Cub Scouts in the Woods -- Stories of People Protecting our World

Participation stories are a great way to get the boys involved and teach them to protect our environment.  

Assign each boy or a small group one of the characters (i.e. sparrow, snake, etc.).  Give each group a chance to practice their noise.  During the story, each time they hear their assigned character, they all say it.  When you read the story, emphasize the character in the story to catch the group's attention.  Pause and let them say their part and then continue with the story. (This story was found at MacScouter PowWow Books, April 1999, p. 12.)

CUB SCOUTS IN THE WOODS 

Sparrow(s): “Chirp, chirp”

Snake: “Sssssssssss”

Squirrel: “Chatter, chatter”

Rabbit: “Hippity, hoppity”

Tree(s): Stand up and sway

Cub Scout(s): “Do your best”

A flock of SPARROWS swooped into the woods and settled on the branch of a TREE. Their chirping quickly caught the attention of the animals in the forest.  The RABBIT and the SQUIRREL came close to listen to the news.  The SNAKE pretended he didn’t care. “It’s terrible news!” said one of the SPARROWS.  “That pack of CUB SCOUTS is coming to spend the day again.”  “Oh, no!” sighed the TREES.  “Last time they came we lost branches and leaves.  Two of them built a fire so close to us the oak TREE almost caught fire.”

The RABBIT’s ears had positively frozen in place when he heard the words CUB SCOUTS.  “I had to run for my life.  They chased me until I was about to pass out.”  The SQUIRREL almost fell off the branch he was sitting on and the SNAKE forgot that he was pretending not to hear.  “CUB SCOUTS,” the SNAKE hissed.  “Why do they have to come here!  Last time, they caught me and tried to put me in a bag to take me home with them.  I barely escaped with my life.”

“They are coming tomorrow,” chirped the SPARROWS.  “Tomorrow,” sputtered the SQUIRREL.  “I’ve got to gather acorns before they come and take them all.”  The RABBIT hopped off muttering about how he could reinforce his home.  The SNAKE just lay there trying to think of hiding places.

The next day dawned clear and pretty, and the CUB SCOUTS, their parents and their leaders arrived.  The TREES rustled, the RABBIT trembled, the SNAKE hid, and the SQUIRREL jumped to the highest branch and stayed there as quiet as he could. Then they all saw an amazing thing. 

The CUB SCOUTS started picking up all the trash and putting it in big plastic bags.  Some of the boys saw the SQUIRREL.  They pointed at him and told the others what he ate.  Some of the CUB SCOUTS gathered a pile of acorns and left it under the TREE.  The SNAKE was hiding beside his favorite log.  He looked pretty much like one of the old branches, but one of the sharp-eyed CUB SCOUTS spotted him.  They came close to him quietly, looked at him and talked in a whisper.  They did not try to catch him.  The SNAKE couldn’t believe it.  Some of the CUB SCOUTS tried to break a branch off a TREE but other boys told them that it was not a good idea. 

That evening the SPARROWS returned to see how the day had gone.  They couldn’t believe how clean the forest looked with all the trash gone.  The RABBIT told them, “The CUB SCOUTS picked up all the trash.”  The TREES and animals were glad the CUB SCOUTS had come

Game for Meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance

Here's a game that I used to help teach the meaning of the Pledge.  The boys really got involved.  This can be done outside or inside.

Preparation:
Print the Pledge and meaning of the Pledge sheets
Cut the Pledge into strips and mount onto colored paper
Cut the meaning into strips and mount onto a different color of paper
(I liked blue and red.)

How to Play:
There are many different variations.  Be creative.  I used the three listed below.

1.  Randomly distribute the Pledge strips to the boys and have them put them on the ground in the proper order.  For the next part, the pledge needs to be in order vertically rather than horizontally.  After the pledge is in the proper order, mix up and  distribute the meaning strips.  Taking turns, each boy puts his meaning strip next to the corresponding phrase in the Pledge.

For more active boys that need to move here is another variation:

2.  Mix up and distribute the Pledge strips.  Taking turns, have each boy go from point A to point B and back again doing one of the requirements from Achievement 1.  For example, have the boy elephant walk to the corner of the room and back to the table where the strips are being arranged.  Or, he can crab walk down the sidewalk from the starting point to the ending point  where you are arranging the strips.  When he has completed his feat of skill,  he then places the Pledge strip in its proper order.  After the Pledge is done, repeat the whole process for the meaning strips.

Sometimes I even number the "feats of skill" in Achievement 1 and have the boys roll a dice.  The number it lands on determines the feat they perform.

3.  For even more excitement, repeat either variation one or two.  Time each round with the second hand on a watch to see if their time improves.

What Makes Best Compost Experiment -- Stories of People Protecting our World

 Here is a story from the internet about a boy's efforts to help reduce garbage waste.

Compost and Recycling Experiment

Matt Fisher, age 13

John Adams, Junior High, Charleston, West Virginia

What He Did

Summary

America faces a “garbage crisis;” we’re running out of places to dump our trash.  We have to throw less away but how?  One way is to compost at home—put organic materials like leaves and grass in a backyard bin instead of throwing them out—and let them decompose (rot) so they become part of the Earth again.  Matt’s family had a big yard, and every time the grass was mowed, their 40 gallon trash can was filled. Matt considered this a waste and told his parents that he would do a science project to see how quickly can break down into compost. 

