• Large glowsticks (usually found in the camping section)
• Disposable clear containers

• You will want to cut one end of the glow stick off being careful not to break the glass tube inside.
• Allow the liquid from the glow stick to collect into one of the containers.
• Wipe the glass tube carefully so that the chemicals will not cross contaminate when you empty the tube.
• Now you must be incredibly careful and remove the liquid from the glass tube and allow it to drain into another container.
• Test your chemicals before your ceremony! I usually dip the end of a paper towel into one solution and then pour a little of the other solution onto the towel so that they so not mix in the cups. Check in a dark room to insure that they glow!
• Cover both containers.

Now you have your prep done and it’s time for your ceremony. Turn the lights off and have a little camp light in the corner to give yourself enough light to work with, but dark enough to see the glow.

It’s time to work up your “story”.

Here was one you can try:

Cubmaster: When you become a Cubmaster there are several things that you get to do and see that no one else gets to see. One of those things you will get to see when you become a Cubmaster, is the Well of Akela.

Now the Well is a special place where the Spirit of Akela lives. As a Cubmaster, we are allowed to collect some of the well water to share with you. The Well water is very special. It will bond with the words that you say and will glow if you tell me the truth.

Now, I need you all to be very quiet. Only the Scouts who are advancing to the rank of (insert the appropriate rank) may speak.

Cubmaster: (At this point remove the cover from the “water” cup).

Cubmaster: Now (insert the appropriate rank), I ask you to tell me the Cub Scout Promise.

Cub Scout: (Cub Scout Promise)

Cubmaster: Have you completed all of your requirements to the best of your ability?

Cub Scout: (Yes)

Cubmaster: And have you been a cheerful helper at home?

Cub Scout: (Yes)

Cubmaster: Very well, the water from the Well of Akela has bonded with your words. I will now mix the bonded water with the original water from the well, and if you are speaking the truth, your cup will glow.

(mix the chemicals and they will glow.)

Congratulations Scout on achieving the Rank of (insert the appropriate rank).

Note: one of the chemicals will be colored. I used a baby nose suction bulb to squirt the colored chemicals so that the boys didn’t notice the color. Also do not reuse any of the containers. These are chemicals after all and not designed to be ingested. I did not allow any of my boys to touch the glowing substance as there may have been glass particles from the glass tube.

The boys love this ceremony. And it is lots of fun to see their faces light up.

What you’ll need:

• Pine cones-take a trip with to your backyard or local park with your Den!
• Glue
• Glitter of various colors
• Glitter glue or glitter fabric paint, optional

How to make it:

1. Place glue on ends of individual cone “leaves” and sprinkle glitter on Or, you can use glitter colored fabric paint glued directly to ends of cone “leaves.”
2. Arrange and glue the pine cones to a base or some kind.
3. Add ribbons or additional decorations as you like!  Hey it’s your centerpiece.

Tips:

Tacky Glue is better for crafts than hot glue, which Cub Scouts can easily get hurt using. Tacky glue is thicker and tackier than Elmer’s Glue and dries quickly.

Submitted by: Jennifer Volz – Patriots’ Path Council

Should you bother with leader recognition knots? Do they add any value to your Scouting program? Isn’t it really about the boys, not us leaders? I hear these questions a lot when I discuss leader recognition. I say it does matter! I believe that every Scouter should try to attain the knot for their position. If you serve at a den level or the pack level, there is a knot that you can earn. Here are some reasons why earning knots are important.

Quality – All of the leader recognition knots require training: required training for the position and attendance to either a Pow Wow/University of Scouting or four monthly roundtables. As a trainer, I know that training is key to developing a quality program. By following the guidelines of the leader recognition knots, you are getting the training needed to bring a quality program to your unit, either at the den level or pack level. And the individual requirements to earn the knots are all quality standards, as defined by National.

Consistency – We are charged with taking the program that National BSA has developed and bringing it to our units. Following the guidelines of BSA, as reinforced in the requirements for the leader’s recognition knots, help towards maintaining a program that is consistent with what National has devised. We are all meeting the same guidelines that National has determined is appropriate for our Scouting position.

Recognition – There is nothing wrong with us Scouters being recognized for our hard work. It’s a great way to encourage our leaders while awarding them for their efforts. And it sets a good example to our boys, as they see us in front of the pack being awarded for the program we’ve brought to them. And if the leaders themselves aren’t tracking their progress towards their knot, then someone at the pack committee level can. What a great way to surprise a leader, by presenting them with their recognition knot.

Roundtables – Most of the knots have a requirement to attend  four roundtables. Roundtables are an excellent way to get more training and network with other Scout leaders. Attending roundtables is a great way to further develop the skills of the Scouting leader. Since we are mid-way through the Cub Scout year, there still is time to get to four roundtable meetings. If you need help finding your district roundtable, please contact your Pack Trainer, Cubmaster, or Committee Chair.

Links – Here are some links to provide more information about leader knots.

1) Scouting Magazine – January/February 2009 issue of Scouting magazine had an excellent article on recognition knots. Here’s the link to this article.

2) Individual Requirements - You can print out the requirement for your specific position by looking for the “Progress Record” link under each of the individual knots at the U.S. Scouts website.

If you serve the youth in Scouting, it’s worthwhile to earn your leader recognition knots. If you serve at the pack level, and aren’t sure you’ve done anything to earn a knot, you have! Serve for two years, and get trained and go to roundtables, and you can qualify for the Cub Scouter knot. Some units don’t allow assistant den leaders to get knots, so if you are in this group, and you work hard and would like to be recognized, ask your unit to change your status to co-leader. If you are working hard for your boys, a title shouldn’t get in the way of being recognized for your efforts.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

This is the seventh and will be the last in a series I’ve written on  Webelos to Scout transition. This time we are going to look at what the goal of the Webelos to Scout process should be.

Too often I hear people say that the goal of the Webelos to Scout transition process should be getting a boy to join a troop. This can be A goal, but I feel this falls short of what we want from our Webelos Scout. We are not selling cars, where we want someone to sign the dotted line and then the deal is done. If we think of the goal as getting a boy to join a troop, we will design our recruiting tools for this. Instead, we should define the goal as getting the boy to find a troop that fits him and his family, where he will stay in and find success.

Each troop is unique. Some are fully boy-lead. Some have more adult involvement. Some are high-adventure oriented. Some might do more car camping. And some might be more community-service oriented, with a little less focus on the outdoors. And all of these are the correct way to run a troop. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of saying a troop should be this way, or a troop should be that way. If a troop has a stable or growing membership, and the boys are having fun while their character is being developed, then that troop is doing the right thing.

So when working towards our Webelos to Scout transition goal, we should look at which type of troop fits the boy and his family before he joins. The boy and his family should look for a troop that fits their family needs and their idea of what a troop should be. This is why visiting multiple troops as a Webelos is so vital. And I would charge all Webelos den leaders to let your parents know that the choice of a troop is a family decision. This is the time where your den might go their separate ways, and that’s OK. Although it’s great when boys go from a Webelos den to the same troop, sometimes it’s best in the long run for a Scout to go to a separate troop than some in his den.

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We should want more from the Webelos to Scout transition process than getting a boy to join a troop. The Webelos to Scout transition process should be about getting the boy to join a troop that fits in with his and his family’s idea of what a troop should be and where he will get fully engaged in that troop. We want a boy to find the right troop for him and his family, so he will join and stay in and enjoy all that Boy Scouts has to offer.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

This is part 6 in a series I’ve written about Webelos to Scout transition. This time we will look at preparing for the costs you will incur when you transfer into the Boy Scout program, especially the first summer camp. Many don’t know what costs to expect, and this can result in “sticker shock” when you join a troop.

The good news is that it is only $1 to transfer from your pack to a new troop. And if you bought a large enough tan shirt for Webelos, you should be able to take off the Cub Scout patches and awards and wear this in Boy Scouts (but keep the Arrow of Light award and purple religious knot, as these two patches can be worn on your Boy Scout uniform).

So what do you need to save for? First, there are uniform accessories you will need to buy. Your new troop will let you know what you will need, and how much this will cost. Examples would include a Boy Scout hat and kerchief slide, a troop kerchief, a Boy Scout handbook, and a troop information binder notebook. You might not know the exact cost now, but you can price these out to get an estimate of what you will need to come up with when you bridge.

