PACK AND DEN ACTIVITIES

Ideas For Den Meeting
Capitol Area Council

• Visit a spa or fitness center and take a tour of the facilities.  Talk to a trainer or weight builder about his regimen and how you could train to go into this field.  Find out what exercises are most beneficial to you according to each person you talk to.  Graph the different exercises to see which ones are most popular or are used most.

• Hold a competition of the exercises you practice from the Webelos book with your parents.  Have the boys time their own parent and instruct them in proper procedure.  Have a certificate for each parent/son team that records their best time and efforts for the day.
• Talk to a doctor or nurse (someone in the medical field) about the importance of good health.  Think about something that really interest you in this field and ask challenging questions; like;  If I exercise every day with just my arms, will my whole body improve in strength, or just my arms?  Why?
• Arrange to watch the gymnasts at a high school or even the Olympics (are they on tape) and try to determine which exercises the athlete uses to develop for the events he participates in.
• Arrange an “Olympics” for physical fitness for your den or Pack meeting.  You can give gold, bronze and silver medals for events.  Be sure to have some events that even the least athletic boy can win.
• An Olympics for goofy events would be fun, too:  a wheel barrow race; book on head; fast walk- two person pace (one person walks directly behind another - back to back.) Remember to mix up the activities so that the younger boys (Tigers and Wolves) have the advantage at some and the older boys have the advantage at others. How about crawling on their belly through a tube as part of an obstacle course. Award medals at the end, gold, silver and bronze. Remember to include team (den) events as well as individual events.  If you can arrange a lot of events, perhaps for the individual events, the boys could sign up for 2 or 3 and have everyone compete in the team events.
• As a pack, work on Activity Pins from the Academic and Sports Program. Have a Pack Intramural Contest or Sports Day.

Try a “Fun” Olympics.
Alice, Golden Empire Council

It could be held out doors, or be a “Plan B” Indoor Olympics for a rainy day. Have events such as the following games:

Paper Plate Shotput: Use standard paper plates, (the cheap kind with the crinkled edge and no plastic coating) Contestants stand with their feet behind a line. They flip, throw, spin, and toss the plates across an open space. The distance measured is where the plate ENDS UP (not necessarily where it lands) to the throwing line. Plates cannot be torn, bent, folded or changed in any other way.

Cotton Ball Shot put: Use cotton balls as your shot put and play as above.  No change is allowed to be made in the cotton balls.

 Straw Javelin Throw: Use plastic straws, not the ones that bend in the middle. Contestants stand with their feet behind a line. They flip, throw, spin, and toss the straws across an open space. The distance measured is where the straw ENDS UP (not necessarily where it lands) to the throwing line. Straws cannot be torn, bent, folded or changed in any other way. Nothing can be put inside the straw before it is thrown.

Rowing Regatta: Boy sits on the floor and puts his hands on his knees, back to the goal line. Each boy can propel himself backwards by moving his feet against his bottom and then pushing backwards. Hands can be used only for balance, but not to move! Just like the Olympic event, this can be an individual or team sport – try doing pairs, quads or eight boys, sitting very close to each other and holding on to the waist of the one in front of them.

Swimmer’s Challenge: Since every swimmer needs to have excellent breath control, this is just a new name for that old game – put a ping pong ball in the center of a table. One boy or one team on each side of the table.  They try to blow the ball off on the other team’s side to win.  Make it more challenging with two balls, each a different color and each assigned to one team.

Relay Run: Make two teams, each lined up facing their goal line.  On signal, the first boy in each line goes to the goal and back, holding a towel holder “baton” to pass to the next team member to run.  Here’s the fun twist - each team member is given instruction on how to run his portion of the relay – on his knees, backwards, by hopping on one foot, etc. 

More Cub Style Olympic Events
Great Salt Lake Council

HAMMER THROW

Materials needed:  1 tennis ball and 1 pair of panty hose with the legs cut off.

Play: 

Put the tennis ball into the cut off stocking leg

Then have the boys hold the end of the stocking, wind up,  and throw as far as they can.

SHOT PUT

Materials needed:  plastic balls

Play: 

Using large plastic balls, have boys form one long line so that all may compete at the same time,

Have them push the plastic ball from their shoulder rather than throwing.

