USSSP - Baloo's Bugle

WEBELOS

This is interesting. Communicator is still listed as the first year badge. Citizen as the second year badge. But Citizen is now required for the Webelos Badge that the Webelos earn in their first year. I think the recommended calendar schedule will be revised soon.

Get those Webelos outdoors –

Planning to graduate your Webelos to Boy Scouts at the Blue and Gold? Or maybe March? Be sure to check out your outdoor requirements now!! Get in touch with your Den parents and a local Boy Scout troop and arrange the activities.

Outdoor requirements include –

With your Webelos den, visit at least

one Boy Scout troop meeting,
one Boy Scout-oriented outdoor activity.
(If you have already done this when you earned your Outdoorsman activity badge, you may not use it to fulfill requirements for your Arrow of Light Award requirements.)

Participate in a Webelos overnight campout or day hike.
(If you have already done this when you earned your Outdoorsman activity badge, you may not use it to fulfill requirements for your Arrow of Light Award requirements.)

Depending on where you live, these could be hard to accomplish in January!!

CITIZEN

COMMUNITY GROUP

Citizen

Greater St. Louis Area Council

One of the purposes of Cub Scouting is developing habits and attitudes of good citizenship". A Scout promises to do his duty to his country. The Citizen Activity Badge helps the Webelos understand what a good citizen is and teaches him the history of our flag. Citizen Activity Badge is in the Community group.

The Citizen activity badge relates directly to developing responsible citizens, one of the prime purposes of the BSA. The appeal of this badge will be determined in a large part by the method used by the Webelos Leader in presenting it. It can be fun and exciting, or it can just be some more reports to write. Do your best in planning the program. The Webelos leader should plan carefully so that boys get a feeling for the real meaning of citizenship without spending a lot of time in study. There are various ways to do this. You might give them the opportunity to get a close look at government by planning a field trip to a local government agency or court. One of the best ways to stress the meaning of good citizenship is by practicing the good turn. This should be a "must" for every boy. Working on this badge can be exciting, fun and informative, or it can be just more reports to write.

Good citizenship is emphasized throughout Scouting. Being a good citizen means helping other people, knowing the history of our country, appreciating the contributions and sacrifices of others who have made our country better, knowing our public officials, understanding how our government works, obeying the laws, and doing things that will benefit the community.

The Citizen activity badge is important since the work involved relates directly to developing responsible citizens, one of the primary aims of the Boy Scouts of America. The Citizen activity badge is a requirement for the Arrow of Light Award. It is the first of several citizenship requirements on the trail to Eagle Scout. By completing this activity badge, all of the requirements for the Boy Scout Citizenship skill award can also be met.

Webelos Scouts get a feeling for the real meaning of citizenship in two ways. First by getting a closer look at local government by going to see it in action. Second. and most effective, by practicing good citizenship through Good Turns. The Good Turn is one of the optional requirements for the activity badge, but it should be a way of life for all Scouts.

Objectives:

To foster citizenship in Webelos Scouts, to teach boys to recognize the qualities of a good citizen, to introduce boys to the structure of the U.S. government,
To familiarize boys with basics of American history,
To convince boys that laws are beneficial
To encourage Webelos Scouts to become community volunteers.

