Valentine Day - 5th February

Our programme today dealt with our love for others, and yes, you have guessed it - we celebrated Valentines Day at 9th Benoni - and another visit from our adorable guide dog Imrani.

O'Reilly and Imrani taking centre stage!

Imrani is slowly learning how to be a guide dog.....

...... and soon she will be off to "big school" where her training will begin.

The cubs just lover her!

and they know that all their hard work in saving all that money was well worth it.

Imrani's walkers made us a stunning picture of her progress.

Imrani is part of 9th Benoni and even wears her very own scarf with pride!

.... of course to try and get a puppy and cubs to pose for a photo, - well that is almost asking the impossible - so this is the best we have to offer!

O'Reilly is an absolute honey! He is sooooooo good when he has his working harness on but as soon as it is off, he is out the door and races around our huge grounds like the wind. It is such a pleasure to see.

Just look at O'Reilly go!

Happy chappies!

Pieter is from the South African Guide Dog Association and O'Reilly is his guide dog.

Imrani with her trusted walkers.

After their wonderful visit, we continued with out programme.

.... and being Valentine we had the cubs use their cupid arrows to shoot....
Cardboard boxes had heart shapes spray painted on them

Get set...

... aim ...

shoot..

The cubs loved this game and a few hit the target which entitled them to a "bone".

It was then back into the hall for a bit of drawing....

each cub was given a piece of paper and they had to draw themselves in cub uniform.
These will be scanned in and printed onto mess kit bags for camp.

They will really look stunning when completed.

and then onto our "feats of skill"

Cubs had to do sit ups - but with good reason and we never heard one sound from them!

I wonder why!
Each cub had a doughnut in front of him/her and they had to do one sit-up and only have one bite out of the doughnut...... down again and come up for the next bite.

This is really a fun way for the cubs to do those sit ups and they finish them with out even realising that they have done them!

Even our New Chums had a great time!

Helping a fellow cub along the way!

Let me know if you have popped in for a visit by leaving a quick comment - I would love to hear from all of you - even if it is just a "hi".

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Celebrating Soccer - 29th January 2010

We all remembered that we were taking a trip to the soccer stadium today - so we had to get our soccer boots on and the most important was to make sure everyone had their own "vuvuzela"!

Very proud cubs with their home-made vuvuzela!

This one was specially patented - as it has a handle!

As everyone knows, millions of fans are going to be decending on South Africa one of these day and there is going to be mayhem at the airport!

We played a quick steam release game - called "airport shuffle" and then moved on to our next game called "taxi dodge" - you know how the taxi's just drive over, around, under through everything - so we had an obstacle course set up.

Cubs were in 4 teams racing against each other.

.... and the first team to finish and sit down is the winner....

Cubs then arrived at the stadium a bit shaken from the taxi ride but still in good shape to make their own vuvuzela.

These are really easy to make - so if you would like more details, leave me a comment below and I will get back to you.

The cubs really enjoyed making these....

They could colour them in...

The happy soccer fans!!

some of the vuvuzelas....

Caracals learnt about knotting....

Leopards did masks and the jungle dance.

Baloo's dance.

Showing the soccer players how to play real soccer!

Cubs run forward and put their head on the handle of the bat - spin around 3 times and then kick the ball to the goals.

Once completed each cub was given a "winning" sweet.

Team Brazil

Team Argentina

some more soccer!

Cubs pair off and face each other while sitting on the ground. A balloon is given to one side and on go they must throw the soccer ball to their partner and see how long it will last.

2 questions were asked and their first 2 cubs to answer them correctly won the prize soccer boots - well done!

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Let me know if you would like the vuvuzela details

Celebrating Christmas - 22nd January 2010

Hey, Father Christmas - are you for real?

We all got ready for our long journey to Lapland to find Father Christmas and our first game after our steam release was a relay ski game. Each team was given a pair of ski's (2 pieces of wood with rope for long handles) and on the blow of the whistle, each cub had to "ski" to a certain point and back - when the next cub had a turn.

Once we arrived in Lapland, we heard that Father C.hristmas had left us a special message. As you can see, we had to decipher these messages! Each Six had their own message. This one reads: Can you meet us tonight at 8pm

We then heard that the naughty elves had gone on strike and we had to help Santa get the toys ready for all the children of the world.

Each cub cut out a snowman which was hung along a piece of string.

We eventually all found Santa and all the cubs could have a quick chat with him.

Thank you Santa for joining us today all the way from Lapland!

Instruction for the Caracals today was "People and Place" and we heard all about the wonderful places these young guys have been to.

.... and all the other cubs they have made contact with.

The Cheetahs made and served a hot drink.

while the lions did some mapping and compass work.

The leopards did conservation...

It was nearly time to return home to South Africa, when we heard that the silly reindeers had dropped a present out of the sleigh!

Oh dear.... so the cubs had to run around and try and find it!

A circle game finished our meeting.

