Let’s Go Outdoors

Target: Tiger / Duration: 1hours / Location: Park / Cost: Minimal / Tried: Never

Supplies

  • Wristband per kid (thin leather or plastic strap small enough to hold beads)
  • Multi-color beads (enough for each boy to have one of half a dozen colors)
  • 6 small bags (big enough to hold a few beads)
  • Crayons or colored pencils
  • Bag of dry leaves (available in backyard or at Michaels)
  • Paper
  • Enough flat surfaces to allow boys to rub (clip boards, cutting boards…)

Goals

This will finish off section 5 of the Tiger rank. You can also do elective #15 with the crayons,

Where and When

This is a Fall activity. Plan it for September or October. It can’t be hot or the boys will fall over and parents of small kids won’t be thrilled with Hiking in the cold.

This event is very reliant on the weather. You will be outside. A little rain is OK (we are scouts). Hurricane Katrina is not).

Any park with wooded trails will do the trick. East Cobb Park comes to mind. You need trails that are big enough to be trails, but small enough for little legs. For many of the boys, this will be their first hike.

Preparation

This write up will assume 10 boys. It could just as easily be 3 boys or 20 boys. But this will make the description easier. It also assumes that that it isn’t raining. You can do it in mild rain, but alternatives will be given.

  • Put at least 10 beads of each color.
  • Put the beads in the bags so that all the red beads are in one bag, the blue beads are in another…
  • Walk the proposed trail. As you walk, throw the bags near the trail. The boys are going to have to see them as they walk. You can also hang them from low branches or such. The distance between “treasure” should decrease as the path continues (the boys will grow less patient).

Boys Need to Bring

  • Nothing

Activity

  • Talk about hiking.
  • Why do scouts like to hike?
  • Look for birds and trees and animals
  • How do seasons change hiking?
  • Describe rules about scavenger hunt
  • Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but Pictures.
  • No running
  • Stay with den (describe why)
  • When you find a bag, everyone gets a bead
  • During the trip everyone finds favorite leaf
  • Go on hike
  • Make sure everyone gets every bead
  • Collect bags along the way
  • Make sure everyone gets a leaf
  • Tell why leaf is your favorite
  • Do leaf rubbings (paper on leaf and lightly draw/rub with crayon)
  • Have boys lay on grass (if not wet) and talk about weather
  • Does it look like it is going to rain (why?)
  • Is it hot or cold?
  • Is it windy?

Notes

The requirements for the art belt loop can be mixed in. They are:

  1. Make a list of common materials used to create visual art compositions.
  2. Demonstrate how six of the following elements of design are used in a drawing: lines, circles, dots, shapes, colors, patterns, textures, space, balance, or perspective.
  3. Identify the three primary colors and the three secondary colors that can be made by mixing them. Show how this is done using paints or markers. Use the primary and secondary colors to create a painting

Pack 1800 Programming ideas