Pack and Den Ideas

Discuss the various organizations in your community which help people. How are they financed and run? Do they use volunteer help? Visit one of these organizations.
Buy a pack of U.S. commemorative stamps. Pass out several to each Webelos and challenge them to discover the story behind the stamp.
Visit a historic site in or near your community, learn your state's bird, tree, flower and flag, or take part in a Veteran's Day ceremony in your community. Take photos and prepare a report for the pack meeting.
Make a pack meeting display of magazine pictures of places of historical interest or great beauty in America.
Discuss requirement of Badge with a community leader
A campaign against litter is a "must" for good citizenship. Discuss how your den can carry on such a campaign and do it. This could include making posters for display, litter clean up, making litterbags, a fight against pollution, and collecting items for recycling.
Discuss the various organizations in the community, which help people. How are they financed and run? Do they use volunteer help?
Observe the voting process.
Remind people to fly the flag.
Discuss difference between the rights and duties of a citizen.
Select a Good Turn for school, church, or community and carry it out.
Plan a special Good Turn for the next pack meeting, such as setting up chairs, acting as welcoming committee, ushering, cleaning up.
Make logbooks to record work on the activity badge.
Learn flag courtesy. (See the booklet, Your Flag.) Use the flag courtesy kit described later in this section to learn proper procedures. Then demonstrate to a group of younger Cub Scouts.
Plan an anti-litter campaign. This could include making and displaying posters, picking up litter, making litter bags, etc.
Discuss the community organizations that help people. How are they run and financed? Do they use volunteer help?
Invite a new US citizen to speak to the den on what becoming an American means to him or her.
Discuss the rights and the responsibilities of good citizens.
Invite a local public official to talk with the den about government. This might be a city council member or clerk.
Invite a guest speaker from a local community board to explain his/her duties and tell the Scouts why he/she volunteers time.
Fly a flag at home, particularly on appropriate occasions.
Learn more about your community. Your local historical society can help with this.
Make and hand out small posters showing how to raise and lower the flag; give a demonstration on folding the flag.
Make “GET OUT AND VOTE” door hangers and help the pack place them on every door in your neighborhood. Remember - DO NOT put them in the mailbox. It is against the law!

Ceremonies

Have two Webelos hold the U.S. flag.

Narrator: The 13 stripes of alternating red and white remind us of the original 13 founding colonies and of the brave people who have courageously risked their lives - and sometimes lost them - to make the United States of America a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Each of the 50 stars represents one of our sovereign states and the opportunity and freedom we enjoy. Let us join now in singing “God Bless America.” (Song leader leads song.)

Skit

The Greatest President-

Scene: First boy is sitting on stage looking sad and thinking very hard. Other boys come on stage talking to each other. They walk over to the first boy.

You look upset. What's the matter?
I've got a problem. I'm supposed to write a report on the greatest President that the United States has ever had, but I don't know who that is. Do you guys know?
I think George Washington was the greatest President we have ever had. After all, he became our leader after the Revolutionary War and helped mold the United States into a great nation.
Oh, no! Abe Lincoln was our greatest President. He was President during the Civil War and fought to free the slaves and re-unite all the states.
I think John Kennedy has to be the greatest. Look how well he handled the Russians when they were installing missiles in Cuba.
Don't forget Harry Truman. It was his decision that won World War II for us.
You're all wrong! I know who the greatest President is. You hear on the radio and TV and see it in the newspaper all the time.

Others: Yeah? Who?

Cub #7: The man who wants to be elected the NEXT president!

Games

American Heritage- Find pictures of well-known buildings, symbols or people and tape each one onto construction paper. (Example: White House, Uncle Sam, President Clinton, Eagle, plus some harder ones like the Presidential Seal or your state Governor.)

Number each picture and then hang on the wall.
Give each boy a paper and pencil and have them list numbers down the side.
Set a time limit, ask the boys to circulate, look at the pictures and write down the names.
The den historian is the person who has the most written down correctly at the end of time.
Be sure to review all the answers out loud so all can hear the correct answers.

Flying Flags-

Buy a bunch of small plastic flags.

Divide them up to all the den members during the closing ceremony.

Tell them to carry the flags around this week and give them to people who are being "Good Citizens," explaining why.

Citizen Test-

Divide den into two teams.

They line up facing each other with a wide space between them.

The leader asks each player a question (Questions should be made up from the requirements for the Citizen Activity Award)

A correct answer entitles that whole team to take one step forward.

An incorrect answer passes to the other team.

The members of first team to cross the other’s starting line are the Good Citizens for the Day.

Heads Of Government Game-

Material needed: Pictures of government officials from newspapers or magazines, nametags with the officials’ names written on them.