Luke receiving his Leaping Wolf certificate from Akela.

as well as Erin receiving hers.

Both these cubs will shortly be going up to scouts.

Well done guys!

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Thanksgiving 15 January 2010

Hooray! We are back with another term of fabulous fun!

Our theme this term is "Celebrations" and we started off with "Thanksgiving"

Our steam release game entailed giving each cub a different coloured sweet. They needed to run a short distance and back and then stand in small groups of cubs - all of whom had the same colour sweet. ... nothing difficult!

Once in their little group, they discussed what they were thankful for.

We explained how important the paramedics, doctors, fire-men, police etc were and that we should all be very thankful as these people save lives every day.

One of our cub's fathers is a paramedic from ER24 and he kindly came in to do a quick talk for the cubs.

He showed the cubs the "recovery" position.....

... what to do when someone chokes ....

... and how to use the scarf as a sling ...

The cubs then made themselves an emergency kit which consisted of:

cotton wool

plaster

plastic bag

safety pin

pencil

paper with information on

money for phone call

This was all placed in a small bank bag.

Each group was then taken for Instruction and the Caracals learnt all about the dangers of fires and how to strike a match correctly.

Our last game for the meeting was a fun activity whereby the cubs had to "bandage" a fellow cub up with toilet paper and then carry them around the hall and back again. The group whose "mummy" still had the most bandages on, was the winner.

.... doing very well ....

.... excellent work ....

and guess who the winners were - with their "mummy" arriving with all the bandages still entact.

We received some lovely emails from cubs around the world.

Our girls and boys took a few moments to respond.

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Sixer Council Meeting - 4th December 2009

We held a very successful Sixer Council Meeting last week Friday where all the new Sixers received a special little card from Akela.

We chatted about their roles as leaders as well as what their duties would be each week.

Some wonderful suggestions came forward for new games to play as well as outings that they would like to go on. So all in all, a most enjoyable time was had by all.

Till next year
Keep Cubbing
Akela Joy

Wimpy 2009 Outing - 4th December

Today was our term outing to the Wimpy Roadhouse. This has now become a tradition and every year this time, you will find us all there!

Below are some random photos of our wonderful cub scouts having a glorious time.

A wizz on the trampolene - doing double back somersaults!

Could these possibly be 2 little angels!

Faces with naughtiness written all over them!!

Lindsay will be moving shortly to Balito (KZN) - so if anyone knows of a cub pack in Balito, please let me know.

Well another year of cubs has ended - I can't believe how quickly these years are passing by!

I hope you have all enjoyed this time with us. Remember if there is every anything you would like to find out about cub scouting, or any ideas you need, just drop me an email and I will gladly assist where I can.

Even Santa Claus is a scout and on his trip round the world he popped into 9th Benoni!

One of my cubs who recently went up to scouts was invested.

Saluting the troop.

.... and another one of my cubs was also invested into the troop.

Well done to both Jordan and Andrea.

We know you are going to love being in the Troop.

As is normal in any Troop, once the scouts reach 18 they no longer are scouts as such. Hayley, Michelle and Graham are all nearing that time, and here they are being presented with a 9th Benoni trophy of appreciation for their dedication and commitment during their time with us. We hope to see them back shortly as leaders.

Till next Time

(mid January 2010)

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Taxi Trip - 27th November 2009

Our theme today was transport on the taxi! and here in Gauteng we have millions of taxis!

Next week we will be having a Sixer Council meeting at the Wimpy in Lakeside with all the Sixers and Seconds.

We gave each Sixer a chance to chat to his Six and find out a little bit more about what they would like to do next term; what games they enjoy playing and perhaps if they could suggest a new game they had never played at cubs before.

We also asked them to discuss an outing.

... and then it was time for fun!

Our steam release was a quick run around.

Just as the taxi drivers here in South Africa have special hand signals for where they are going, our game was based on the same idea.

Rikki gave special signals for North, South, East and West and the kids had to run in those directions.

Oh dear! .. our taxi lost its wheel. We had to roll it to the petrol station to get it repaired

Relay game with cubs rolling the taxi tyre to a certain spot and back.

Great fun.

and a very simply and easy game

Hand Craft.

Each cub got to make his very own taxi.

Templates were printed and cut out before hand

All the cub had to do was fold it along the lines and stick a piece of paper onto the bottom

and the race was on....

Cub took a straw and blew it across the floor

and these little taxis flew across the floor

As this was the last pack meeting at the hall, we had a small party and each cub was given a little gift.

These are 'magic' cups that sing when wet

and today was really extra special as we invested 4 new chums.

Welcome to each and every one of them.

It is always special to have new friends amongst us.

and we know that they will have a wonderful time with us.

We wish them all the best on their scouting journey

with many years of fun .

Remember, this is only the beginning of that wonderful adventure!

and there is still plenty more!

Next week we will meet at the Wimpy in Lakeside at 4.30pm

Sixer Council will start at 4pm sharp!

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy