Wolf Scout Achievement 8

We recently did a fun activity to pass off Wolf Achievement 8a.  The boys really loved it.

First I printed off a copy of "My Plate" from the Choose my Plate website.  I showed it to the boys and we talked for a few minutes about it, and what it meant, and discussed some of the foods that might be in the different groups.

Before the meeting I had printed off some simple pictures of several different foods that would belong in the different groups.  I would give you a link to where I found them, but in all my searching, I could not find them again.  I did, however, find tons of other images of foods from the different groups that would work, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding something that will work for you.

I also took paper lunch sacks and wrote the names of the different groups on them.  These were then set  up on a long table, and the boys lined up in two teams on the other side of the room.  I handed each person at the head of  the line a picture of a food, and then they raced down to the sacks and tried to put the picture in its corresponding bag.  After the boys were done racing, we went through the pictures and decided as a group, whether or not the picture had been placed in the correct category.

This was way more fun for a group of eight year old boys, than just sitting and having a discussion about this stuff, and they still learned and were able to pass of the requirement.

Simple, Inexpensive Teacher Gifts

These cute highlighters and tags were the gifts I made for my boys to give their teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week this year.

They were inexpensive, simple, and FAST!  You can check out my full post on them, plus get the free printable tag on my other blog, Domestic Daybook.

Wolf Scout Achievement 5 - A Simple Woodworking Project

Just popping in to share what I did with my Wolf Cub Scouts to pass off Achievement 5.  I wanted something that was really simple for them to construct and ran across this awesome little ruler basket on Pinterest.  I would link directly to her blog and instructions, but it looks like she has made the blog private, so I will try to explain what we did.

We purchased yardsticks from Lowe's (this was more cost effective than purchasing rulers) and cut them into thirds.  Then we took 1x4's and cut 1 - 12 inch piece and 2 - 6 inch pieces for each basket. The basket construction is pretty self explanatory by looking at the pictures, just make sure you nail the 6 inch 1x4's on top of the 12 incher, rather than to the sides.

We cut the yardsticks and the 1x4's into the sizes we needed, and drilled pilot holes for the nails prior to our meeting. It is a good thing we did, since our meeting went a couple of minutes long with the boys trying to finish up their projects. Don't try to save a step by skipping the drilling of pilot holes for the nails.  I don't think the boys would have finished if those pilot holes had not been drilled for them. This was a simple project, but these are eight-year-old boys, so it about maxed out their skill level, even with a lot of help from two adults.

This was a great, simple woodworking project for cub scouts or for any kids in that age range.  And my son is super happy to have a basket that he made himself, where he can store his favorite book series.

Tic Tac Toe Toss

Wow!  It has been awhile.  It has been an eventful and crazy fall, so posting was way down on the priority list, but I hope to start sharing a little more regularly now.

Today, I am sharing a new game that I put together for our cub scout blue and gold banquet.  We are having a carnival and the cubmaster asked each of the dens to come up with a simple carnival game for the boys to play after dinner and awards.  So, our den is doing this simple tic tac toe beanbag game.  It was quick and easy to make and my boys think it is pretty fun.

I sewed up some simple bean bags in fabric scraps I had on hand.  Of course, I had to use blue and gold.  I though about putting X's and O's on them, but then decided just having one player use the blue bean bags and the other player use the gold would accomplish the same purpose and save me a bunch of time.

My husband built the tic tac toe board for me out of 2x4's.  The outside dimensions are 3 feet by 3 feet and the cross bars are positioned every 12 inches, for nice, even squares.  It literally took him less than 10 minutes to put this together for me.  I thought about painting it, but decided that I liked the natural look. :)

Hopefully the cub scouts will enjoy it at the banquet and then my boys can enjoy playing a little active tic tac toe at home from time to time.