Have Webelos match the correct name with each official.
You may wish to try this at the local, state and federal government levels.

Newspaper Study

Material needed: One current newspaper per team.

Divide boys into teams.

On signal, each team starts a search for news items that illustrate good citizenship.
Team with the most clippings in a given time period is the winner.

Build A Flag-

Materials needed: For each team, 1 set of the five US flags shown in Citizen section of the Webelos handbook. Each flag is to be on a standard letter size sheet of cover stock or paper. This can be done with a color printer, copier or by hand drawing a set of the flags for each team. When the copies are ready, cut each flag picture into 2 pieces, the stripes and the field of stars. Prepare cards with the name of each flag and year of each flag. A corkboard and pushpins are needed. Divide Webelos into two teams. First boy from each team runs to his team’s pile of pieces, grabs a stripe piece and a push pin and pins it to the corkboard. He runs back and touches off the second boy, who pins up the star field piece that matches the striping. Next team member matches appropriate flag name and fourth member pins up the year of the flag. Continue to rotate until all five flags have been properly constructed, named, and dated.

Crafts

Wanted: Good Citizen Poster Project-

Imagine the type of citizen you would want to be part of your community.

How would that person act?

What would that person look like?

Design a WANTED poster of the ideal citizen.

Cut and paste a picture or photo on a sheet of paper of the citizen you are wanting. It can be a picture or photo of someone you cut from a magazine or you can draw a picture of a real or pretend person.

Then, describe the person physically and also describe his/her personality traits.

Example:

WANTED person with good humor, a concern for others and ability to get along with others. Then, complete the following statements on your poster:

This person was last seen in ____________.

He/she was, once again __________ showing himself/herself as an active and responsible citizen. If you have seen or have any information about this person, please contact . This person is an ideal citizen because ______________.

Good Turns- Patriotic Wall Plaque- Using a copy of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights or the Gettysburg Address make a wall plaque by mounting one of these on ¼ inch plywood shaped into the design of a scroll.

Make your scroll slightly larger than your copy.

Finish plywood by sanding, staining a natural color and varnishing -- or leave the wood grain and color show through by eliminating stain and just finishing with varnish.

Activities

Plan a special Good Turn to do at the next pack meeting.
Perhaps setting up chairs, cleaning up, bringing food or drinks…

Offer to help the school or church with the overflowing Lost and Found.
If items have not been recovered at the end of the school year, sort and wash them and take them to Goodwill or another organization.
Arrange for a tour while you're there, to see how their organization helps other people.

Get ideas for what else you can do…
Go around your neighborhood and remind people to fly their flags on the next holiday…
Ask at city hall what a den of Webelos could do to help the city with a job…

Scavenger Hunt-

Arrange a tour of a local government building.

Make up a scavenger hunt based on the example below.

Contact the public relations department if you need help or visit the building yourself to make up the game.

Upon arrival at the building, divide the Webelos into teams.

Set a time limit and place to meet to compare answers.

What is the town mayor's name?
Draw a fast picture of the state flag.
What is the name of the room where the city council meets?
What are the office hours of the Water Department?
What is the phone number of the building?
Find out what job one person does in the building?

Citizen

Sung to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”

Fly, fly, fly your flag,

On our holidays,

Be a loyal citizen,

In this and other ways.

We're good citizens,

From a land that's free,

We should all be proud to serve,

So patriotically.

Be good citizens,

Webelos like me,

I'll be loyal, honest, true,

And keep my country free.

SHOWMAN

MENTAL SKILLS GROUP

Greater St. Louis Area Council

The Showman Activity Badge offers a choice of puppetry, music, or drama. A WEBELOS can pick the area that suits him best. Showman Activity Badge is in the Mental Skills group.

The Showman activity badge has something for every Webelos scout. For the natural actor there is drama, for the shy boy there is puppetry, and for every boy there is music. The aim of the badge is not to produce skilled entertainers, but to expose boys to theater and to music arts, to help them build self-confidence, and of course, to have fun. Everyone loves a show and most all boys have a generous chunk of ham in them and want nothing better than a chance to let it out. If you don't give them a chance under controlled conditions, they will take it when you least expect they want it.

