Mecklenburg County Boy Scouts of America
Are your Scouts at home?
Scouting can take place anywhere – even in the comfort of your home! Here you will find a resource hub for parents and leaders to help support Scouting at home, with stay-at-home educational activities for any Scout rank, tips for continuing to work on advancements and kid-friendly content that connects Scouting with their daily lives. We will continue to add new content and resources to this hub regularly. Our goal is to make it easier to deliver the Scouting program by making plans more accessible to Leaders and those who can help Leaders like our parents.
Weekly STEM Activity Video Series
We are happy to share a Weekly STEM Activity Video Series made by Greater St. Louis Area Council's STEM Team! The goal with this video series is to provide a weekly resource of STEM activities and demos that can be done using materials that can easily be found around the house. This week is a demonstration on sound and a quick "how-to" on building a rubber band kazoo. Please check out the videos below and keep an eye out for more videos in the coming weeks!
Discord App & Scouting
Discord is an app used by gamers to both voice and text chat while playing. Troop 256 ASPL for advancement organized a private community on Discord for the troop and setup separate rooms for each patrol. Troop 256 PLC and adults were able to talk among themselves online and also drop in and out of the patrol meetings. The patrol leaders each came with a plan for activity and the Scouts worked on rank advancements and merit badges. There were several presentations within the patrol meetings and the online etiquette was acceptable. Troop 256 thought the meetings would last about 30 minutes, but they went an hour. They had the same attendance online that would be expected on any other Monday meeting night!
The PLC reports that next week they will understand better how to plan for the chats. They are also planning ways to use Discord along with the various video chat options to request better merit badge sessions and demonstrations. They have also figured out that they can ‘meet’ anytime, not just Mondays at 7pm.
The two screen shots below show you how Discord looks on a computer screen. The app does add ‘clever’ comments when someone signs in, which are automatic. Discord is designed for kids who are 13 and over, but the servers and rooms are private and can be set to password protected and by invite only.
Lion | Kindergarten
Animal Kingdom | This Adventure is all about community. | Required Adventure
Build it Up, Knock it Down | This Adventure is all about building. | Elective Adventure
Gizmos and Gadgets | This Adventure is all about motion, force and creating objects. | Elective Adventure
I'll Do It Myself | This Adventure is all about being prepared. | Elective Adventure
Pick My Path | This Adventure is all about to do a good turn daily. | Elective Adventure
Ready, Set, Grow | This Adventure focuses on plants and gardens. | Elective Adventure
Tiger | 1st Grade
Backyard Jungle | This Adventure and is very hands-on with planting something and building birdhouses -- this can be done as a solo family Adventure. | Required Adventure
My Family's Duty to God | This is often an "at home" adventure anyway because faith beliefs in Scouting are determined by the family. | Required Adventure
Tiger Bites | An Adventure that covers food choices and preparation, manners and nutrition. | Required Adventure
Curiosity, Intrigue, and Magical Mysteries | An Adventure about magic, codes, sign language and more. | Elective Adventure
Family Stories | An Adventure about family heritage. | Elective Adventure
Sky is the Limit | Adventure all about the night sky, constellations, astronauts, etc. | Elective Adventure
Stories in Shapes | An Adventure about art. | Elective Adventure
Tiger-Safe and Smart | An Adventure all about home and neighborhood safety. | Elective Adventure
Tiger Tales | An Adventure all about story-telling, tall tales, singing. | Elective Adventure
Wolf | 2nd Grade
Paws on the Path | An Adventure covering hiking skills and nature and maps. | Required Adventure
Adventures in Coins | An Adventure about Coins. | Elective Adventure
Code of the Wolf | An Adventure that uses math games and secret codes. | Elective Adventure
Digging in the Past | An Adventure about dinosaurs, fossils and archaeology. | Elective Adventure
