Fire-free Smores November 14, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Campfires, Campouts, Cub Scouts, Meeting Helps, Outdoors, Scout Leaders, Scouts, Smores, Training, Webelos
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Hello fellow Scouters,
Happy Friday to you! As you know, it’s just not a Cub Scout campout without smores. There’s something about the combination of chocolate, roasted marshmallow, and graham crackers that can’t be beat. But what if you don’t have a campfire? What are you to do?
Here in southern California, we get dry spells in the fall (called Santa Ana’s), and we have campfire restrictions. There’s nothing like sitting around the fire ring staring at a lantern in it! Sometimes, when it’s real dry and windy, we can’t even use hot coals (so no dutch ovens). But that doesn’t mean we can’t have smores!
It’s easy to make a smore with no fire or heat. You still use your chocolate, and you still use 
your graham crackers. But instead of a marshmallow, you get a jar of marshmallow cream and substitute a spoonful of marshmallow cream for the roasted marshmallow. It tastes the same, and it still gets your child’s clothes and sleeping bag sticky. It’s not warm like a marshmallow right out of the fire, but a cold smore is better than no smore.
You can even use this outside of camping. Going to the beach for the day? Hosting a day-camp? Need a snack for a pack meeting? Now you can have smores and not have to worry about fire or marshmallow forks.
Enjoy!
In Scouting,
-Scouter Jeff <><
Webelos to Scout Transition – Part 3 November 12, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Campout Meal Planning, Campouts, Cub Scouts, Denner, Outdoors, Patrol Emblems, Scout Leaders, Training, Webelos, Webelos to Scout Transition
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Hello fellow Scouters,
This is part 3 in my take on Webelos to Scout transition, this time dealing with the patrol method of scouting. In Boy Scouts, the patrol method is used to teach the boys to work as a team, sharing responsibilities to help achieve success for the patrol. Webelos are not a patrol, they are still a den. But in looking to prepare my den for Boy Scouts, I have incorporated the following ideas from the patrol method.
Identity – at the end of our Bear year, the boys, not me, selected the 
patrol name and patch they would use as Webelos. A leader in our unit a few years back that chose the name himself, and he missed a great opportunity to let the boys have a say in how the den is run. My den chose the fox patch. As with Boy Scouts, they get to be creative with their name in our pack, so they chose to call themselves the “Cool Foxes”. I even found a stuffed fox on-line that looks like the patrol patch fox! He’s our mascot. Here’s a link to the different patrol patches: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/patrol-patch.asp
Flag – for our flag, I made a flag that looks like the patrol patch they chose. Knowing someone that sews is such a great thing! In hindsight, this might have been a good project to have the boys do, maybe over the summer after we became Webelos.
Patrol Yell – I had the boys come up with a patrol yell, which they wrote at our first campout as Webelos. It’s not fancy but it’s something they created.
Leadership – if you are not using the denner / assistant denner by the time you are Webelos, you need to. It’s an outstanding way to start teaching leadership. Our denner is in charge of opening and closing ceremonies. Now that we are second year Webelos, I tell the boys that I shouldn’t be involved in the opening or closing ceremonies (I am there to help, though). The denner gets other tasks as well throughout his term.
Campout Planning – at the start of our second year as Webelos this past September, we had 4 campout opportunities in the fall: Two in October and two in November. Since I want to only have one a month, I could have chosen one each month and put it on the calendar. But this is a great opportunity to let the boys start choosing what they want to do, as the will be doing in Boy Scouts. So we sat down and voted on which campouts we would go to as a den. They chose one troop/den campout and last weekend’s council-wide Webelos Woods campout.
Cooking/Meal Planning – after becoming Webelos, whenever we have a campout (either den or pack campouts), we use the patrol method for handling meals. The den meeting before the campout the boys choose the menu and set up the duty roster, so all get an opportunity to cook and clean up (and learn the painful lesson that cooks eat last). For meals I pull the boys away from their parents and we cook, eat, and clean up as a group. They will be doing this as Boy Scouts, so hopefully this will get them ready for this aspect of camping.