As with your pack, your new troop will have dues. Now that your son is growing up, it’s a good idea to have him start paying for his own dues, if he doesn’t already. I made some chores for my son to do so I could increase his allowance and he could pay for his dues (these were new chores on top of the tasks he already had to do). Now my son cleans our back patio furniture and blow off the patio each week. Since a Scout pays his own way, he is earning his dues and his way in the troop.

The biggest expense that you will have when you join a troop is the first summer camp. The main reason why so many Webelos dens bridge into Boy Scouts before the end of the fifth grade is to get the boys plugged into the troop in time for the first summer camp. (I will write a separate post on getting your son ready for his first summer camp, so we will only look at the cost here).

Hopefully your pack or troop has some mechanism for helping to pay for the first summer camp, as it can cost several hundred dollars. This is a lot of money to come up with! Often, troops will need a decision as soon as you join if your son will attend summer camp. Does your pack have “scout accounts” that will come over with your son? Does the troops you are looking at have a spring fundraiser to help pay for this? These are questions to ask as soon as possible.

As we want to teach responsibility, we can actually do a disservice to our son, in the absence of a mechanism to pay for the first summer camp, by writing a check and paying for it. It’s time that the soon-to-be-graduating Webelos Scout has more of a stake in fund-raising, if he doesn’t already. If you have to pay for this first summer camp, then have your son start collecting cans and bottles. Have him to chores around the neighborhood or for relatives. Have him save a portion of any Christmas money received. He will get more out of the first summer camp if he has a financial stake in it.

Finally, to help get our boys to their first summer camp, I offer two challenges. First, a challenge to packs: Consider Scout accounts at the pack level, or consider letting the fall fundraiser for the second-year Webelos go towards Boy Scout expenses. And, a challenge to troops: If you don’t have this already, consider putting in place some mechanism so new scouts can pay for their first summer camp without going to First National Bank of Mom and Dad, or missing out entirely.

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The last thing we want when going into Boy Scouts is “Sticker Shock”. But by planning ahead, we can prepare for these costs, and the impact won’t be so painful.

“A Scout is thrifty. He pays his own way”.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

Here is a look at the players involved in this process.

The Webelos Den Leader – In my opinion, the Webelos Den Leader is the most important individual in this process. He/she has a vested interest in each boy’s success in the Scouting program. The Webelos leader is the one that knows every boy and parents and can directly ask the families if they are planning to go into Boy Scouts. The Webelos Den Leader can and should be the greatest recruiter for Boy Scouts.

The Scoutmaster – A Scoutmaster should be recruiting - incoming recruits are the lifeblood of a Scouting program. They should be recruiting either to grow the troop or to replace attrition. They should need to be actively working with packs to get Webelos to come to events and meetings, even having someone in the troop specifically assigned to this. (I asked for this when I asked to be an Assistant Scoutmaster at my son’s new troop). And a Scoutmaster should sit down and explain to the Webelos parents during the Arrow of Light conference process why their boy should join Boy Scouts. I sat down in a Scoutmaster meeting with my parents, and the Assistant Scoutmaster explained everything about their particular troop to us parents. But they never told us what our sons will get out of Boy Scouts. They gave us good information about their troop but missed a great recruiting opportunity to tell us why our sons should continue in Boy Scouts.

The Cubmaster – The Cubmaster should have contact with several local troops, to help coordinate information exchange between the pack and the troop. There should be one person in a pack that all leaders can go to find Boy Scout troops, and per the official BSA job description, the Cubmaster is the one in the pack for this. And the Cubmaster’s connection with local troops can help get Den Chiefs from those troops to serve in the pack.

Den Chiefs - Den Chiefs are a great recruiting tool for Boy Scouts. The Webelos look up to a Den Chief. They get to see a Boy Scout in action, and that does more than any words we could say. I was so glad to have a Den Chief in my first Webelos den. He helped me and worked so well with the Webelos. He also really impressed the Webelos parents, as they saw a teenager with maturity and leadership skills. A Webelos leader, and even younger rank Cub Scout leaders, should try to get a Den Chief into their den.

