the importance of following rules. They they played a variant of “Simon Says” that incorporated their code of conduct and scout signs.

Bears: (3rd grade) The Bear den reviewed the den rules that they came up with during the last meeting followed by a review of the Scout Law and how their den rules tie into the Scout Law. They each shared a joke with the den before focusing on the meaning of the Scout Sign. They learned and practiced the square Knot before heading outside to play soccer and a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors. They wrapped up by coming back inside to sing a song.  During the week the bears are to practice their square knot.

Webelos: (4th grade): The Webelos den played captain on deck and the counting to 21 game, both designed to strengthen listening skills and the ability to follow directions. After the Open House they will work on choosing a den name. Their den name mimics a patrol name in the boy scouts and gives them something of their choosing to identify by. They will keep this den name for the next two years. Scouts are asked to start coming up with ideas for “patrol” names.

Arrow of Light: (5th grade); The Arrow of Light den went over their den code of conduct and then joined the Webelos den for games that focused on the development of listening skills and display the importance of being able to follow directions. After the Open House, the Arrow of Light den will also choose a den name and be referred to by that name as they prepare to join the Boy Scouts. For the Arrow of Light scouts, while they are not yet ready to learn the Boy Scout patrol method, they will be using some of the more subtle references to it such as a den (patrol) name, so they have a familiarity of the terms when they do cross over.

Announcements Sign

Open House: Reminder that Monday 9/25 is our Open House.  We ask that all scouts bring a friend to show that friend what we do in Cub Scouts.  Scouts are asked to wear their uniform, or as much of their uniform as they have. Webelos Scouts from both dens may volunteer to work a station or guide a den of other scouts around. If they would like to lead an activity or a group of scouts we ask that they arrive by 6:30 PM.

Battle of Germantown: On Saturday October 7th, the pack will be visiting Historic Germantown. More details about the event in general can be found on the Pack Calendar Event Listing. Meeting times and locations will be announced soon.

Scout Day at the National Constitution Center: On Saturday October 28th, Pack 1776 will be attending Scout Day at the Constitution Center. This is another one of those activities that DO sell out very fast. As such we cannot take headcounts.  This is purely a first come first serve activity but it is one of the better Scout Day activities and is done really well. They have a lot of opportunity for scouts of all ages, and a list of requirements that can be met is listed in the Pack Calendar Event Listing. It is recommended that you register on your own using group sales – however to ensure that all of those who go are on the same or similar schedule you must identify as “Pack 1776”.

Fall Fest & Fall Fest Camping Trip: While we have a due date of 10/23 to collect final headcounts and payment please be aware that Fall Fest CAN SELL OUT. We will be making our first set of registrations next week and will add people once per week until the deadline or Fall Fest is full. So please, the sooner you can make payment, the sooner we can guarantee you will be able to sign up. [Link to Calendar Event]

Summer & First Den Meeting Wrap Up

We had a great first night back and we were excited to see all of our scouts eager to begin a new year of adventure and fun. We were able to hear some of the neat adventures that were had outside of scouts over the Summer as well as meet a few new faces.

First Den Meeting Wrap Up

At our first den meeting of the year, things were kept simple as we start getting back into the swing of things

Lions: The Lions did not meet.

Tigers: The Tigers worked on introductions to one another and what they think Scouting is all about. The Tigers ended the meeting playing Twister and thinking of ideas for their Den Code of Conduct, which they will complete next week!

Wolves: The Wolves created a memory game to remind them of their den rules, discussed their Summers, and made posters for the upcoming Cub Fun Day.

Bears: The Bears spent their first meeting getting to know each other, sharing the things that they like to do, and their favorite subjects in school. They then discussed how they like and dislike to be treated as well as how they should act to establish their rules of conduct. Next week they will discover how their hobbies and interests related to upcoming scouting activities.

Webelos: The Webelos discussed the importance of team work and working together to accomplish a common goal. This was reinforced with a few rounds of “Blob Tag” and its variations.

Arrow of Light: The AOL den discussed their summer adventures and reflected back on their adventures in scouting thus far. They talked about their favorite aspects of scouting that they hope to experience more in their final year of cub scouting. Following this they practiced simple knots to prepare for creating a knot board for the pack, and to refresh this important skill. To end the meeting, they joined the Web 1 den for some fun and outdoor games!

National Summertime Award

Pack 1776 has earned the National Summertime Award by ensuring that we had at least one activity pack sponsored activity during each of the Summer months. 67% of our scouts participated in one or more Summer activities with 4 scouts participating in at least one activity each month to earn the National Summertime Award pin.   Our activities this Summer were as follows:

  • June: We went Camping at Fort Washington State Park, though at times we lovingly referred to it as Fort Washout. The rain kept us nice and clean and amazingly, in a downpour, we managed to keep that campfire going. Despite the rain, everyone still had a great time.
  • July: July was all about Summer Camp. The second week of the month was Summer Day Camp with the last week of the month being Summer Resident Camp. Quite a few scouts got a head start on advancement by attending one or even both of these camps.
  • August: We went camping at Hickory Run State Park and the park is just full of gorgeous views. Venturing Crew 1776 also hosted a Solar Eclipse Viewing Picnic for all the scout units to make their viewing boxes, play some games, watch the eclipse and learn a bit about the phenomena, including the relationship between Einstein’s theory of relativity and an eclipse — who knew?