Tent Sharing – with my older son’s den a few years back, I never had the boys leave their parent’s tent. When we had our first troop/Webelos campout, and the troop ask the boys to form patrols and share tents with another Webelos scout away from their parents, one of the boys in that den freaked out. He had never been away from his parents. It was a lesson to me, with my current den, to try to get the boys out of their parent’s tent, in preparation for Boy Scouts (with the parents permission). We started with our first year as Webelos. We had the Webelos share a tent with each other at a campout, with the parents tenting nearby. One boy couldn’t make it through the night and went to his dad’s tent, which was OK. We keep doing it so they can get over the fear of not being with their parent. I don’t want their first campout in Boy Scouts to have to deal with this.
[A couple of reminders are in order here. You cannot take your den camping until they become Webelos. Before that, you can only go to pack and council campouts. And Webelos camping is still parent-son camping, so a parent needs to attend. And a Webelos can never sleep in a tent of another parent – only his own parent or legal guardian].
These are some of the ways I’ve tried to introduce the patrol method of Boy Scouting to my Webelos den. The hope is that all this will ease their transition into Boy Scouting. If you have any ideas to bring the patrol method into a Webelos den, please post them in the comments. We’d love to hear what you’ve done to get your Webelos ready for Boy Scouts.
In Scouting,
-Scouter Jeff <><
Campout Follow Up November 10, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Campouts, Cub Scouts, Outdoors, Scout Leaders, Training, Webelos
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Hello fellow Scouters,
Happy Monday to you all! As I wrote on Friday, we had our Webelos Woods campout this weekend. The Boy Scouts did an excellent job of providing an experience that mixed Scouting skills and plain old fun for our Webelos. I will write in a day or two about how I used this campout to help my Webelos prepare for Boy Scouts, but in the meantime, here’s a rundown of this past weekend:
Friday – We wanted to get there early, because it gets crowded. So me and my son arrived around 4:30 and set up our camp in the area assigned to our pack. We set up our tent, then set up the kitchen area that would be for all my Webelos. Since we were done early, we were able to help others bring up their gear from the drop off point to our area. We also helped some moms set up their tents. It was a good lesson in service for my son. Me and my son split a Subway 1-foot long sandwich for dinner, so we didn’t have to cook. My son had his half first, then smashed my half in the cooler. The bread was thinner than a slice of pita, but it tasted good and I was hungry. As I ate, I noticed that one of the dads in my den was grilling a steak. It was wrapped in bacon. I will be re-thinking my Friday evening meal planning going forward.
Saturday – The day was divided into four activity rotations, all put on by local Boy Scout troops. There were rope bridges, orienteering lessons, fire building challenges, Webelos Scientist activity badge lessons, obstacle courses, CPR training, and a lot more. The boys had a blast, and it was such a good introduction to Boy Scouting. The Boy Scouts that were there did such a good job of running these activities, and they showed a lot of maturity when dealing with the Webelos. They set a great example to the Webelos and their parents. Whenever I got the chance, I talked to my parents individually about Boy Scouting. I am looking to try to get them to commit to Boy Scouts, and I had some good discussions with them. I am hoping that any that were on the fence about joining Boy Scouts will do it. After the camp-wide campfire, I collected ash for the den ash collection. For the second night in a row I took heat from my Webelos for forgetting to bring hot cocoa.
Sunday – At 3am, I woke up to rain (not sprinkles, and not showers). Here in southern California, you usually don’t have to worry about rain in campouts, since it doesn’t rain here much any more. The last time I had rain on a campout was the last time I went to Webelos Woods, with my older son in 2004. (So maybe it’s me?). So I got out of the tent, and moved the dutch ovens under the table, and closed the stove. There wasn’t anything else I could do until sunrise, so I went back into the tent and tried mostly unsuccessfuly to sleep. Around 6am I got up, and dried up the river running through my tent. (Thankfully my son and I slept on cots, so we were 3 feet off the ground – I’m not much of a minimalist). The rain had died down to off-and-on showers at this point, so we were able to have breakfast and pack up camp. It didn’t start raining heavily again until I started out on the mile walk to where my car was parked (we have to park outside the camp area). We packed up and I came home with every piece of gear I own wet and muddy. It will take me a couple of weeks to dry and clean everything. While cleaning the dutch ovens, I’m thinking that I’m pretty much done with tent camping.
