Yay! He Got his Wolf!

He was finishing his last requirement as were drove to Pack Meeting, but Yay!  Emmett got his Wolf badge last night.  We're very proud of our little guy.  He kind of put it off until the last minute and was having to do, at least, one scout thing a day.  He asked me last night, "Will I have to do something for scouts tomorrow?" 

No.  You can put off getting your Bear badge for a year. 

Ok. No not really.  He actually said he was going to get busy and work on it all year long.  Good plan, good plan, sweet boy. 

It's fun being the Cubmaster and getting to be the one to award my boys with badges and pins and such.  What a great memory! 

For those of you not familiar with Cub Scouts, at Pack Meeting they get their awards and we play games, do skits and have treats.  It's a lot of fun.

When they get their awards they get to choose the cheer the crowd does for them.  Our most popular is the Bootsock Cheer (the idea came from our awesome friend Bryce).  It's simply a bootsock with a ball at the end and tied close.  The kids throw it in the air and as lock as it's up, everyone cheers.  Well, our's has a bouncy ball in the end, so we also cheer whenever it goes back up and then stop as it hits the ground. 

They LOVE it. 

We did a really great skit.  I can't remember what site I found it on, but here it is...

Emergency Alert System

All Scouts but one stand in a line. Lead scout is out front or to the side.

Leader: For the next ten seconds we will conduct a test of the emergency broadcast system. (line of scouts all make beeps until the leader raises his hand --I had them beep every time I raised my hand and stop when I dropped it--

Leader: Thank you. This concludes the test of the emergency broadcast system.  Had this been a real emergency you would have heard...
(line of scouts scream and panic and run around)

The boys loved this skit.  They were naturals at the running around in a panic part.

Rattlesnake Hunter

Decide for yourself if it is appropriate for your younger scouts or not.

Required:

6 to 12 scouts.
tin with dried beans in it.
sock stuffed with paper.

Instructions:

Scouts stand in a big circle. Two scouts are blindfolded inside the circle. One is the hunter and has the sock to use to kill the rattlesnake. The other is the rattlesnake with his tin rattler.
The hunter counts to 5 while the rattlesnake quietly moves where ever he wants in the circle. When the hunter yells, 'Rattlesnake!', the snake freezes and shakes his rattle twice.

When the hunter hears the rattle, he quickly moves to where he thinks the snake is hiding and takes a swing at the snake. If he hits the snake with the sock, he scores a point. If he misses or hits with his hand or arm, the snake scores a point.

The snake moves away while the hunter again counts to 5. The hunter gets 5 turns at killing the snake and then its another pair's turn.

Submarine Maneuvers Game

Instructions:

One patrol leader is the commander of his submarines. His job is to navigate as many subs as he can through a mine field in a set amount of time - 5 minutes per patrol is a good starting point.
The opposing patrol leader sets up and manages his mine field to blow up the subs.

Lay out a start line and finish line with the minefield between the two. The 'Mine' patrol leader tells each mine where to stand in the minefield. Then, each mine puts on a blindfold. The patrol leader stands at the starting line to shout directions as needed.

All submarines stand at the starting line. Their patrol leader is at the finish line.
The first submarine puts on a blindfold and listens to his patrol leader's directions.

As the submarine is navigated through the mines, the 'Mine' patrol leader can tell specific mines to reach forward, back, left, or right to touch a sub. The mines can not move their feet.

When a sub is touched, it is destroyed, but the mine is still active. A destroyed sub removes his blindfold and leaves the game field.

The night had a Forces of Nature theme.  We did an Emergency spin on it...the emergencies that come with nature.  So, we also put together car emergency kits.  And for a treat we had 72 hour kit fare...granola bars, fruit snacks, trail mix and chocolate.  Yum! 

The kids seemed to have fun.  I know I did.  I love being involved in the Cub Scouts.  I have such a great time with those boys*.


*Disclaimer: Although sometimes I do feel like pulling all my hair out and finding a corner to hunker down in while I gently rock from side to side as I mumble thinks like "Blubble Blibble Blop." ....yes, they can drive me crazy....it's amazing how much noise 9 yo boys can make.  But, overall, they are a blast. :)