Cheerful/Strike up the Band

April's Scout Law Point and Theme
Scout Law Point: Cheerful
Theme: Strike up the Band

Opening Brain Teaser - This would be a great thing to write on the chalk or white board for boys and parents to have something to think about while they wait for everyone to arrive at a Pack or Den Meeting.  (An idea you could use would be to reward the cub scouts a piece of candy if they get it right).

 

Go With the Flow!  Fill in the word square to form words that read the same from left to right and from top to bottom. *Answer is at the end of this section. (scroll down)
(Brain Teaser taken from: The Little Black Book of Mindbenders by John Samson and Elsie Samson; pg. 104)

Gathering Activity
MUSICAL KIM’S GAME

“Kim’s Game” comes from Rudyard Kipling’s book Kim, the story of an Irish orphan who grew up in India. As a young man, Kim was trained for government intelligence work. The training involved showing him a tray of stones and gems for one minute. After covering the tray, they would ask Kim how many stones he saw and what kind of stones they were. Lord Baden-Powell included Kim’s Game in his book Scouting Games, and Boy Scouts have been playing it ever since.

For this game, arrange 10 to 20 musical–related items (instruments, drumsticks, music) on the floor or a table, and cover them. The teams stand around the game area. Then the cover is raised and the players are allowed to look at the items for one minute, without speaking. The items are covered again, and each team writes down as many items as team members can remember. The longest correct list wins.

Flag Ceremony
Play a Patriotic inspiring song about America for everyone to listen to like "Battle Hymn of the Republic", or  "God Bless America." Then lead everyone in the pledge.  Another option would be to lead everyone in signing, "This Land is Your Land."

Musical Card Stories

This is a fun idea.  What you need is 3 to 5 musical cards.  Then you play them for the cub scouts and tell them they need to make up a story using the music from the cards.  Tell them that they need to use all the cards in their story.  For instance, I once had a card that played, "Who Let the Dogs Out, Who? Who?"  So the story could go something like this:  One day there was this cub scout, Steve, walking home from school with his best friend, Todd.  They were talking about all the homework they have to do for their math class.  As they passed the house with the two super size dogs, they tipped toed past the fence of the yard trying not to make much noise, when all of a sudden they heard the dogs barking up a storm on the other side of the fence.  Then suddenly the gate to the yard opened and the dogs came after them. As Steve and Todd ran, Steve thought... (This is when the Cub Scout telling the story opens up the card and lets everyone listen to it).  The Cub Scout telling the story then continues trying to use the other musical cards. If there are a lot of Cub Scouts in the den, then have each Cub Scout tell part of one story with the condition that they need to use 1 or 2 cards depending on the time you have to make up the story.

 

Make Your Own Lyrics
 

This is also a fun idea.  Record a karaoke song onto your phone.  Then play it on a portable music speaker for the cub scouts to listen to the music. (I used my blue tooth app to connect the two devices so I could play and listen to the song). Next, have the boys make up lyrics to sing to the music.  Practice signing the new lyrics and lastly, have them sing the song at a pack meeting.  I had a lot of fun doing this and signing the song at Round Table! :)  The title that I made up for my lyrics was "It Is Too Late For All These Flies".  You get to be silly and have fun because you are in Cub Scouts!

Game - PICK UP THE BEAT
The game leader explains that he or she will clap out the rhythm of a song, and boys should raise their hands as soon as they can guess the name of the song. Start with easy songs such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “Oh My Darling, Clementine,” My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” “Jingle Bells,” “Bingo,” “Happy Birthday,” “Yankee Doodle,” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Try more difficult songs if time permits. See which den guesses the most songs.

Cheers
Trombone Applause: Place both hands near your mouth. Then move one hand out and back while making sliding note noises as if you are playing the trombone.
Tuba Applause: Half of the audience says, "Oompah." The other half of the audience says, "Pah." Start soft and get louder.
Marching Band Drum: Pretend you are in a marching band and hit your drum with your right hand while saying, "Boom!"  Then pretend to hit the other side of the drum with your left hand and say, "Boom!"

Opening Brain Teaser Answer: