Fabulous Feeders: Warning Very Enticing to Squirrels!

One of the great projects we completed this winter was a feeder for the birds.  This simple project is a great way to connect your Cubs to nature even when it may be cold out.  With peanut allergies being extremely prominent these days, I was on a quest to find a feeder that was allergen free for the boys. 

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Pinecones
• String (1 yard per feeder)
• Shortening
• Oatmeal
• Bird Seed (we used song bird feed)
• Aluminum Pie Plate
• Disposable Bowls
• Spoons
• Food Storage bags or Ziplocs

To make these feeders, give each boy a bowl with 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup oats.  Fill pie plates with bird seed.  Have the boys thoroughly mix their oats and shortening.  Then, have the boys tie the string to the pinecone (great opportunity to practice tying those square knots).  You want to make sure the string is tied under a few of the pinecone scales for added support.  Next, clump on the shortening mixture to fully cover the cone.  Once this is complete, roll pinecones to cover in bird seed.  I recommend you have some type of bag on hand for the boys to transport their feeders home.  This can be a bit messy so be sure you have a dust pan or vacuum on hand for clean up.  My den loves using the dust pan and did most of the clean up for me.

We have thoroughly enjoyed watching our feeder and have since made several more.  It is quite entertaining to watch the squirrels dangling upside down and pulling them up.  One was completely removed from its string, but we have also observed several birds snacking with the squirrels: Northern Cardinals, Dark-Eyed Juncos, Purple Finch, White-Breasted Sparrows and more.  Pick up a bird guide from your local library for birds common to your region before hanging your feeders.  I brought books for the boys to look through at our den meeting so they could learn to identify birds they might see.

The following are requirements you can complete with this feeder project: 

Tiger Elective 32: Make a Bird Feeder
Wolf Elective 13e: Feed Wild Birds and Tell Which You Fed
                       13a: Make a List of Birds You Saw in a Week
                       13d: Point Out 10 Different Kinds of Birds
Bear Achievement 5b: Make a Bird Feeder and Hang It
Webelos Naturalist Badge 5: Watch Birds in Your Yard for a Week and Identify
Wolf, Bear and Webelos: World Conservation Award

Bird House Fun!

Last week, we continued working on Achievement 5 Tools for Fixing and Building and Elective 13 Birds  for Wolves and made bird houses.  We are continuing to work on our World Conservation Award.

Carpentry is definitely not my strong suit so I reached out to my Cub Scout families and found a dad who was into carpentry.  I gave him a plan and he had a prototype complete the next day and a son who was so excited to have made a bird house with his dad.  As a leader, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.  When you reach an activity that may fall into your weakness category, this is the best time to reach out to your families or outside resources. 

I found the plans for the birdhouse at my local library, but there are also great resources online.  We recommend precutting and drilling holes for the boys prior to the meeting and making sets for each boy.  The boys assembled the bird houses hammering and sanding the pieces which was a perfect amount for our meeting time.  Be sure to have safety goggles (kids' sizes available at your local big box hardware store) available for each child.  I have added these items to my leader box for future projects.  Each child brought their own hammer.  When doing this activity with older scouts, you may want to leave more for them to do.

This activity is also appropriate for:
Bear Achievement 5: Sharing Your World With Wildlife
Webelos Actvity Badge: Craftsman

Great Site for Your Living World Achievement

Today, I want to share with you a great site I found for articles on people protecting our world.  This can be used for Wolf Achievement 7e.  The articles shared on this site are great for cub scouts because some of the conservationists are kids.  There is also a wide selection of articles so that you are sure to hit each boy's interest in your den.  The sponsor of this site is The MY HERO Project, a non-profit organization that offers free resources of hero stories to the public.  The section of the site with stories about conservationists is the Earthkeeper Hero section.  You can link directly to this section of the site: HERE.  I hope your scouts enjoy reading about these truly inspiring individuals!

Great Backyard Bird Count

Tomorrow starts a great annual activity to do with your Cubs, the Great Backyard Bird Count.  The GBBC is an annual event run every February in which you observe, identify and record birds seen in your backyard.  You can register tomorrow, February 15, 2013 for this event online at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc and learn about the birds seen in your area this time of year.  This activity is great for Wolf Scouts and can be used to work on Elective 13a Make a List of Birds Seen in a Week and Elective 13d Point Out 10 Different Kinds of Birds.  With the help of a parent, the cubs can log their findings online each day on the GBBC website.  These electives can be used as part of completing the World Conservation Award as well.  This website is also a great resource for exploring birds anytime of year.  I hope you find this to be a helpful resource for your scouts now or in the future!

Welcome to Scouting

Welcome to my blog!  I have been involved with Cub Scouting for two years and have been having so much fun!  I started out as an Assistant Den Leader and this year I took over as Den Leader of my son's den.  I love searching for new ideas to focus our meetings around.  When I find a great idea, I don't want to keep it all to myself.  I want to share it so others can benefit!  Hence, the creation of this blog!

Our den is currently in the middle of its Wolf Year. So, many of the ideas I share will focus around the Wolf Year.  I hope to touch back upon our Tiger Year and look forward to the up and coming years in Cub Scouts.  I hope you will consider following my blog to help your den collect fresh ideas for approaching the Cub Scout program!