Today – As I write this, I am already looking forward to our next campout – our pack’s annual “Cold Camp”, on Superbowl weekend. (In most parts of the country, you’d call this “cool camp”). I am running through ideas for meals. For this campout, steak wrapped in bacon will be on the menu.
In Scouting,
-Scouter Jeff <><
Webelos to Scout Transition – Part 2 November 7, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scout Leaders, Training, Webelos, Webelos to Scout Transition
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Hello fellow Scouters,
Happy Friday to you all! Me and my son are headed out early today to our council’s Webelos Woods campout. (For those of you in colder climates, we here in Southern California get to camp all year. This weekend will be a “cool camp”, with night-time lows in the low 40’s). The Boy Scouts in our council put on this campout for the Webelos, specifically to show the best that Boy Scouting has to offer. I’ve been before with my older son and the scouts do a great job.
I will be writing more thoughts on this after we get back, but I wanted to note one more step in the Webelos to Scout transition process, that I will be working on this weekend. As a Webelos leader, I am an active recruiter for Boy Scouts. My job is to show the boys how great Boy Scouting is. Our pack generally feeds two Boy Scout troops, and my job is not to favor one or the other – I consider myself a recruiter for both troops. I will be talking to my Webelos about all the great things Scouting has to offer, no matter what troop the boys choose. We will discuss how important it is to choose a troop not based on what troop I go to, or their buddies go to. Although it’s good to choose a troop based on where your Scouting friends go to, it’s even better to choose one that fits you and your family’s philosophy of Scouting.
So along with having a (hopefully) great time camping this weekend, I will be recruiting for Boy Scouts. And hopefully the boys will want to join Boy Scouts and continue their Scouting experience.
In Scouting,
-Scouter Jeff <><
The Scouting On-line Community November 5, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scout Leaders, Training, Webelos
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Hello fellow Scouters,
The National Boy Scout of America recently rolled out a new Scouting on-line community. This is a social network site that brings leaders together. It’s still in beta form, and there will no doubt be a lot of modifications and improvements to it in the coming months. But even as it stands now I think it’s a great site and worth signing up. The thing I’ve found most useful are the Groups. You can join a group already formed and post ideas, questions, etc. in the forums. Or if there’s a particular area of Scouting you enjoy and you don’t see a group, you can form one. Personally, I think this will be the most powerful part of the on-line community – bringing those together with the same functions/interests/expertise.
To be part of the community, you first need to update your MyScouting profile to allow access to the on-line community. Log on to MyScouting at National’s site http://www.scouting.org/, then choose the Profile tab and scroll all the way to the bottom and check the Community box. You can then log on to the site at http://community.scouting.org/.
For those Scouting trainers out there, make sure you check out the Trainers group at Groups\Volunteers\Trainers. It’s open to everyone, even if you aren’t a trainer. There are already some great discussions going on.
In Scouting,
-Scouter Jeff <><
Webelos to Scout Transition October 30, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scout Leaders, Training, Webelos, Webelos to Scout Transition
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Hello fellow Scouters,
A lot has been said about Webelos to Boy Scout transition. As a Webelos den leader, it’s vital that work hard to make sure you boys go into Boy Scouts. Since much has been written about this topic, I won’t go into too much detail. But here are a few thoughts for Webelos den leader to consider.
First, as a den leader, you should consider changing the way you hold den meetings to look more like a troop meeting. What I did in both the Webelos dens I’ve led is the first year of the program was more like Cub Scouts – it was all about advancements and pack meeting preparation. But I made a shift in year two of the program. For that year (or partial year in most cases), I backed off of Webelos activity badge advancements and looked more to work on Scout skills, as our local troops do. I also took the boys to as many troop meetings as I could our second year. I wanted the first troop meeting they attended as official Boy Scouts to be old news, not something new and possibly intimidating.
Second, as a Webelos den leader, make sure you get to troop meetings yourself. Go early in your Webelos program and go often. If you want to pattern your meetings after troop meetings, you have to know what target you are aiming for. And once probably won’t be enough. Usually your pack has a troop or two it feeds into, and your Cubmaster should have the contacts for that troop. But don’t be afraid to go to your local Roundtable and ask some of the Boy Scout leaders there if you can come to their meetings. Be bold! Don’t forget that you have what they need – Webelos that will be transitioning soon.
