Monday, March 13, 2017

Wolf Requirements- Council Fire

Council Fire
This one took forever to do!
That's why the BSA in 2017 made some modifications to make it easier.
So you can do like in the book or you can do the mods. I will post the modifications at the end of this post.


Requirement 1- Participate in flag ceremony and learn to fold the flag
Ok, we always switch up who does the flag ceremony. So that was easy for us. Learning to fold the flag was a little more difficult. We brought a flag for a wolf den meeting but all the scouts wanted to learn. So a quick demonstration took a little longer. But I am happy that our other scouts took the time to learn it too. And I had the opportunity to learn it too!

Requirement 2- Work with den to make a den duty chart
Parents, this is a den activity! It will help your den leader with clean up and organization. And the boys are made to help, like chores. I just used a sheet of paper to get our boys to write what their chores would be. At the same time, we were working on the SCOUTStrong Healthy Unit Award for wolves. So I made the boys take turns bring healthy snacks and bottles of water.



If you want to know more about the SCOUTStrong Unit Award, here is a link:

Requirement 3A- Learn about changes in your community and create a project to show den.
Easy, I made this into a den activity but parents you can do this at home. I downloaded a bunch of pictures of Houston through the years. Like the old Astrodome, Astroworld, how Houston had fields instead of buildings. Also, I made sure each picture had the year on it. Then I had the boys use normal printing paper to glue the pictures in order from past to present. They found it interesting. Especially Astroworld, which was a six flags park. It is no longer a park and the boys thought it was so cool that we used to have an amusement park 30 min away instead of 3 hours.



Requirement 3B- Select one issue in your community and present to your den
A couple of months ago, Houston Schools were in the news because of the "lack" of library's in school. So I thought this would be perfect for it. Little did I know my son couldn't care less. He saw something on kids being homeless all over the US and decided that is what he wanted to present on. 
The solution was to find an organization to help, which we chose StandUp for Kids Houston.

Requirement 4A- Attend pack committee meeting leader meeting. Present ideas for service project!
Ok, it took forever to get the meeting, I even lost my other wolf in the process due to family circumstances. Down to only my son again! So, we made a poster board of StandUp for Kids Houston. We researched it and talked to Eric, who is like someone in charge there. He told us 3 possible ways to help. And my son presented 3 possible way to our leaders. Only problem is, after 2 months, I just asked our Pack Leader is he could do it before a pack meeting. When the pack meeting came up, our pack leader asked LJ if he wanted to present it to all the boys. So my son stood in front of everyone, presenting how we could help kids in Houston. He had note cards that he read off of then did a Q & A session.  Everyone clapped and said good job but we haven't heard about us actually helping. So my son has had me buy protein bars and drinks so that we can make care bags for our Houston kids to eat. He wants to continue it as his service project! Love that!

If you are interested, here is the link for StandUp for Kids Houston:


Requirement 4B- Work together on a service project
There are lots of service projects out there. We help with the school garden, pick up trash on our hikes, do the Superbowl for Caring in February, ect. So we used the one where we picked up trash on our 3 mile hike during our campout.

Requirement 5- Talk to military veteran, law enforcement officer, fire dept, or someone who works for the community. Talk about their service. Make them a thank you card!
Ok, so we have one veteran that is a dad in scouts. He really doesn't like to talk about it. But I gave him a list of questions that my son would ask, nothing personal or about killing. So agreed to a quick interview. At the next den meeting, he gave Mr Matt a thank you card he made that looked like an American Flag. He also shook his hand and said " Thank you, sir, for your service."  Easy as that!

Requirement 6A- Learn about Recycling
This was easy because our 2nd graders were learning about it in school and I just used what they learned to talk about it a little further. I also printed up a sheet with different materials and showed what they can be reclyed as, or reused as. Not to mention how to reduce.

Requirement 6B- Make your own recycling center
Yes, we recycle at home anyway. But I made my son decorate a box with the recycle symbol and then everytime I cleaned, if he was home, I would ask if it goes in the box. This actually worked well, because we had a lot of coke bottles that later we used for bowling pins for another requirement later. And he used some of the stuff to make a den project. For my 2nd wolf, he never did it but I gave him a pack of markers and a box and asked him to make a box for home. He moved before he could do it.

Requirement 6C- Create den project from recyclables for a pack meeting
The picture in the book shows little robot type stuff, which my son didn't want to do. So he decided he was making a Ghost Rider piggy bank to save money for StandUp for Kids Care packages. LOL, turned out not bad. We used everything that was leftover or in our recycle box.
We used an Ozarka gallon jug for the body, little water bottles for arms, a Bush's baked beans can for head, Popsicle sticks for hair that we wrapped in old red tissue paper. Then I cut a small slit in the back for money to go into. 

Like I said, the thing that took the longest was attending the leader meeting. We don't have those very often, every 3-4 months, so it was easier to just settle on a pack meeting. 
Now if your son has done all of these, congratulations! 
He has earned his Council Fire Beltloop!

Modifications from the BSA

Council Fire (Duty to Country)

 Complete requirements 1 AND 2 plus at least one other

Requirements 1. With your den or pack, participate in a flag ceremony, and learn how to properly care for and fold the flag. ( Req 1 in handbook)

2. Participate in a community service project with your pack, den, or family.( Req 4B in handbook)

So after doing the 2 above- just choose one more down below to do. Makes it much easier!

 3. With your parent or guardian’s permission, talk to a military veteran, law enforcement officer, member of the fire department, or someone else approved by your den leader. Talk about his or her service to the community or country. After you have visited with the individual, write a short thank-you note.( Req  5 in handbook)

 4. Learn about the changes in your community, and create a project to show your den how the community has changed. ( Req 3A in handbook)

5. Select one issue in your community, and present to your den your ideas for a solution to the problem. ( Req 3B in handbook)
6. Work with your den to develop a den duty chart, and perform these tasks for one month.
( Req 2 in handbook)
 7. Participate in an event such as a parade or assembly celebrating military veterans.

So they made it easier by taking out all of the recycling stuff and making you do only 3 things instead of 10 things. Nice!

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