Cub Scout Monthly Themes for 2008
- 2009
Cars have fascinated every generation since their
invention in 1769. They've been featured in many movies
and on television. Discover the different kinds of cars
and trucks such as limousines, taxis, van's, pickups,
SUV's and racecars. Learn how these vehicles are built,
repaired, modified and sold. Visit a car dealership,
auto mechanic or auto parts dealer. Boys can build car
or truck models or create a model of a showroom or a
garage with miniature die cast cars. Participate in a
slot car race or pinewood derby race with your den or
pack.
Happy Chinese New Year! Or more appropriately, Gung
Hay Fat Choy! (The traditional Chinese New Year
greeting). This month we welcome the year 4705. Let's
celebrate and welcome the New Year with dragon dances,
paper lanterns, fortune cookies and oranges for abundant
joy. Decorate your blue and gold banquet with banners
inscribed with Chinese characters for luck and lots of
red, the symbol of a bright and sunny future. Why not
earn the Language and Culture belt loop and pin as we
learn about and enjoy the culture of China.
This month Cub Scouts will turn recycled items into
treasure and learn about conservation at the same time.
Using items that would normally go in the trash or
recycling bin, build artistic masterpieces of your own
design. It's amazing what some recycled bottles and
paper can do when combined with glue and a little
imagination. Have a gallery opening at your pack meeting
with all your art displayed. Don't forget the Art belt
loop and pin.
Cub Scouts love to amaze and be amazed! Boys discover
secrets of the magician's art this month as they
demonstrate magical illusions and learn new tricks with
cards, coins and other everyday objects. The Cub Scout
Magic Book is a great resource for age-appropriate
tricks and puzzles. Visit a magic shop or have a
magician come to your den or pack meeting to teach the
boys a few tricks of the trade. Prepare to watch in
wonder at the pack meeting as your Cub Scouts entertain
their audience with skits, stunts and sparklers that
they have practiced at den meetings. The Cubmaster uses
the magic of ceremonies to pull awards from his hat at
the mystifying pack meeting magic show. This would be a
good month to hold your pack space derby.
MAY 2008 – Leaf it to
Cubs
Cub Scouts will learn about the wonders of nature's
gift to us, a tree! Learn to identify poison oak, poison
ivy and various trees by their shape and leaf design.
Try leaf rubbing, leaf prints, making a leaf collage,
preserving leaves with wax paper or making a leaf
collection from fallen leaves. Make a leaf boat and race
it at a den or pack meeting. Participate in a tree
planting or your local Arbor Day activities. Either
adopt a tree or plant one and watch it grow. Research
how trees are used to help us in our daily lives. Field
trips can be to a lumberyard, nature center, forest
preserve or local park. Earn the Collecting belt loop
and pin.
As the athletes of the world strive to do their
personal best in international competition, Cub Scouts
have the opportunity to "Go for the Gold" by doing their
best in feats of skill and prowess. This month Cub
Scouts learn about exercise and sports and put that
knowledge to use playing Ultimate or another sport not
played before. Remember that not only is it important to
do your best when you play a sport but it is important
to understand the rules of being a good sport no matter
the outcome of the game. This month would be a great
time to work on one of the Cub Scout Sports belt loops
and pins in baseball, golf or flag football.
Dive right in as Cub Scouts spend a month learning
about water, our most precious resource. Learn about
marine life. Dens can visit a water treatment facility,
local aquarium or fish farm. Cub Scouts may even want to
prepare their own aquarium or fish bowl and "adopt a
gold fish". This is also an excellent opportunity to
teach our Cub Scouts about water conservation. Don't
forget learning about water safety. Enjoy water games;
hunt for shells and experience all the beach has to
offer. Cub Scouts love to get wet. What could be better
than a water carnival complete with games, competition,
and safe swim demonstrations? This would be a great time
to work on the Wildlife Conservation, Fishing, or
Swimming belt loop and pin. Have an outdoor Cub Scout
raingutter regatta race.
Summer memories can last a lifetime and memories made
with your Cub Scout den or pack can be some of the best.
So let's make "S'More" Cub Scout memories this month.
Since "outing" is part of Cub Scouting, let's get
outside and have some fun. Be it having a picnic, water
party, softball game or campout; there is no limit to
the amount of fun to be had by all this month. Why not
have a pack family campout following the guidelines your
leaders learned in BALOO training? What could be better
than an outdoor pack meeting complete with a campfire?
Whether you make a real or synthetic fire, the fun is
100% genuine. This would be a good opportunity to work
on the Softball belt loop and pin or the Weather belt
loop and pin.
Wonderful opportunities are waiting! The new school
year brings possibilities of new friends. This month a
Cub Scout can invite a new buddy to join the fun and
adventure of Cub Scouting! This single act can influence
the lives of many others. The boys will make new friends
while keeping the old by learning to share and treat
buddies with kindness. In the den meeting the boys can
learn the value of friendship, cooperation, and respect
through games and activities. This new team of buddies
can develop secret codes and write messages to each
other. They will all learn the Cub Scout handshake and
motto which will signify belonging to that special
group. The boys can practice the buddy system as they go
on hikes, work on projects, play games, and participate
in sports. This is a great month for boys to earn a Cub
Scout Academics or Sports belt loop or pin as they work
and play together with an interest they all share.
