Paddle Craft 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, Paddle Craft, 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 Paddle Craft 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 · 9 min

Activity 1: Before attempting requirements 5

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Paddle Craft.

• Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Before attempting requirements 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 for this Adventure, you must pass the BSA swimmer test".
• Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
• Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
• Mark requirement 1 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
• Then requirement 2: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "Pick a paddle craft you'll use to complete all requirements: canoe, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard" while you move between the two.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Review Safety Afloat

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Paddle Craft.

• Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Review Safety Afloat".
• Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
• Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
• Mark requirement 3 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
• Then requirement 4: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Demonstrate how to identify and properly wear a life jacket that is the correct size" once, in their own way.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: Jump feet first into water over

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Paddle Craft.

• Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Jump feet first into water over your head while wearing a life jacket".
• Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
• Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
• Mark requirement 5 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
• Then requirement 6: sit the den in a circle and take one answer each on "Discuss how to enter and exit a canoe, kayak or stand-up paddle board (SUP) safely".

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: Discuss what to do if your canoe

Close requirements 7 and 8 of Paddle Craft.

• Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
• Read "Discuss what to do if your canoe or kayak tips over or you fall off your stand-up paddleboard" 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 8: read "Learn 2 paddle strokes: power stroke and the sweep" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 7 Requirement 8

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.