7 At-Home Scouting Kits for Cub Scouts
There is a two-fold benefit to #ScoutingAtHome right now. First and foremost, it is the best way to supplement in some learning when virtual school just needs to take a REST. Secondly, it is nice to have a family activity that isn’t vegetating in front of the TV.
I pulled together a list of Cub Scout kits that can help you keep the Scouting momentum (and FUN) alive and well right now! These are PERFECT additions to the tools that you have at home.
1. Birdhouse Woodworking Kit: This one fits in with the “My Tiger Jungle” Required adventure for Tiger Scouts (Requirement #5). Added bonus? You can have 10 minutes to yourself after helping them build to let them paint it before hanging! If you have older Cub Scouts, this is just a fantastic kit that they may actually be able to build on their own, so don’t count this out.
2. Cub Scout Magic Book: I love this book because it has 200 ideas for games, puzzles, tricks, etc. This book can help Tiger Scouts earn the “Curiosity, Intrigue, and Magical Mysteries” Elective adventure loop (Requirement #1A), but it would be great for kids of all ages to work through. #somanyactivities
3. Cub Scout Song Book: Another totally simple idea but with some deeper meaning – it can be a tool for Wolf Scouts to work on the “Call of the Wild” Required adventure (Requirement #6), and it is a fun family activity. Kids can memorize various songs and perform them and they could also create fun dances to accompany their songs (basically like Bing Crosby or Rosemary Clooney from White Christmas in action!).
4. Fishing Gear: Isn’t solitude the main goal of fishing? What better time to get in some casting time than right now when Solo is the name of the game! There is really no age on this activity, either. My daughter (same 4-year-old as mentioned above) LOVES to fish! But bonus – Bear Scouts can earn their “A Bear Goes Fishing” Elective adventure loop – just snag the gear (we even have bait and lures) and go.
5. Marbles: I remember playing marbles with my brother as a little kid, and it is time to Bring.It.Back. Hey – nothing like a little hand-eye coordination practice, right!? This can also help Bear Scouts earn the “Marble Madness” Elective adventure loop! A couple of marble game ideas:
- Each person takes turns shooting marbles into or out of a circle (you can use a shoelace for the circle, play in the sand and draw a ring in the sand… use what you have!).
- I also found a fun one called Archboard – grab an old shoebox, cut holes into it, and assign each hole a random number. Take turns shooting your marbles into the holes to earn points, and the person with the most points at the end wins!
- Modify Archboard and play it indoors or outdoors on the ground. Mark off circles (of varying size and length away from you) and take turns shooting your marbles into the circles for points.
6. Model Rockets: I built the Estes Scout Spirit just for fun and it was a great activity that taught me about how rocketry works. Not only can snagging one of these kits help Webelos earn the “Adventures in Science” (Requirement #3D) pin, but they also make great room or office décor (speaking from experience).
7. Smithsonian Telescope/Monocular: Use this to check out the night sky and bring objects 30x closer! This is a great tool to have on-hand so Webelos can knock out another Requirement (3F) in the “Adventures in Science elective adventure. Again, this is something that pretty much all ages can use with supervision, so definitely not limited to Webelos.
8. Smithsonian Crystal Growing Kit: This would be a great project for Webelos working on earning the “Earth Rocks!” pin, along with a fun family activity to do in general! You can grow your own emerald green crystals and learn about crystalline habitats and crystal structures.
Looking for more kits and crafts to do at home? These science kits are AMAZING to have on-hand at home and these wood-building kits are fun crafts to tackle as well.
Keep up the amazing #ScoutingAtHome work you are doing! We LOVE seeing all of your pictures! Have you used any of these kits or one of the others that we carry? Share those pictures with us on Instagram by tagging us (@scoutshop_bsa) or using the #ScoutingAtHome and #ScoutShopBSA hashtags for a chance to be featured.
