Engineer Activity Badge

When we did the Engineer activity badge, we invited an engineer to come talk to us about engineering.  He did a great job and covered many of our requirements with the Scouts.  We built bridges out of paper and blocks as is suggested in the book and tested them with toy cars.  The Scouts thought that was fun and seemed to grasp the concept well.  One Scout was even talking about it months later.  We had each Scout draw a floor plan of his home as is required, and then I held onto the drawings until we did the Readyman activity badge; we simply added onto them for the fire escape plan.  We also built wooden catapults using kits from the Scout store.  We used our catapults to have a miniature marshmallow war!  I made a castle out of foam board with the windows and doors cut out, then covered in tissue paper strips.  The Scouts tried to shoot out the tissue paper with the marshmallows.  They had a great time!  We also made an electric circuit differently than is suggested in the book because flashlights are not made the same way anymore.  We used a board, nails, wire, and a small metal strip as a switch.  We had the nails in the boards, and the Scouts assembled by putting in the battery, bulb, and attaching the wires.  Here is a photo of what the circuit looked like:

Scientist Activity Badge

One of the most fun ways we have shared in Pack Meeting was with the Scientist Activity Badge.  After completing the Scientist activity badge, we arranged to have a science magic show at Pack Meeting.  The Scouts can perform “amazing” science tricks for their families and the younger Scouts like the egg in a bottle, coin tricks, determining if an egg is raw or boiled, etc.  We used the suggested activities in the handbook.

I also prepared a scientific method worksheet that we had the Scouts fill out as we worked on the activity badge.  It can be downloaded by clicking here.

Citizen Activity Badge

The Cub Scout Den and Resource Guide suggests that you play Jeopardy to pass off some of the requirements for the Citizen activity badge.  This worked well for us.  I used their suggested plan as a starting point and modified it some.  I found that while they were okay, some of their questions did not really work towards the requirements, and there were others that were not included that I thought could be.  I created the game on JeopardyLabs, so we were able to play from my tablet during den meeting.  Here is the link to the game I put together: jeopardylabs.com/play/webelos-citizen-jeopardy24 (click to follow link).  You can play from that website or use it as a starting point for your own game. 

Playing this game (mine, available here) fulfills these requirements for the Citizen activity badge:

#2

#3—partial

#4—partial

#6

This is a fun way to quickly get through a good chunk of the information.  If you want to print (or quickly view) the list of questions, you can use this file.

The only problem we ran into was that some of our Scouts don't read well.  I read all the questions aloud, so none had to read them to answer, but the problem came in answering.  We allowed them to refer to their handbooks for help if needed, but not all of them were able to do so.

Readyman Activity Badge

After a failed attempt at a lecture-style presentation of the Readyman activity badge, we tried something completely different the next time.  I made a matching game that the Scouts played instead.  I printed the problems (i.e. shock, first-degree burn) on one color of cardstock, and the treatment on another color of cardstock.  I also laminated the cards so we can use them again.  We put all the cards face-down on a table.  We put all the problems together and all the treatments together, but I suppose you could mix them up if you wanted.  The Scouts took turns choosing one problem card and one treatment card and tried to find the match.  When they did find a match, we discussed the problem and treatment, and then we practiced the skill.

This worked well and the Scouts thought it was a lot of fun!  They seemed to grasp it better than the lecture and had a lot more fun.  I am including the file for the memory game, as well as a file for flashcards.

If you play the game (and practice all these skills along with it), you will pass off most of the requirements for the Readyman activity badge.  You will still need to:

-Complete the Courage Character Connection

-Have each Scout complete my Safety Notebook (click link to open file).  This Safety Notebook will complete several requirements for the Readyman activity badge as well as most of the Fitness activity badge (see this post for more information).

-Requirement #2 (explain how to get help in an emergency and make a “ help list”)

-Requirement #8 (safe swim)

Fitness Activity Badge and Safety Notebook

The Fitness activity badge is best completed at home.  In fact, most must be done with a parent.  To facilitate this, I have sent home a packet with each Scout that has all the information they need to do it.  The packet includes:

-A letter to the parent explaining the requirements

-A copy of this Safety Notebook (see explanation below)

-Charts for meal planning, tracking, and evaluation (these came from our council’s Pow-Wow book, and they’ve worked pretty well)

I put together this safety notebook.  It will pass off quite a few requirements for both the Fitness and Readyman activity badges if a parent goes over each section with the Scout and they complete the necessary parts together (like the safety rule and emergency contact lists).  I print the file double-sided, and I usually print the first sheet on cardstock so it has a sort of a cover.  Fold the book in half and staple it.  (The pages seem out of order in the file but will work correctly once it’s put together.)

Alternately, you can have your Scouts do the meal planning requirement as a den activity using this file.  This activity does not require reading.

Why this blog?

I created this blog to help fulfill one of my Wood Badge ticket items--to put together and share some ideas that have worked well in my Webelos den.  I hope some of these ideas might be useful for other people, too!

I will be sharing some activities that will be labeled "low-reading."  I have several Scouts in my den that do not read well (or at all), so these "low-reading" activities are ones were designed with them in mind.  These activities require either little or no reading ability.