The District Training Team – The district trainers should be informing all leaders that the Scout program does not end with the Arrow of Light – it ends when the boy turns 18 (or older in the Venturing program). The training team should also be “building up” the Boy Scout program to Cub Scout leaders. At Cub Scout training once, I actually heard a trainer say something along the lines of “all the fun stuff happens in Cub Scouts. We’ll let the Boy Scouts do all of the boring stuff”. Now I know this particular trainer believes in the Boy Scout program, and was trying to make the point that the Cub program is often about bringing fun and entertainment to Cubs. But the word choice was poor. We should remind those we train that if they think Cub Scouting is fun, wait until they see the fun of Boy Scouts!

The District Webelos to Scout Coordinator – Hopefully your district has someone that’s watching the graduating Webelos and making sure they get into a troop. It’s important to have this net to catch any that might slip under the radar when they leave the various packs.

The District and Council – Your district and council should be providing opportunities for Boy Scouts and Webelos to interact in the outdoors. It’s so much easier on the transition process if the Webelos have several opportunities to visit troop district or council-wide outdoor functions before graduation (such as Webelos Woods and Camporee campouts).

Parents - We can’t forget that none of this will happen if we don’t involve the parents. Every player in this process should be educating the parents about the Boy Scout program. As a former Webelos den leader (twice), I did my best to explain to the parents why they should join. I also asked them to commit for a year. And I let them know ahead of time what troop meetings can look like. It’s a boy-led program, and as a result doesn’t always function smoothly. Sometimes there’s a little chaos, and that’s not always bad. And as I mentioned previously, a Scoutmaster should talk to parents and tell them why their son should continue in Scouting.

Finally, the Bear Den Leader – the Bear Den Leader needs to understand that the Webelos program is a transition program, with the ultimate goal of getting boys to bridge to Boy Scouts. He/she should understand the patrol method and how to start teaching this to a Webelos den. Ideally the Bear Den Leader should understand this all before the first Webelos den meeting. So the players listed above should be talking to the Bear Den Leader and giving them the heads-up that the program is different, and they should get to training before the Bear year ends to find out how the Webelos program is a different program than the younger Cub Scout ranks.

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Webelos to Scout transition is a group effort. Everyone involved in the process needs to have the mindset that we need to get the Webelos to join a Boy Scout troop. It’s possible to have good recruiting if all players are working together. But if any part of the process doesn’t work, we will loose boys.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

In this installment of Webelos to Scout Transition, I want to talk about progressive Webelos camping. One thing that I’ve done with my two Webelos dens is introduce the boys to camping with Boy Scouts gradually. Thankfully, my council and district have given opportunities for this. The goal is that by the time they cross over into Boy Scouts, they will understand the patrol method of Scouting. Along with this, hopefully the first few campouts with the troop won’t be a scary thing. Here are the steps that I’ve used.

Den Campout – As soon as we became Webelos, we went camping to a local Scout camp. There, we worked on our Outdoorsman activity pin (I won’t work on the Outdoorsman pin in a den meeting – that’s just something I can’t do). Webelos is the first time you are allowed to take your Scouts out camping away from the pack (as a reminder, a parent needs to attend a Webelos den campout). This was also the first introduction to the patrol method while at a campout, as I had the boys develop their own meal plan and duty roster (the parents ate separately). This campout was the boys first camping away from younger Scouts. It was the first time they began to establish an identity apart from the pack.

Webelos Woods – Our council offers a Webelos Woods campout in the fall, and we went the fall of our Webelos 1 year. I’m not sure how other council does this, but our Webelos Woods is basically a show put on by Boy Scouts, with the Boy Scouts providing different activity and skills areas for the Webelos to visit. The Webelos do not camp in the same sites as Boy Scouts. The only interaction is going to the stations that the Boy Scouts are running, and this was my boys first introduction to Boy Scouting. We used the patrol method of camping at this campout, and again the boys ate and cleaned up separately from their parents. The skills they learned at our first den campout were refined here.

Camporee - our district holds their Camporee in spring, and thankfully invites Webelos to attend (from what I hear, not all Camporees allow Webelos). For a Webelos to go to Camporee, they need to be sponsored by a troop, and come as their guest. We camped in the same campsite as our sponsor troop, but we were separated (we grouped our own tents together and we ate as a den, not with the troop). We were not integrated with the troop at this campout, but we got close to the troop to observe how they camped. We also got to go to a troop meeting before this campout to plan, and this was our first visit to a troop meeting.

