Spontaneous Turkeys

This hilarious audience participation game was presented at Roundtable last night.  I wish I had taken pictures, but hopefully my description will suffice.  All of my measurements are only a guess to help you visualize, and the colors can be any you choose, so do what actually works.

Make 4 turkey tails, one of each color: brown, red, yellow, orange (or pink, blue, black, green ... whatever you already have around):

1.  Cut a 6" circle out of stiff paper for the following colors:  brown, red, yellow, orange,

2.  From the same paper cut out feathers.  The feathers we saw last night were just 6"x1.5" rectangles. 

3.  Attach the feathers to the top circumference of the circle.

4.  Get material 6" wide by 6' long to fit around someone's bottom and hips and tied in the front.  Sew the feathered circles to the middle of the material.

Make 4 turkey masks.  Here's a picture of a simple one that I would probably make, but with paper.

THE GAME:

Teach the audience the following words to the tune "Have You Ever Seen A Lassie" or "Here We Are Together":
    Have you ever seen a turkey, a turkey, a turkey
    Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like that.
    There's brown ones and red ones and yellow ones and orange ones.
    Have you ever seen a turkey with feathers like that.

Get 4 volunteers who wear the turkey masks and tail throughout pack meeting.  Whenever a certain word is said, let's just pick "thank" for an example, the turkeys get up and start strutting around like a turkey would and the audience sings the above song.  When the color of their tail is sung, the turkeys wag their tails to the audience.

Cooperation Roundtable July 2012

Cooperation Stick Game
Game 1:  Each person has a broom stick and holds it in front of them and standing on the ground.  One person is the caller.  They call "left" or "right", which time everybody lets go of their broomstick, which will fall to the side.  If the caller called "left", you must catch the stick to your left, no matter which way it falls.  If the stick falls to the ground, you're out of the game.  If they call "right", you catch the stick to your right.
Game 2:  One stick, several people around it.  The person holding the stick calls out someone's name who is standing in the circle and lets go of the stick.  The person whose name was called must grab the stick before it falls to the ground.  If successful, he then calls someone else's name, then lets go.  However, if the stick falls to the ground before he can catch it, he's out of the game.

Cooperation Craft: Milk Carton Totem Pole

A totem is an object representing an animal or object that serves as an emblem of a group of people.  A "totem" is one section of a totem pole.  Have each den create their own totem for a pack totem pole, or each boy create his own for a den totem pole.  The milk carton bottoms have a just-larger-than-half-inch hole cut so that the cartons may fit over a half-inch PVC pipe, which goes through the center of all the totems to keep them together.

Water Changing Ceremony
Put some blue food coloring on a jar lid.  When dry, fill the jar 2/3 with water.  Be careful not to let the water touch the lid until the ceremony.  Have the person who is being recognized come up.  Announce that you have a truth test about their Cub Scout spirit.  Tell them that if they shake that jar of water and have enough cub scout spirit, the water will turn blue.  Have them shake it, and of course it turns blue.  You can click here to see a video of this ceremony. 

Banana-Bandana Skit 

Required:  a bandana and two bananas

Note: The whole skit has a premise of mistaking 'banana' for 'bandana'.

magician: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Great Mystero's Amazing Magical Bonanza! I need a volunteer to help me with my first trick (looking around, he choose a planted 'volunteer' that has a banana inside his shirt or pocket. The volunteer walks up onstage. )
magician: Thank you for helping me. For this trick, you can not watch me so let's stand back to back.
magician: I will show you that I can transport this bandana from my pocket to his.  Watch (places the bandana in his pocket).  Okay, reach in your pocket and get out the bandana.  Do you have it?
volunteer: (reaching in his shirt and pulling out a banana and holding it high for the audience to see) Yes, I have it right here.
magician: OK, in order to transport it back to me, you need to do exactly what I say.  first of all, fold your bandana in half.
volunteer: (peels banana) OK, got it.
magician: OK, now, fold it in half again.
volunteer: (folds banana in half) OK.
magician: Now, fold it one more time.  Tell me when you have it folded, just as I've told you.
volunteer: Again?
magician: Yes, again!
volunteer: (folds banana again) OK.
magician: Now, place it back into your pocket and push it really hard.
volunteer: (does as told) OK.
magician: Okay, it should be right here in my pocket. (reaches into his pocket, but pulls out a smashed banana) Ewwww.  Banana?  I said bandana!
    Now the magician can look disgusted at the banana or as a better ending, sticking to the saying 'The Show Must Go On', he can shove the banana mush into his mouth, show his empty hand that it is gone, and take a deep bow!

