Sean's Scouting Pages

Ceremony Magic

Ceremony Magic Formulas: Ideas for some more exciting and dramatic rank advancement ceremonies. I believe that you should put as much effort into awarding a rank advancement as the boy put into earning it. Boys don't want to hear an adult talk, they want action. These ceremonies are still significant and meaningful while at the same time appealing to the visual nature of the boy.

Cubmaster Basics

How to Make a Cubmaster: A whimsical look at some of the equipment and qualities that any good Cubmaster should have.

Cubmaster Basics: Whether you're a new Cubmaster looking for direction, or an experienced one looking for new ideas, you're bound to find some inspiration and worthwhile advice here.

Cubmaster Basics: Handouts that accompany my Cubmaster Basics presentation. Essentially an outline of the presentation itself.

Stop Having Pack Meetings (original): This was a piece I originally wrote as a posting to an online discussion group a few years back; it's since been published in American Scouting Digest, and it's part of my Cubmaster Basics presentation.

Stop Having Pack Meetings (revisited): After I wrote the original Stop Having Pack Meetings, someone asked for a copy and I couldn't find it, so I ended up rewriting it from memory. OK, so it's very different, which is either a clue into how my mind works, or an indication of just how broken it is!

Tips for the New Cubmaster: This is similar to one of the Cubmaster Basics handouts above, but there is some different content beyond the forst page or so.

Good Ceremonies Gone Bad: Another (true) story I wrote that was published in American Scouting Digest. A lesson on being prepared? A primer on the need for good communication? You decide!

Christmas Advancement Ceremony: Some years ago, we did a Christmas pack meeting and presented awards to this poem.

Fun Recognitions

Award Ideas: Another piece that was published in American Scouting Digest and originally written for an online Cub discussion group, this suggests some more "fun" ways of giving out awards. If you're doing the "Baggie and Handshake" ceremony in your pack, look here for some ideas to spice up your pack performances!

Fun Recognitions: Some further ideas on giving out awards in your pack.

Fun Recognitions: Similar to the prior two handouts, this is just a variation that I ended up putting together for a particular powwow when I couldn't find the original files. Hey, it's free to download it--why not?

Creative Campfires

Creative Campfires: A departure from most of the handouts here, this is a compilation of a variety of resources I found on the web that relate to campfires.

Ash List: The previous handout includes a description of the campfire ashes ceremony, which I've personally done at several events where I was a trainer or course director. If you got some of the campfire ashes, this is the list of campfires you will use to start your own ash history. Sorry for the small print--I tried to get it to fit on as few pages as possible to save on copying costs!

Scouting Electronic Mailing Lists

Scouting Mailing Lists may be a little dated, since it was written a couple of years ago primarilly to help district leaders in our council to start their own mailing lists, but I think it can still serve as a decent foundation for starting a group for your unit, district, or council. The only information that may have changed would be the online resources for hosting your group.

BALOO

BALOO Campfire Program: Although I have a wealth of material for BALOO training, this is probably the most requested item. I imagine that at some point I'll have to create a dedicated BALOO page to contain all of the participant and trainer resources I have lurking on my hard drive...