Cub Scout Roundtable
Monthly Topic Ideas for 2007

Learn to sing "The Star Spangled Banner." Find out how and why Francis Scott Key wrote our national anthem. Conduct a space derby at the pack meeting. Make water rockets and have fun getting everyone wet. Take the pack to see the local fireworks on the Fourth of July. Build a model of the kind of rocket that took people or a satellite into space. Earn the Citizenship loop and pin.

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Scouting! Learn about Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement. Take an imaginary trip to the very first Scout camp on Brownsea Island. Learn how Scouting came to the US and about the beginnings of Cub Scouting here. What famous Americans "present and past" were in Scouting? Find people in your town or family who were Scouts and make a pack scrapbook of their memories. Learn how Scouts in other parts of the world are celebrating the 100th anniversary. Make a time capsule for the Cub Scouts in your town to open on Scouting's 200th birthday.

All Aboard the Cub Scout Express. Invite a buddy to join you in your journey through Cub Scouts, riding the rails to adventure. Activities can include a trip to a train or rail museum, visit a local train station or invite a model railroader to your pack meeting. Look up the history of trains at the library or on the Internet. Read about the different train cars and engines that are used by railroads. Use a large cardboard facade of a train for an induction ceremony for new families or presentation of awards. Play train relay games with your den or pack.

It's harvest time in farming country. Cub Scouts learn about growing crops this month while they explore the life of a hard-working farmer. Dens might visit a farm, local dairy, or petting zoo to learn first-hand about farm animals. Boys can build a miniature greenhouse to start their own vegetables for planting in the family garden or patio pots. Dens could take a field trip to a pumpkin patch and pick their own pumpkin for the pumpkin decorating contest at the pack meeting harvest fair. Fair activities might include contest booths, a rubber-glove cow for milking, and a good old fashioned hayride.

Do you know who lived where you live 500 years ago? Dens will learn about the American Indian tribe currently living in their part of the country or the tribes that previously lived in their area. You are encouraged to invite a local tribe to help learn how Native Americans show their respect for Mother Earth and how "we are all related." The boys will learn about the harvesting and preparation of native foods and discover how good these foods taste. Develop an understanding of the importance of traditional oral history as a way of teaching lessons and recording history. Work on your Communicating belt loop and pin. Experience playing a Native game and learn the meaning and history behind the skills required to play the game. Share your new knowledge at a pack meeting or special event.

December is marked by days of celebration and observance for many cultures and faiths around the world. Christmas, Chanukah, Ramadan, Rohatsu, Yule and Kwanzaa all occur this month. Find out how the celebrations in another country are similar and different than those in the USA. Compare your own family's customs and traditions with others in your community. Invite an adult from another nation to come to your pack meeting to tell how their family celebrates. Why not start a new tradition of service in your pack as a way to honor the holidays this month? Work on the Heritages belt loop and pin.

Cars have fascinated every generation since their invention in 1769. They've been featured in many movies and on television. Discover the different kinds of cars and trucks such as limousines, taxis, van's, pickups, SUV's and racecars. Learn how these vehicles are built, repaired, modified and sold. Visit a car dealership, auto mechanic or auto parts dealer. Boys can build car or truck models or create a model of a showroom or a garage with miniature die cast cars. Participate in a slot car race or pinewood derby race with your den or pack.