Scouting with the Dads

We participated in Pinewood Derby on Sat.
Our entry was a purple and gold "honey badger" pickup truck.

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2nd place!
 
Nice truck there DisDr.

We had our Pinewood Derby this past weekend too and my son's RedBack Spider car took second for artistic design. The first place winner was pretty sweet, I wish I would have taken a picture. A dad (err, kid :rotfl:) made Anakin's podracer, complete with hoses and a lego Anakin sitting in the driver's seat.

As for the actual race, we blew a tire in the second heat, but came back to win the final three heats. Still didn't finish top three though because that DNF brought our average down.

All in all, though, my son had a ton of fun, and was very proud of his car. That's all that matters.
 
Ok, Pinewood derby opinions wanted.

Our derby isn't until April. We have been talking about a new track with timer (looks like maybe next year) and a better way to run the races.

Last year (with the old cubmaster and half the kids) we did double elimination brackets on posterboard.

This year (I am cubmaster now :scared1:) I want to make it smoother, and would like your input.

The first question I have is how do your derbys run? Double elim, round robin, by den then overall? I will have only 2 webelos, 7 Bears, 8 Wolves and 13 tigers (pending everyone shows up).

Do your scout set their cars on the track or is it done only by "Officials"?

Are names mentioned before the race? Only numbers then names after the race?

Also I would like to organize the brackets a bit better (if that is how we do them) Maybe this was mentioned before but what software or spreadsheets do your packs, troops use?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want this derby to run smooth and not be a repeat of the Raingutter mess we had in November.

Thank you in advance guys.:worship:
 
Hi... just found this dads area and had a question related to scouting. As a precursor, I have no experience with the scouts at all.

My son is in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade, he expressed interest in the scouts so we joined the local cub scout pack at his school in the fall and went to the den and pack meetings. My son wasn't interested in the activities at the den (such as learning to tie your shoes or how to throw a ball). The only times he seemed to enjoy it were on the two camping trips we went on. We stopped going in the spring when his baseball schedule conflicted with the meetings. He told me he did not want to do it this fall, so we didn't sign up. I don't know if the activities were typical of what cub scouts normally do.

I would like for him to try it again at some point. At what age do you think would be good for him to give it another shot? Thanks!
 
Hi... just found this dads area and had a question related to scouting. As a precursor, I have no experience with the scouts at all.

My son is in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade, he expressed interest in the scouts so we joined the local cub scout pack at his school in the fall and went to the den and pack meetings. My son wasn't interested in the activities at the den (such as learning to tie your shoes or how to throw a ball). The only times he seemed to enjoy it were on the two camping trips we went on. We stopped going in the spring when his baseball schedule conflicted with the meetings. He told me he did not want to do it this fall, so we didn't sign up. I don't know if the activities were typical of what cub scouts normally do.

I would like for him to try it again at some point. At what age do you think would be good for him to give it another shot? Thanks!

I would have to say the best way for you to see would be to go to
meritbadge.org
and view the books there. You can look to see what activities he could be doing this year as a Bear. My wife runs our bear den and they just made tool boxes (activity 20). I cut all of the wood, the parents drilled the holes and and the scouts put them together.

I would say to try to get him back in for next year at the latest. He would be a first year webelo and there is a lot of activities that they have to do to earn everything to achieve the Arrow Of Light before becoming a boy scout. Plus if he is board you could look into doing the belt loop activities which are also listed on the site i gave.
 
I would have to say the best way for you to see would be to go to
meritbadge.org
and view the books there. You can look to see what activities he could be doing this year as a Bear. My wife runs our bear den and they just made tool boxes (activity 20). I cut all of the wood, the parents drilled the holes and and the scouts put them together.

I would say to try to get him back in for next year at the latest. He would be a first year webelo and there is a lot of activities that they have to do to earn everything to achieve the Arrow Of Light before becoming a boy scout. Plus if he is board you could look into doing the belt loop activities which are also listed on the site i gave.

Thanks for the info. Do you have to be a webelo before being promoted to boy scouts? He did a bunch of the belt loop activities last year, but most of them consisted of about 10 minutes of work during a "belt loop frenzy".
 
Thanks for the info. Do you have to be a webelo before being promoted to boy scouts? He did a bunch of the belt loop activities last year, but most of them consisted of about 10 minutes of work during a "belt loop frenzy".

no, but he does have to meet the following:

Your son can be a Scout if he has completed the fifth grade and is at least 10 years old or is age 11 or has earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but has not reached age 18.
 


