PACK AND DEN ACTIVITIES

Ideas for Pack Activities:

Baltimore Area Council

ü  Have a Halloween party and come as farmers or farm animals

ü  Invite a 4-H member to a pack meeting

ü  Have a pumpkin carving or pumpkin decorating contest

ü  Hold a Pack campfire –a great idea!!!!

Ideas for Den Activities:

Baltimore Area Council

ü  Build a model barn

ü  Visit a farm, pumpkin patch, or cornfield maze (Great Pack Trip, too)

ü  Go on a hay ride

ü  Make candied or caramel apples

ü  Learn about the United Nations and UNICEF, their organization for children

ü  Make butter by shaking half & half in a jar.  Serve it with crackers at your Den meeting

More Ideas for Pack and Den Activities:

Alice, Golden Empire Council

·        Have a food-tasting table for everyone to share at your pack meeting.  This could be a variety of farm-grown crops, or even just one product, such as cheese –Ask everyone to make a label describing where their favorite crop comes from or how it is made. If you feature cheese, be sure to include some from other countries.  And don’t forget the “moldy” ones – such as English Stilton, French Roquefort, Gouda from the Netherlands, Danbo from Denmark, or French Brie.

·        Visit a local Farmer’s Market – many of them even have special tours for students, including tours, meeting a farmer, nutrition information, samples and fun activities  Go to http://www.localharvest.org to find them by zip code.  Includes description, location, contact info. Or just google Farmer’s Markets in your area.   Also check: http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmer’smarkets/map.htm, then click on a state, either on the map or the list -  try both of these sites – Alaska had 11 listings on this one, none on the local harvest one, and California was better represented on the local harvest site.  Check them both!

·        Visit a farm – check with den families, teachers, reference librarian to see if they have suggestions. Also check http://www.localharvest.org  where you can find farms by zip code, with location, description and season of crops grown, contact information

·        Have a local farmer or someone from the agricultural school at a nearby university talk to the boys about different types of farms. Have him or her tell how livestock is handled and how crops are grown.

·        Let each boy or family decide on a kind of farm, find out all they can about it, and share what they learned – using pictures, demonstrations, making a model, drawing a poster, inventing a game

·        Each boy or family could also choose a country and share what they learned about what is farmed in that country.  (Even in Iceland, fresh fruits and vegetables are grown – including bananas! – they use greenhouses heated with geothermal heat)

·        Check with your local USDA Extension Service for speakers, brochures, information – they provide free information on dozens of subjects – Ask if they have any kid-based information about farming. (I once got 4 brochures on how to find edible plants in the wild in my area! – Alice)   

·        Visit a local farm event or harvest festival in your area.  Go to the “local harvest: website, click on the events calendar, then look by zip code and month for information.  You could also check at http://www.harvestfestivals.net/harvestfestivals.htm for events.  Or just google Food and Farming events in your area.  And don’t forget to check with the local reference librarian for possible events, farm associations, or museums. 

·        Have a den put on a skit based on the Little Red Hen – or make animal puppets or masks to tell the story.  Be sure and emphasize the moral of the story!

Egg Drop

Ha Great Salt Lake Council

Have the boys bring a prepared container from home, which could protect an egg when dropped from a height of several feet. An adult could drop them from a 12 ft. ladder, cherry picker, roof, or other pre-determined high spot, one at a time. Then open the containers and see whose egg survived.

Visit a Farm

York Adams Council

How many of the boys in your den have ever milked a cow or gathered eggs from chickens?  This month’s theme promotes the All-American Tradition of farming.  Stop in at a local farm and check with the family running it to see if you can arrange a visit to the farm.  Make sure to use the Local Tour Permit and permission slips before going, though!

Build A Pioneer Farm

York Adams Council

Here’s one my son’s den did years ago.  They made a train garden-like setup on a large piece of Masonite that included the layout of a homestead type farm.  The leaders pre-made the buildings out of cardboard and the boys “built” the buildings using twigs hot-glued to the cardboard structures. For  roofing, they used cedar shakes from a craft store (like Ben Franklin’s). The buildings were laid out on the board to resemble the homestead layout.  Fencing was “snake fencing” made from crisscrossed twigs .

Make a Crois Bride or St. Brigit’s cross

Alice, Golden Empire Council

St. Brigit is considered the patron saint of farm buildings and dairy cows.  In Ireland, Feb. 1^st is the feast day for St. Brigit, and school children make a simple version of the St. Brigit’s cross.  They use rush, straw, or grass.  Traditionally, a Crois Bride would be nailed above the door of every farmhouse and barn to protect it from fire and other harm. 