JAVELIN

Materials needed:  pool noodles

Play: 

Have the boys line up the same way as for the shot put. 

Try measuring the distance thrown with meters.

LONG, LONG, LONG JUMP

Materials needed:  tape for starting and ending lines

Play:

• The object of this game is for the group of boys to jump collectively as far as possible. 
• The first player begins at a starting line and makes a jump. 
• The next player starts his jump where the previous person landed. 
• The players can attempt to improve their total collective distance on successive tries. 

This can be played indoors or outside, with a backward broad jump, forward long jump (standing or running), hop-skip-and jump, and so forth.

Tightrope Walk
Capitol Area Council

Balloon Douse
Capitol Area Council

Indoor Olympic Activities
Alice, Golden Empire Council

Outdoor Obstacle Course
Grand Teton Council

• Make a rope climb by hanging a 10 foot, one inch rope from a tree.
• To help develop balance, set a 10 foot long 2 x 4 “walking plank” securely on the ground.
• Five or six old tires make an excellent zigzag course that will help the boy develop balance while building up his leg muscles.  The object is to step ‘from tire to tire as he runs the course.  Stagger tires one full pace apart.
• Make a “crawl through” by using an old wooden barrel turned on its side. Cardboard boxes will work also.

Hop, Step and Jump
Grand Teton Council

This is an athletic test that was popular among the boys in colonial days. In turn, each boy

• Takes a running hop (land on the same foot),
• Then a long step and
• Last, a final jump (leaping off one foot and landing on both feet).

His score is the total distance covered in the three moves done correctly.

Make Your Own Physical Fitness Equipment
Grand Teton Council

See picture at the end of this issue.  The picture is a little blurry but it is from the best copy I had.  If you have a better one, please forward.  CD

• A barbell can be made using a 3 foot dowel or broomstick with 3/4" dowel or broomstick with 3/4" pipe caps on the ends. The latter are then embedded in 46 oz. cans filled with cement. Allow cement to set overnight.
• Dumbbells can be made similarly by using 1 foot long dowels and No. 2 size cans filled with cement and placed on the ends of the dowels. Plastic quart containers filled with sand may be used instead of the cans.
• A broomstick suspended at both ends in a garage, basement, or backyard makes an excellent chinning bar. This broomstick can also be set over the back of two parallel sturdy chairs.
• Another way to make barbells is to take a pair of old auto brake drums (obtainable at most auto junkyards) (MMMmmm – brake drums, might be hard to find with four wheel disc brakes being the current standard.  CD) and a 36’ length of 1 1/2” pipe. The boys can help secure the drums firmly to the pipe.
• An old inner tube (not inflated) (Another rare item in these days of tubeless tires  CD) makes an excellent muscle builder for arms, legs,, back and chest.  There are a lot of other good sources for stretchy material to do this. 

RUNNING HIGH WHISTLE
Utah National Parks Council

The boy who can hold a whistled note the longest with one breath wins the event.

Easy Barbells
Grand Teton Council

Olympic Torch
Grand Teton Council

• To make an Olympic torch, cover a cardboard cone shape with paper maché.
• Spray paint dried maché torch.
• Add a flame made from red construction paper.
• A torch can also be made from the top section of a round bleach bottle.
• Cut off this section, spray paint, and add construction paper flame.

Physical Fitness Medals
Grand Teton Council

Winner’s medals can be made from various materials, including plaster, wood, plastic and cardboard.

Plaster medals can be poured in plastic lid molds. Insert ring before plaster hardens, for stringing blue and gold ribbon through for wearing around the neck. Paint appropriate words on medals

Diamond shape medals can be cut from cardboard or foil pans, and colored or imprinted with marking pens.  When using the foil pans, tool the lettering first with a ballpoint pen, then fill in with permanent markers. These medals can also be attached to a ribbon for wearing around the neck.

Tennis Shoe Tie Slide
Grand Teton Council

Materials:

• Felt (yellow or white and blue),
• Cardboard or thin stiff plastic
• Kite string,
• Needle and thread,
• Glue,
• Cotton balls,
• Curtain ring or 1” long piece of ¾” PVC pipe (optional).

