Probably best suited for the older kids. After teaching this a few times, I remain convinced the kids get it and just want to learn more and more. They do need it spoon feed to them so it is easy to understand and it must include experiments so it is not a lecture. It is [...]

  Pioneering in many places is not like it used to be. You can’t just go and cut down trees anymore. Furthermore, the risks and liabilities are threatening, as is the cost for all the rope needed. Nevertheless, there is a time and place for this great scout activity. There are a few free scout [...]

  If you are looking for a nice powerpoint to introduce caving to the scouts, maybe the attached will help. I do not know the author, but this one is very good:   introduction_to_basic_caving.ppt    Here is a guide to caving LNT:  lntcaving.pdf   There are quite a number of caving opportunities in the northeast. [...]

      This website is dedicated to helping scouts answer the questions properly – http://my.execpc.com/~culp/space/space.html addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fscoutingclub.com%2Fspace-exploration-mb.html’; addthis_title = ‘Space+Exploration+MB’; addthis_pub = ”;

Here is a collection of files the IEEE put together to teach these courses. http://www.emeritbadges.org/merit_badges.htm addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fscoutingclub.com%2Felectricity-merit-badge.html’; addthis_title = ‘Electricity+Merit+Badge%2C+Electronics+MB’; addthis_pub = ”;

I always thought that this would be a cool MB for the kids to get. The merit badge goes hand in hand with the Bugler position in the troop. Of all the positions, I thought this one was a real badge of honor as it took some skill to achieve. All the other positions require just [...]

  I taught this a few times. Kids love this one.  Make sure you have bandaids handy when you teach. Even though you talk about knife safety and first aid, at least 2-3 end up cutting themselves every time. My recommendations when teaching: 1. Buy those bags of small basswood carving blocks from AC Moore (local craft [...]

  As a parent, you want to balance your kid’s development across many areas. Local sports fill one space, scouting another, education is in the middle, I’m sure you have them volunteering and doing something for the community and you’re probably traveling and exposing them to new people & places. Something else to consider carefully [...]

Item 7d in the computer MB requirements is to build a webpage. I thought I would take a minute to let you know about this website. Just about everything you see here (other than the content posted) was put together in one weekend by someone who knows very very little about computers. Someone mentioned to [...]

A flyer for the kids to get interested in the Citizenship in the Nation MB, American Heritage MB, and Freedom Trail. I will post my CITN merit badge notes when I can find them. Hope this at least is a start – freedom-trail.doc Here’s one that might be usable (I did not produce):  citizenship_in_the_nation_v2.ppt addthis_url [...]

A decent course if you’ve gone through all the training as an adult and want to be a better leader for the kids (as they say, every scout deserves a well trained leader). Start at: http://www.powderhorn-bsa.org/ Quick synopsis: Some people call it high adventure training, but it really is an introduction to the Venture Program. [...]