Building a Better World requirements (Arrow of Light)

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: tallest tower

Give the Scouts who arrive first something to do, so the meeting starts the moment they walk in.

• Put scrap cardboard, painter's tape and two pairs of safety scissors on the gathering table.
• The task on the card: build the tallest thing that stands on its own before the opening.
• Scouts join whichever table has room, so nobody waits alone for the meeting to start.

0:10 · 5 min

Opening

Flag ceremony, Scout Oath and Scout Law. The same five minutes every week, run by the Scouts.

• The denner calls the den to order and leads the flag ceremony.
• Say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law together. New Scouts read from a card and nobody makes anything of it.
• One sentence on tonight's adventure, Building a Better World, and the one thing everybody will get done.

0:15 · 5 min

Talk time

Den business while everyone is still sitting down, and a look at what is coming.

• The two dates parents need: the next den meeting and the next pack event.
• Ask who already did part of Building a Better World at home, and write the names down so it gets recorded.
• Take one question from the den. Answer it or say when you will.

0:20 · 12 min

Activity 1: Explain the history of the United States flag

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Building a Better World.

• Do it once yourself at normal speed, then once slowly while you narrate every step.
• Put the den in pairs so each Scout practices "Explain the history of the United States flag" while their partner watches for the one thing that matters.
• Go round the circle and have every Scout show you once, in their own way.
• Mark it off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember at the end.
• Then requirement 2: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Learn about and describe your rights and duties as a citizen, and explain what it means to be loyal to your country", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: Discuss in your Webelos den the term

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Building a Better World.

• Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
• Read "Discuss in your Webelos den the term "rule of law," and talk about how it applies to you in your everyday life" out loud and give the den ten seconds of quiet before anyone answers.
• Take one answer from every Scout. Nobody gets skipped and nobody gets rushed.
• Write the den's answers on a flip chart so parents can read them at pickup.
• Then requirement 4: hand it to your guest, who gets fifteen minutes and one ask: "Meet with a government or community leader, and learn about his or her role in your community".

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Show that you are an active leader

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Building a Better World.

• Do it once yourself at normal speed, then once slowly while you narrate every step.
• Put the den in pairs so each Scout practices "Show that you are an active leader by planning an activity for your den without your den leader's help" while their partner watches for the one thing that matters.
• Go round the circle and have every Scout show you once, in their own way.
• Mark it off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember at the end.
• Then requirement 6: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Learn about Scouting in another part of the world", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:55 · 5 min

Closing

End on time, and make sure every Scout leaves knowing what they finished.

• Cubmaster's minute: one short thought tied to what the den just did. Sixty seconds, no lecture.
• Read back what got finished tonight, requirement by requirement, so the Scouts hear their own progress.
• Send the den off with the den yell, and catch the parents who need to hear something at pickup.