8 Days of Cub Scouts

Crew turned 8 last month and although I’ve tried to prepare him for Baptism, I don’t think I was prepared for Cub Scouting.

Holy moly — that manual is rocket science.  Points and ranks and advancement and all the different animals…I can’t keep them straight.

Plus I didn’t realize all the clothes / supplies the boys need to get started.  Pretty sure I forgot to account for that bill when I did the family budget last month.

Anywat, I got to thinking on Crew’s birthday about all the stuff he needed to start Cub Scouts.  And I thought I might as well make it fun, and let Crew think it was a gift rather than just “here you go – here’s your Scout stuff”.

I counted that from his birthday to his first Pack Meeting was 8 days. 8 days … 8 years old … Hmmm …

Then the lightbulb came. I decided to play off my sister’s idea of the 12 Days of Priesthood and do the 8 Days of Cub Scouts instead.

Since it was a last minute idea, I had to pull this together in one afternoon with the supplies and paper I had on hand.  First, I went to my gift bag stash and pulled out the most boyish one I could find.  Brown kraft bag it was.

Then I googled “Cub Scout emblem” and printed this:

I backed the Scout emblem with some yellow scrap paper and glued it to the front of the bag.  I used some old scrapbook stickers and put Crew’s name on the front. ThenI tied a blue knot on the handle to bring in more blue.

I made numbers 1-8 using the same scrap paper and number stickers.  I planned to switch out the number on the bag each day when I switched the gift.

I wrote a poem with some help from another sister to explain the gift to Crew.  (We wrote it in about 5 minutes as I waited to pick them up from school –  so no Pultizer prize here.)

It’s time for Cub Scouts, yes it’s true

There will be so much for you to do

 

You’ll run, jump, learn and play

You’ll learn to work, listen and obey

 

You’ll need some supplies to help you out

It takes some gear to be a Scout

 

So for 8 days you will find something new

Inside the bag of gold and blue

 

In no time you’ll be a Cub Scout

Both on the inside and the out.

 

Here is what he got on each of the days.

Day #1- The Wolf Handbook (What are the chances of Crew NOT losing this book?)

Day #2– His Shirt (I bought the one with the patches already on it.)

Day #3– The Kerchief (Cross your fingers he will wear this.)

Day #4–  The Belt (This was a hand-me-down.)

Day #5– The Slider (It is upside down in the picture. Oops.)

Day #6– Scout Troop Numbers (I mixed them up for any crazies out there.)

Day #7– Plastic Badge Holder (I don’t even know what to do with this thing yet.)

Day #8– Dad’s Testimony of Scouting (because I don’t have one yet 🙁 )  

Chad wrote a beautiful letter to Crew about his own testimony of scouting and what it has done for him.  This was by far my favorite gift and a great way to end the 8 days.  Boys need to hear more from their dads.

If some of these gifts don’t work for you, you could do

-info from your troop or anything they pass out

-registration forms

-other patches if you didn’t get the pre-patched shirt

-a scouting or camping supply they might need like a flashlight or pocket knife

Crew enjoyed checking his bag each day. And making all the supplies seem like a gift just added a little fun to the inevitable.

Now all you veteran scouting moms out there, tell me it’s going to be okay and that the manual and program are not as confusing as they look.