The Showman activity badge gives them a chance to let out the hidden barely Shakespeare, Jerry Lewis, Leonard the Great or what ever happens to be their style. It allows them to express themselves musically be it kazoo or Steinway. Providing the entertainment for the pack meeting will be a challenge gladly met by Webelos Scout boys and the sillier the better! The badge covers most of the field of entertainment and acquaints the boys with ways of putting on various shows or skits. Making the props also can be used as part of the Craftsman badge. Skits and Songs are covered elsewhere in the Bugle. Every conscientious leader of boys is working to further develop the whole boy- physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally so he will be prepared to take his place as a well-adjusted member of his social group. The Showman badge offers the opportunity for a boy to develop his creativity and broaden his base of aptitudes.

Objectives:

To instill an appreciation of the fine arts.
To expose boys to entertainment professions.
To expand the imagination and creativity of WEBELOS.
To increase boys' self-confidence in front of audiences.

Pack and Den Ideas

Junior and Senior high school plays.
Make up a Webelos band to entertain at a pack meeting.
Learn magic tricks to do as a skit. Or take your magic show on the road to a residential center for seniors or children.
Make a video tape of a play the WEBELOS write and perform. Show it to parents or in a demonstration corner of a pack meeting.
Invite an artist, and/or a musician to a den meeting to tell about their profession or hobby.
Write and/or perform a skit complete with scenery and costumes.
Attend a folk music festival. Learn to sing a folk song. Learn about the history of the song.
Invite the boys to tell about the instruments that they play.
Make an audio tape of a radio program the boys perform.
Invite a drama teacher to speak
Put on a program for the pack meeting
Make puppets, write and put on a puppet show
Visit a nursing home and perform music
Make a stage and costumes for a play
Make some homemade band instruments - try to play a tune on them.
Scouts like silly or gross songs. (Songs about eating worms, etc. are great.)
Invite an actor or drama teacher to explain stage directions.
Ask a clown, actor, or make-up artist to show the den how to apply stage makeup.
Learn how to make sound effects.
Learn how to make other special effects, lighting.
Videotape a short movie.
Invite a high school drama teacher to explain and demonstrate make-up techniques.
Attend a high school play or concert.
Ask a Shriner clown to give a talk on clowning and give a demonstration.
Write a puppet play and make the puppets to act it out.
Put on an advancement ceremony for your Pack meeting.
Talk about sound effects and let the boys try some of them.
Use a tape recorder to tape the boy’s voices and let them hear how they sound.
Visit a TV or radio station and watch programming in action.
Have a story-telling session. Have each boy come prepared to tell the best true-life story he knows about something that happened to himself or a friend or family member. This is an opportunity to emphasize the importance of good listening and the value of sharing ideas.

Ceremonies

Getting Started Opening Ceremony-

A dramatization using four Webelos, who stand in a diagonal line at one side, facing the audience, and the Webelos Leader, who is facing the Webelos and the audience on the other side.

W.L.: David, how would you set out to do a good turn?
(David takes one step forward.)

W.A.: John, how would you get started on a camp out?
(John takes one step forward.)

W.L.: Ray, how would you start on a hike?
(Ray takes one step forward.)

W.A.: Mike, how would you start out to achieve your first activity badge?
(Mike takes one step forward.)

W.L.: Yes, it is as simple as that to make a thousand mile journey, to run a race, to learn a trade, to meet new people, to climb a mountain, to create a masterpiece, to build sky-scrapers, to design a spaceship. Yes to do anything worthwhile, there is always a first step, and it is the most difficult one to take.

WA: If you are to progress in life, or in Tigers, Cubs, Webelos, or Boy Scouting, you must first face your goal and then get started with that all important first step!
(On the words FIRST STEP, all the boys take one step forward again and then salute.)