Directions:

• Cut 2 shoes from white or yellow felt for each slide using the pattern.  Enlarge pattern to desired size.
• Insert the cardboard or plastic for stiffness between the two pieces.  The cardboard or plastic must be smaller than shoe.
• To the back piece of felt attach a 4” length of kite string or sew on a curtain ring or glue on PVC pipe for the tie holder.
• Whip stitch sides and top closed. Stuff shoe with cotton balls to desired thickness, sew bottom of shoe shut.
• Cut small strips from blue felt and glue to front of shoe (see illustration) and piece for sole of shoe.
• Using piece of kite string, glue to front of shoe to look like lacing. Using 3” piece of kite string - run through the shoe using needle and tie in bow.

Barbell Tie Slide I
Grand Teton Council

Materials:

• 1/8” dowel stick,
• 1 to 2” long
• 2 small Styrofoam balls
• Paint
• Pipe cleaner
• Glue

   Directions:

• Push Styrofoam balls onto ends of dowel stick.
• Glue in place.
• Twist pipe cleaner around middle of dowel stick leaving a loop big enough for the neckerchief to go through.
• Glue in place.
• Paint. Be sure to use paint made for Styrofoam.

Barbell Tie Slide II
Grand Teton Council

• 2 20mm wooden beads
• 5/16" dowel or dowel to fit into beads easily
• Metal 3/4 “D” ring or narrow strip of vinyl
• Paint

• Measure and cut wood dowel 2 1/4” long with small saw. Paint silver.
• Paint bead black.
• Glue one wooden bead on each end of dowel. If ends of dowel are rough, sand smooth.
• Paint ends of dowel black to match beads.
• Paint desired weight on front of each barbell with white paint. Thin line paint pen works well for this.
• Fasten metal “D” ring or narrow strip of vinyl to back with “hot glue” gun.

SUPER SCOOPS
Utah National Parks Council
Give empty bleach bottles a purpose!

Cut off the bottoms, and then cut out the side portion below the handle, angling down toward the bottom.

You can then use the scoops for tossing and catching balls or bean bags.

SPORTS FANS

Materials:

• Paper plates or cardstock
• Markers or paint
• Tongue depressors or craft sticks
• Glue

Directions:

• Have the boys cut out and decorate the paper plates as sports items.
• Paper plates work well because they’re already round for ball shapes.
• Then glue the paper plates to the sticks.
• Now they can keep cool while playing outside.

Catch Can
Grand Teton Council

• Nail or screw a can to a stick.
• Where can joins stick, tie long string.
• Attach a ring small enough to fit in the can
• Hold stick in hand and try to catch lid with can.

Basketball Backboard Tie Slide Or Plaque
Grand Teton Council

Materials:

• Wood scraps 1/8” thick -- such as paneling or balsa,
• Paint,
• Wire
• Nylon mesh
• Small Styrofoam or wooden ball
• Glue

Directions

• Cut backboard from wood using the pattern shown.
• Sand as needed.
• Make a hoop by wrapping wire around a ½ dowel.
• Bend a small strip of aluminum foil and insert through the slot in the backboard to fasten the hoop.
• Epoxy or glue strip the back.
• Cut nylon net to size of the pattern and sew or glue together. Paint the ball orange and draw lines with marking pen, if desired.
• Paint the hoop orange and the backboard and net white. After this is dry, glue the ball and net to the hoop.
• Glue a curtain ring or piece of PVC pipe to the back to use as a tie slide.

OLYMPIC MEDAL 
Sam Houston Area Council
Great Salt Lake Council

Materials: Lightweight cardboard (from cereal box is good), paint, glue, ribbon

Instructions

Use a glass to trace the desired number of 2 - 3 inch circles on the lightweight cardboard

• You will need two circles for each medal.
• Cut out your circles.
• Paint the non-shiny side of the circles with gold, silver, or bronze paint and set aside to dry. If you cannot find gold, silver, and bronze paint, why not use blue, red, and yellow (traditional first, second, and third place colors).

Once the base paint is dry, you can decorate your medal as you like.

• Use glue and glitter to make it sparkle, or you can paint 1st, 2nd, or 3rd on them.
• Let the designs dry completely.

The final touch is to add the neck ribbon.

