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Troop Meeting Activities
Troop Meeting Activities
Ever wonder Why Scouts Join the Troop and Why They Leave?
Ever wonder Why Scouts Join the Troop and Why They Leave?
What Scouts Thought they would be Doing:
What Scouts Thought they would be Doing:
Troop meetings MUST BE FUN and should include a mix of different types of activities that interest Scouts. Keep things a bit crazy and mix it up a bit so that your meetings don't turn into a regular humdrum "Meeting in Can". If meetings are fun, Scouts will stick around and stay in the program. If meetings are boring, many will leave.
Luckily, Scouting has been around for a long time, and generations of leaders have figured out ways of making thing fun an interesting. There are volumes of information on how to make meetings fun. Some are listed here.
Interested in a special troop activity? Talk to your Senior Patrol Leader.
If the PCL needs more ideas, talk to our ASM team; they have some CRAZY Ideas to share with the Troop!
Scout Games & Challenges
Scout Games & Challenges
Every Scout Meeting should have at least one game. Games are vital to building teams and comradery. Fun is how youth learn and is what helps keep them interested in the Scouting Experience.
See our Games Subsection for ideas on games.
Patrol vs Patrol Games
Individual Challenges
Inter Patrol Challenges
Other Activity Resources
Board Games and LAN Jam Sessions are fun, but should be used sparingly
Knife and Axe Skills Activities
Knife and Axe Skills Activities
Knife and Axe Skill are core Scouting skill and fun to learn. This is part of the big three in Scouting - Knives, Fire and Guns!
Talk to our Wilderness Survival Team
See our Knife Activities Page
See our Axe Activities Page
Advance Bushcraft Knife Skills
Fire Starting Activities
Fire Starting Activities
Solid Fire Starting skills are vital for wilderness travel in the Pacific Northwest and require a lot of practice. These are also really fun activities for Scouts and can be used as recruiting events.
Talk to our Wilderness Survival Team
See our Fire Activities Page
Knot Tying and Pioneering Activities
Knot Tying and Pioneering Activities
Knot tying and Lashing are also basic Scout Skills that need a lot of hands-on practice. These can also be really fun skills to work on if approached as a game or competition.
Chariot Race
Pioneering Games and Challenges
Pioneering Games and Challenges
A-Frame Chariot Race (square lashing)
Catch the Snapper (round lashing)
Crossing the Alligator Pit (square lashing, shear lashing)
Everyone on the Tripod (tripod and square lashing)
Flagpole Race (round lashing)
Joining Staves (round lashing)
Ladder Building (square lashing)
Lift Seat Procession (floor lashing)
Reactor Transporter (tripod and square lashing)
Roman Chariot Race (square lashing)
Scout Stave Launcher (square lashing)
Self-Standing Flagpole Challenge (square lashing)
Snake Race (shear lashing)
Pioneering Skills Resources
Pioneering Skills Resources
Navigation Skills Activities
Navigation Skills Activities
Yet another core skill, which is often underemphasized and neglected.
First Aid Activities
First Aid Activities
Approaching First Aid with fun Hand-On activities can be a blast!
talk to our Wilderness First-Aid Team
See our First Aid Activities Page
Outdoor Ethics Activities
Outdoor Ethics Activities
Outdoor Ethics covers some very core principles of hiking and traveling outdoors. With a bit of preparation, classes and activities can be pretty fun.
Leave No Trace Orientation Course Notes (60-90 minutes)
Leave No Trace 101 Course Notes (3+ hours)
Can be taught by our LNT Trainer
Sections can be taken from this class and taught by Scouts
The LNT 101 course required 2 activities - look at activities section for meeting activity ideas
Troop 60 - Leave No Trace Scout Skills
Bear Bags
Stealth Fires
Pooping in the Woods
We have both Adults and Scouts qualified to teach Leave No Trace and Outdoor Ethics courses - come talk to them
Rank Advancement Activities
Rank Advancement Activities
Troops that focus on Rank Advancement all the time, can just kill a Troop. That said, rank advancement is vital to help Scouts along in Scouting and to teach basic skills, the point of advancement.
Rank Requirements include basic skills important for camping and life in general
These Resources can help you prep for a Rank Advancement Session
Campfire Events
Campfire Events
A good campfire needs to be organized, exciting and really goofy!
Merit Badge Skills
Merit Badge Skills
Merit Badge Skills can be fun, depending on the Merit Badge and how and what is delivered.
Warning: Avoid turning Troop Meetings into Merit Badge mills. This practice is often popular among parents, but they don't have to sit through these sessions. Turning Troop Meetings into classroom sessions modeled after school will kill the magic of the Troop Meeting.
Now - if the Troop wants to learn about a topic and it happens to be a Merit Badge, then fulfilling Merit Badge requirements at a Troop Meeting can be both fun and rewarding without turning your meetings into didactic torture. Clarke Green talks about this on his Scoutmaster Podcast.
The Focus of your meeting should be on Fun and Skills and NOT on just for fulfilling requirements.
See our Merit Badge Classes Page
See our Merit Badge Resources Page
Metal Work
Climbing
Pottery
Special Skills Instruction/Training Activities
Special Skills Instruction/Training Activities
There are SO Many Skills that can be taught at a Troop Meeting. Some of these skills are best taught by local experts. That said, most can by taught by the Senior Youth Leadership.
Now, instruction can be fun and full of awe and instruction can be boring and just downright miserable. The former is preferred.
“The most important object in Boy Scout training is to educate, not instruct.” - Lord Baden Powell
We discuss this in our Special Instruction Section.
SM Clarke Green's notes on Scouting Instructional Technique:
PDF Version: Instructional Methods for Scouts
Website Version: Instructional Methods for Scouts
Discussed on the following podcasts
ScoutmasterPodcast1.mp3 [10:50]
ScoutmasterPodcast2.mp3 [10:04]
ScoutmasterPodcast3.mp3 [19:28]
ScoutmasterPodcast4.mp3 [14:38]
ScoutmasterPodcast5.mp3 [14:17]
Special Skills Instruction/Training Activities Themes
How to Pack for a Camping Trip
Bushcraft/Survival Skills
How to Hike/Backpack and what to Pack
Canoe skills
Winter camping safety and techniques
Basics of Biking
Firearm Safety
Monkey in the Middle
Outings
Outings
Regular Troop Meetings don't need to be regular and should never be boring. Consider doing an outing during a scheduled Troop Meeting:
Meeting outside or at the park
Canoeing - we have lakes nearby
Swimming - We have Pools and lakes nearby
Entertainment Venue - Got those too
Sailing
Blacksmithing
Other Resources
Other Resources
Scouts BSA Troop Program Features
Guidebooks on running various BSA programs
Every Unit should have a set of these
Scouts BSA Troop Program Features Volume 1 (SKU 647790)
Scouts BSA Troop Program Features Volume 2 (SKU 656936)
Scouts BSA Troop Program Features Volume 3 (SKU 656937)
Some, but not all, of this information is listed at Program Features - Troop Leader Resources
15th Cheltenham (Shurdington) Troop (UK)
Programme Ideas - 32 pages of hundreds of programme ideas for indoors or outdoors
Page updated
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