We’re home for the next few weeks, right?  Let’s have some fun Scouting! For the next few weeks, the Greater St. Louis Area Council will sending out a Weekly Scout Challenge This email will contain a variety of Scouting at Home challenges. By the way, parents and Scouters are not left out! Why let the youth have all the fun! Expect your series of challenges to arrive every Friday for a fun filled weekend

Cub Scouts
Make the largest s’mores stack you can 
  • Build a fire for smores using a lean-to (or some other style)
  • Make a foil wrap dinner or dessert 
Make a list of the wildlife you see and hear
  • With a parent partner, research those animals online to learn what they eat, prints they leave, and sounds they make!
Go on a hike at a state park, or a walk in a city park
Scouts BSA
Camp in your backyard one night
  • Here's an article aimed toward younger kids who think backyard camping is an adventure!
  • Older Scouts may not be as excited about walking out the back door and into a tent
Make a list of the wildlife you see and hear
  • With a parent partner, research those animals online to learn what they eat, prints they leave, and sounds they make! Now, teachg what you've learned to you a sibiling
Go on a hike at a state park, or a walk in a city park
GSLAC Merit Badge Counselors Go Virtual to help Scouts keep Scouting.
  • If a counselor has the technology and willingness to conduct virtual merit badge meetings with a Scout and their parent, they have been asked to reply to a post on the Council Facebook page.
  • So parents, please check back often as counselors secure the technology to serve our Scouts during these unprecedented times!
Parents and Scouters
('Scouter' is a term used to identify a BSA registered leader)
STEM Activity: Backyard Biodiversity and Stargazing-

Scouts BSA- register or identify animals and plants found in your backyard using iNaturalist Apps- https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/about
Find some Constellations- for those who don’t want to deal with creepy crawlies, take a gander up at the night sky with these stellar activities and resources:
General constellation resource/guide- https://www.constellation-guide.com/
Interactive map- https://staratlas.com/
And for the over achiever who wants to go for it all!!
Cub Scout Advancement:

Lions: Mountain Lion, requirements 1 and 3
1: Gather the outdoor items you need to have with you when you go on an outdoor adventure, and understand how they are used. Also understand and commit to practicing the buddy system.and 3: Demonstrate an understanding of respect for animals and nature when participating in a learning hike

Tigers: My Tiger Jungle, requirements 1, 2, and 3
1: With your parent, guardian, or other caring adult, go for a walk outside, and pick out two or more sights or sounds of "nature" around you. Discuss with your partner or den. 2: Take a 1-foot hike. Make a list of the living things you find on your 1-foot hike. Discuss these plants or animals with your parent/guardian, other caring adult, or your den. 3: Point out two different kinds of birds that live in your area. With your parent/guardian, other caring adult, or den, find out more about one of these birds.

Tigers: Tigers in the Wild, requirements 1, 2, 4, and 6
1: With your parent, guardian, or other caring adult, name and collect the Cub Scout Six Essentials you need for a hike. Tell your den leader what you would need to add to your list to prepare for rain. 2: Go for a short hike with your den or family, and carry your own gear. Show you know how to get ready for this hike.4: While on the hike, find three different kinds of plants, animals, or signs that animals have been on the trail. List what you saw in your Tiger Handbook. 6: Find two different trees and two different types of plants that grow in your area. Write their names in your Tiger Handbook.

Tigers: Tigers Sky is the Limit, requirements 1 and 4
1:With your den or with your parent, guardian or other caring adult, go outside to observe the night sky. Talk about objects you see or might see. 4: Observe in the sky or select from a book, chart, computer, or electronic device two constellations that are easy to see in the night sky. With your parent/guardian or other caring adult, find out the names of the stars that make up the constellation and how the constellation got its name. Share what you found with your den.

Wolves: Call of the Wild, requirements 1d and 6
1d:Attend a family campout. 6: While on a den or family outing, identify four different types of animals you see or explain evidence of their presence. Tell how you identified them.

Wolves: Paws on the Path, requirements 5 and 6
5: Go on a 1-mile hike with your den or family. Find two interesting things that you've never seen before and discuss with your den or family. 6: Name two birds, two insects, and/or two other animals that live in your area. Explain how you identified them.

Bears: Bear Necessities, requirements 1, 2, 3, and 4
1: attend a daytime or overnight campout with your family. 2: Make a list of items you should take along on the activity selected in Requirement 1.  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. 4:Help set up a tent. Determine a good spot for the tent, and explain to your den leader why you picked it.

Bears: Fur, Feathers, and Ferns requirements 1 and 4
1: While hiking or walking for one mile, identify six signs that any mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, or plants are living near the place where you choose to hike or walk. 4:Observe wildlife from a distance. Describe what you saw. 

Webelos: Cast Iron Chef, requirement 3
3: Use tinder, kindling, and fuel wood to demonstrate how to build a fire in an appropriate outdoor location. If circumstances permit and there is no local restriction on fires, show how to safely light the fire, under the supervision of an adult. After allowing the fire to burn safely, safely extinguish the flames with minimal impact to the fire site

Webelos: Walk About, requirements 1 and 4
1: Plan a hike or outdoor activity. 4: With a family member, hike 3 miles. Before your hike, plan and prepare a nutritious lunch or snack. Enjoy it on your hike, and clean up afterward.

Webelos/Arrow of Light Scouts: Outdoor Adventure, requirements A1 and A2
A1:With the help of your den leader or family, plan and participate in a campout. A2: On arrival at the campout, with your den and den leader or family, determine where to set up your tent. Demonstrate knowledge of what makes a good tent site and what makes a bad one. Set up your tent without help from an adult.

Webelos/Arrow of Light Scouts: Into the woods, requirements 1, 2, and 3
1: Identify two different groups of trees and the parts of a tree. 2: Identify four trees common to the area where you live. Tell whether they are native to your area. Tell how both wildlife and humans use them.  3: Identify four plants common to the area where you live. Tell which animals use them and for what purpose.

Webelos/Arrow of Light Scouts : Into the wild: requirement 5
5: Watch at least four wild creatures (reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, fish, insects, or mammals) in the wild. Describe the kind of place (forest, field, marsh, yard, or park) where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.

Scouts BSA: Astronomy Merit Badge: requirements 4 a, b, and c:
4: a.) Identify in the sky at least 10 constellations, at least four of which are in the zodiac.
b.)Identify at least eight conspicuous stars, five of which are of magnitude 1 or brighter.
c.)Make two sketches of the Big Dipper. In one sketch, show the Big Dipper's orientation in the early evening sky. In another sketch, show its position several hours later. In both sketches, show the North Star and the horizon. Record the date and time each sketch was made.