• Cut one length or ribbon, approximately 32 inches long per medal.
• Put a dab of glue on the center of the non-painted side of two medal pieces. (Fig 1)
• Fold your ribbon in half at the middle to form a 'V' shape. (Fig 2)
• Stick the fold of the ribbon onto the glue on one of the medal backs. (Fig 3)
• Cover it with the other medal piece with glue. (Fig 4)
• Set your medal aside and let it dry.

Felt, fun foam or juice can lids can also be used for the medals – be creative!

OLYMPIC TORCH 
Sam Houston Area Council

• Empty paper towel tube
• Aluminum foil  
• Tissue paper – yellow, orange and red
• Scissors
• Clear Tape
• Glue

• Wrap a sheet of aluminum foil (shiny side out) around the paper towel tube and secure with clear tape.
• Take 2 sheets each of red, orange and yellow tissue paper (8 inches tall by 12 inches wide.)

• Cut out this shape (see figure) from each sheet of tissue paper. These will be your flames!
• Lay each piece of tissue paper down on top of each other as shown. Each piece will overlap each other about ¼ of an inch.

• Tape along the bottom of the tissue paper in order to help hold it together. Use lots of tape!
• Loosely roll the tissue so that it forms a cylinder with the yellow paper on the outside and the red on the inside.
• Gather the tissue together along the bottom and tape so your flame looks like this figure.
• Now your flame is ready to go in the torch. Using lots of glue, place the taped end of the flame into the paper towel tube.
• Let the glue dry and spread out the flames coming out of the tube.

INDIVIDUAL, DEN OR PACK PENNANTS 
Sam Houston Area Council

Materials: Poster board cut into a triangular pennant shape and a ½ inch wooden dowel (about 3 feet long) for each pennant made

Instructions

• Give each den or boy its poster board pennant, and make markers and staplers available.
• Allow 15 minutes for each boy or team to create a flag.
• Each pennant must contain the either his name or the den name/number.
• After the clock has stopped, ask the boys or dens to staple their posters to the dowels to make flags.
• Post banners around the Pack Olympic grounds or at your Pack Meeting (or both). 

Hold the Potato Olympics!
Try Having A Spud Theme Night!
Scott Sinclair The Leader, December 1993
Capitol Area Council

Potatoes (spuds) offer amazing program possibilities. For those long, cold winter evenings that beg excitement, why not try a spud theme night?!  Decorate your meeting area with farm pictures; leaders could dress in country clothes and work boots. Set the mood for your Beavers, Cubs or Scouts by playing stompin' Tom Connors' song "Bud The Spud" in the background.

Ask every boy to bring a small bag of potatoes. (Leaders should have an additional large bag of potatoes available for those who forget to bring their spuds.)  Adapt the theme to fit your own program needs. Some groups may want to try the idea using different stations with Scouts spending five to ten minutes at each event.

• Bowling for spuds – Set up bowling pins, using colorful balloons taped to paper cups. Mark off bowling lanes with tape or chalk, then use the potatoes as bowling balls. Any "balls" rolling outside the lane are disqualified.
• Driving the spuds to market - Each person must sweep five potatoes from one end of the room to the other using only a household broom. Mark racing lanes on the floor to make this more challenging.
• Potato wheel-barrow race - Organize a wheel-barrow race with a team of two children one on the floor walking on hands and the other holding up his/her feet Put a potato on the back of each 'wheel barrow'. Listen to the shrieks of glee! If the spud falls off, the team must return to the starting line.
• Spud of the Nile (potato pyramids) - Put a large collection of potatoes on a table. Try to build the tallest pyramid possible. (A great team event.)
• Chip taste test - Number five bowls of potato chips and record which flavour is in each bowl. Keep this information secret. Tape the five potato chip bags to the wall behind the table. The fun begins when people start to match the taste with the bag. Yum!
• Speed spud - Set up a ramp to roll potatoes down. Use a long stacking table with the legs of one end collapsed, or a household, hollow-core door. Let everyone choose a potato. Set these up at the start line at the top of the ramp. At a signal from the referee, the racers let their spuds go. The first one over the finish line wins.
• Improvise different rules: the straightest rolling spud wins; the fastest wins; the one that rolls the farthest wins; the funniest roll wins.
• Potato stuffing - Weigh all group members. Let them stuff as many potatoes as possible into their pockets and clothing, then weigh everyone again fully stuffed. Record the difference.

• Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head - Collect a variety of items to decorate the spuds. Include vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, carrots) and non-food items like construction paper, beads, ribbon, and string. Let the Cubs and Scouts use toothpicks to stick things to the potatoes. Allow group members about 15 minutes to make their own personalized creation.
• Marble spud - All children love playing marbles. Why not try it with potatoes?! Their irregular shape makes them roll an unpredictable, outrageous path.  With chalk, draw a circle on the floor. Players have to roll their potato 'marble' into the circle and bump another player’s marble to win it.

Use your creativity to dream up other games; the possibilities are endless.

Use the event to tell your Scouts about the food value in potatoes.

Did you know the lowly spud holds almost all the minerals and vitamins a person needs to survive, including vitamin A, B, C, and D?

Make a list of all the ways we eat potatoes: baked, scalloped, mashed, fried, stuffed, boiled, potato chips.

Talk briefly about the need for good eating habits and nutrition.

When your night finishes, donate undamaged potatoes to the local food bank, then start making plans for a gourd night.

What a great event for a winter camp, Cuboree, or just to recharge your program during mid-winter blahs.

Your kids will love the unexpected, comical twist.

FATHER'S DAY POEM
Utah National Parks Council

Write a poem about your father.

Start each line with a letter from the phrase "MY

FATHER."

FATHER'S DAY PAPER BAG CARD
Utah National Parks Council

Directions:

Cut a card from brown paper with pinking shears. Any shape will do.

Using a hole punch, make a series of holes around the edges of the card. Be sure to make an even number of holes (see diagram).

String ribbon or yarn through the holes. (DO NOT USE PINK!!!  CD) 

Tie the ends in a bow (this is the hardest part of this project). If the bow doesn't look good, you can glue the ends of the ribbon to the back of the card instead.

Write a message (or draw a picture) on your card.  These can be made to look masculine.

ADVANCEMENT IDEAS:
Carol, American Elm District, Black Swamp Council

Be sure to check CS Program Helps for the recommended activities for these advancement possibilities for this theme.  They are listed in the individual sections for the Tiger, Wolf and Bear Dens  Carol

Tigers-

Ach  3G                                            Elect.  6, 24, 35

Wolf-

Ach     3A, 3B, 10C                    Elect.  11B, 20H, 20I

Bear –

Ach 15A,15B, 15C, 16, 23, 24A             Elect.  18,19

Advancement Ideas
Alice, Golden Empire Council

Boys of any rank can work on the BSA Physical Fitness Award or various Sports Belt Loops and Pins this month.  The BSA Family Award can be done every year by families, and includes opportunities for physical activities, healthy nutrition, and good sportsmanship. Ethics in Action: Be Aware and Care also has some great activities to help boys understand disabilities and value those who live with them;

Special Olympics, Wheelchair Olympics and various sports for the disabled showcase the abilities of special athletes.

Note:  Before family or Scout camping or hikes, review the Hug A Tree guidelines from last month’s Baloo – make sure everyone is prepared and knows what to do if lost!

Tiger Cub Achievements:
Ach. #3D- make a food pyramid - don’t forget the importance of water (I like to add a white bar along the base of  the pyramid to represent water and its importance in being healthy);  Ach. 3G –

Visit a sporting event and point out the need for training, practice and good sportsmanship;

Ach. 5G – Take a hike with your den and have a healthy snack and plenty of water;

Tiger Cub Electives:
Elect. #5 – make a family mobile showing how each person in your family stays fit:  soccer or other team sports for the Tiger Cub, bowling for Dad, walking for Grandma, etc;  Elect. #23 – Check out various kinds of milk, compare taste, nutrition, why people might use a certain kind;  Elect. #24 – Help prepare a meal and make sure the food pyramid is included in planning the foods;  Elect. #25 – Make a healthy snack;  Elect. #35 – Fun Outdoors;  Elect. #37 – Take a bike ride (But be sure to discuss and use a helmet to protect your most important organ – your brain);  Elect. #40 – Fun in the Water (Be sure to use Safe Swim Defense and the Buddy System);  Elect. #46 – Healthy Teeth and Gums