Arrow of Light ceremony | Cub Scouts

I’ve been in Cub Scouts for a little over 3 years now, but for the majority of that time I was a Wolf den leader. I’m recently moved up in rank and am now the Cub Master of our pack. For my third pack meeting, I was in charge of putting together an Arrow of Light ceremony and I decided to do things a little differently!
I read through tons and tons and tons of ideas on the BSA website, pinterest and blogs, on things that had been done previously for Arrow of Light ceremonies. I wasn’t really inspired to do any of them, but I did take bits and pieces to create THIS ceremony.
Having been a leader of the 8 year old cub scouts (Wolves) for so long, I know that the boys really just want to have fun at these meetings, and so do I. I could have had a ceremony with a bunch of adults talking about how important scouting is, etc, etc (which of course, it is important!). But instead I tried to make it a little more interactive, with the cub scouts themselves helping and incorporating a game!
PREPARATIONS:

1. Light jars & “plaques”

• I used my Silhouette machine to create the rank cut out “plaques”. I say quote-un-quote plaques because these were only cardstock cut-outs. I had originally planned on cutting them out of wood and make them fancy looking plaques, but decided I didn’t have enough time to get them all cut with my Scroll Saw, so I opted for simple cardstock “plaques”. You can find the Silhouette file I created HERE.
• I found the rank images (bobcat, wolf, bear, Webelos, and arrow of light), imported them into the Silhouette program, traced them and then cut the outline of the image out of cardstock (save both the cutout and the whole paper), and also cut the traced lines out of vinyl.
• I sandwiched the cardstock and a piece of copy paper together, then put the vinyl cut-out on the white paper.
• (sounds VERY confusing…and of course I didn’t take ANY pictures. But it really was simple!!)
• I then taped those “plaques” to a mason jar filled with a strand of clear mini Christmas lights – when plugged in (in a darker room), the light shines through the copy paper parts.

This is a horrible zoomed in cell phone picture, but you can KIND OF get an idea!!

2. Rank Targets & bow and arrows

• This was actually VERY easy. I just used the cutouts (from above) and taped a folded paper piece of cardstock on the back to make them stand up.
• Buy a fun bow and arrow set, like THIS ONE. Make sure you have 4 arrows!

Again, a horrible picture, but this is what they are used for during the ceremony.

3. Fletching toothpicks for the refreshments

• I printed and cut THIS on my silhouette to make the fletching for the mini arrows (glued to toothpicks). These were stuck in donut holes!

CEREMONY:   --->   HERE is the script I created and used for the ceremony
We only had one boy receiving his Arrow of Light, so the spotlight was on him. After handing out everyone else’s awards first, we went into the ceremony for the Arrow of Light portion. This is the highest rank earned as a cub scout, so it’s important to make it a big deal!
Before the meeting started, I passed out 5 different parts to cubs scouts, in different ranks. There was a Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light part and I tried to get boys that were in or close to those dens. I also gave them an arrow, except the cub scout with the ‘Arrow of Light’ part, he got the bow.
Each boy read a little bit about what their rank was and then gave the cub scout receiving his Arrow of Light a task to complete before we moved on to the next rank’s part. The tasks were simple things that he should be able to do, as he learned it along his cub scout trail.
Here is an example from the script, that the Wolf scout read:

For that task, he had to fold the flag of the United States of America. This is a requirement in the old book, and in the new book, so the boys should learn this no matter what! We had to give him a little help, as it has been a couple years since he first learned it!! After he folded it, he was awarded an arrow and I plugged in the lights to the Wolf plaque. Then the boy with the Bear part read his script. Etc.
The really fun part was after he finished all the tasks for each rank and the ‘Arrow of Light’ part was read. His final task was to take the bow & use the arrows he earned to aim at the rank targets and try to hit them. It took him a little while to get warmed up, and he kept taking steps closer, but all the boys had so much fun watching him shoot the arrows. I think it’s something that stood out to them, and hopefully this helps encourage their desire to get to this point in cub scouting! If nothing else, it was entertaining for all of us!

