Wax Paper Sun Catcher

Did you know that wax paper can be used to make a sun catcher?  Neither did I, so I thought I'd give it a go!  

I did a google image search for Cub Scout coloring pages, and I came across this little gem here.  I grabbed a piece of wax paper, and a box of Sharpies (washable markers will NOT work on wax paper!) and got to work.

I just moved my wax paper around to the different shapes to trace all of the components.  Then I colored it in.  Apparently, I haven't used my sharpies in a while, so many were pretty dried out.  Good thing I gave this project a try before I brought it to a meeting!  The results don't exactly look like a Cub Scout uniform, but I got the job done.

Then I cut it out with some zig zag scissors, punched a hole in the top and strung some ribbon through.  

Add a suction cup and you're good to go!  This project is definitely a keeper.  I'll put together several different printed images that the boys can trace, and also give them the option to draw something of their own.  You can tailor the images you print to go along with whatever achievement you're working on to add to your programming.  This could also work for the Webelos artist activity badge, art belt loop, or the make a gift electives in each of the handbooks.

Until next time,

CubMom

Coloring Rice

 I mentioned in my last post that I'd like to use colored rice for iSpy bottles for my scouts.  The motivation hit and I got to it.  I made about 20 different colors using both regular and neon food coloring.

My supplies: two plastic cups, teaspoon measure, 1 cup measure, rice, food coloring, rubbing alcohol.  Not shown: plastic spoon.

 Add 1 teaspoon of alcohol to the cup, followed by 20-30 drops of food coloring.  If you're mixing two or three different colors, give the cup a little swirl; the color on the side of the cup post swirl will be the shade you end up with.  Add the rice last.

 Stir it all up, folding from the bottom to the top to get the color uniform throughout.  I like to dump the rice into another cup after I've mixed for a minute or so.  The darker colored rice that inevitably gets stuck on the bottom will come to the top for more uniform mixing of the rest of the rice.

 Spread it onto a plate or plastic container you aren't too attached to to dry.  I like to give it a little shake every half hour or so to break up the clumps.  It should be dry in about two hours, and the color won't transfer onto your fingers.

Just a few of the colors!

I'm storing the rice in plastic bags until I'm ready to use it.  I need to find a jar big enough to mix together about half of each color to use for our iSpy bottles.  


Due to the messy nature and that food coloring stains just about everything, I don't recommend having your cubs mix their own colors.  I made mine one cup at a time in various shades to give them enough choices if and when we do a project with single colors.  I'm thinking rice art instead of sand art jars, letting them make pictures by gluing down the colored rice like you would glitter.  You can work this in to the art electives, art belt loop, artist activity badge...the possibilities are endless!


Until next time,


CubMom  

A Quick and Easy iSpy Bottle

This is a project I did with my kids a while back.  I usually like to test out project ideas on my own kids and some of their friends to get an idea of how easy or hard, where they need extra help or instruction, and how long I can expect it to take.  This particular project turned out to be a little messier than I'd hoped, so I haven't done this with scouts yet.  I think I've come up with an alternative though that will work and I'll use it in this scouting year.


I've been saving empty plastic bottles for this craft.  16oz. or 20oz. are a good size.  Try to get ones that don't have a lot of indents in the design of the bottle, and clear plastic works best.  Target brand sparkling water has a nice bottle, and Coke bottles work nicely too.

I gathered up a bunch of little items I had laying around in my supply drawers.  Sequins, shaped buttons, alphabet beads, pony beads, pretty much anything you can fit through the top of the bottle will work.  You can see I used items that float, as well as items that sink.  Pour a generous amount of regular round sequins in the bottom of the bottle, about 1/2" high.  Then add all of your other pieces in no particular order.  Finally, fill the bottle half full with water and fill it the rest of the way with clear corn syrup (the messy part).  You need to fill it as high as you can to eliminate any air in the bottle.  Put the lid on as tight as you possibly can.  You can even glue the cap to the bottle.  When shaken up, everything mixes together and your kids can play a game to find various objects.

All shaken up.  Can you find a pair of sunglasses?

Since the whole water/corn syrup proved to be pretty messy, I'm going to use colored rice when I do this with the scouts.  You can make your own by mixing several drops of food coloring with a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol per cup of dried rice.  Make sure to let it dry for several hours before storing.

Until next time,

CubMom

Academics and Sports Program

One of my goals this summer is to organize and condense the gigantic binder that houses all of my printed Cub Scout materials.  Last years documents came out a got filed, and I've been trying to figure out a way to make it less cumbersome to bring to meetings, along with  all of the supplies we'll need for that particular meeting.


I always keep a copy of the Academics and Sports Program Guide in my binder, but man that thing takes up a lot of space!  I had some quiet time this morning, and made a condensed document that will take up far less space, and still have the requirements handy.  You can find it on Scribd here.  This is just for the academics belt loops, sports belt loops are coming soon.  7 pages instead of 137 pages?  I think so!  


Until next time,


CubMom

Awards, Awards, Awards

If your Scouts are anything like mine, they LOVE to earn their awards every month!  At the Pack Meeting each month we have a nice little ceremony where each boy is called up individually and his awards for the month are announced to everyone.  We only had 9 scouts last year (our first year of charter, very small school), and were easily spending upwards of $100 a month on awards, especially belt loops which are $1.79 each.

Since many of our cubs have earned a LOT of the available belt loops in their first year, I was looking for something else.  Cubs are allowed to earn belt loops more than once in their Cub Scout years, but who wants to do the work all over again only to get the same award at the end of the month?  Enter the Activity Segment.  The great folks over at Ideal Emblem have little activity patches for just $0.49 each!  These little guys go around a 3" center patch, which is only $0.99.  Inexpensive, adorable, and different.  What more can you ask for?

Here's a shot of my first order for the boys that went to day camp, as well as the ranks they have earned.

Note that these activity segments are NOT a BSA item.  Some council shops carry them, others do not, and they are not to be worn on the uniform.  I'll be using these for my second and third year scouts who are earning belt loops for a second time.  I'm a Cubmaster...Now What, has taken the time to make activity segment award cards, and was kind enough to share the files.  Definitely check out the entire blog for really great ideas!

My own son loves earning belt loops, but doesn't like wearing the belt.  Now that he's in his third year of scouting, he has more belt loops than space on the belt!  Scout Stuff has this great little frame with cut outs for the belt loops that's fairly inexpensive.  He loves having them on display instead of sitting in the closet on the belt he doesn't wear.

For our next scouting year, we are bringing in the BSA Family Program, as well as the Messenger of Peace program to give the boys more opportunities to earn patches and pins.    More on both of those later.  What do you do when your scouts have earned belt loops for the second time?  Who pays for the duplicate?  Do you think activity segments would work for your group?

Until next time,

CubMom