As my three boys have advanced through the cub scout program, this easy activity has become a beloved tradition. If you have a Wolf Cub Scout, I highly recommend this activity. You’ll knock off several Wolf requirements and a few Faith in God requirements in one fell swoop – and have a blast doing it.

Thus, Super-Charged!

Though not structured like a traditional Family Home Evening, we’ve always done this as a family party and consider it a fantastic FHE.

Tips: Use what you have and keep it simple. This is meant to be easy and fun, and certainly doesn’t need the “polish” you tend to see when the grown-ups are in charge. If you make this a family party, it’s much easier to let go of the reigns and let your kids truly make this party their own.

Let the Party begin:

Let your Wolf scout help plan the party. The party can be indoors or outdoors, but outdoors fulfills more requirements.

He should help decorate, help prepare a treat, and help prepare your picnic lunch or dinner. Our youngest boy just threw his party, which actually fell between lunch and dinner. His menu consisted of popcorn and rice krispy treats (both of which he helped make), peanut butter crackers, mini marshmallows, and juice boxes. As you can see, he was in charge of the menu. However, if the meal is “nutritious” it will qualify for an additional requirement in the Faith in God program.

If the dinner is something that he cooks outdoors, that fulfills yet another requirement. Hot dogs or hobo dinners are easy ideas.

Have him plan and help set up the following games (see pg 128 of the Wolf book for illustrations of these games):

Pie Pan Washer Toss (Each player tosses five washers at a pie tin. Score 1 point for each washer that stays in the pan. You can also use buttons.)

Bean Bag Toss (Have him make the beanbags for each person to use and keep as a party favor and knock off another requirement. If you don’t have time for that, use tiny stuffed animals for the beanbags.)

Bean Bag Archery (This one is on page 90 of the Wolf book. My sons draw the targets on paper.)

Marble Sharpshooter (Each player rolls five marbles at glass bottle targets. Score one point for each marble that rolls between the bottles and misses them. We’ve substituted empty plastic jars used for freezer jam.)

Ring Toss (Use rolled up newspaper shaped into rings for this traditional game.)

A Game of Marbles (See this fun site for a refresher on how to play marbles.)

Obstacle Course (He can make up his own ideas; here are the ideas from page 197 of the Wolf book – jump across an imaginary river, crawl through a cardboard tunnel, jump up and ring a bell, toss a ball into a can, do one forward roll, walk like an elephant for five steps.)

The Super-Charged Super List:

That’s it! Depending on what you did, your wolf cub scout just fulfilled 2 requirements and 8 or 9 electives, along with some of his Faith in God requirements! Here’s the complete list:

Wolf requirements 8c or 8e, and 10b; and Wolf electives 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 9a, 9b, 18a or 18b, and 18d. Faith in God, Serving Others 4 and 7 (plus part of requirement 5 if you have younger siblings at the party).

Looking for more activity ideas for your party? Check out Wolf requirement 1, and Wolf electives 18c or 18e.

"Tap Tap" Journals

There are many journaling requirements sprinkled throughout the LDS youth and Scouting programs (see below), so why not pick up one of these “Tap Tap” journals and do some good while you’re at it?

I came across these adorable journals when I discovered Project HOPE Art yesterday. They’re only $14.99 and $5 benefits Project HOPE Art and their work with Haitian orphans. How can I help but spread the word?

Also available are the “Tap Tap” Journals in white and the Haiti Mural Journal composed of mural art created by Haiti children:

That’s the one I ordered and I chose the blank page option (you can also get lined, dots, or planner pages). I think I’m going to use it to try some of Kathy Barbro’s projects, which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. She has some new projects at her website which look like fun.

LDS Youth and Scouting Program Requirements Involving Journaling:

Faith in God – Preparing for Young Women #3: “Write in your journal how you can serve the Lord as you stand for truth and righteousness.”

Bear Scout – Family Requirement #8f: “Start your own history: keep a journal for 2 weeks.”

Bear Scout – Jot It Down Requirement #18c: “Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks.”

Webelos – Scholar #5: “List in writing some important things you can do now because of what you’ve learned in school.”

Cub Scouts – Communicating Pin #2: “Keep a journal of daily activities for at least seven days.”

Cub Scouts – Reading and Writing Belt Loop #3: “Keep a diary of your activities for one week. Read it to your den or family.”

Communications Merit Badge Requirements 1a or 1b: Keeping a log of communication activities for a day, or keeping a journal of “listening” experiences for three days.

Personal Management Merit Badge Requirement 8c: “Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your “to do” list compared to when you scheduled them.”

Duty to God requirements often encourage journaling, and a general requirement of the Personal Progress program is to keep a personal journal.

Venturing Religious Life Bronze Award requirement 4b: “Keep a personal journal of your experiences each time you worked as a volunteer.” (After three months of volunteer work, see requirement 4a.)

Generally speaking, we don’t watch movies for Family Home Evening but after seeing The Blind Side (I’m late in the game, I know, I know), I decided to make an exception.

This is a movie I thought my young boys could relate to. It’s a true story (which always seems to capture their attention) and it has football. Not that we’re big on football around here, but what boy isn’t going to be drawn to football?

More than that, I knew this movie would have impact. And who can resist the message? Who wouldn’t be touched and inspired by this amazing true story?

I prefaced the movie with a little bit of background information, to give them context in which to understand the story.

I probably stopped the movie another three or four times to discuss what was happening, ask questions (Why did Leigh Ann invite Big Mike into her home? What made Michael different or the same as other boys in his neighborhood?) and provide more background information to help them understand upcoming scenes.

We talked about it some more when it was over and we were feeling all warm and fuzzy and (yes) a bit teary-eyed.

I was not disappointed in my sons’ reactions to this movie. The ultimate payoff? My ten-year-old saying, “It makes me want to be a better person.”

Me too, sweetheart. Me too.

During our trip to Kartchner Caverns we watched a 15-minute video about how and why the cave became a State park. The founders talked about their reasons for wanting to protect it. They talked about their sense of responsibility to protect their beautiful Xanadu from the unfortunate fate of other caves, like this one:

It was an inspiring film. My 10-year-old was particularly touched by it. It was an unexpected opportunity to reinforce the values of individual responsibility toward ourselves, others and our world.

I’ve recently come to appreciate the fact that film is a powerful way to reach children. In an upcoming post, I’ll share which recently-released movie became the basis for a Family Home Evening lesson.

Meanwhile, because this is what I do, here’s  a scouting requirement that capitalizes on the power of movies (and would make a great FHE as well):

Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge requirement 5: “With the approval of your counselor and a parent, watch a movie that shows how the actions of one individual or group of individuals can have a positive effect on a community. Discuss with your counselor what you learned from the movie about what it means to be a valuable and concerned member of the community. Some suggestions:
Follow Me, Boys (G)
It’s a Wonderful Life (G)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (G)
Remember the Titans (PG)
October Sky (PG)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (PG)
Hoosiers (PG)
Pay It Forward (PG13)
Braveheart (R)
The Patriot (R)”

As an LDS mom, I’m thankful BSA made things easy on me by including the ratings right there in the text.

Anyone know of any other movies that would be good for this requirement?

Don your gloves and grab your broom (I mean weapon!). Time to disintegrate the dust bunnies, power spray the dishes and unearth the floor in your children’s bedrooms.

They do have a floor, don’t they? It’s hard to tell in my house.

Like a lot of parents, we struggle to get any consistency going when it comes to chores. Our current system consists of me telling them what to do at random times and them doing it – sometimes right away but sometimes with a lot of stalling and whining.

It’s like a box of chocolates. I never know what I’m going to get.

Don’t forget the times when I just do things myself. Stuff they could or should be doing. That’s like getting the chocolate with the coconut filling.

Yuck.

Today I decided to gather together all the scouting and LDS youth program requirements that involve chores and the like. I decided to scout out (no pun intended) the best link to a free chore chart and maybe a handy list of age-appropriate chores. Once again, in all my searching I came across a little gem of a website.

Behold Painted Gold. Painted Gold doesn’t just have chore charts, she has advice on how to effectively use them. Apparently you can’t just hang up the chart and expect anything to happen.

Who knew?

Check out her five-step plan for getting kids to do chores. Five steps isn’t too bad, especially since the fifth step is celebrating your success!

Do you think it works? I don’t know, but we’ll be giving it a try. And (of course) passing off some requirements in the process.

Care to join us?

Related Requirements:

Faith in God – Developing Talents requirement 7: “List five things you can do to help around your home. Discuss the importance of obeying and honoring your parents and learning how to work.”

Tiger cub scout requirement 1F: “Think of one chore you can do with your adult partner. Complete it together. Complete the Character Connection for Responsibility.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 4e: “Talk with your family members. Agree on the household jobs you will be responsible for. Make a list of your jobs and mark off when you have finished them. Do this for one month.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 8c: “Help fix at least one meal for your family. Help set the table, cook the food, and wash the dishes.”

Wolf cub scout requirement 8d: “Fix your own breakfast. Wash and put away the dishes. ”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 2: “Make a chart showing the jobs you and other family members have at home. Talk with your family about other jobs you can do for the next two months.”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 9: “Learn how to clean your home properly. With adult supervision, help do it for one month.”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 10: “Show that you know how to take care of your clothes. With adult supervision, help at least twice with the family laundry. ”

Webelos cub scout Family Member activity badge requirement 11: “With adult supervision, help plan the meals for your family for one week. Help buy the food and help prepare three meals for your family. ”

Citizenship belt loop requirement 1: “Develop a list of jobs you can do around the home. Chart your progress for one week.”

Personal Progress Good Works requirement 2: “Service is an essential principle of family living. Help plan your family’s menus, obtain the food, and prepare part of the meals for two weeks. During that time help your family gather to share mealtimes. Report to your class what you have learned.”

Duty to God – Deacon Family Activities requirement 5: “With the help and permission of a parent, prepare at least 2 meals for your family. Where possible, also wash and iron your clothes for 1 month.”

Family Life Merit Badge requirement 3: “Prepare a list of your regular home duties or chores (at least five) and do them for 90 days. Keep a record of how often you do each of them.”