Baby food Jar turkeys

While working on achievement 7- Your living world in the wolf book, I decided that I wanted to show them how easy it is to reuse items and turn them into something new.

So while talking about recycling we made these cute turkeys using baby food jars. I cut the feathers out of paint chips I had left over from the turkey neckerchief slide I made for my other pack. I used fun foam for the feet and beak and a red pipe cleaner for the waggle.

I had the boys write something they are thankful for on each of the feathers before putting them together, and filled them with skittles.

We talked about how we were able to use this baby food jar and turn it into a fun decoration or place card for thanksgiving that they can use again each year.

The boys loved it and were so excited to take their turkeys home and tell their families all about recycling and reusing.

October Round table- More Halloween things

Since I love Halloween and we still have a few weeks to plan some den meetings, I shared some more Halloween ideas at Round Table.

 I love these mason jar luminaries. There are tutorials all over the internet, just Google Halloween Luminaries and you will get a bunch. By making these you can pass off either part of Wolf Elective 9a, or Elective 9b or c. It will also pass off make a craft in the bears, but I can not find which one that is.

They are so easy and fun to make, my wolves loved this activity. I will give you some advice on doing them. Make sure you use the wide mouth jars. I told all of our boys to bring a wide mouth pint (you can do bigger, but the smaller ones are easier for the boys)size jar and only one of them did. He had no problems doing his. The other ones were still able to do theirs but they struggled a bit more.

I gave them a choice of different faces that I found by googling(is this a word? I am going to use it either way) Halloween faces.I then used Photoshop to put 6 on a page and print them out. They could pick  a crazy pumpkin(which is the one pictured), skeleton, ghost, vampire bat, traditional pumpkin, and Frankenstein. You could do any color tissue paper but we had the pumpkins orange, ghost and skeleton white, Frankenstein green and the vampire bat purple.

I had them cut each piece of their face out and then using white school glue had them glue it on to the inside of the jar. They then took pieces of tissue paper and started gluing (with a thin coat) those to the inside of the jar as well.

I will get a picture of the ones the boys made and post it later.

I used the battery operated tea lights that I got from the dollar store in a two pack.

 Here is a Halloween board game that I wish I had come up with, but I didn't I found the idea HERE. I  gathered all my supplies and spent the next few hours working on it. I know you are probably wondering why did it take so long for me to put squares onto a poster board...well I originally cut the squares to big and then had to cut them all down.

Here is what you will need to make one:

• poster board
• Halloween scrapbook paper (I used 5 prints) cut to 1 1/2 inch squares 
• Solid color card stock (I used green, white, purple, and black) Cut to 1 1/2 inch squares
• Halloween clipart (most of mine was found HERE)
• adhesive of some kind (since I knew I was laminating mine I used a tape runner and just put a small strip down the back of each square. If you are not laminating it you will need to glue them down better)
• Printable game cards from HERE I used made my own using the ones from that link, but I left out all the ones that said go back to pumpkin patch(which is the beginning), and I changed a few. 
• dice
• candy or small prize for finishing game(optional)

Game piece supplies

• Candy for pieces-I used miniature peanut butter cups, you could also use the pumpkins that come in the bag with the candy corn.
• tooth picks
• name flags

To play have the kids start on pumpkin patch. Roll the dice and move that number of spaces. If you land on a white square draw a card and follow the directions. When they get to Trick or treat trail(the end of the game) they could pick a piece of candy or small toy out of a small bucket. 

 Here is a fun Halloween project you can do with your bears that will help pass off Achievement 19a,b,c, Shavings and Chips. This is something our bear leader  has done with the boys for a few years now and she was kind enough to let me borrow them this year to share with you.

This started out as an apple that the boys carved and then their leader took them home and dried them in her oven around 125 degrees(she left them in over night for several days).

The following week the boys used cheese cloth and scary cloth(the black found at Walmart) to make the bodies. There is also a piece of wire(you could use a wire hanger) to form the shape of the cloth. If you look close you can see it in the black one on the right side.