Troop Campouts – By the fall of your Webelos 2 year, you should be spending time camping with troops and attending troop meetings. In the fall of our Webelos 2 year, we were invited to two different troop campouts. At these campouts, the Webelos are fully integrated into the troops. They are mixed in with the patrols, and their tents are mixed in with the Boy Scouts (though the Webelos shared a tent with another Webelos, not a Boy Scout). The parents were in an adult patrol. By this time, the Webelos knew enough about the patrol method of camping that they could easily work along side of the Boy Scouts in meal preparation and clean up, without interaction by Webelos den leaders or parents.

The First Boy Scout Campout Weekend – Hopefully, by the time that my boys bridge into Boy Scouts and go on their first weekend campout, the boys from my den will be ready to go and have fun. By this campout, they should have learned enough of the patrol method and basic outdoor skills to be a good contributor to their assigned patrol. And hopefully by this time it won’t be a nervous experience. It worked with my last den and I hope it will work again with my current den.

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Every council and district is different, so you won’t be able to replicate this fully with your den. But the idea is that you find a path of gradual introduction. Webelos is all about transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, and one wants to progressively get the boys to operate apart from their parents and more towards a patrol.

I hope these help you, especially if you are a Webelos 1 or Bear den leader. If you have any methods you’ve used to help introduce Webelos to the Boy Scout outdoor experience, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

This is part 3 in my take on Webelos to Scout transition, this time dealing with the patrol method of scouting. In Boy Scouts, the patrol method is used to teach the boys to work as a team, sharing responsibilities to help achieve success for the patrol. Webelos are not a patrol, they are still a den. But in looking to prepare my den for Boy Scouts, I have incorporated the following ideas from the patrol method.

Identity – at the end of our Bear year, the boys, not me, selected the patrol name and patch they would use as Webelos. A leader in our unit a few years back that chose the name himself, and he missed a great opportunity to let the boys have a say in how the den is run. My den chose the fox patch. As with Boy Scouts, they get to be creative with their name in our pack, so they chose to call themselves the “Cool Foxes”. I even found a stuffed fox on-line that looks like the patrol patch fox! He’s our mascot. Here’s a link to the different patrol patches: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/patrol-patch.asp

Flag – for our flag, I made a flag that looks like the patrol patch they chose. Knowing someone that sews is such a great thing! In hindsight, this might have been a good project to have the boys do, maybe over the summer after we became Webelos.

Patrol Yell – I had the boys come up with a patrol yell, which they wrote at our first campout as Webelos. It’s not fancy but it’s something they created.

Leadership – if you are not using the denner / assistant denner by the time you are Webelos, you need to. It’s an outstanding way to start teaching leadership. Our denner is in charge of opening and closing ceremonies. Now that we are second year Webelos, I tell the boys that I shouldn’t be involved in the opening or closing ceremonies (I am there to help, though). The denner gets other tasks as well throughout his term.

Campout Planning – at the start of our second year as Webelos this past September, we had 4 campout opportunities in the fall: Two in October and two in November. Since I want to only have one a month, I could have chosen one each month and put it on the calendar. But this is a great opportunity to let the boys start choosing what they want to do, as the will be doing in Boy Scouts. So we sat down and voted on which campouts we would go to as a den. They chose one troop/den campout and last weekend’s council-wide Webelos Woods campout.

Cooking/Meal Planning – after becoming Webelos, whenever we have a campout (either den or pack campouts), we use the patrol method for handling meals. The den meeting before the campout the boys choose the menu and set up the duty roster, so all get an opportunity to cook and clean up (and learn the painful lesson that cooks eat last). For meals I pull the boys away from their parents and we cook, eat, and clean up as a group. They will be doing this as Boy Scouts, so hopefully this will get them ready for this aspect of camping.

