We attended out first Cub Scouts Camporee this past weekend. We didn’t do the sleepover, I’m not sure they’re ready for that yet, but we stayed the day. The Camporee is lead by the Boy Scouts. The Boys Scouts teach the Cub Scouts a few things about being a scout; from tying knots and first aid, to pitching a tents and building fires. The concept itself was really great. The execution needed some tweaking.

Our tour guide barely spoke. The poor boy was SO shy. As much as we tried to make him feel comfortable and come out of his shell, it was useless. But I think I saw him chuckle a few times.

There were six stations set up and the cub scouts were put into random groups. It didn’t matter which grade they were in. They just randomly put kids together and off they went to a station to learn something useful. This right here I thought could have been planned better. 4th and 5th graders are at completely different learning levels than a 6 year olds. Teaching a 6 year old who is just getting the hand of tying his own shoes how to clove hitch a tepee in a matter of 10 minutes is just ridiculous. An 8 or 9 year old, sure. Learning the different types of fire structures and types of wood…now that was useful for all the kids. Teaching a 6 year old how to use an ax…let’s start with whittling shall we. I feel they would have been better off separated into dens and learning something useful for their age group. But all and all, they had a blast. The kids didn’t notice the chaos one bit.

They had so much fun. They’re LOVING scouts. Logan mastered his square knot and you could just see that boost of confidence swell through him. He was beaming! Finn found the biggest piece of fuel at the fire station and thought he was pretty darn awesome.

Naturally, Deacon’s favorite station of the day was the ax station where he got use a hatchet, and now wants one of his own of course.

I love that they have all found an activity they’re excited about. An activity that teaches them some valuable life lessons. Now onto memorizing that Scout Oath. They’ve almost got it.

Do your kids scout?