Bear Necessities- Bear Requirement

Bear Necessities

* The modification Requirements!

Ok, You have to complete requirements 1-4. 5 and 6 are optional!

Requirement 1- While working on your Bear badge, attend 1 of the following:

A. A daytime or overnight campout with your family or pack.

B. An outdoor activity with your den or pack

C. Day Camp

D. Resident Camp

* My son always attends the District Day/Twilight camp every summer. But if you have kids that just signed up and didn't get a chance, the pack camping trip will do just fine. We camp twice a year. And this last time, he camped with another camp that is bigger and the kids had fun. Or as a den, you can always go on a hike, play an outdoor game, or even do some experiments outside. Even planting trees can be done while working on your conservation award. Anything outside that is BSA approved.

2. Make a list of items you should take along on the activity selected in Requirement 1.

* If you are hiking or camping, make sure to take you 6 essentials. Also, what else do they need? We went to our Spring campout, with everything we thought we needed. In the 2 hour drive it took to get to the national park, the temp dropped from high 70's to 42 degrees with lots of wind. The only thing that we packed that was for cooler weather were hoodies. Needless to say, when we got there, we didn't even unpack our tent. We stayed for 4 hours and headed home afterward. Just too cold for us without the right equipment. Funny thing, no body was really prepared.

You can tell there is fog on the water. We were freezing cold! I had a pair of gardening gloves that were my son's in the car and that what he used to try to keep his hands warm. The wind was over 10 miles an hour with drops of water in that wind, making the 42 degree weather feel even colder.

3. Make a list of equipment that the group should bring along in addition to each Scout's personal gear for the activity selected in Requirement 1.
* We talked about firewood, snacks, water, lanterns, ect

4. Help set up a tent. Determine a good spot for the tent and explain to your den leader why you picked it.
*I had a Bear parent ask why his child had to help set up their tent. Your in Cub Scouts, where we try to make it all about family.  In 2 years, my son will be with Boy Scouts ( hopefully) and he will have to know how to do this himself. Plus it's a bonding thing. He is helping, not doing it his self. " Do your Best"


Ok, those were the 4 you HAD to do. Now the next 2 are just for fun if you want to do this.

Option 1- Demonstrate how to tie two half hitches and explain what the hitch is used for.
* Once my son is done earning his Bear patch, I will work with him on this knot. Until then, I put it on the to-do- list. Maybe on a rainy day?

Option 2- Learn how to read a themometer and a barometer. Keep track of the temperature and baromtric pressure readings and the actual weather at the same time everyday for 7 days.
* Another one I would like my child to learn. But I am probably going to make it a field trip to the weather museum 1st, then learn about this. And we will probably make it into a STEM thing.

Well that's it. Really, this was the easiest for us to do. We had a lot of fun working on Bear Necessities!  Remember, you want to make each lesson fun as possible but educational too!