The Athenian Oath Closing-

We will never bring disgrace to this, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice.
We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with our companions.
We will revere and obey the city's laws.
We will try unceasingly to quicken the sense of civic duty in others.
In every way, we will strive to pass the city on to our sons, greater and better than it was when our fathers passed it on to us.

Skits

Putting on a Skit

The Cub Scout literature has poems and stories that can be used for skits, but the public library has a lot more material. Ask your librarian for directions to the literature the theater sections of the library. The youth or juvenile sections of the library also has material that is more suited to the age of the Webelos Scout. A good skit is really a play in one act and can be more readily handled by 9 and 10- year-old boys. The Cub Scout How to Book contains some good ideas on how to write your own skit or one act play. Let the Cub's be creative. They can make the play up about anything they are interested in, sports, Scouting, a silly moment in the Den meeting, etc. Making costumes and putting on "stage makeup" makes the task more fun and enjoyable.

Crafts

Face Paint-

Materials:

6 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp cold cream,
Food coloring
6 c muffin tin

Directions:

In each cup of a muffin tin, put 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon each of cold cream and water.
Add a different color food coloring to each cup.

Glove Finger Puppet--"Three Little Pigs"-

Materials:

hot glue gun (used by leaders),
scissors
garden gloves
small pom-poms (pink, gray & black),
large pom-poms (same colors)
pink and gray felt
googly eyes

Directions:

Hot glue large pom poms to finger tips-palm side of glove.
Glue on small pom poms for noses.
Then glue on ears and eyes.
Glue hat (cut from felt) on wolf and
Dot nostrils on each pig with a black permanent marker.
Use your creativity to create other glove-finger puppets, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.

Soda Straw Harmonica-

Cut a strip of corrugated cardboard with large corrugations, 8" long and 1 1/2" wide.
Cut 8 straws into the following lengths: 8 1/2", 73/4", 6 3/4", 6" 5 1/4", 4 1/2" 4 1/4"
Push the straws between the sections of the cardboard beginning about 1/2" from one end and leaving four empty corrugations between straws.
The shorter the vibrations, the higher the pitch.
To play, blow over the straws.

Tin Masks-

Materials:

Scissors
Sharp nail
Aluminum pie pans (9" or larger and 4" pot-pie size),
Brass fasteners (various sizes)

Directions:

Using the 9" size pan as the base for the mask, have the Scouts imagine all the facial features that might appear on the mask. Have them draw out a design for their special creation.
If any embossed design is used, place the pan on a stack of newspaper for support. Using the nail or a ball-point pen, use firm, even pressure to draw the design on the plate. Enough force should be used to bend the plate out on the other side, but be careful not to puncture to pan.
Cut shapes for added features from other pans. The pot-pie size is great for this part. The shapes can be cut from paper first to be used as a guide for cutting the tin.
Use small brass fasteners to connect the shapes to the base of the mask. Make small nail holes in the pieces of the pan where they are to be connected. Push the fastener through both pans to make the connection.
Larger brass fasteners can be used for additional decoration. Foil wrap or tinsel may also be used for details.
Tape a tab ring pull from a soft drink can to the back to use as a hanger for the mask.

Activities

Hooray for Hollywood!

Find the capitalized words below in the puzzle above.

tom HANKS robin WILLIAMS

mel GIBSON danny GLOVER

whoopie GOLDBERG goldie HAWN

sally FIELD macauley CAULKIN

kevin COSTNER billy CRYSTAL

michael JACKSON sly STALLONE

OAK RIDGE BOYS BEACH BOYS

TLC reba MCINTYRE

george STRAIT kenny ROGERS

ALADDIN PECOS BILL

HOME ALONE SISTER ACT

POCAHONTAS RICHIE RICH

BUSHWACKED FOREST GUMP

POWERRANGERS ANGELS / OUTFIELD

MUPPETS BARNEY

jim HENSON BIG BIRD

KERMIT