September Round Table Part TWO- Halloween Party

Get ready for a long post but one filled with lots of great ideas. I love Halloween and every year my Wolves help plan a party. This month is the perfect time to start thinking about planning a Halloween party for your Cub Scouts. Elective 9b in the Wolf book says to help plan a party by making decorations and playing games.

Check out my Previous post here for a simple decoration the boys can make. I start about 3 weeks before the party and show the boys the samples and let them choose one that they would like to make. The next week at den meeting I have the boys paint their blocks and let them dry until the following week when we add the details.  Then they will be all ready for the Party at the next den meeting.

A few notes: I usually don't do the bat because you have to use stiff felt for the wings and it can get pricey depending on how many boys you have.

Also when making the mummy you can use plain white fabric and tear stripes about an inch and a half wide instead of using gauze.

For Frankenstein you do not have to use real screws you could use the wood furniture buttons similar to the ones found HERE and just paint them gray.

With all that said here is what you will need

• 2x4 cut into 6 inch pieces
• paint; white, apple green(or preferred green), orange, black, and gray
• foam paint brushes
• Black sharpie
• Hot glue gun/glue sticks (ADULT SUPERVISION IS NEEDED FOR THIS)

Frankenstein-

• black felt, fun foam, or construction paper
• googly eyes
• screws or wooden furniture buttons
• small furniture buttons (nose)

Pumpkin

• green ribbon for the stem

Mummy-

• gauze or white fabric 
• googly eyes

Refer to the picture to put them together 

Here is a quick, fun treat you can make to give to the boys as they leave. Plus it makes a great decoration on your food table if you have one. 

Materials:

• Candy corn-goblin teeth
• Marshmallows- ghost poop
• Golden grahams cereal-monster scabs
• Chocolate chips- witch warts
• Snack size Ziploc bags
• Colored paper; orange, purple, green
• stapler

Instructions:

• Print label onto colored paper
• Fill bag with some of each ingredient
• Staple bag topper to top of bag.

If you would like to use a colored version and print them on white paper instead send me an email and I will create it for you. 

Here is a picture of our food table that I did last year and forgot to post. I have each boy bring a treat to share. I went to the dollar store and bought the plastic eyeballs, ears, flies and all that creepy stuff then gathered jars and spray painted the lids black. When I am ready to decorate I fill the jars with water and a little bit of food color. You could make labels for them such as "french flies" 

I made the eat if you dare sign using photoshop if you would like a copy of it feel free to email me. 

The mummies on the right are made out of the bottom half of a water bottle then wrapped with torn pieces of fabric and googly eyes. Check out last years post HERE to see a close up of one. 

Have the boys make a Jack-O-Lantern glyph to use as decorations.If you are not familiar with glyphs they are used a lot in school. It is a fun way for the kids to represent things about them or things they like. I found the printable HERE and used the questions she had done, but you could easily make your own questions.

Kids always love playing bingo. Here is a game I made years ago using Halloween words. 

or if you want pictures you can make one just like this HERE. I love this site they have so many options for making your own bingo games. You can make it the size you see above or you can make it bigger (5 pictures by 5pictures). Check it out they have a bunch of holiday ones. 

Here is a fun game I made. Halloween Scavenger Hunt. 

Materials:

• Each boy will need a sheet of items like above (one sheet will do two boys). 
• Gather the items on the list (or print out pictures of each one) 
• brown paper lunch bags (one for each player)

To play: Place items in large bowl on a table and have them pick one item and place it in a brown paper bag (try not to let anyone see what item you have)

The players then need to find out who has which item. They may ask other players to show them what's in their bag. When they know what item that player has, write their name in the space next to the item. Don't tell any other players what each person has, let them find out on their own. Repeat this process for each item. See who can get them all done first.