Tent Sharing – with my older son’s den a few years back, I never had the boys leave their parent’s tent. When we had our first troop/Webelos campout, and the troop ask the boys to form patrols and share tents with another Webelos scout away from their parents, one of the boys in that den freaked out. He had never been away from his parents. It was a lesson to me, with my current den, to try to get the boys out of their parent’s tent, in preparation for Boy Scouts (with the parents permission). We started with our first year as Webelos. We had the Webelos share a tent with each other at a campout, with the parents tenting nearby. One boy couldn’t make it through the night and went to his dad’s tent, which was OK. We keep doing it so they can get over the fear of not being with their parent. I don’t want their first campout in Boy Scouts to have to deal with this.

[A couple of reminders are in order here. You cannot take your den camping until they become Webelos. Before that, you can only go to pack and council campouts. And Webelos camping is still parent-son camping, so a parent needs to attend. And a Webelos can never sleep in a tent of another parent - only his own parent or legal guardian].

These are some of the ways I’ve tried to introduce the patrol method of Boy Scouting to my Webelos den. The hope is that all this will ease their transition into Boy Scouting. If you have any ideas to bring the patrol method into a Webelos den, please post them in the comments. We’d love to hear what you’ve done to get your Webelos ready for Boy Scouts.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

Happy Friday to you all! Me and my son are headed out early today to our council’s Webelos Woods campout. (For those of you in colder climates, we here in Southern California get to camp all year. This weekend will be a “cool camp”, with night-time lows in the low 40?s). The Boy Scouts in our council put on this campout for the Webelos, specifically to show the best that Boy Scouting has to offer. I’ve been before with my older son and the scouts do a great job.

I will be writing more thoughts on this after we get back, but I wanted to note one more step in the Webelos to Scout transition process, that I will be working on this weekend. As a Webelos leader, I am an active recruiter for Boy Scouts. My job is to show the boys how great Boy Scouting is. Our pack generally feeds two Boy Scout troops, and my job is not to favor one or the other - I consider myself a recruiter for both troops. I will be talking to my Webelos about all the great things Scouting has to offer, no matter what troop the boys choose. We will discuss how important it is to choose a troop not based on what troop I go to, or their buddies go to. Although it’s good to choose a troop based on where your Scouting friends go to, it’s even better to choose one that fits you and your family’s philosophy of Scouting.

So along with having a (hopefully) great time camping this weekend, I will be recruiting for Boy Scouts. And hopefully the boys will want to join Boy Scouts and continue their Scouting experience.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)

A lot has been said about Webelos to Boy Scout transition. As a Webelos den leader, it’s vital that work hard to make sure you boys go into Boy Scouts. Since much has been written about this topic, I won’t go into too much detail. But here are a few thoughts for Webelos den leader to consider.

First, as a den leader, you should consider changing the way you hold den meetings to look more like a troop meeting. What I did in both the Webelos dens I’ve led is the first year of the program was more like Cub Scouts – it was all about advancements and pack meeting preparation. But I made a shift in year two of the program. For that year (or partial year in most cases), I backed off of Webelos activity badge advancements and looked more to work on Scout skills, as our local troops do. I also took the boys to as many troop meetings as I could our second year. I wanted the first troop meeting they attended as official Boy Scouts to be old news, not something new and possibly intimidating.

Second, as a Webelos den leader, make sure you get to troop meetings yourself. Go early in your Webelos program and go often. If you want to pattern your meetings after troop meetings, you have to know what target you are aiming for. And once probably won’t be enough. Usually your pack has a troop or two it feeds into, and your Cubmaster should have the contacts for that troop. But don’t be afraid to go to your local Roundtable and ask some of the Boy Scout leaders there if you can come to their meetings. Be bold! Don’t forget that you have what they need – Webelos that will be transitioning soon.

Finally, one thing I’ve asked all of my parents is to commit to Boy Scouts for one year. There are so many good things about Boy Scouts, it’s a shame to not join. It’s too easy for the boys and parents to stop Scouting when they graduate from the Cub Scout program, and they will end up missing so much. So I ask my parents to join Boy Scouts and give it a year before making the decision to stay or not. By then hopefully they will see the promise of Scouting and how it molds and shapes a young man’s life.

If you have tips or advice on this topic, please leave it in the comments.

Post provided by:

- Scouter Jeff Cummings (The Trainer’s Corner)