Rally Night

We had Rally Night for new Cub Scouts...
...Our Scout came and helped after his Boy Scout meeting...
...all of the New Cub Scouts got to assemble a Marshmallow Shooter...

...we had set up targets - but it seemed like everyone just wanted to run around shooting marshmallows at each other...

Dinosaur Party

We did this at our April Pack meeting - the theme was Jurassic Pack - so cute - but I thought I would post it here because it would be a super idea for a kid's dinosaur themed birthday party.

We made Coffee Ground Fossils

1 cup of used coffee grounds
1/2 cup of cold coffee
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
Small dinosaur figurines
Directions
􀀹 Stir ingredients until well mixed.
􀀹 Knead the dough together.
􀀹 Mold dough around a dinosaur figurine covering it
completely.
􀀹 Press your dinosaurs firmly into the dough.
􀀹 The boys should carefully pull the “dirt” away from
their “fossil” using tooth picks or a toothbrush and
water.
􀀹 For harder products - let the fossil dry overnight - will
still be slightly soft (not rock hard).
􀀹 For softer products, place them in a sealed container
until used.

Obviously just a version of Salt Dough - but they do look amazingly like rocks...

Each Cub got a baggy to transport his 'rock/fossil' home in...

Then I made two sets of these huge dinosaur tracks out of cardboard...

We divided into two teams and had a relay race...

You had to stay on a track and then move the other track forward...

It was interesting to see all of the different 'techniques' for this process...

The leaders participated too (me included)....

It was a lot of fun and hilarious (especially the adults - the cubs pretty much picked up one track and hopped onto it and then picked up the other)

Trophies and such...<

...or How to Make Your Own Pinewood Derby Trophies for Next to Nothing...
Each year I have given all of the scouts in my den a small trophy as a way of saying job well done - and for them to have a memento from the big race (regardless of their place) - I'll have to corral all of the Scout's from years past and photograph them all together...
For this year's trophy I stained a wooden base and ordered a shiny gold topper with a steering wheel and two flags.

I needed a label so I spray painted some Avery labels gold. Then I'll print the award title on them and stick them on the wooden bases and put a layer of polyurethane over it all.

The little gold toppers have a bolt that is too long for my base - so they had to be cut off - that took a lot longer than I expected - Whew!...

Then I drilled a hole in the center of the base and screwed the little topper onto the base...

...added the label and Voila - you have a nice little keepsake trophy - total cost about $2.00 - not including the paint stain and poly which I already had...

...The label says "A Pinewood Derby Winner 2009" - pretty generic...

Final Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby was late this year (it's normally in January so the Boy Scouts haven't yet graduated) so the Pack 'invited' the new Boy Scouts to come back and race as Webelos 2. I should have posted these preliminary pics sooner - but here is Scout sawing...

...sanding...

...finish sanding...

...painting...

...designing...

...finish painting...

...Voila - the finished car...

...tweaking with Papa and adding graphite...

...weighing in...

...an 1/8 of an ounce over - we removed some weight...

...weighed in again and were an 1/8 of an ounce under (go figure) so we added the weight on top back - a perfect 5 ounces...

...added to the lineup...

...streaking down the track (it looks like I need to adjust some camera settings)...

...a really close one...

...the trophy table...

...only 3 of my former Cub Scouts came back for the race - more about their trophies later...

...It was a really fun and hectic day...

Mardi Gras

We had a blast at the Pancake Supper and Mardi Gras party at church last night. The Man-Cub stood up with me for the Mother Goose rhymes. I don't have pictures or video yet - but I'm going to get some - there were several people in the audience snapping and taping - as soon as I do I'll post them...

In the meantime, I'll distract you with this picture of the Honor Guard from the Cub Scout Pack Meeting Monday night - remember I'm still Cub Master even though the Man-Cub is no longer a Cub...

They taught us the proper way to fold a flag - did you know that each fold of the flag has a special meaning...

The Arrow of Light

At last night's Blue and Gold Banquet - the Man-Cub received his Arrow of Light Award.

We are so proud of our overachieving scout - He earned all twenty of the Webelos Activity Pins (We're kinda worried about the Scout Badges - I think there are 212 of them...)

...but he's one well decorated scout...

I need to make a few changes to his uniform for Thursday night's Troop meeting. Some patches have to come off and some new ones put on - His new Troop does not wear a neckerchief - they wear the Scout Bolo - this was a parting gift to each of the new Boy Scouts from their Cub Scout Pack...

Den #1 is no more...

It's sad I know but Den #1 has met for the last time as a Den. They will receive their Arrow of Light at the Blue and Gold Banquet on Sunday and attend their first Scout Troop meeting next Thursday...

We finished up our Engineer Activity Pin by making a simple Block and Tackle.

And we put the finishing touches on our Leave No Trace poster - instead of a skit at the B&G they will do a 'Leave No Trace' presentation - it should be fun and informative...

I'm really happy about this transition. I will stay on as Cub Master for the Pack but the Man-Cub won't be going to any more Pack meetings. I have really mixed feelings about this - should I take time away from my family to serve as Cub Master...

Survival Skills

My Webelos scouts met to try their hand at building a snow shelter...

It was cold and clear - we even had Sun Dogs...

They started by piling up a big mound of snow - about 10 feet in diameter and about 5 feet high...

I don't know if you can see it in the picture - but they broke off sticks the length of their forearm and placed those around the outside edge - this will be their guide for the thickness of the walls when they are digging out the inside...

After we let it settle for about an hour - we came inside and had lunch and warmed up - they were able to start tunneling into the structure...

At first it was a good thing that no one was claustrophobic - but they took turns digging for a few minutes each and then two were able to get inside and pile snow on a sled to be emptied outside and then all three boys fit inside and then we all fit inside - the structure will sleep 4 - but the new scouts won't be able to try out cold weather camping until they have 3 fair weather campouts under their belts as Scouts...

Almost Boy Scouts

We had our next to the last den meeting - one more and then the Blue and Gold...

We had a civil engineer come and talk to the boys about bridges - they each made three different bridge models - it was really interesting to see their expressions with the addition of each of the supports - as they thought about how it worked...

and surveying - it was a lot of fun - it was 20 below zero so we 'surveyed' inside the church...

then we headed over to the scout meeting - and the Webelos got to meet their new Scout Master...

...they joined right in with the Scouts and had a tent set up race - whew - what fun!

Another Project

For another of his useful items the Man-Cub made me a plastic bag dryer - he actually wanted to make this for his 'Marketplace for Kids' project and was disappointed that someone else had already 'invented' this...

He took a strip of one-by and drilled some holes and glued in some skewers and topped them with wooden beads...

I absolutely love it - and it works for all kinds of things that need to be dried in addition to bags...bottles - gloves - rags - cheesecloth...