Welcome to the 2017-2018 Scouting Year

Welcome back to a new scouting season.  In addition to welcoming back our returning scouts we would also like to wish the best to our scouts who crossed over into the Boy Scouts at the end of the previous season.  Your pack wishes you the best of luck and hopes you enjoy your learning experience in the Boy Scouts.

We hope everyone had a great summer and after a summer of camping, day camp, resident camp, eclipse picnics, and more – we hope there are quite a few good stories to tell.  We would love to get feedback on any of the Summer activities you attended both in and out of Scouts.

New Season

RecruiterAs we get back into the swing of things with our weekly meetings starting back up on Monday, September 11th.  We have our Open House Monday September 25th. This is the time of the year for returning scouts to bring in any friends or family interested in scouting. So have your scout bring a friend and if that friend joins and pays their 2018 dues in full, the referring scout earns their recruiter badge, shown to the right.

During this time we will have a lot of new scouts showing up with an interest in scouting. We expect that our seasoned scouts will exhibit the core values of scouting and help make the new scouts feel welcome. They should take the time to introduce themselves, introduce new boys to other pack members & leaders, as well as assist them with earning the Bobcat rank.

Lion Program will continue

lionemblemThe Lion program was designed to introduce kindergarten-age boys and their families to the fun of Scouting. It is still considered a pilot program and Pack 1776 will be running a Lion Den again.

Lions are 5 or 6 year old boys in kindergarten and the Lion must be 5 years old by September 30 to participate.  The Lion and his adult partner attend the meetings and activities together. The Lion den is led by a Lion Guide, who is an experienced Cub Scout leader. The parents or Lion adult partners take turns leading the activities and den meetings for the Lions.  The Lion Guide helps mentor each Parent to prepare for their meeting/outing. The Den Meeting Plans are outlined in the Lion Parent and Leader Guidebook with simple easy to follow step by step instructions listing everything down to any supplies needed.

Shawna, who has been our Tiger Den leader for several years, and the Lion Guide last year will be the Lion Guide again.  So if your scout has any younger siblings normally just beyond scouting age, or any friends neighbors with scouts of kindergarten age patiently waiting to join the Cub Scouts. Now is their chance.

Other News

Siblings

Cub Scouts is a family program and as such girls have always been allowed to take part in pack activities such as holiday parties and camping trips. Cub Scout aged females have also always been allowed to participate in district and council run activities such as fall fest, and day camp. In accordance with this, our pack is open to allowing cub scout aged girls to fully participate in our cub scout program. While they cannot officially register as a Cub Scout nor wear the official uniform, as a family member of someone in the cub scout program, they are welcome to participate and get the same experience.  The key to allowing this, is that the potential scout must be related to someone within the pack, whether it be another scout or an adult. Again, I must stress the importance of this – the only way that they can participate in the program and ensure that they are covered by the program, is that they must be a family member of someone in the program.

Handbooks

Cub Scout HandbooksFor returning scouts, your new handbooks have already been paid for and will be distributed by or at our first Pack Meeting. It is around this first pack meeting that we start getting knee-deep into advancement, and it will be around the time we are picking up the awards and Bobcat rank patches.  As they start to become available we will distribute them.

 

Solar Eclipse Patches

According to National Supply, we should have the eclipse patches for those that attended our Eclipse Viewing Picnic, in October.  The same day that the National Supply Group announced the patches, they went into a back order status. From there they continued to extend the last day of purchase until finally closing the ability to purchase on Sept 4th. We are told they are due in sometime in October – hopefully they will get here sooner.

Calendar

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the calendar. Click the Calendar link at the top of this page and bookmark it. We are getting ready to populate it with our planned activities as well as a bunch of optional activities that you can do with your scout which would be fun and may help them earn requirements. Additionally, one of our leaders has volunteered to make a printed monthly calendar to hand out instead of our biannual printed calendar. We are working on the details but we have some additional ideas in store to go with this that you may find useful.

Website Updates

We have added a new feature to the website, so that when a new post is made it automatically emails everyone that is subscribed. This serves two purposes: 1) You will always get notified when we post something new to the website, and 2) We no longer have to manually create a follow up email for those really important posts we want to get out. We took the liberty of importing all parents into the list and the email you received notifying you of this post is the first email.  We plan to add improvements to this to try and prevent ‘den-specific’ posts from notifying you, but we aren’t quite there yet.

Cub Fun Day – Saturday September 16th

Cub Scout FunThe Roosevelt District is hosting a Cub Scout Fun Day on Saturday September 16th, at Wissinoming Park, from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. It will be a fun filled day of Cub Scout Activities and Games.  The event is free for activities and events; there will be food and refreshments available for purchase.  As with most scout activities this is a rain or shine event. All scouts are invited to bring a few of their friends to show them what Cub Scouts is all about. Pack 1776 will have applications available for anyone that is interested in signing up.  Additionally, Den Leader and Cubmaster Position Specific Training will be available for anyone interested in learning what being a Den Leader or Cubmaster is all about.

 

We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday the 11th and hearing what other exciting things you did over the Summer.  We have a lot of fresh ideas this year and are excited for a great year!

Welcome Back!  For new families, welcome to Cub Scouts!