Build My Own Hero Adventure--And Hero Space Derby

Build Your Own Hero

We loved this one!

Week 1: Discuss #1-2, 4-6

We had a local police officer come talk to us. He explained some of what he does and then let the Webelos see inside his car. They got to see how to turn on the lights, sirens, etc. You could also couple this one with the First Responder Adventure (one First Responder visit/field trip for both adventures), although I think the Webelos really enjoy getting to experience both.

For learning about a hero in another part of the world, I brought some little simple biographies. Everyone chose one to read on his own and then share with the group. (We gave them 5 minutes or so to read it before sharing.) We did the same thing for the Scout hero, but we used “Scouts in Action” from the Boy’s Life magazine. (They publish “Scouts in Action” every month, or you can find low-quality files on their website. We wanted to use some of these for a special Pack Meeting one time, so I wrote and requested some specific ones as high-quality files.)

These are the people we used for our world hero biographies:
Winston Churchill
Mother Theresa
Corrie Ten Boom
Louis Pasteur 

Week 2: Hero Game

We created this game before we were using the new program, but it really lent itself well to this adventure, so we kept it! It is like a board game, but life-size. (The Webelos Scouts are the playing pieces.) To prepare the game, print the game spaces. I printed each space on its own color of paper. I printed two copies of the “Switch” spaces, and 3-4 copies of all the others. You’ll also need to print the question cards. I made up the questions based on the needs we had in our den at that time, so you can do whatever you want or need. At your den meeting place, you’ll need a big space. Tape the game spaces to the floor spaced out a little (so they are not crowded as they move around and so the Scouts don’t have too many problems keeping their hands to themselves). Just be careful not to spread them out too far because you want everyone to hear, and you don’t want to lose anyone! Like a board game, intersperse the different spaces fairly evenly. For moving, we made a big box out of foamboard (from the dollar store). Each side of the box had one of the pictures from the game spaces on it, like a dice, or a number (1-3).

To play: Each Webelos Scout gets to choose a hero they will represent for the game (a real person or a fictional character—i.e. my dad, Superman, etc.). We wrote the hero names on an index card and tied it on a string around their necks so they could remember. Each Webelos Scout also got to wear a hero cape (from the dollar store). To start, each Webelos Scout stood on a different “Heros in Training” space on the game board floor. (We did this just to keep everyone spaced out a little to start.) The first person rolls the box/dice and has to answer a question that relates to that space. If they answer correctly, they can move to the space with that picture. If someone is already on that space, they go to the next spot (whether it matches the picture or not). Here is the trick—on Test of a True Hero spaces, they are not answering the question as themselves, but as their hero. So they have to decide how Superman (or grandpa, or whoever) would handle the situation. Everyone decides together if it is the “right” answer or not based on the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The Good Deed spaces are just for fun, where everyone gets to move without having to do anything. If someone lands on a Switch space (the arrows), he can decide to keep their hero or trade for a new hero. This was so that if your hero is Skeletor who never answers the questions correctly, you have a chance to change for someone else. Or if someone has a hard time deciding on one hero, they have a chance to trade partway through.  One time we played, we gave out little candies for correct answers. The second time I forgot about that until we were partway through, but it still worked out okay. The last time we played, I didn’t bother with the candy at all.

After the game, we had a little reflection, where we talked about what it means to be a good hero, and whether the heroes they chose for the game were good heroes or not. We also talked about what kinds of things we can be doing so that we can also be good heroes to someone else. If you have enough time, this could also be a good opportunity to talk about the hero awards they are giving out. Each Scout should choose his own hero he would like to recognize. We had one Scout who wanted to give an award to three different people, which was also great! We also sent home the Hero poster this week, with the Scout Oath and Law on it. (I printed them on cardstock and laminated them, then encouraged them to take it home and hang it up.)

Files for hero game:
Game Spaces
Sample Questions

Hero Certificate
Hero poster to send home

Week 3: Finish up anything you haven’t finished before OR do a Hero Space Derby

We have done a Hero Space Derby for three years in our den, and it’s one of the highlights of the year! The first two years we did the BSA space derby kits. It worked okay, but it was kind of a pain. The kits are harder for families to do (at least that’s the feedback I got—I suspect this is mostly because it’s different from the pinewood derby kits they’re used to). We also had a lot of downtime during the derby because it takes a long time to wind the rockets in between each race. This year, we tried a stomp rocket instead. It was really fun, and we didn’t have the problem with downtime. (In addition, the stomp rockets can count towards the Engineer Adventure if you are working on that.) They decorated their rockets that day, so parents didn’t have to worry about doing anything at home ahead of time. We have done this several ways—having just our den or allowing families to come. It worked well both ways.

We had the foyer set up as “Astronaut Registration.” When they came in, each Scout received a name badge and a Space Derby patch. When doing the space derby kits, they were given a straw rocket kit to play with at this point because it takes a little time to get set up.

The next step was to have everyone move to the “Astronaut Orientation and Training” area. Here, we played a video of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren placing the flag on the moon for our flag ceremony. We discussed some of the products that were developed for the space program (such as Velcro and juice boxes), as well as some astronauts that have been Cub Scouts (I found a list by searching online). We had a display set up nearby of NASA heroes (pictures of prominent astronauts, like the first American in space, the first to leave Earth’s orbit, first on the moon, etc. as well as later ones like the crew of Challenger, etc.). We talked about how they were heroes, but that they were just doing their jobs. Even Cub Scouts can be heroes by doing their job and by dreaming and working for bigger things. We originally planned this around the anniversary of the Moon landing (July 20), so we spent some time talking about what that was like and showed a video.

When doing the stomp rockets, the next step was to have them decorate their rockets. We just used lengths of the pool noodles from the dollar store or Walmart. We glued a piece of foam plate over the top to cover up the hole. They decorated their rockets with stickers, markers, etc. If you are doing this as part of the Engineer Adventure, it would be good to have them experiment with different lengths, cone vs. no cone, shape of cone, fins, etc.

After this, we moved on to the derby.  We had the track set up at the “Launch Site.”  (We blocked off the track/stomp area with chairs and signs that said “Authorized Personnel Only.”)  For the derby, we had several races for speed and for distance.  We also set up balloons partway down the track with a pin in a card right before it, to see which rocket(s) could pop the balloons.  One thing we learned was that it took a long time to set up the rockets between each race.  It was nice to have the straw rockets for them to play with, but it would have been better to have more games and activities.  We also decided that we needed to have a winding mechanism to help make the process faster.  You can find the instructions for using a drill to wind the rockets several places online.  We also found that we needed extra rubber bands because several broke right away.  We found some the same size as those in the kits at Staples. For the stomp rockets, we mostly just had fun, but we did see who could go the highest. If you were working on the Engineer, you could do a lot more things, like testing different styles of rockets.

After the races, we gave out awards to the Scouts for completing their “missions.” They each received a package of astronaut ice cream.

We also had a “Refueling Station” of snacks for everyone.  We had juice boxes, Tang, and Moon Pies.

With the stomp rockets this year, we added in a few games on the side. We had a “geologist” game where they had to collect “moon rocks.” I had a small round inflatable swimming pool that represented a moon crater. It was filled with little balls (like jumping house balls) and a mix of individually wrapped candies underneath the balls. They had a minute or so to find as many different kinds of “moon rocks” as possible—get as many candies as you can without getting two of the same kind.

To download the files we used for the signs and things for the Space Derby, see the original post here.