What great adventures come in books? Let's discover
some this month. Visit the library and learn to navigate
your way through the "card catalog computer," down the
aisles of many adventures, and to an adventure of your
own choice. Sign up for your library card while on your
visit. Create your own outdoor epic adventure on a hike,
campout, or maybe at a ball field or park. Make a
costume for one of the characters from your favorite
story. At the pack meeting the boys can perform some of
their favorite stories and share some of their
adventures with the pack. Take part in Pedro's "Say Yes
to Reading" program in Boy's Life. This might also be a
good month to work on the Communication or Computer belt
loop and pin. Encourage the boys to have the courage to
search for, discover, and share adventure this month.
As we approach Thanksgiving, let us spread seeds of
kindness in the form of multiple small service projects.
Helping others gives the boys the opportunity to see the
bounty produced by spreading many small seeds of
kindness and encourages compassion. The boys can
discover that just as the large strong oak tree came
from the small acorn, big things can happen from
spreading small seeds of kindness and charity. Conduct a
food drive or collect coats and gloves for those in
need; report your hours to Good Turn for America. Work
on the Citizenship belt loop and pin.
The Star of Bethlehem, the Miracle of the Lamp, the
Morning Star that enlightened Buddha, the bonfires of
Yule: many of our holiday traditions this month involve
lights. Share your holiday traditions with your pack and
den: lights on a Christmas tree, candles on a Menorah
for Chanukah, or on a Kinara for Kwanzaa. Boys can be
stars this month by brightening someone's holiday season
with a gift of compassion. As a pack or den, visit a
nursing home, preschool, or children's ward and sing
holiday favorites. End your outing by sharing cookies
that the boys decorated. Help those less fortunate with
a service project or toy drive. How about a holiday
campfire at your pack meeting? This is great month to
work on the Language and Culture belt loop and pin or
the Heritages belt loop and pin.
January is a good time for indoor fun. Make and solve
puzzles. Stump your friends with riddles. Build a maze,
do crossword puzzles, and word searches. Have a pack
games night in which your family joins in for relays,
board games, and other cooperative games. Play Cub Scout
Jeopardy; how much do you know about Cub Scouting?
Rediscover some of the games that your parents and your
grandparents could have played and work on the
Heritages belt loop and pin. Discuss why playing by
the rules is important. The pinewood derby is a good
opportunity to learn about rules and good sportsmanship.
Why not work on the
Chess belt loop and pin.
Take a personalized tour of the USA by the letters:
Austin, Baton Rouge and Cambridge to Xenia, York and
Zion. Our country contains an endless variety of scenic
and historic places. What is special about these places?
This month we'll find out by visiting historic places,
theme parks, museums, and zoos. Choose a city or an
historical site to highlight. Invite a guest speaker who
can share something special about the places your Cub
Scouts have picked to discover. Use maps or collect
tourist brochures to learn more about places to visit.
Your local historical society or public library is a
great place to get started. Celebrate your blue and gold
banquet with local foods from your choices of the ABCs
and decorate to highlight your choice. This would be a
good month to work on the
Citizenship or
Geography belt loop or pin.
Explore career possibilities of the 21st century this
month. Host a pack career fair, inviting several adults
to share what they do for a living and how these career
opportunities might change as you grow up and technology
advances. Discover how having a positive attitude is
essential in reaching career goals. Den meeting plans
could include field trips to learn about different
occupations of interest to the boys and playing games
centered on different jobs. This would be a good month
to work on any of the
Cub Scout Academics and Sports belt loops and pins -
let the boys vote on the one that fits best with what
they want to be when they grow up. For those future
astronauts this month is a perfect time for a space
derby!
Explore the land before time! Imagine living in a
time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. What have
paleontologists learned about the great beasts that
roamed the Earth millions of years ago? Did any
dinosaurs live where you do now? Find out what they ate,
where they lived, and how they moved. What could we
learn of these creatures that lived so long ago? Make a
model of a dinosaur or visit a museum where dinosaur
fossils can be seen. Make your own "dinosaur footprints"
or "fossils" in plaster. Take a "dinosaur" scavenger
hike by going on a hike and looking for things that
might have been found during the Jurassic era. This
would be a great time to work on the
Geology belt loop and pin.
MAY 2009 – Leave Nothing
but Footprints
Warm weather is a perfect time for outdoor adventure,
complete with den hikes in the neighborhood, park, or on
local trails. As we enjoy our outdoor world, we should
strive to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing
but footprints. Learn about Leave No Trace frontcountry
guidelines and ways we can minimize our impact on the
environment. Take a backyard hike and practice the Leave
No Trace frontcountry guidelines. Have a contest to see
who can take the best wildlife photograph. Earn the Cub
Scout Leave No Trace Awareness Award. Do your Good Turn
and leave these areas cleaner then you found them.
Remember to record your service with Good Turn for
America. The end of the month has all dens moving up the
Cub Scout trail. You might want to consider working on
the
Wildlife Conservation belt loop and pin this month.
JUNE 2009 – A Campin' We
Will Go
This month Cub Scouts go camping! Have a backyard
campout with your family. Pitch a tent or sleep out
under the stars! Conduct a pack campout at a nearby
Scout camp, state park, or even the local museum. An
outdoor pack meeting might include a nature observation
hunt, followed by an evening around the "campfire".
Attend your council's Cub Scout or Webelos Scout
resident camp as a den or pack or the council's family
camp with your whole family. Camping doesn't always mean
overnight; day camp is always lots of fun. Get those
boys outdoors and let them discover the fun of camping
while working on their Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award.
Whatever you do, do it outside and find out what the
outing in Scouting is all about. While out on the trail,
you can work on the
Map and Compass or
Astronomy belt loop and pin.
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