Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp

   / Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp #1  

RobertN

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Fun Fun Fun; that's what we have! Fun Fun Fun; that's our goal!

I just got back from two days of Cub Scout Day Camp. What a blast! We had about 300 kids come through, most for both days, just having tons of fun! They made bottle rockets out of plastic soda bottles, first aid kits from a knife sheath, shot bb guns and archery, learnt about nature, made wood crafts(my son made a small treasure chest in Bears), made bead stuff, made gak, and learnt about fire science. The Webelo's had a special overniter in camp.

I was assistant archery instructor this year, and will be lead instructor next year. It was really great to give these guys the basics, and then help them put arrows on target. They did really awesome. We had boys from 6-10 years old.

It was fun listening to the kids. They broke them upo into 20 dens of 8-12 kids, with 2-3 den leaders for each den. Each den created a den "yell", and a flag. It was great having them compete with thier yells; they really got into it!

If you are ever in a position to attend or assist in an event like this, by all means do it. It is great to see what these little guys accomplish!
 
   / Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp #2  
Yes "Be Prepared" is the motto of the Scouting movement over here.

Taught me many a thing and a good idea for kids.

Cheers
 
   / Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp #3  
It is great seeing these kids have fun and learning at the same time, isn't it?

I always have to laugh about an incident that we had when I was the Scoutmaster of a Boy Scout Troop. A couple of times each year, we would invite the Webelos who would be graduating into Boy Scouts to join us on some of our weekend campouts. This served a couple of purposes. We'd get to know them, they'd get to know us, and they'd see what a "fun" troop we were and would want to join our troop.

Anyway, we had invited these Webelos on a weekend when our scouts were working on their cooking merit badges. So, we came up with the idea of having a cooking competition between the patrols. Originally, we told the Webelos they could visit all of the scout patrols to get ideas, but they didn't have to compete. We didn't think that would be fair.

Boy, did they get mad! They wanted to compete too. So we said O.K. As the adult leaders, we would visit each patrol and judge their efforts.

The first patrol of boy scouts offered us some "well done" (read burned) hamburgers and potato chips. In return, they received a "lecture" from the Scoutmaster on the importance of eating a balanced meal and using the provisions wisely.

The second patrol of boy scouts did somewhat better. They had made what they called meatloaf, although I never did figure out where the loaf part was. It was more of a hash, with all of the ingredients just thrown together. They received instructions about taking pride in their work and the enjoyment of having a "good" meal.

The Webelos patrol was the next for us to visit. As we walked into their patrol site, a maitre'd (with a white towel folded over his arm) met us and welcomed us to Chez Wolverine. He asked how many were in our party, and made sure that we knew he was making room for us because we were such improtant important people. We were seated on very nice log stumps at a covered dinner table (I still don't know where they got that!). We were served appetizers (hot dogs cut up on little sticks), then a salad (lettuce, tomatoes and I think tomato soup used for the dressing), the main course (burger filets), and a dessert of cherry dump cake. Each course was served by a different waiter, and we even had fresh (instant) coffee!

Needless to say, these Webelos just blew away our regular boy scouts. That didn't go over too well. But later, when we were talking about it with our troop, we reminded them that at one time, they had been as enthusiastic as those Webelos were. We challenged them to find that enthusiasm again, and over the next few months, they had a renewed excitement about scouting.

And when those same Webelos did join our troop, all of the "veteran" scouts welcomed them and there were no grudges held because these youngsters had shown them up.

Sometimes the things kids can do truly are amazing! We just need to give them the chance!
 
   / Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp
  • Thread Starter
#4  
It is amazing what these guys can come up with! For day camp, they had just a few minutes to make up thier den yell. It was interesting how creative some were.

I'm signed up for two years as archery instructor, so Ian will be in Scouts at least that long(i was only in for a year). It's gonna be fun seeing what these guys come up with as they progress through the levels. I cant wait/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
 
   / Fun Fun Fun---Cub Scout Day Camp #5  
Warning,/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Warning /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Watch out for those professional scouts that coordinate everything. Once they find a "volunteer" who wants to participate, they suck you dry! /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

Don't get me wrong. They're a GREAT bunch of people who do a really hard job. How'd you like to be responsible for running a quality program that's not only a good learning experience but fun too, on very little money and with the help of people who only want to be there for the fun things??

But, speaking from experience, once they find a volunteer who does a good job and wants to be participating, they keep coming at them with more and more. I can truthfully say that's what ended up getting me to retire from scouting. At the end, I was gone every night of the week to various committee meetings, and I was probably tied up 3 out of 4 weekends each month. Makes for a difficult home life! /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

By all means enjoy your time, and get the most out of it that you can. You'll have memories to cherish for life, and as you mentioned, it's just great to watch the kids having fun and learning. Just remember that you can so NO when they come asking for your help more and more. I wouldn't trade any of the experiences that I had for anything. I just might of made them in a different way, that's all! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
 
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