Bear Elective adventure 3rd grade

Yo-Yo (Bear) requirements (Bear)

Yo-Yo (Bear) is a Bear elective adventure with 7 requirements. Below is what each one asks in plain language, and a sixty minute den meeting plan that works through them: a gathering activity, the opening, the activity blocks, and what to say in the closing.

Plan this meeting in DenBuddy Jump to the plan

Free for one den. DenBuddy reads your den from Scoutbook Plus, and writes back only when you press Send.

Yo-Yo (Bear) requirements

Paraphrased for planning. Read the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Handbook requirement 1

Learn the safety rules of using a yo-yo and follow them at all times.
Handbook requirement 2

Using a real yo-yo string, a regular string, or a piece of yarn, show how to find the proper yo-yo string length for you.
Handbook requirement 3

Explain why it is important to have the correct string length and to be in the right location before throwing a yo-yo.
Handbook requirement 4

Demonstrate how to properly string a yo-yo and how to create a slip knot.
Handbook requirement 5

In an area where there are no hazards or other people, conduct the pendulum experiment with a yo-yo. Explain what happens to the yo-yo when the string is short compared to when the string is longer.
Handbook requirement 6

Show that you can properly wind a yo-yo.
Handbook requirement 7

Demonstrate the gravity pull trick with a yo-yo.

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Yo-Yo (Bear)

Five kinds of block in the order that works: something to do on arrival, the opening, den business, the adventure work split into chunks a Cub Scout can hold attention through, and a closing that names what got finished.

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: what would you do

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

Write three short what-would-you-do situations on index cards and lay them face down.
Arriving Scouts turn one over with a partner and agree on a first move.
Hold the answers until the activity block, then let those pairs go first.

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, Yo-Yo (Bear), 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 Yo-Yo (Bear) 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: Learn the safety rules of using

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Yo-Yo (Bear).

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Learn the safety rules of using a yo-yo and follow them at all times".
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: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Using a real yo-yo string, a regular string, or a piece of yarn, show how to find the proper yo-yo string length for you" once, in their own way.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Explain why it is important to have

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Yo-Yo (Bear).

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Explain why it is important to have the correct string length and to be in the right location before throwing a yo-yo".
Give the den five minutes in pairs to work it out, then bring the answers together on one sheet.
Go round the circle so every Scout says one answer out loud in their own words.
Then requirement 4: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "Demonstrate how to properly string a yo-yo and how to create a slip knot" while you move between the two.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: In an area where there are no

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Yo-Yo (Bear).

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "In an area where there are no hazards or other people, conduct the pendulum experiment with a yo-yo".
Give the den five minutes in pairs to work it out, then bring the answers together on one sheet.
Go round the circle so every Scout says one answer out loud in their own words.
Then requirement 6: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Show that you can properly wind a yo-yo" once, in their own way.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: Demonstrate the gravity pull trick with a yo-yo

Close requirement 7 of Yo-Yo (Bear): Demonstrate the gravity pull trick with a yo-yo.

Do it once yourself at normal speed, then once slowly while you narrate every step.
Put the den in pairs so each Scout practices "Demonstrate the gravity pull trick with a yo-yo" 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.

Requirement 7

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.

What to bring

Tonight's requirement list, printed, with a box to tick per Scout
A clipboard and pen for sign-offs as they happen
Two six-foot lengths of rope per Scout

Worked out from the requirement text. Swap anything you already have in the den box.

Plan this meeting for your own den

This plan does not know your Scouts. DenBuddy does: import your den from Scoutbook Plus and the planner starts from the requirements each Scout is actually missing, keeps the block times, and turns the agenda into the record sheet afterwards.

Plan Yo-Yo (Bear) Create a free den

How the planner works

Youth protection is built in: Scouts have no accounts, check-in is done by a parent from a public link, and nothing DenBuddy does writes back to Scoutbook.

How youth data is handled

Questions about Yo-Yo (Bear)

How many requirements does Yo-Yo (Bear) have?

7. Each one is a single thing the Scout does. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is Yo-Yo (Bear) required for Bear?

No. Yo-Yo (Bear) is a Bear elective. A Scout needs the six required Bear adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Yo-Yo (Bear) take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 7 of the 7 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Yo-Yo (Bear) at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Yo-Yo (Bear) is marked as family-only work, so a Scout who misses the meeting can finish with a parent and you record it when the family tells you.