Gearing Up for Cub Day Camp

Last week was one of my few down weeks of the summer. Of course, we did still have some things going on, including visiting the Boy Scout Jamboree, attending our Pack's bike rodeo, and driving to Washington DC to check out the touring BSA Adventure Base 100 and some of the history museums. Oh, and hubby and I drove to Hampton Roads for outdoor concert to celebrate our anniversary (a week early, I'll be busy with day camp on the actual date). So yeah, it was a "down" week.

In this lull I've finally had time to work on my plan for Cub Day Camp. I am in charge of the Cub Skills station and decided a while back to have the boys work on the Hiking belt loop and pin awards. First, because it is a pretty new award and therefore many may not have it. Second, because its a perfect achievement to do at camp. And third, because its CHEAP since almost all of the activities require nothing that you can't find in nature. Score!

So all this week I will be elbow deep in 7-10 year olds that probably could care less about the rules of hiking ettiquite. It will be quite a challenge to keep them interested and engaged, and quite a test of my own skills as a hopefull future Outdoor Educator. I am not afraid to say I have no idea what I'm doing or how I'll do it, but it will sure be fun to figure it out!

In preparation for some of the activities I've made up two handouts that the boys will get on different days. The first is a sheet of simple trail signs (which I drew myself after not being able to find one I liked on the internet for download). I recall vividly how much fun I had in Girl Scouts using trail signs to make trails at camp for my friends to follow. The second is a Bingo type game to play while on the last hike of the week. I used plants and animals that I knew would be available in this part of Virginia, but this idea could easily be adapted for other places as well. I know my own kids get quite excited to have to find things while on the trail, so I'm hoping this does the trick for others too. Feel free to use these for your own Scouting purposes! (click the images below to download printable copies for your own use!)

Click image above or download here. Free Adobe Acrobat Reader required.

Click image above or download here. Free Adobe Acrobat Reader required.

I'll let you know how these and other activities work out with the boys. Wish me luck in my first full-blown Outdoor Education endeavor!