Grin and Bear It, Day 2

Requirement(s) Met: Grin and Bear It Requirements 2, 5

We were busy this week! We had a flag ceremony (with 2 Bears representing our den carrying the flags!), awards, carnival announcements, and then a den meeting. Phew! That's a lot to fit in one hour!

We continued with Grin and Bear It tonight (we started this back in September). Tonight we had the boys work on making a game for next week's carnival. We will be doing a ball toss to knock down cans, so the boys got their creative juices flowing and each designed a can to contribute to the game.

After they finished that, they moved on to the awards table, where they each designed an award to give to the parents who have volunteered to help man a station.

Next week at the carnival, the boys will need to find me at the beginning of evening. Requirement 3 involves them helping a younger scout learn how to play a carnival game, so I will have a couple of our Bears go to each station for the first few minutes of the carnival to help our Tigers and Wolves get started. Then they will be free to check out the rest of the carnival on their own!

Next week, remember:

• All Scouts (and siblings and adults, if they choose) can wear costumes!
• Be sure to have your Scout bring a bag to collect prizes/candy in
• Bring a cake along to the carnival to contribute for a cake walk prize

It will be such a fun night -- I'm looking forward to seeing all the Scouts' costumes!

On another note, at the end of this meeting, I introduced the "Critter Care" belt loop to the boys. We have adopted a den mascot! "Scout" is a teddy-bear hamster that the boys will be able to take home for a 2-week period. I adopted him for our den so that boys who would like to work on their Critter Care elective belt loop will be able to do so, even if they don't have a pet at home. You can look in the handbook at the requirements for this belt loop, but be sure to let me know if you'd like to have your Scout care for him at some point during the year. He will come with food, clean bedding for cage cleanings, an informational pamphlet, and an exercise ball to run around in. I'll be bringing him to the meeting in 2 weeks so that the boys can meet him, learn a little bit about handling him, and talk about the requirements of the belt loop if they want to take him home. Remember -- this is an elective belt loop. Scouts are NOT required to do this one if they don't want to. You also can complete this belt loop with other animals if you already have a pet at home you'd rather do this with. I just wanted everyone to have the option if they wanted it.

"Scout" is already learning to love playing with people!

Have a great week everyone -- see you at the Carnival!