Leader awards

Kids aren't the only ones working on some sort of badge for their uniform. Yes, leaders can earn awards, too. It's nice to receive recognition for the time you put into Scouting. I recently earned my fourth Boy Scout square knot award -- the Cub Scouter award (pictured at the top).

The first two square knot awards I earned, I actually earned when I was a Cub Scout. Way back when I was in Pack 3, Den 2, I earned the religious emblem for Cub Scouts and the Arrow of Light. As an adult, I am entitled to wear the square knot emblems corresponding to those achievements (bottom left and bottom middle). Two years ago, I earned the Cubmaster Award (bottom right) for being fully trained at my position and completing several other activities related to the award. At this month's roundtable, I received my Cub Scouter Award for completing additional activities at my position.

If you are a leader and would like to work on an award, you can check out the different awards and their requirements at www.boyscouttrail.com/square-knots.asp.

Square knot and sheet bend

These two useful knots are related to each other, so if you know how to tie the square knot, the sheet bend is easy to learn.



The square knot, also known as the "joining knot" is used throughout the Cub Scout and Boy Scout requirements. It is used to join two ropes of similar thickness. The sheet bend is used to join two ropes of different thicknesses. If you've ever been on a campout, you've probably run into lots of times when you need a long rope, but all you have is two smaller ones with different thicknesses.

Easy Placemats

This is an easy craft that even a young child can do. All it takes is a couple of pieces of construction paper, scissors, a pencil, and a ruler. A paper cutter will make things go faster, but you can get by with just scissors.



Use the pencil and ruler to mark where to cut slits on the base sheet, then cut the other sheet into strips. Weave the strips into the strips on the first sheet, and you have a placemat! To make a placemat for a certain holiday or event, you can pick colored sheets that match the theme of the event.

My Favorite Skit

Of all the skits my boys have performed over the years, my favorite wasn't really a skit. It was a lip-synced puppet show, set to the Blues Brothers' version of "Soul Man". This was done at one of our pack's annual Blue & Gold banquets.



Nathan and another boy from his den made puppets from four brown lunch bags. Two of them were the singers (the Blues Brothers), while two were the musicians. They even cut out saxophone and trumpet shapes from foam sheets, cut a little slit near the paper bag's "mouth" so they could insert the end, then cut arms from another paper bag and taped them to the instruments so they would stay in place. The biggest challenges during the performance were making sure they had the right puppets up and holding them high enough for the audience to see.

You can tell a skit (or puppet show) has gone well when the audience really gets into it and they are cheering at the end.