Inaugural Post - Welcome to the Bobcat Trail

You know what we don't have enough of?  Cub Scout Leaders sharing ideas.  Sure, there's a few great blogs out there, many of which I use consistently, but when I'm looking for a quick craft, or some inspiration for a fun way to pass off an otherwise boring achievement, I have a hard time.  I'm going to use this space to update what I'm working in preparation for the scouting year starting in September, and some "flashbacks" to what worked for us in our last scouting year.  As soon as I figure out all these buttons at the top of the page, I'll fancy this place up a bit.


In the meantime, I'm starting from scratch with how to drill the Bobcat badge requirements into my little  Cubby's heads, in a fun way that the family can easily take part in.  I found these over at Scout Helps.  Do you remember "cootie catchers" from your own school days?  This Bobcat Fortune Teller is sure to be a hit with all of the dens!

You have to write your own numbers on the inside flaps, but all of the other work is done for you!  You can use these across all of your dens; adult partners can help your Tigers with the folding, and the directions are included at the bottom of the page.

The other thing I'm working on for Bobcat?  Lap books.  Not entirely sure, but from what I have found, this is a popular learning technique for home schoolers, and I happen to love it!  My first one...well it isn't exactly up to my standards of fun, but I'm posting it anyway.  I've since found some pretty cool templates to use and I'll be updating it this week.

I just took a letter size colored file folder, opened it, and folded the ends into the middle.  I whipped up the no frills cover in Publisher, glued it on, and used my Exacto knife to cut down the middle...as you can see my first try didn't yield a very nice cut!  I printed out the Bobcat requirements from an online handbook, sliced and diced, and glued them around the folder, along with the paw prints they can color in as they learn each part.  Inside the folder, not glued down, is the paper with the unfolded fortune teller.  Like I said, it's not exactly fun or cool, so a redo is coming this week.  I'll have to wait until Fall registration comes around to see just how many I'll need to make, but I'm going to get a head start and make 10 once I'm happy with the outcome.    

I hope you'll come back from time to time and see what I'm working on, grab some ideas for your own pack, and share some as well.

Until next time,

CubMom