Variation: To make it a little harder have the boys go around the room and ask each player on or two yes or now questions about their item. For Example player is trying to figure out who has the apple. He will go to a player and could ask him "can you eat the item in your bag?" "is your item red?" if the player answers no then move on to the next person until you find who has that item. If the player answers yes and does in fact have the apple, write their name in the space next to the item. Continue this way until you know which item everyone has. 

 Here is an easy pre-opening activity. Halloween activity book. The boys can work on these as the others are arriving, and can take them home to finish if they do not have enough time.

Here is a sample of what is in the book. 

If you would like a copy of this please email me

September Round Table part ONE- Native American activities

Here are some great ideas that Cynthia shared with us to use to pass off the Native American section in the books. Wolf Elective 10 and Bear Elective 24.

 Make an ice cream cone teepee treat the boys are sure to love. Step by step directions can be found HERE

 Weave baskets out of newspaper by following the tutorial HERE

How fun are these drums. HERE is the link on how to make these.

Here is what Cynthia says:
"Here is a cool website that shows how to make all kinds of musical instruments out of stuff you can find around the house. I made my drums with an empty container and a balloon. Cut off the end of the balloon where you blow it up.Then stretch the balloon over the empty container. Use a pencil or a stick to strike the top and make noise. Decorate the container any way you like. I found that decorative duck take is easy and fun. But use whatever you have on hand. I made drumsticks with a pencil. I put a cotton ball over the eraser and taped the whole end with duck tape. This is not necessary, but it just made it more fun."

And of course we can not forget her money game that she made to help the bears pass off Achievement 13f.

May Round Table and Father's Day gift Ideas

Journal Jar

Bear A8f-Start your own history keep a journal for 2 weeks

Materials needed:

•  Clean empty jar; peanut butter jar, crystal light container, mason jar etc
•  Journal prompts
•  Note book
• Label (optional)
• Paper to decorate notebook(optional)

Have the boys cover their jar and decorate it, add the label. Print and cut the journal prompts and add to jar.

Optional- You can have the boys cover and decorate their notebook as well using scrapbook paper.

Family Scrapbook:

Tiger A1d-Make a family scrapbook

You can change the page about brother and sister, mom and dad to one about each boy in the den and the my family page into my den then use it to pass off Bear A8c-Start or add to a den scrapbook.

Father’s Day Gift Ideas:

When I grow up photo:

Take a photo of the boys wearing some of “dad's” clothes; shirt tie, shoes etc. Use a photo editing software to add “when I grow up, I want to be like you). You can add a name and date to it as well. I used photoshop to add the text, but if you don't have photoshop you can use Picmonkey to add the text. 

Print desired size and frame.

“Tie”ny Key Chain:

You will need:

•         An old tie
•         Key ring
•         Scissors
•         Glue

Visit THIS LINK for a step by step tutorial.

Your wolves will be able to pass off WOLF E17-Learn to tie a tie, by making this fun key chain.

Dad’s Stache Jar: You could use this as a savings jar, or fill it up with candy or both (use a smaller jar if you are filling with candy to cut down on cost)

You will need:

•         A jar
•         Vinyl mustache or you could cut one out of cardstock
• 
  

Homemade BBQ Sauce and Brush:

Get wooden handled paint brushes and have the boys paint or decorate them.

1 ½ c ketchup

¼ c brown sugar

¼ tsp. garlic salt

½ tsp. onion salt

2 tsp. chili powder

4 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Place in small mason jar.

Shirt and Tie Candy Bar Holder (using an envelope)

You will need:

•         Regular envelope
•         Tie shape cut from printed paper
•         Hershey’s Chocolate bar.
•         Scissors
•         Glue

    Seal the envelope then cut off one of the short ends (it doesn't have to be much just enough that the envelope will open. 

    

    Cut a slit in the middle of the envelope from the new opening down about an inch. 

     

    fold both sides down to form the shirt collar. 

