MOP Underway!

Our Messenger of Peace project officially got underway this week.  We spoke to the boys about animal rescues in general, about the rescue we are supporting specifically, and all the different ways they are going to help.  

After snack, all of the boys made feathered cat toys.  I found the instructions for these easy to make toys with a quick Google earch.  We used 12" dowels, tacky glue, feathers, and floral tape.  The boys put some glue on the end of the dowel, stuck some feathers to it, wrapped the glued end with the tape and repeated the process 3 times.  The results look like little colorful feather dusters!  Pictures to come soon. I didn't take any while we were making them, but my own boys want to make more so I'll get some then!  The scouts really got into the project and each made 5-6 toys.  

After that, the boys made awareness ribbons out of duct tape.  We made them strips of duct tape, and had them cut strips, fold and tape, put a paw print sticker on the front and a pin on the back.  This didn't keep their attention for too long, but our parent volunteers made several.  

As our wrap up activity, the boys made cards that will go into our care packages.  They drew pictures on the front with a message along the lines of "congratulations, welcome home, and thank you for adopting."  

We accomplished a lot, and the boys are very excited to go and volunteer in a few weeks.  Each boy was sent home with a folder containing all of the information about our project for the parents to see and decide where they can help.

As a side note, if you're working on MOP, keep track of all the hours you put into your project.  Parent's contributions count too!

Until Next Time,

CubMom

Campfire Pack Meeting

In October we had our second annual Campfire Pack Meeting.  We made s'mores and had our Bobcat ceremony.  At the den meeting right before the pack meeting, the boys made campfire neckerchief slides.  This was our first go at making our own slides, and the boys really liked it.

I went to Home Depot and bought a length of 1/2" PVC, which is super inexpensive, and you get a ridiculous amount of 1" pieces from each length.  Side story, I have two Home Depot stores are that close to me.  The one that is slightly farther away has a much nicer staff that will pretty much do anything for you.  Example, I saw a PVC pipe "club house" on Pinterest and set out to make one last summer.  The awesome guys in the plumbing section not only cut all of the PVC to the specified size, they actually helped me build the ENTIRE thing in the middle of the aisle, marked all of the pieces, and carried everything out to the car for me.  The clubhouse was 5'x5' and nearly 10' tall.  Look.  For reference, that's a 6' high fence.  

The Home Depot that is closer to me, they aren't quite as accommodating.  When I asked the gentleman to cut the pipe into 1" sections for me, with a MACHINE, he directed me to the plumbing tools and told me to buy a manual PVC cutter.  Ah, well.  I learned how to do something new, and it IS easier to store one length of pipe and cut pieces off as needed rather than having a ton of 1" pieces taking up space in my supply drawers.

Back to the neckerchiefs.  I used this template for the slides.  I printed the stencil on card stock, and I did all of the tracing on to the red, orange, and yellow foam.  The boys cut out the pieces, glued them together, colored the popsicle sticks to look like logs, and glued them on top.  Our Boy Scout helper then hot glued the foam onto the PVC.

This is my tester slide.  You'll notice on the top picture that all of my pen marks are on the back slide of the slide that no one will see (thank you Alpine District for the tip!).  These were a really cute way to get the boys excited for the campfire, and a physical memory of the night.

Until Next Time,

CubMom

Den and Pack Number Keychains

To hammer home my point of always testing out my projects before I have my scouts do them, I had one go wrong the other night.  Like a "what was I thinking?!" moment.  I've had a template for making numbers for a pony bead key chain, and thought my guys might like having something to hang on their school bags once we get back in school mode and the pack numerals sounded good to me.  


In my ever growing arsenal of project supplies, I grabbed a box of pony beads, a bag of keychain rings, and a roll of 1mm stretch magic.

I made a simple loop knot (I know it actually has a name, but it escapes me at the moment).

Ah, but the knot wouldn't stay tight.  I kept pulling and pulling, but no dice.  I kept going anyway.  


Making these keychains is pretty simple; it helps to have all of your supplies right next to you, and have a nice flat surface to work on.  


Separate the strings, and put your entire row of beads on to one string.

From top to bottom, we'll call them 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Next, take the other string, and string it back through the beads in opposite order; 5, 4, 3, 2 then 1.  Pull the strings so there isn't any slack at the top.  You might have to wiggle and jiggle a little to get it even.

Keep using this method one row at a time, adjusting the strings as you go along.  I added two more rows to mine before I gave up!

Stretch Magic was NOT the best choice of lacing material!  I couldn't get it to lay flat, nor could I keep the strings from slipping and sliding around!  Luckily, I hoard string and embroidery floss and yarn and hemp string...see where I'm going with this?

I took all of the beads off, put some hemp string on, and got back to work.  Here's how it ended up.

Much better!  One and a half numbers in, I stopped.  I realized that doing a 3 number keychain would be pretty big, and would take up more time than I wanted to devote in a den meeting.  Solution?  Switch out the beads to blue and yellow and have them make their den numbers!  The number template link can be found here.  You may have to add rows to some of the numbers to keep them evenly sized, but the template makes it easy to figure out!


Until next time,


CubMom

Recycled and Inexpensive Items for Projects

It was a great vacation week, but now we are back to business!


I drive everyone in the house insane because I'm constantly saying, "Don't throw that away!  I can use it for Cub Scouts!"  Among the things I save are cardboard paper towel tubes, cardboard toilet paper tubes, plastic jars, plastic takeout containers, spare nuts and bolts, extra stickers, scraps of paper, and magazines that have been read.  You just never know when or how you'll be able to put these things to use!