Results

Matt estimates he kept 30-40 trash cans full of yard waste from being thrown away that year.  His science project won first place at his school and third in the county.

How He Did It

1.      Matt and his father built a wooden compost bin.

2.      His hypothesis was: Grass and leaves would decay faster than any other material.

3.      He put a box in his room with the “control” materials all mixed together: grass, leaves, newspaper, glossy newsprint ads, a brown paper bag and a magazine.

4.      He put identical items in the compost bin, then covered them with grass and leaves.

5.      He checked the temperature of the compost pile to see if it was heating up (decaying material “cooks” itself) Sometimes it got as high as 120°

6.      After 9 months, he analyzed a sample of compost from the middle of the pile.  His hypothesis was right; the grass and leaves had decayed the most.  Newspaper came in second.  The glossy newspaper inserts and magazine had hardly changed at all.

  

Story was published in the California Riverside County Newsletter, June 2005

http://www.wrcog.cog.ca.us/downloads/kidsNewsletterJune2005.pdf

Penny Collection

Penny Collection

I have a difficult time planning activities some times. Out of my four boys, three of them have already earned their Wolf rank. Each den meeting I try to work on achievements for the one boy and electives so the three can at least keep getting recognition.

Today we had a highly successful activity. Since the three boys had already done a rock collection, I didn't want to do that. I received an idea from round table about a penny collection.

I created a table, six by six and made "My Penny Collection." I started in the upper left corner and wrote the years in each square. I started with the year 1980 and went through 2010. There were a few blank squares left, so I typed 19___ and let them put pennies they found from earlier years. 

At den meeting each boy received a roll of coins to sort through and glue on the appropriate square. They loved it! When my son got home he had to finish searching through our pennies to find the few squares that were left blank after den meeting. Because the pennies kept popping off, I stretched packing tape over them and then put the collection in a sheet protector.

Using a Secret Code

Secret Codes....Oooooh!

There is something magical about trying to decipher an unknown code.  Today I created a secret code by using the WingDings font.  Their fun and easy.

1.  Type the alphabet twice, one on top of the other.
2.  Change the  top line  WingDings font and leave and the bottom line the regular font.
3.  Type a message that you want to be decoded and change it to WingDings.
4.   Underneath each letter of the message, type a few connected underscore marks for the boys to write the letter when they discover it.

The fun thing was that I could choose any message I wanted.  I purposefully kept the messages simple, but I also wanted to reinforce messages of my choice.  If you want to look at my codes or print them out, click here.  My messages were:

• I love Jesus
• Do your best
• I can pray
• God loves me

The Wolf book gives some great ideas for using a secret code.  The nice thing about their suggestions is that is can easily be replicated by the boys.  That was the main fault of the code I used.

Learn about Your State and State Flag

Boring...Boring...Boring...

That's what they think about when you ask questions like "What does this mean on the flag?"  "What about this?"  Talk about a recipe for distraction, goofing off, and frustration on the part of the den leader.

Instead, we created a state flag.  Our state is Utah.  I got some blue construction paper for the background.  I trimmed gold strips for the three edges.  Then I copied a coloring book page of our state seal for each boy.  While we talked about the meaning of the flag, they cut, glued, and colored their own flag to take home.

You can get coloring book pages and other state information at Kid Zone.   If you want, you can make your whole flag cut and paste.  That was too complex and time consuming for my state.  Coloring the details worked just fine.

The Litter Bug -- Stories of People Protecting Our World

This is a fun story that you can do with the boys or a larger group. I feel like picking up litter is a way that boys of this age can begin to take care of our world. You can find this story and a lot of other participation stories at: http://www.scoutingbear.com/audience/audpart.htm

THE LITTERBUG

Divide the group into four smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed below. Read the story. After each of the words is read pause for the group to make the appropriate response.

PAPER "Crackle, Crackle"

CAN(S) "Clatter, Clatter"

TRASH "To the dump!"

LITTERBUG "Toss and throw"

God put bugs in this world for many a reason.
He made them to live in every kind of season.
But the pesky LITTERBUG___, with his PAPER___ and CANS___
Was made through neglected TRASH___, by the foolish man.

To keep America beautiful, get rid of the LITTERBUG___,
So beach goers can, again, lunge on a clean, sandy rug.
because of this pest, we must wallow around
In PAPER___ and CANS___ and TRASH___ all over the ground.

Do you ever really see them toss that PAPER___ or CAN___?
Quite often the LITTERBUG___ is a sneaky guy.
And at dumping his TRASH___, he's oh, so sly.
So most of the time, it just appears everywhere.


As if it had dropped right out of thin air.
could it be we are so used to throwing things here and there
That we dump that PAPER___ and CAN___ without being aware?
Without even thinking, we toss TRASH___ and waste.


We could be an unconscious LITTERBUG___ in all of our haste.
So when you unwrap that piece of candy or gum,
Before tossing that CAN___, thing of this, chum:
If every single person would take note of his habit,
That pesky LITTERBUG___, we could certainly nab it!


Then that terrible bug we would surely stamp out,
With no more PAPER___ or CANS___ or TRASH___ all about.
To keep America beautiful, we must all do our part.
By taking care of our TRASH___ properly from the start.