NetCompass Comments
June 16, 2000
by MaryAnn Gardner |
 On This Vacation, Take Scouting Along
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 Most of us in North America will be vacationing
at sometime throughout the next couple of months. It's a time to kick back, relax, and
enjoy the family. Vacation time can serve double-duty if you have a Scout in your
family. Before you leave, you and your Scout should review the handbook together to
identify any upcoming rank advancement activities that might be accomplished, during your
vacation.
Some activities fit naturally into family travel. The activities listed below are
from the Cub Scout and Webelos handbooks. However, the same thing can be done if you
have a Boy Scout or Girl Scout in your family. Review any rank badge or merit badge
requirements your Scout may be working to earn and identify those that might be fulfilled
during vacation.
Boy Scouts should check with their Scoutmaster for anything that may be needed as proof
that the requirement was fulfilled. A signed note from a forest ranger or a museum
curator testifying to what was done, might be all that is needed. 
I looked through the
Wolf, Bear, and Webelos books and came up with the list below: |
Wolf Requirements
- Swim as far as you can walk in 15 steps.
- Make a collection of anything you like. Start with 10 things. Put them together in a
neat way.
- Pick up litter you see. Put it where it belongs. Or recycle it.
- Plan a walk. Go to a park or wooded area, visit a zoo or museum with your family.
- Attend a concert, a play, or other live program with your family.
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Wolf Electives
- Name 10 kinds of trucks, construction machinery, or farm machinery.
- Make a list of all the birds you saw in a week and tell where you saw them (field,
forest, marsh, yard, or park).
- Fish with members of your family or a grown-up. Bait your hook and catch a fish.
- Know the rules of safe fishing.
- Know boating safety rules.
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Bear Requirements
- Pick your favorite state or home state. Name the state bird, tree, and flower. Describe
its flag. Give the date it was admitted to the union.
- Name at least five stories about American folklore. Point out on a United States map
where they took place.
- Explain what a wildlife conservation officer does.
- Visit one of the following: Zoo, Nature center, Wildlife refuge, Game preserve.
- Find someone who was a Cub Scout a long time ago. Talk with him about what Cub Scouting
was like then. (What did they do at den mtgs., pack mtgs., what kind of uniform did they
wear?)
- Go on a trip with members of your family.
- Tell what to do in case of a water accident.
- Tell what to do in case of a car accident.
- Go camping with your family.
- Go on a hike with your family.
- Have a picnic with your family.
- Attend an outdoor event with your family.
- Visit a newspaper office, or TV or radio station and talk to a news reporter.
- Visit a place where computers are used.
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Bear Electives
- Visit a planetarium.
- Help your dad or any other adult rig and sail a real boat.
- With an adult, demonstrate forward strokes, turns, and backstrokes. Row a boat around a
100-yard course involving two turns.
- Ride in an airplane (commercial or private).
- Visit an art museum or picture gallery with your family.
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