The Countdown Begins!

I've neglected the blog over the past few weeks as we packed in a few more trips before school started.  Regular blogging will commence!  

Today marks exactly 7 days until our first den meeting of the year.  I am excited and nervous to get things underway!  I feel that we're going to get a lot of new scouts this year, so managing that many kiddos will surely keep me engaged and challenged.  I will be leaning heavily on the other adults in our Leadership to keep things running smoothly.

I won't know how many boys will be attending on Monday, probably until right before the meeting!  I'll be working hard all week to make sure I have enough Bobcat Lapbooks prepared, enough youth applications to send home, and plenty of informational letters discussing our program and the necessary program materials and fees.

I love that we are getting a Cub Scout Camp day in October.  This should really excite the newcomers as well as their parents.  I hope all of my summer preparations and activity plans pan out well and the kids have a great year.  

I'm off to start packing up supplies!  If I don't start now I'm sure I'll forget something important!  My first meeting plan revolves around the Bobcat Lapbooks, using my returning scouts to help the new ones along the Bobcat Trail (it's a component of a Bear achievement!), making the Bobcat Trail fortune tellers, and working on our quarter circle designs to show off at the Pack Meeting.  I wonder if I'll have time to work some skit practice into the meeting!

Until Next Time,

CubMom

Bobcat Lap Book

I had some motivation yesterday to make a more interactive lap book for the Bobcat Badge.  I printed out some free matchbook and pocket templates from Lap Book Lessons on to colored card stock, and pulled out my scissors and glue stick with the Bobcat requirements printed out in color.  Here is the updated version.

I wrote all of the requirements on the outside flap along with some of the paw prints to color in.

Here they are all open/pictures out of pockets.  The rest of the paw prints are on the inside. In hindsight, I probably should have put all of the paws on the outside, but I'll be making plenty more before September.


Before I printed out all of the templates on card stock, I made a lap book for the Webelos Fitness Activity Badge.  I just used construction paper and printed lined paper for this one because it does require some writing.

I still can't quite get the hang of cutting the cover down the middle.  I think I need a sharper Xacto knife.  The Webelos handbook is so big it's almost overwhelming.  Giving the boys one activity badge at a time without having to fumble through the book will save time and keep them focused, while breaking down the badge into easy to manage tasks.


Until next time,


CubMom

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