CLOSING CEREMONIES

A Tree is a Good Scout
Capital Area Council

Personnel: 7 Cubs or 6 Cubs and a narrator
Equipment: Each Cub hold a picture or drawing of a tree with his section of text on the back in LARGE print.

• Did you ever pause to think about how helpful a tree is?
• It provides a nesting place for birds, shade from the sun, and protection from the rain.
• It discards its dead branches, thus providing wood for building fires and for cooking food.
• A tree adds beauty to the countryside and to camping areas.
• We must admit that a tree gives a lot more than it receives.
• We can learn a lesson from the tree, by doing our best to always be helpful to others and by putting our fellow Scouts first and ourselves second.
• (Adult Narrator) Remember the lesson we learn from the tree - To give to others more than we receive.

Sam Houston Council had this listed as a Cubmaster’s Minute with CM saying the whole thing.  Your choice.  CD

God Gives Us the World
Capital Area Council

CM:          The founder of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell, once said, "God has given us a world to live in that is full of beauties and wonders and He has given us not only eyes to see them but minds to understand them, if we only have the sense to look at then in that light."

Asst CM    With Spring well under way and Summer fast approaching, we will be spending more time in and enjoying the great outdoors once again.  As we do this, let us in a true Scouting spirit, live up to our Outdoor Code:

CM:          As an American, I will do my best to:

• Be clean in my outdoor manners.  I will treat the outdoors as a heritage to be improved for our greater enjoyment.  I will keep my trash and garbage out of America's waterways, fields, woods, and roadways.
• Be careful with fire.  I will build my fire in a safe place and be sure it is dead out before I leave.
• Be considerate in the outdoors.  I will treat public and private property with respect.  I will remember that use of the outdoors is a privilege I can lose by abuse.
• Be conservation-minded.  I will learn to practice good conservation of soil, water, forests, minerals, grasslands, and wildlife.  And I will urge others to do the same.  I will use sportsman-like methods in all my outdoor activities.

God's Handiwork
Grand Teton Area Council

Personnel: Six Cub Scouts

Equipment: Each boy holding a poster with a nature scene on front and his words on back in LARGE print

Setting: Boys lined up in front of audience.

• We've learned a lot about taking care of the forests, the plants and the trees
• We will protect and clean up the air and the streams, so all can enjoy these
• We won't litter our fields and streams or throw our trash on the roads.
• We will enjoy all the sun's beams and protect the homes of the toads.
• Nature is truly a wondrous thing. God's handiwork is everywhere.
• In flowers and trees and butterfly wings, in clean water, clean fields and clean air.

Plant a Tree Closing
Grand Teton Area Council

This is the closing that may be used with  the Plant A Tree Opening.  It is similar to “A Tree is a Good Scout”  CD

With much ceremony, the Cubmaster gently tamps down the dirt around the tree. Have Cub Scouts carry several buckets of water from the nearest source and pour around the trunk.

"Let's pause for a moment and think how helpful this tree will grow to be. It will provide a nesting place for birds. Someday, it will shade us from the sun. And it might protect us from the rain.

As it grows old, it will discard dead branches, providing wood for a fire to warm us or to cook our food.

 It will add much beauty to our town.

When you think about it, you've got to admit... a tree gives a lot more than it receives. We can all follow the example set by this tree ... by doing our best to always be helpful to others by putting others first and ourselves second. Remember the lesson we learn from our tree... to give to others more than we receive."

Nature and the Good Visitor Closing
Grand Teton Area Council

Personnel: Committee Chair (CC), Cubmaster (CM), Four Cub Scouts

Equipment: Each boy holding an object representing his words – Camera, Shoes, Stuffed or ceramic bird, matches.  Words can be printed on 4X6 cards for Cubs to read.

Setting: Boys lined up in front of audience.

CC:        Our Pack meeting tonight brought us all together to think about nature.  We can enjoy the great outdoors but we think of others who will follow us.  Wherever you go in the great wide world of nature, try to be a "good" visitor who will leave the plants and the creatures for others to enjoy after you leave.

• The only shots I took were snapshots.
• I tried to walk on pathways to keep off plants.
• When I see animals or birds, I try to remember that I am a guest in their living place and I don't do anything to them but look at them.
• The one big thing I always do when I am ready to go home is to look and see that all fires are out in nature's backyard.

CM:         With Cubs and Webelos like you to help keep our friends on the ball, I'm sure that the beauties of nature will be around for years to come.  Thanks Cubs, Good Night.

Den Closing Sticking Together
This could be adapted to a Pack setting, too.  CD
Sam Houston Area Council

Gather two small sticks for each boy in your den.

Before the meeting, out of sight of the boys, tie half of the sticks together.  Keep this hidden.

When the boys are seated, give each of them one stick and ask him to break it.

Then pull out your bundle of sticks and say: “It was easy to break a single stick, but I have tied these sticks in a bundle.” (Pass it around and invite the boys to try to break the bundle as they did with the single stick.)

Now Say: “When our den sticks together and works as a team, we will be stronger than each of us alone.”

Alternate Approach:

Give each boy his two sticks.

Have them each break one stick

Then say, : “It was easy to break a single stick.  Now everyone pass me their second stick.”

Tie these sticks into a bundle.

Pass it around and invite the boys to try to break the bundle as they did with the single stick.

Now Say: “These sticks represent our den.  When our den sticks together and works as a team, we will be stronger than each of us alone.”

The Conservation Pledge and Outdoor Code
Sam Houston Area Council

Materials:

• A poster of the Conservation Pledge and Outdoor Code
• Have boys repeat the pledge and code after the Cubmaster says each line.

The Conservation Pledge

I give my pledge as an American
To save and faithfully protect
The natural resources of my country,
Its soil, its forests, waters and wildlife.

The Outdoor Code
As an American, I will do my best to
Be clean in my outdoor manners,
Be careful with fire,
Be considerate in the outdoors, and
Be conservation-minded.

I am sure you can work in some imaginative things – meanings of the phrases, questions to ask Cubs about what the lines mean, pictures representing the words, a slide show playing on a screen of our beautiful country, … to make this a meaningful thing for your Cubs and not just a recitation of quickly forgotten words.  CD

My Backyard
Capital Area Council

Personnel: 6 Cubs

Equipment: Each Cub hold an appropriate picture or drawing for his part.  Have the text on the back in LARGE print.

• My backyard is a wondrous place
  I can stake a claim for a thinking space.
• I can pitch a tent and sleep in the rain,
  Or listen to the whistle of a far away train.
• I can throw a ball to Mother of Dad,
  Or just be alone when I get mad.
• I can plant a garden or climb a tree,
  Or get my dog, Ralph, to chase after me.
• Sometimes we even have den meetings there,
  I've finished my Wolf and started my Bear!
• Yeah, the backyard's the place where I run,
  When I really want to have some fun.