I also stock up on specific items when I see them on sale or clearance.  This is a great time of year to stock up on crayons, markers, glue, scissors, and construction paper.  Usually if you wait until a week or two after school starts, you can get these items REALLY cheap.  I got name brand scissors at Target last year on clearance for $0.51!  I always try to have enough of everything to go around, or for two boys to share things like glue bottles and packs of markers or crayons.  


And quite honestly, the dollar store, specifically Dollar Tree for me (no affiliation), has great finds.  I stock up on measuring cups and spoons, pencils, wiggle eyes, pipe cleaners, river rocks (pet rocks, geologist pin) and many other craft supplies.  We've also used dollar store flip flops and shoe laces to make lacing cards for the Knots electives, as well as neck ties and rope.  When we put together our Outdoor Camping Essentials pack (Wolf elective 23 I think?)  I got everything but the food from the dollar store.  If I recall correctly, I found large plastic pencil cases that had a clip attached, small flashlights, collapsible water bottles, first aid kits, and a few other items.  We added granola bars for camping food.  I think there is one around here somewhere.  When I track it down I will edit with the pictures.


What items to you recycle for scout projects?  Is there anything else that you stock up on because you just know you're going to need it?


Until Next Time,


CubMom

Woven CD Coaster

I pinned this CD weaving tutorial a while back and decided to give it a try yesterday.  The blogger suggests making your own "needles" our of plastic lids, but I had some sturdy plastic needles on hand from my Wolves making bean bags two years ago, so I used that.  I recall getting a bag of 12 or so at the craft store for a dollar or two.  I won't bore you with the tutorial steps as it's already taken care of in the link above.  This was an easy project, can be tied into Making Something Useful, Webelos Craftsman, and probably the Native American themed electives for the weaving.  I had my older son give the weaving a try and he did well with it.  You can also use this to add, reinforce and enhance a knot tying meeting.  


Due to my near constant need to reorganize, I couldn't think for the life of me what I did with the box of blank CDs, so I just borrowed a movie from my kids!  I had to cut off my weaving to give it back to them when I finished!  


This is the loom part.

 Tie on your first color with a square knot.  

 It's just simple over and under, around and around.

 Tie on a new color when you get bored!

 I didn't finish all the way out to the edge, but you will want to to cover the entire CD.  I saw a pack of 12 CDs at the office supply store for $4.99 if you don't have any laying around the house.

For Wolves and Bears, I would have the loom part already prepared.  I'd have the Webelos do the entire thing themselves.  Depending on how many CDs you have on hand, you could give the boys a few extras to do at home so they have a set of coasters that they could give as a gift.  There is no limit to how many colors they can use, encourage them to tie on as many as they'd like and in the colors that they like.  The craft store usually has decent yarn in a variety of colors for $1 each.  I think this is something my scouts will really enjoy making!

Until next time,

CubMom

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

Den Meeting Projects (crafts)

I've been working on a post for almost a week now about some projects that my scouts really enjoyed.  The only problem is that I don't have pictures of these projects, and it would be ridiculously boring to just read about them.  I contemplated posting a bunch of links, but then you have to go back and forth between the post and the linked page.  So we're just going to muddle our way through.  


I've mentioned before that my group LOVED doing craft projects.  It was perhaps the most asked question at the beginning of each den meeting.  Crafts and projects are supposed to be used to add and enhance your program.  Simple cut and paste jobs just won't do!  I tried to make all of our projects tie into what we did in the meeting, or used them to get us started on what we would be working on next.  Just about everything we did counted toward an achievement, elective, or portion of a belt loop or pin.  Around holidays, we did something using that particular theme.  I know that 90% of my pack is returning, and I'm anticipating doubling our previous number of scouts in the new school year.  Nothing gets past these guys, so I surely won't be able to use something next year that I did last year!  So I'm spending some time this summer to find some projects that are new and different.  Most of that time so far has been spent in Pinterest!  


I found an activity that I'm going to do at the first den meetings.  Each boy decorates a quarter circle inside a square outline and then you put them all together.  When I click through the pin to the original link, it's in German, and it's a private blog.  Womp womp.  So here is a template I made.  

I made mine 4" by 4".  6" would have been too big once I fit them all together.  I plan on printing them on white card stock so the squares are study, then I'll attach them to poster board for the first pack meeting.  The plan is to match up ones that are similar, so the boys can see that while we are all individuals, together we make up a group with things in common.

On another note, mixing my colored rice worked well, and I'll be able to use it for "rice art" bottles, and the iSpy bottles.  My wee one made an iSpy bottle with the rice and it turned out really well.

Once I saw that the rice layers well, I shook the jar for a few minutes to mix it all up for our iSpy bottle.  My little guy had fun choosing what "spies" to put in the bottle.  We used a funnel to pour the rice in, and he loves shaking it up to find everything in there!  Included are animal and vehicle beads from Joann Fabrics, as well as a bunch of various shaped buttons from several chain craft stores.  There are also some plastic bingo chips, alphabet beads, pony beads, and plastic charms.  Bags of several hundred beads are just a few dollars.  I mixed everything I had into a big hexagonal shaped jar with a lid.  Finding everything in there is an adventure in and of itself!

I'm working on more ideas.  Hopefully my kids will want to demonstrate them for the blog!

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