We chose "Circus of Stars" for our Cooperation Theme for Roundtable.

Scott is a circus clown by trade.  He taught us a great gag - how to properly throw a pie in someone's face.  Tip 1:  Never use actual whipped cream, because if it stays on the clothes for a while, it will stain and ruin the clothes.  Therefore, always use soap, like shaving cream.
Tip 2: Protect the victim's clothes with a towel.  Also, be sure they know to close their eyes and their mouth.
Tip 3:  The person never throws the pie at the face, but instead just places the pie on the face.  Practice with a clean pie plate.

Tip 4:  Never actually put a pie in some unsuspecting person's face.  Sure, they'll be expecting it and so will the audience, but they will also be anxious, especially the boys.  Surprise everyone by secretly setting up ahead of time to "unexpectedly" getting the pie in your own face. It takes cooperation to pull this off, and it will get squeals and giggles of surprise from everyone!  Can be used as a skit or a ceremony.

February - Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness can be defined as "doing with what you have on hand", "recycling", or "respecting and preserving our resources".  Here are some games, activities, and field trips that support the value Resourcefulness, but it's up to you to "teach" it to the cub scouts by having a short discussion before, during, or after the activity, connecting the activity and their experience with Resourcefulness in their own lives.

The Easy Peasy Workout Game

So it's that time of year again. You know. When the boys start getting very ansy to be outside doing their running and jumping and goofing around. But it's still so cold. Maybe rainy and snowy. As a leader, I bet there are some den meetings that you just want to pull your hair out because they're so keyed up. Today, I have a solution for you. 

I was taught this in a P.E. class a couple of weeks ago. It's a great workout. It takes a deck of cards and some space. That's it. Each suit in the deck is a different exercise. Hearts = squats, Diamonds = push ups, Clubs = sit ups, Spades = jumping jacks, Jokers = running to the corner, running up and down stairs twice, running around the gym, anything to get the heart rate up. If you use cards other than face cards, just assign by color. You can choose whatever exercises you want. There are so many to choose from. Then, shuffle the deck and start with the top card. 2-10 = face value, J = 11, Q = 12, K = 13, A = 14. Pick a card and do the exercise that many times. Jack of Hearts would be 11 squats. 2 of Diamonds would be 2 push ups. It's constantly changing and it's a very good and fun workout. And you learn really quick that you want the face cards and aces first. . .

Power Point Games

These classroom games were created in PowerPoint and LOOK very attractive and user-friendly.  

Download the templates and modify the games to fit your curriculum needs here.

Lots of whole class participation games similar to Jeopardy,Wheel of Fortune, Pyramid, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Password, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and more.

Feb 2012: I just found another site with 52 more power point game templates.  Click here.

Citizenship Football

Pack 152 Webelos came up with this fun game to combine the sport of the season with the core value of the month! For template, instructions, and qustions click PACK 152.

This will take some advanced preparation. Review the questions, and be prepared to update or change some of the answers. For instance, when this was written our current President of the United States was Bill Clinton (you'll have to change that), and in another question it places the name of a local religious leader as a funny choice, but wrong answer.

I think this will be a popular game. The questions support review for the Webelos Citizenship Badge, but can be altered for the pack, or come up with completely new questions for Tiger, Wolf, or Bear den reviews, or even Belt Loop reviews.

Jumping Beans

One of the boys' favorite activities at Day Camp this year (2011) was making and playing with homemade jumping bean toys. It is easy and quick to make and funny to watch its eratic movements. Have fun with one rolling around your hand or race them down an incline. The secret is the ordinary marble you place on the inside of the paper or foil bean.

