Kenosha Cub Scout Pack 533

09/21/2023

09/21/2023

5 Awesome Benefits of Cub Scouts for My Child
“Why should my child be a Cub Scout?”
What exactly are the benefits of Cub Scouts?
Benefits of Cub Scouts Study
A Tufts University study released in 2015 found that that “boys in Cub Scouts became significantly more cheerful, helpful, kind, obedient, trustworthy, and hopeful about their future than non-Scouts.”
Most parents would say that's reason enough to join Cub Scouts.
Cub Scouts is the part of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for younger boys and girls. Boys and girls who are in kindergarten through fifth grade (or ages 5 to 11) can be a Cub Scout.
1. Outdoor Activities
Cub Scouting gets my son off electronics and outside. Camping and hiking are the Scouting outdoor experiences that come to mind first. But Cub Scouts are outdoors for many other reasons.
The requirements to earn rank badges and other awards include outdoor activities.
• Lion Cub Scouts learn about the buddy system, what SAW means and demonstrate an understanding of respect for nature during a hike.
• Tiger Cub Scouts go outside to observe the night sky.
• Wolf Cub Scouts play catch to improve their throwing and catching ability.
• Bear Cub Scouts plant a vegetable or herb garden.
• Webelos Scouts create and go through a fitness course that includes running, jumping, and avoiding obstacles.
The kids are outside for other reasons too. We visit nature centers and parks. Dens play games such as tag or gaga ball. Many kids nowadays spend too much time indoors playing with their electronics. Getting them outdoors is one of the best benefits of Cub Scouts.
2. Try New Things
The Cub Scout program gives the children opportunities to try new activities.
• They can learn magic tricks.
• They can investigate how air affects different objects.
• They can build a robot.
• They can create art and music.
• They can design their own game or make a movie.
Cub Scouts often love an activity so much that they want to explore it more. For example, building a simple collection as part of a Cub Scout requirement can lead to a lifelong love of stamp collecting. One of the benefits of Cub Scouts is that they'll be introduced to activities that a family would never do on their own.
3. Important Skills
As adults, we know how to do many things that we may not teach our kids. I haven't had the lesson in reading a map or tying a square knot with my son, but he has learned map reading and knot tying in Cub Scouts.
Cub Scouts learn how to use tools by building wood projects. Every summer at our Cub Scout day camp, there are at least one or two boys or girls who have never used a hammer, and we show them how.
Cub Scouts learn basic first aid skills for treating cuts, blisters, insect bites, and nosebleeds among others. They also learn what to do in more serious situations such as heart attacks and poisoning and when someone has stopped breathing.
The children test and change batteries in smoke detectors. This skill comes in handy when those things start to chirp!
We may forget to teach our kids some of these things, so I'm glad that Cub Scouts is doing it for us.
4. How to Set and Achieve Goals
Cub Scouts can set goals for many activities. They may set a goal for the number of adventures they want to complete or when they want to complete them.
Setting and working toward physical fitness and nutrition goals is part of several ranks.
And don't forget popcorn sales! Typically, packs will have prizes the boys can earn based on the amount of popcorn they sell. My son picks out the prize he wants to earn and then starts begging us to take him to sell.
Learning about goal-setting is a great benefit of Cub Scouts!
5. Character Development
What exactly is “good character?” The Center for Youth Ethics at the Josephson Institute identified six ethical values that they call the Six Pillars of Character.
They are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Cub Scouting reinforces each of the ethical values.
Kinda sounds like the Scout Law, doesn't it?
The Scouts participate in activities that are specifically designed to teach good character.
• Tigers learn polite and respectful language and create a den code of conduct.
• Wolves develop a den duty chart with each Scout being responsible for certain tasks.
• Bears complete a service project that helps clean up their community.
• Webelos complete requirements that develop empathy for people with disabilities.
Recently, my 10-year-old Webelos walked up to an elderly woman who was putting her groceries in her car and said, “I can help you with that.” He did so with no prompting from me. Yes, it brought me to tears.
This is what the Cub Scouting program provides for my family. If you aren't involved already, check it out.

03/22/2023

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2023/03/22/this-saturday-do-a-conservation-good-turn-by-participating-in-earth-hour/

A Conservation Good Turn doesn’t have to be limited to something you do in the outdoors. As we approach Earth Day, consider participating in Earth Hour, when every person on Earth is asked to turn off the lights in their homes for one hour.

Earth Hour started in 2007, when it was introduced by the World Wildlife Fund. It has since found supporters all over the world, including our friends at Leave No Trace.

“Earth Hour shows the power of citizen activism and our ability to create positive impacts with relatively small actions,” the Leave No Trace organization writes on its official blog. “Take part in Earth Hour – and then take steps to minimize your energy consumption the other 8,759 hours in a year to live more sustainably and reduce your carbon footprint.”

How to participate in Earth Hour
What I like about the concept of Earth Hour is that you really don’t have to do all that much.

You could encourage your Scout families to simply turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday, March 25. That’s it!

Leave No Trace suggests you participate from 8 to 9 p.m. local time. The official Earth Hour website says 8:30—9:30.

With people all over the world in different time zones, I’m not sure that it really matters all that much when you participate, as long as you participate at some point on that day.

Have a dinner party planned for that time? Fine! Do your part earlier in the day!

Are you out and about during that time? No problem! Do your part when you get home!

And though the official Earth Hour site suggests that you could spend that hour learning more about ways to conserve the environment, it’s also enough to just listen to a podcast, go for a walk or spend some time talking with your family.

Does it really make a difference?
Earth Hour is partly a symbolic gesture.

“Earth Hour has been known for the ‘lights off’ moment, with individuals from around the globe switching off their lights to show symbolic support for the planet,” says the official Earth Hour site.

However, the Leave No Trace blog says global energy demand decreases by around 4% on that one day. So, there is some real impact.

Among the other things you can do to minimize your energy consumption throughout the year:

As your current light bulbs burn out, switch to LED bulbs. They use less electricity than traditional bulbs.

Turn off the lights when you aren’t in the room, and especially when you leave the home.

Wash your clothes in cold water. (This still feels weird to me, as my mom always taught me to wash clothes in warm or hot water, unless the colors could fade. But that was a long time ago! Modern detergents work just as well in cold water as they do in warm or hot water.)

In the summer, turn the AC up a couple of degrees and turn on a fan. In the winter, turn it down a couple of degrees and put on a sweater.

Earth Hour is the one day of the year when every person on Earth is asked to turn off the lights in their homes for one hour.

09/10/2021

In the days immediately following the attacks of Sept. 11 — and in the two decades since — Scouts have stepped up to serve.

09/04/2021

https://youtu.be/b6djc7YZGE8

Cub Scouts, ages 5-10, allows kids to enter into the Boy Scouts of America through a youth development program that's focused on getting kids outside and lea...