He did a bunch of the belt loop activities last year, but most of them consisted of about 10 minutes of work during a "belt loop frenzy".

I would also suggest (and you can look here) to work on the next step of the belt loops and earn the pin. Usually the belt loops only have about 3 items that need to be completed to earn the loop. To earn the pins you must first earn the belt loop and then you have to complete some more tasks which are a bit more detailed then what you did for the loop.
 
First Webelos meeting for DS tonight. Only 2 other boys in the den were there and all we did was the Pledge, snack and get a car for the pinewood derby, but DS said he loved it. There are 6-8 boys overall but only 3 that are regulars.

He wants to continue so SWMBO will have to take him to the Derby in March because I am scheduled for a meeting that Saturday. I was hoping it was a different day because it is actually a paid trip to the other end of the state with an overnight at a beekeeping meeting and DS really enjoys his bees (or says he does). Looks like he is starting to reach the age where he would rather interact with his peers than his old dad.
 
First Webelos meeting for DS tonight. Only 2 other boys in the den were there and all we did was the Pledge, snack and get a car for the pinewood derby, but DS said he loved it. There are 6-8 boys overall but only 3 that are regulars.

He wants to continue so SWMBO will have to take him to the Derby in March because I am scheduled for a meeting that Saturday. I was hoping it was a different day because it is actually a paid trip to the other end of the state with an overnight at a beekeeping meeting and DS really enjoys his bees (or says he does). Looks like he is starting to reach the age where he would rather interact with his peers than his old dad.

Unfortunatly that is how ours is and now the not frequent ones are out completely. We had one webelo transfer to scouts one who is close to transferring and 3 will be second year webelos. Then our numbers increase. 7 bears, 8 wolves and 13 tigers. Witch Is pretty good for a village of 1200 ppl.
 
I would also suggest (and you can look here) to work on the next step of the belt loops and earn the pin. Usually the belt loops only have about 3 items that need to be completed to earn the loop. To earn the pins you must first earn the belt loop and then you have to complete some more tasks which are a bit more detailed then what you did for the loop.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to get him out camping some this spring and summer (when we're not playing baseball) and see if I can get him interested again this fall.
 
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These are my boys cars so far... Pinewood derby is tonight lol think they will do ok without weights and wheels??
 
These are my boys cars so far... Pinewood derby is tonight lol think they will do ok without weights and wheels??

Cars look good. And hey, if Chuck Norris can win the Tour de France with two flat tires and a broken chain, your boys should be fine. ;)
 
finished the cars with time to spare.
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Final results were identical. Both boys finished with a first and two seconds in their heats for a second place final standings.
They were very happy to advance to districts.Last year both their cars crashed and burned to say but hey they have fun doing it.
Both these styles are very easy for the kids to do also. The swiss cheese car is very simple. just a wedge with dimple in it.The red car took a little scroll saw work but just have to watch the kids fingers and count them when your done.
 
Still working on our entry. Went with the pickup design.
 
Eggs in a bag are simply: you put your eggs in a zip lock bag preferably the double zip one.Then add whatever you want( cheese,chopped peppers,sausage,etc) shake bag to mix it up then drop in boiling water. Then presto after a short time you have an omelet with no real mess to clean up. Its fast its easy and the kids love doing it.


My advice: Don't put the cheese in until AFTER you cook the egg. Why? Hard to tell when the egg is done, because the egg is solidifying while the cheese is melting. Also, use freezer ziplocks, not regular. My sons are going to do this on the next campout with their patrol. They have had cleaning up issues in the patrol, and this is their solution.

(I was Tiger Cub DL, a Bear DL, and a Webelos DL (three years of Webelos), now Advancement chair of a Troop Committee).
 
Thanks for the info. Do you have to be a webelo before being promoted to boy scouts? He did a bunch of the belt loop activities last year, but most of them consisted of about 10 minutes of work during a "belt loop frenzy".

You have to be 11 (or in 6th grade) to be a Boy Scout, or be ten and have gotten the Webelo Arrow of Light Award. Being a Webelo is optional, it just lets you become a Scout at a slightly younger age.
 
I don't tend to post that often but I really found the article on ways Eagle Scouts are different to be interesting. I'm a Scout Leader in Canada and both of my boys (16 and 14) have earned their Chief Scout Award which is our top award for youth. They definitely fit many of the points made in the blog about Eagle Scouts. Thanks for posting it.:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
 

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