Finding Your Way | An Adventure about map and compass, hiking and a scavenger hunt. | Elective Adventure
Germs Alive | An Adventure about keeping clean and germs. | Elective Adventure
Grow Something | An Adventure about planting and make a terrarium. | Elective Adventure
Motor Away | An Adventure about cars, boats and paper airplanes. | Elective Adventure
Paws of Skill | An Adventure about fitness, sports, sporting event and obstacle courses. | Elective Adventure
Bear | 3rd Grade
BALOO the Builder | An Adventure covering using tools and wood tools. | Required Adventure
Bear Claws | An Adventure all about knife use and knife safety. | Required Adventure
Fellowship and Duty to God | This is often an "at home" adventure anyway because faith beliefs in Scouting are determined by the family. | Required Adventure
Paws for Action | An Adventure that's all about history/patriotism, visiting a law enforcement facility, basic emergency preparedness, energy conservation and a cleanup service project. | Required Adventure
Bear Picnic Basket | An Adventure about cooking. | Elective Adventure
Make It Move | An Adventure about fun Engineering. | Elective Adventure
Roaring Laughter | An Adventure about Fun, Jokes, Stories and Games. | Elective Adventure
Robotics | An Adventure about robots. | Elective Adventure
Super Science | An Adventure about Fun Science experiments. | Elective Adventure
A World of Sound | An Adventure about World Music and Instruments. | Elective Adventure
Webelos & Arrow of Light | 4th & 5th Grade
Duty to God and You | This is often an "at home" adventure anyway because faith beliefs in Scouting are determined by the family. | Required Adventure
First Responder | An adventure, covering basic first aid and emergency preparedness.
Adventures In Science | An Adventure about science. | Required Adventure
Art Explosion | An Adventure about art. | Elective Adventure
Aware and Care | An Adventure about Disabilities Awareness. | Elective Adventure
Build My Own Hero | An Adventure about Citizen Heroes. | Elective Adventure
Engineer | An Adventure about engineering. | Elective Adventure
Fix It | An Adventure about home repairs. | Elective Adventure
Game Design | An Adventure about games. | Elective Adventure
Looking Back, Looking Forward | An Adventure about Your Own Timeline. | Elective Adventure
Maestro | An Adventure about music. | Elective Adventure
Moviemaking | An Adventure about moviemaking. | Elective Adventure
Project Family | An Adventure about family life. | Elective Adventure
Scouts BSA
-
Conduct virtual Patrol Leaders Council meetings via teleconference or web video conferencing. Ensure to maintain two-deep leadership throughout the virtual meeting.
-
Encourage Patrol Leaders to communicate digitally with their patrol members.
-
Conduct online merit badge counselor meetings using web video conferencing tools such as Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype, FreeConference or Facebook. Ensure to maintain two-deep leadership throughout the virtual meeting. Note completing a worksheet and emailing it does not constitute a “virtual discussion”, rather use interactive video or phone conversations.
Merit Badges that can be completed at home include:
Check out this fantastic article for 58 Merit Badges you can do at home, by Bryon on Scouting!
Other Activities:
-
Plan and cook a meal for your family.
-
Encourage Scouts to post online stories from history and how humanity was able to overcome such difficulties and give people hope.
-
Hold a virtual gaming meet. Or use Kahoot to host an online quiz.
-
Encourage Scouts to communicate with Scouts around the world. Learn about the World Organization of the Scouting Movement (WOSM). Introduce JOTA/JOTI.
-
Coordinate a community-based support network. Work with your Chartered Organization to develop a plan. Offer your unit assistance in helping the needy.
-
Post examples of how Scouts are helping the community on social media.
Hold Scoutmaster Conference using web video conferencing. Ensure to maintain two-deep leadership throughout the virtual meeting. If needed, conduct Eagle Boards of Review via videoconferencing. Units can administer BORs up and including Life rank but should follow the guidance in The Guide to Advancement Section 8.0.1.6 Boards of Review Through Videoconferencing. District Advancement Chairs will provide directions on Eagle BORs. Ensure to maintain two-deep leadership throughout the virtual meeting.