    

     Make a tie using scrapbook paper, or use plain white paper and have the boys decorate it. Glue the tie under the collar then tack down the collar corners using some glue. 

    Add a cute label that says You're "Tie-rrific" Happy Father's day! Now place your Hershey's candy bar inside the shirt for a simple fun gift for dad.

Candy Tie:

You will need:

•         Clear bags(I found the pretzel rod bags work best)
•         Candy
•         Scraps of scrapbook paper
•         Label(not pictured)

     Notice in the picture that the bags are not the pretzel rod bags? Well that is because I took the pictures and then realized that no matter how many times I tried I could not make these bags work and I didn't want to take pictures again. But the directions are the same either way. 

     

      On the back of the back fold each corner to the center of the bag to form a point at the bottom and tape

Fill with candy, and add a "knot" to the top. I folded the extra bag back behind the knot and taped it down.

Visit Little Lds Ideas to find the cute printable tag to go with this fun candy tie.

Wolf Achievement 7 Lapbook lesson

I found several ideas for covering Wolf Achievement 7-Your Living World, the problem however was that it was a little overwhelming so I decided to use the ideas and make similar things and put them in a lapbook lesson. My cubs do well with lapbook lessons, and they make it easy to contain all the information you need to pass off the achievement.

Here is a quick tip that I have learned, if you are making lapbooks with your cub scouts, pre-cut all the pieces. I have had them cut their own pieces out and assemble the book, which works, but they complained more and some times we had to finish our books the following week.. So if you cut them all out beforehand, there will be less complaining and you will be more likely to finish the book in one den meeting.

I found clip art for the front of our folder on line . The reduce, recycle, reuse wheel I found from HERE. I think if I do this again I shrink it down just a bit. 

*Note: Depending on how your folder is folded you may have to rearrange the items on the front to make them fit. 

I made the label and know, commit, practice labels. 

I found the idea for the no dumping accordion book HERE and then made my own. the maze was also found on the same site, HERE is the link. I took it and re-sized it using Photoshop.

I found the chart for how land air and water get dirty and ways to save energy in this pack from HERE and used it for my boys, but I have since made my own using the same idea.

I made the what is recycling book and the achievement labels.

 On the right flap I did this list so they can discuss and write what things they can recycle.

We had the boys make these one week and we discussed several things and the following week we went on a field trip to the Transjordan Land Fill HERE is a link to the information on the tour. We had the boys bring their folders and fill in anything that didn't get filled in the week before.

Water Jug Neckerchief Slide

If you know little man you know that he LOVES neckerchief slides. He has this goal of wearing a new neckerchief slide every week to Cub Scouts.

Here is a quick one you can make using things you most likely have around the house.

Isn't this the cutest neckerchief slide? Little man is so excited to wear this one to scouts. It is pretty easy to make too.

Here is what you will need to make one:

• 4 milk caps.It doesn't matter what color they are as long as two of them are the same color
• Plastic bodndoggle lace to match your same color milk caps
• Duct tape or electrical tape to match you milk caps
• small pony bead.
• Glue gun ( I am showing how to make it with out a glue gun so the cubs can make them, but you will need it for the bead and pvc pipe ring). 
• clear packing tape
• pvc pipe ring

Tape two milk caps together using small pieces of tape

 Next place the two matching colored milk caps on either side of the two you just taped together and lay on a long piece of tape as seen above.

Place a piece of plastic lace on the duct tape under your milk caps.

 Start rolling your milk caps along the tape, taping them altogether. As you can tell, I forgot to add my string and had to go back and undo my tape.

Continue taping until you reach the opposite side of your plastic lace. When you get to this point add your lace and tape in place.

 Finish off your tape. Now cut your plastic lace off if you have excess.

 After cutting off excess lace.

Now glue your bead on using a hot glue gun. Make a label for your cute new jug and use clear packing tape to tape it on. Place a pvc pipe ring on the back and you are ready to wear your new slide.