Once he hit all the targets down, the boys that helped read parts sat back down and I had the honoree stay in the front with me. His mother came up too and I then presented him with his Arrow of Light awards – the patch, parent pin, and certificate (the certificate isn’t mandatory, it’s up to you as a cub master if it’s something you want to present or not).
Then I gave some closing remarks and thanked all the cub scouts for working so hard to get to where they’ve gotten so far & encouraged them to keep working hard. We had a closing prayer and then they dug in to the refreshments.

Again, hopefully this inspired the other boys to set some goals to get to this point in cub scouts. We have had a lot of changes in our pack, not to mention the book changes in June. But in the past 3 years, we’ve gone through quite a few cub masters. I’m not sure many of the boys even new this award existed. Now they do! And I’m so excited for them to keep earning belt loops, pins, and patches to get to this point!!


READER PICTURES:
--->If you've done this Arrow of Light ceremony, or used anything that I shared...please share it with me! I'd love to see how it turned out!!

[shared 6/22/2016]

Halloween Bowling – pinterest success!

Tis the season for Halloween Bowling! I’m a cub master and a preschool teacher & put together these bowling sets for both groups to make this past week (at pack meeting and at a preschool Halloween party). They were a huge success, and so stinkin’ cute!!

This project was a pinterest find, and I modified it a bit since I was making so many (12 sets) and had different ages (3 –10 yrs). The original version used 4 x 9” blocks, construction paper, googly eyes, and a bouncy ball. I made 1.5 x 6” blocks with vinyl stickers, and used a golf ball!

What you need to make my modified version:

• 6 – 1.5” x 6” x 1” blocks
• spray paint - (My favorite is Rust-oleum brand, use these colors - white, key lime, seaside, black, grape, and real orange)
• vinyl [and Silhouette machine] - (in these colors - black, white, and a little bit of yellow)
• vinyl sticker template (I created, this is for a Silhouette SD, but I think it will convert to other Silhouette versions)
• a golf ball (I got mine at Wal-mart, or find them here)
• red & black sharpies

Paint each board a different color, and let them dry. While those are drying, cut the vinyl stickers. I TOTALLY recommend a Silhouette machine, it makes projects like this so SO simple. All you have to do is open the template, load the vinyl & cut!

Once the boards are dry, and the vinyl is cut, it’s just a matter of applying the stickers. I showed the 3 year olds what it was suppose to look like (on the template), then they stuck them on how they wanted it to look. For the cub scouts, I just handed it to them and said, “put them together!”  The eyeball golf balls were simple too – use the sharpies to color in a black circle, then draw red squiggly lines all over it!

Then set it up and play!!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Cub Scouts – Wolf Achievement 3

This past week I did Wolf achievement 3 in Cub Scouts. It was a pretty fast den meeting, but we covered all of it and a few other electives.

Achievement 3a. I made this Habits of Good Health Chart for them to take home and keep track of their health habits for 2 weeks.

Achievement 3b. We talked about how to prevent spreading colds (ie: covering your coughs & sneezes with your elbow instead of your hands). It’s a pretty easy achievement to check off.

Achievement 3c. I brought some Band-Aids with me (and made sure they were crazy so the boys thought they were cool!). I made them roll play with each other and told them who had a “cut” and who had to take care of them. By the third boy, they all had it down pretty good – and they looked great with their Band-Aids on their faces, necks, hands, etc!

Another Achievement done!
(for more cub scout ideas, click HERE)

Teaching nutrition to 8 year olds (Cub Scouts)

I’ve been a Wolf Den Leader in Cub Scouts for about a year now & I’ll admit it’s pretty fun. My boys are definitely not old enough (starts at 8 years old, mine are 3 1/2 and almost 2) but now I’ll be ready for it when they get into cub scouts!