Materials: 

16 long pieces of straw, stiff grass or reed material at least 8” long or 16 pipe cleaners or drinking straws,

String or twine to tie off the ends,

Scissors to cut ends off evenly

Directions:  Following the diagram below,

ü  Fold the 1^st piece in half, slipping 1 side of one piece through the fold of the other. 

ü  Fold a third piece in half over the second piece. 

ü  Continue adding folded pieces, lapping each one over the one you just placed previously. 

ü  When all 16 pieces have been placed, take the loose ends of the last piece and tuck them under the piece they face. 

ü  Pinch the loose ends of each arm of the “cross” together and tie them tightly with a string.  

ü  Clip the ends off evenly as close to the thread as possible.

An even simpler version can be made by gathering your 16 pieces into two bunches. 

Tie a string around one end of each bunch.

Divide each bunch into three parts, and

Weave the two bunches over and under one another.

After all the pieces are woven together, tie the loose ends with more string.

Potato Block Printing

Baltimore Area Council

·         Cut a slice of potato so that you have a perfectly flat surface.

·         Trace a simple design on the flat surface.

·         With a sharp knife, cut away the potato around the design, leaving the design raised about ¹/₈”.

·         Press the potato on an inkpad and then onto a piece of paper to print.

·         If you do not have an inkpad, cut a piece of blotter to fit in a jar lid and saturate blotter with ink or poster paint.

·         For additional effects, cut designs on sponge or use erasers of various shapes.

(Great for printing the Cub Scout logo on napkins for your Blue and Gold. – Pat)

Sprouts to Watch

Baltimore Area Council

Materials needed:

Blotter paper (buy at office supply stores),

Water,

Beans soaked in water for three hours,

Quart size jar

Directions

ü  Roll the blotter paper to fit the jar:

ü  Cut off excess on top.

ü  Pour some water into the jar and wet the blotter paper.

ü  Press wet blotter paper to the side of jar so it sticks.

ü  Empty out excess water.

ü  Pull blotter paper carefully, a little at a time, away from the jar and drop in seeds.

ü  It doesn’t matter how the beans are turned.

ü  In fact, if they are turned sideways or upside down, they are more exciting to watch.

ü  Gently push blotter paper back against jar.

ü  Add ½ inch of water to the jar so that the bottom of the blotter paper is always kept in water.

ü  Add water as this evaporates.

Dryer Vent Pumpkin

Baltimore Area Council

Materials needed:

White dryer vent,

Orange spray paint,

Brown lunch bag,

Stapler

Raffia,

silk leaves,

Glue, Wire cutters

Directions

You’ll need to count 17 rings on the dryer vent and cut.

Bring the ends together and making sure that the ends of the wire are tucked in.

Staple the two end rings together just behind the wire a few times.

Paint, making sure to cover the top and bottom.

Cut the top half of the lunch bag off and twist to form the pumpkin stem and glue down into the center of the dryer vent.

Decorate with leaves and raffia.

Barnyard Shadow Puppets

Baltimore Area Council

Go to diagram at the end of this issue

Trace shapes onto cardboard or poster stock

Cut out animals

Thumbtack to pencil eraser (see picture)

Hang a screen or create a shadow box as shown

Place between light and screen to cast a shadow on the screen

Use animals to tell a story – they are shadow puppets

Horse Tie Slide

Baltimore Area Council

Materials needed:

Horse colored fun foam,

A “googly” eye,

Markers, yarn, paper, pipe cleaners,

Scissors, duct tape, glue

Directions

1.       Sketch a design of a horse’s head or entire horse, and transfer it to the fun foam.

2.       Cut out the basic design.

3.       Draw on details,

4.       Glue on the eye and yarn for the mane.

5.       Tape a 1½-inch piece of pipe cleaner to the back.

6.       Twist the ends of the pipe cleaner around the neckerchief to wear as a slide.

Thumbprint Animals

Baltimore Area Council

Materials needed:  

Poster/tempera paint, construction paper

Directions

Using your thumb put pink thumbprints on a piece of construction paper and Make the prints into pigs.

Use black paint for cows, red for roosters, etc.

Barnyard Shadow Puppets

Baltimore Area Council

Trace shapes onto cardboard or poster stock

Cut out animals

Thumbtack to pencil eraser (see picture)

Hang a screen or create a shadow box as shown

Place between light and screen to cast a shadow on the screen

Use animals to tell a story – they are shadow puppets