Finally, one thing I’ve asked all of my parents is to commit to Boy Scouts for one year. There are so many good things about Boy Scouts, it’s a shame to not join. It’s too easy for the boys and parents to stop Scouting when they graduate from the Cub Scout program, and they will end up missing so much. So I ask my parents to join Boy Scouts and give it a year before making the decision to stay or not. By then hopefully they will see the promise of Scouting and how it molds and shapes a young man’s life.
If you have tips or advice on this topic, please leave it in the comments.
In Scouting,
-Jeff <><
E-Mail Accounts October 29, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Communication, Cub Scouts, E-mail, Scout Leaders, Training
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Hi fellow Scouters,
E-mail is a crucial part of being involved in Scouting. I have no idea how they did Scouting before the days of the Internet and e-mail (the dark ages). How do you handle e-mail accounts? I learned early on as a leader that I’d rather have a separate Scouting e-mail vs. having my e-mail come to my main account. For me, it is so much easier to keep personal e-mail separate from Scouting e-mail. When I have time, I can take care of all the Scouting e-mails, and not have to find them mixed in with personal e-mails. Less things get lost, and I can manage them better (such as setting up folders). An additional benefit is that I can set up two different address books, and not have to worry about who are Scouting contacts and who are personal contacts.
Good communication is vital to being a good Scout leader. I will have a post one day on my thoughts about communication. But for me personally, one thing that helps me be a better communicator as a Scout leader is a separate e-mail account. If you are struggling with managing e-mail, consider setting up a separate e-mail. There are so many good free e-mail services out there (G-mail, Hotmail, Yahoo).
What works for you? Feel free to leave a comment about what works and what doesn’t work concerning e-mail.
In Scouting,
– Jeff <><
Water Bottle Cardboard Packaging October 27, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Craft Helps, Cub Scouts, Scout Leaders, Training
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Hello fellow Scouters,
If your family is like ours, we buy those 24-packs of water bottles often. One thing I’ve found useful is the cardboard bottom that they come packaged with. These make a really good “container” to do some of the messy work when working on crafts. This weekend I needed to do some staining, and I was able to use this to hold the wood item and the stain container. Although it’s not waterproof, if I drip some stain, I don’t have to worry about it getting on something I don’t want it to.
And recently I needed to spray paint some fender washers for the old washer and pie tin game. These cardboard bottoms worked great to spray paint in. Since they have sides, it kept the overspray from getting on the lawn, where I did the painting. And when I was done spray painting I took the whole container and set it on a shelf so they could dry. You could even paint with different colors on different items, one color of paint for each cardboard container, and stack them “criss-cross” to dry.
If you have one for each boy in your den, you could use them for den crafts, and the boys can take the crafts home in this container. No more worrying about how to send home crafts with wet paint or glue that takes time to dry. They can just put this in the car and let it dry at home.
So as you finishes your water bottle pack, consider keeping the cardboard bottom. It can come in handy for craft projects.
Have a great week!
In Scouting,
-Jeff <><
Meeting Bottlenecks October 24, 2008
Posted by jeffcummings in Uncategorized.Tags: Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Meeting Helps, Scout Leaders, Training
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Hello fellow Scouters,
Happy Friday to you! One key to running a successful meeting is learning to anticipate and plan for any bottlenecks in the meeting plan. A bottleneck is something that slows the meeting down and leaves some of the boys idle. And, of course, idle boys will find something to do, and it’s not always easy to get them back!
So as you are going through your meeting plan, look over each activity and see what could slow it down. Are you doing a weaved leather craft, but only have one or two leather punches? Are you doing kerchief slides, but only have a few glue guns? Are you building birdhouses, but don’t have enough hammers for all the boys? Do you have activity rotations, but the activities are of a different length of time?
As you plan out your meeting, look for ways to overcome these bottlenecks. Maybe you should buy some more supplies or tools. Or you go to your unit and see if the unit or any other leaders have some supplies or tools you can borrow. Maybe you go to your parents and tell them to bring a hammer or other items to the meeting. You could even split up the boys and have rotations – one group could work on the activity while the other group plays a game, and then switch (keeping in mind two-deep leadership, of course).
Careful step-by-step planning can avoid this, and make your meeting go a lot smoother. Then you and the scouts will have a great time!
In Scouting,
-Jeff <><
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