Anyway, at our last den meeting we worked on NUTRITION, which is right up my alley (ahem, cue Bachelors degree in Nutrition & Food Management). For those of you reading this for the cub scout aspect, we accomplished Wolf achievement 8 a & b, the belt loop requirements #1 & 2 & pin requirements #2 & 6.

Ach. 8a) Study the Food Guide Pyramid.  Name some foods from each of the food groups shown in the pyramid.

You can find “My Plate” at ChooseMyPlate.gov. I printed out this guide for 8 year old boys and we discussed the food groups, what they should eat, and how many calories & water they need and how much exercise they should get.

Ach. 8b) Plan the meals you and your family should have for one day. List things your family should have from the food groups shown in the Food Group Pyramid.  At each meal, you should have foods from at least three food groups.

I printed out a simple menu that I made on Microsoft Word. They looked at the food guide and filled out breakfast, lunch and dinner and made sure to have at least 3 different food groups for each meal. (I love their spelling!)

[translation -- Breakfast: orange, dark [chocolate] pancake, and 2 glasses milk.
Lunch: fish, yogurt, and carrots, water. Dinner: Veggie burger, toast, and apple juice]

Nutrition Belt Loop #1) Make a poster of foods that are good for you. Share the poster with your den.

I cut out pictures from a grocery ad - healthy foods & junk foods. Last year I let the boys cut it out themselves, and it took 3 times as long. This year I cut out beforehand and had it all ready to go, and it didn’t take NEARLY as long for them to make the poster! Instead of just a poster of good foods, I had them divide it in half and glue “good” foods & “junk” (not ‘jump’, see picture below!) foods. Then they shared with everyone in the den what was on their poster.

 

Nutrition Belt loop #2) Explain the difference between a fruit and a vegetable. Eat one of each.

This one is always controversial with the little boys. Some boys think something is a fruit, other boys thinks it’s a vegetable, sometimes they are both right depending on who you are talking to. With 8 year olds, I just had them list off easy fruits (ie: bananas, oranges, strawberries) and east veggies (ie: broccoli, celery, carrots). When it came to tomatoes, avocados, corn, etc. we had a small discussion about them and let the boys say what they thought each was then dove into the eating part! That is always a win with boys!!

Nutrition pin #2) Read the nutrition label from a packaged or canned food item. Learn about the importance of the nutrients listed. Explain what you learned to your den or family.

I brought a granola bar for each of them and they looked at the nutrition label. Each of them found a certain nutrient or listing (ie: protein, calories, sugar). They found how much was in it, and more questions were raised – “what’s a calorie?” “how big is a gram” “what is saturated”. I did my best to explain, but in the end, they only cared about eating it! Now they at least know what that label is and the info they can find on it.

Nutrition pin #6) Make a list of healthy snack foods. Demonstrate how to prepare two healthy snacks.

This one I helped them out with by printing off a list of snack ideas from ChooseMyPlate.gov. We read over this list and then made #3 & 5 snacks. 

They still have more to do with achievement 8, the belt loop and the pin before they can get those awards, but that’s a start! Now hopefully they are more aware of what is good for them, what they need to eat & how to plan and prepare what they eat.

One step closer to moving up in their ranks!
(for more cub scout ideas, click HERE)

*also posted HERE

Cub Scouts (wolf) – Elective 9 b & c

I’m an assistant cub scout leader for the wolf den (8 year olds). Last night we had a den meeting and accomplished elective 9 b & c. We only have three boys, but only two showed up last night. It was pretty easy to get these electives done in less than an hour.

We made bean bags (filled with dried corn instead of beans). I helped them use the sewing machine and they did everything else, even the hand stitching to close it.

 

And covered a can for a pencil holder (the book says to cover it with string or paper but we used fabric).

  

The boys had fun and were pretty happy with the end results. And of course I didn’t get a picture of the finished projects