Akela's Cubs

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Bugs and Butterflies!

This was our last Pack Programme for the term - a fun one about bugs and butterflies!

We started off by catching all the bugs flying around us .... each cub was given a polystyrene cup and bugs (ping pong balls) were flying all over. Cubs had to catch the balls and toss them up into the air for another cub to catch.

It was then time to "feed our bugs and butterflies" and the cubs had to collect "pollen". In relay formation, each cub was given a straw. A bowl of rice krispies was placed in front of each team. Each cub had to suck up one rice krispie and carry it to a bowl on the other side of the hall. (This is not as easy as it sounds!)

..... and a lot of "pollen" was dropped half way!

Next, they made a special craft for Father's Day.

Painting our special butterfly....

.... partly finished product.

See "Crafts for Creative Hands"

for the finished product.

For Instructions, our Lions leant how to make a Bottle Garden.

Busy planing....

All that needs to be done is to tape the top back on and put on the window sill.

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Take a loot at

Crafts for Creative Hands

Saturday, June 07, 2008

District Cycle Rally

Today was our District Cycle Rally. We hold this rally at the Korsmans Bird Sanctuary - a most beautiful setting. The children ride around the pan which is approximately a 2km trip.

These are random photos taken during the event.

A dad joining in...

All ages were welcome.

Exhaustion!

Everyone had a wonderful day.

The overall winners of the trophy were 4th Benoni - well done.

9th Benoni won the small trophy for the Leopard Section. (9 year olds)

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Fire Safety

We invited the Fire Service to join us for this week's programme. They arrive - unfortunately minus the fire engine! The gearbox was in for repairs and the fire engines from other stations were busy with the refugees! What a let down for our cubs!

Nevertheless, Thami, gave them a brilliant talk on fire safety. They all now know the "ins and outs" about what to do should a fire break out in the house.

Listening very carefully!

After the long sit, we showed the cubs how to "stop, drop and roll" - which got them a bit active.

We then played "Fireball" with them - a quick and easy game.

Divide the pack into 2 - benches were put in the middle to divide the two teams. A huge fireball (plastic ball) is then thrown into the opponents area hoping to touch one of the cubs. If one of them is touched they must stand on the bench at the back. The game continues untill all cubs are standing on the respective benches.

Dodging the fireball!

We showed them all how to make a fire - safely!

... and we then went into Instruction. Here the Leaping Wolves are doing "Getting Lost" Both correct and incorrect statements were placed under cups. Cubs got a turn each to choose a cup, read the statement and decide whether it is true or false.

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Athlete Antics

This week we worked towards our Athletes Interest Badges.

Unfortunately we did not capture too much on camera - as I had forgotten it at home!

The advancement for the Leaping Wolves was the 24 hour clock and this is a lovely game to play. Take 2 pieces of rope (one shorter than the other) and let all the cubs stand around in a circle. Indicate where 12, 3, 6 and 9 are and then let them shout out a time. Example: the first cub will say 23h00: whoever moves the ropes into the correct positions, gets to shout out the next time - say 18h15..... and so it goes on until everyone has had a turn.

We had a "going up" ceremony for 3 of our Cubs.

..... and we really are going to miss their fun, laughter and smiles!

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Boot Camp - May 2008

I am sure every cub returned from the Boot Camp exhausted but exhilirated!

Camp opened with Grand Howl with cubs from the Benoni and Airport Districts.

To ensure that the cubs got to know the area, an Orienteering Game was planned. This was such a great game whereby pairs of cubs were handed a piece of paper with numbers on them. These numbers corresponded to areas in the army camp and next to each number was written a name. Example: the cubs would run up to the ablution area and there would be number "3. Oscar" or "6. Tanga". The cubs had to write these all down and then take the first letter of each word to form a sentence ...... which was "Do Your Best".

3 stooges from 9th Benoni

The army pitched all the tents for us!

Playing the Orienteering Game.

9th Benoni Bunch

.... and the hard work begins!

The army taught them the basics on how to march!

We then divided into our different squadrons and set up bases for the day.

Base 1 - cubs had to make bombs for their war. These were to be placed in their "trommel" and they had to look after these all day.

Deep concentration!

Base 2 - Dog Tags. This is such a brilliant idea! Lead is cut into lengths and each cub had to cut off 2 small pieces. We had letters of the alphabet which the cubs used to print their name on the one dog tag and on the other they put their squadron name. These they hung on bath plug chain.

Base 3 - was a compass base ....

.... which the cubs loved!

I was "responsible" for the Delta squadron - and here they are - great guys!

Just before lunch break, the cubs needed to "stash some grenades" - this was the normal egg and spoon race but with marbles - in relay formation. The winner was the one with the most grenades.

James said a wonderful grace before lunch.

afterwhich we had a tug-of-war race!

Next on the agenda, it was the army, the leaders versus the cubs ..... and guess who won?

(the Cubs!!)

We continued with the bases after lunch and at Base 4 we had an Obstacle Course.

He is one of the cubs enjoying the "foofie slide"

... another 'foofie slider'

up and over the cargo net

....guarding their weapons of war ....

We had one other base where the cubs were shown how to take a rifle apart and told about all the safety precautions of using a gun.

And the war begins!

Each squadron was given a huge "catapult" and made full use of all their ammunition.

Having fun...

Enjoying a hearty meal

After supper a huge flare was sent up (see below) to indicate to the cubs that it was time to go and get their camp fire blankets plus dress warmly. Being the end of May, it is really chilly at night here.

The cubs were lines up and seated and with huge eyes and attentive ears, everyone listened to what the army guys had to say.

Red flare.

Campfire and sleep over - time for clean-up and inspection.

Friends

...... rise and shine ......

Time for army PT ... and learning how to do a few push ups!

Part of the exercise was to run the perimeter of the grounds and bring back a 2 foot stick of about 1 inch in diameter. Well, this cub thought he meter 2 metre "stick".

..... and on closer inspection we noticed the beauty of this "stick" which the army then decided to keep in a place of honour.

The army doing inspection.

After breakfast we played a magnificent game.

Cubs are lined up in relay formation. One cub is blindfolded and one cub stands opposite him. The blindfolded cub has to navigate his way through the minefield with his buddy shouting out instruction "keep left, little right, keep straight, etc" While they were doing this the army were letting off crackers so it sounded just like bombs going off!

If a cub lands on a mine (kicks a bottle) he has lost a leg and needs to continue by hopping. If he hits another mine, he loses both legs and must then crawl to the other side.

Once there the other cub runs back and goes to the end of the line and the next cub up gets a turn to cross the mine field.

We had many laughs during this game!

Once we had collected up all our "injured", the cubs did some "extreme surgery" and then carried them back to "hospital".

More help needed..

It was nearly home time! Cubs changed back into their uniforms and we transported them - army style - across the road to another facility where we, once again set up bases.