Courteous/ Cubs in Shining Armor/Recognition

November's Scout Law Point: Courteous
November's Theme: Cubs in Shining Armor
November's Interest Topic: Recognition

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).

Riddle:  What gets wetter as it dries? (The riddle answer can be found by entering the missing letter in each word over the corresponding numbered space below.)
___      ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

 1          2       3    4     5     6

1. ___PPLE     2. RESUL___     3. ___VAL     4. ___EIGHT    5. SING___R

6. GUI___T

 *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. 29)

Gathering Activity
Award/Patch Matching Activity

Print off pages 77 - 81 of the 2016 - 2017 Cub Scout Round Table Planning Guide:   http://www.scouting.org/filestore/cubscouts/pdf/510-714%2816%29_CS.pdf   Cut up the sheets as directed  to make cards.  Mix up the cards and have a pile of cards with just names and another pile with the pictures. Then have everyone take turns  matching them up.  You also have the option to play a game of concentration by mixing up the cards, turning them over.  Then have everyone taking turns choosing which two cards to turn face up and see if they can find a match. 

Cubs of the Round Table Board

Using cardstock paper or poster board paper you can use this board for many things. Some examples are:  1)To post your pack's news letter. 2) To post a Cub Scout spot light. (Click here for samples of spot light questions you can ask: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0revQcSgs4OSG1WajlzU3dNNU0 and  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0revQcSgs4ObEFhQWhYSWxFbW8 )  3) To post a flyer for a cub scout carnival. 4) To place a sheet for the Cub Scouts to sign their name after they memorize the Scout Law. If you do this one, use a dark colored cardstock sheet of paper and a metallic pen for the boys to sign their names with.

Materials: a wooden board 24"x18", 2 large paint sticks (I got mine from Home Depot), 2 small paint sticks, 220 grit sand paper, black duct tape, a light wood finish stain, Wood finish Lacquer, hand drill, 4 3/4" screws, miter saw or hand saw, wood burning tool, pen.
Not shown in picture: throw away gloves for stain, a rag to apply stain, a sponge brush for lacquer, steel wool, pencil, black marker, paper cutter, paper with words that will be burned into the wood, a miter saw or hand saw, wood glue, silver spray paint, scissors to cut the duct tape and blue painters tape.
Directions:

 
1) Print out the words to be burned in the board by clicking here:https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0revQcSgs4ONnRieldxcmdseDg
2) With a paper cutter to cut straight lines, cut the strips of paper with the words on them.  Then turn them over and with a pencil, scribble on the back of the strips of paper so the letters are completely covered with lead. If it is hard to see the words from the back side of the paper, put them up to a window.

3) Using a ruler, turn the pieces of paper over for the first line and place them on the board exactly where you want to wood burn the words into the board.
4) Using the pencil, trace the outside of the letters of "Cub Scout."  When you remove the paper you should see where you traced as shown in the picture.

5) After all the words for the 'first line' are on the board, then you can start to wood burn them in the wood. (For the words, "Cub Scout," I first wood burned the outline and then I wood burned decorative straight lines throughout each letter).

6) Repeat steps 3 through 5 for the second line of words.

7) Repeat for the Scout Law. The only difference is that you need not outline the words.

8) Using a rag and some throw away gloves, lightly Stain your board front and back and let it dry according to the instructions on the can of the wood stain.  I used a very light stain so the words would be very visible.  After the stain dries, brush on the first layer of lacquer.  After it dries, sand it with 220 grit sand paper and lacquer it a second time.  After the second coat dries, sand it one more time, after which scrub it with steel wool.  The steel wool will make it very smooth.
 

9) On both of the large paint sticks, with a pen draw a 90 degree line across the ruler at the 4.5 line.  Then draw2 diagonal lines from this line to the edge of the ruler as shown. Note: I did not draw a point because I did not want the sword to be too sharp. Cut with either a Miter Saw or Hand Saw.
10) Then take the 4.5 pieces of wood and cut them to be 4 inches long

11) Glue the 4 inch piece of wood on the large paint stick right at the point where the wood curves in.  This will make the handle short, but perfect for the board we are making. Let this dry for a day.

12) Sand the blade of the swords as well as sand and round up the tip.  Then sand the small paint sticks. Lastly, spray paint them silver.
 
 
 
 

13) W rap some black duct tape strips around the handle of the sword. I found that placing a piece across the top middle and over all the ends first before wrapping pieces around was helpful.

14) With a black marker, place a dot 1 & 6/8 inches from the handle.  Then place another dot 9 & 7/8 inches from the handle as seen in the picture. (These will be for the screws).

15) Position the small paint sticks on the main board so that they are centered horizontally and allow enough space in between them for an 8.5 x11 piece of cardstock plus 1/8 of an inch. The swords will be placed on top of these small paint sticks.  (Putting the small paint sticks in between the main board and the swords will allow enough space to slide in an 8.5x11 piece of paper or a piece of poster board). Once the placement of the small paint sticks is decided on, secure with blue painters tape.
 
 

16) Center and Place the swords horizontally over the small paint sticks and secure with blue painters tape.  Note the sword on the bottom needs to be placed so the bottom edge of the small paint stick and the bottom edge of the sword match up. Then the top sword needs to be placed to that the top edge of the small paint stick and the top edge of the sword match up. (This will create a little lips to catch the top and bottom edge of the cardstock paper or poster board that you will slide in between the two swords).

17) First drill a pilot hole where you placed to the two black marker dots on each sword. This will help keep the wood from splitting when you drill in the screws.  Note: The pilot hole needs to be the right size.  If it is too small the wood will split anyway.
18) Then drill in the screws.
19) Then unscrew it and take off the blue tape. Then re-screw everything back together.  You are done!! 

 

Cub Scout Ribbon for Mothers

 I made one of these for me when my boys were in cub scouts and found it to be very handy.  First of all, all I had to do was grab it and put it on over my head.  Second, when it came time for my boys to put the pins on "their mother" there was not a guessing game or embarrassing moment trying to find a place where the pins should go. Lastly, I was able to keep all the pins in one place and they never got lost.  Now that my boys are no long in Cub Scouts or Scouts, whenever I see it in my drawer, it brings back good memories and gives me reason to smile. 
Materials: blue ribbon (I looked for sales in the fabric store),Eagle symbol patch/decal (bought at the scout shop), measuring tape, sewing machine and thread.
Directions:
1) cut the ribbon 40 inches long.
2) Drape it over your neck and pin the two ends together. The ends of your ribbon will not match up. 

3)Sew the two ends together stitching in a triangular fashion. Then cut off the ends so they are straight.

4) Place the Eagle patch/decal on the ribbon with the bottom of the decal touching the ends of the ribbons. Then sew on with a zig zag stitch.
 - This would be a great gift to give to new mothers in the cub scout program.  I believe it would promote enthusiasm and a desire to help their boys earn belt loops, patches and pins.

Audience Participation/Game
A-Mace-ing
This is a medieval version of beanbag toss.  For the target, make two large cardboard cutouts of a castle with several window of various sizes cut into it.  Use beanbags or foam balls as the "mace." to be thrown through the windows.  Divide up the cub scouts into two teams.  Each cub scout gets to throw a bean bag three times.  A point is given for each bean bag thrown through a window.  After all the cub scouts on each team have taken their turn, add up the points.  The team with the most points wins.  (This idea was taken from the 2016 November Pack Meeting Plans).

Cheers / Run-ons
BRAVO APPLAUSE:  Everyone shouts, "Bravo, Bravo!" gradually getting louder. End with huge clapping.

YOU DID GOOD JOB APPLAUCE: Everyone says, " You did gooooooooooooooood!" (in fluctuating their voice) and then hand bumps the person next to him/her.JB

Great Idea Shared In One of the Breakouts
 
Jump Start Jar
Ever Wonder what to do with your cub scouts when you need a 3 to 5 minutes filler.  Just have one of your cubscouts pull out a piece of paper with an idea from this jar.
Click here to see paper with ideas you can cut up: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0revQcSgs4OTi1QcFE3eUFVeVE

Opening Brain Teaser Answer: A TOWEL