Human-Size Board Games (esp. Wolf den)

Think of a board game that kids like to play. You might choose Candyland, Monopoly, Battle Ship, Trouble, or Life, or you could use elements of several of your favorites and make up your own game. I have chosen Snakes and Ladders (Chutes and Ladders). Purchase or make a giant die to roll (i.e, out of a 1-foot square box), or make a giant 2-foot square spinner (or convert your Twister spinner). The Cub Scouts are their own game pieces. The week before the game, give your den homework to talk with their parents about the rules in their house. For instance, if you are a Wolf den, have them go home to pass off with their parents Requirements 4: Know Your Home and Community, 9: Be Safe At Home and On the Street, 11: Duty to God, and 12: Making Choices. The day of the game, go to an empty parking lot and draw a giant game board of your choice with sidewalkchalk, with like 4-foot squares or something, on the parking lot blacktop. Use the situations in their homework assignment for the game. If they can give an answer of what their family does, they roll the die or spin the spinner and move. If they cannot give an answer, they stay where they are without rolling the die, or you can give them another question if you want. If they give an obviously wrong answer (particularly if they are wise-cracking), they go back - just be sure they don't land on a ladder! Use opportunities like these to discuss possible correct answers. You can reuse the questions, because every family has a different correct answer.

Water Carnival Games

Have a Wet and Wild party with your pick of these very cool water games!

Reverse Dunk Tank

Very affordable alternative to a Dunk Tank for your party or Water Carnival. Rather than the "dunkee" being dropped into a tank of water, he/she sits under a bucket of water that may or may not be dumped on top of him/her. Simple to put together. Tons of fun for everyone! Not only does this conserve water, but if you do it over a lawn, it's also Earth-friendly. : ) Click here to be brought to the instructions to making this popular game.

First Aid Baseball

Webelos: Readyman

First aid baseball is a fun way to review first aid skills with Boy Scouts and Webelos. There are instructions for the game and a set of question cards included here.

Some more Roundtable Pics - April 2011

Here's a few more pics from Roundtable. Each shows an idea presented by highly creative and imaginative contributors!

In the "Olympics" theme, here are some "events." Roll a hoola-hoop and see if you can throw beanbags through it as it rolls. Create marshmallow "guns" and see who can shoot farther or more accurately. Race in a fun plunger kayak race! A great Mother's Day gift! A bouquet of strawberries on a skewer. One has a slice in the top with a marshmallow inside.

Eggheads & Strawberries

Great ideas for presenting awards and for treats.

Marshmallow Teeth instructions Thank you to everyone who shares their ideas at Roundtable!

Some RoundTable Fun

When we meet for RoundTable each month, we have a blast. It is so much fun. There are a few of us who don't even work with the boys. We use RoundTable as much needed "me" time on a monthly basis. We really enjoy using our individual talents to make a wonderful training and brainstorming session for the leaders in the Pony Express District. These pictures are from the April, 2011, RoundTable.

Mary loves to volunteer. We enjoyed a few laughs at her quickly raised hand.

A visiting Webelos showed remarkable skill at skateboard kayaking. (Clean plunger optional...)

Our fearless leader, Angela, loves to show her enthusiasm for everything. What a great example of how to be with Cub Scouts.

Tall Tales Bingo Game

This is a Tall Tales Bingo Game that Tomi Ann Hill developed to help pass off Bear Achievement 4: Tall Tales.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Print out the game cards on cardstock (from HERE).  Make sure you choose your printers "shrink to fit" option so the edges don't get cut off.  The last page has just the icons so you can cut them out and put them in a bowl, then draw them out at random.  Give each scout a card (there are 8 different cards in this set) and some kind of markers.  We used goldfish crackers.  As you draw the cards out of the bowl, tell the boys the basic story (as found in the handbook) and let them figure out which name goes with it.  Each card has all the stories on it, so eventually everyone will get a blackout.  We had a little treat for the first 3 boys to get Bingo.