How to Earn Cub Scout Achievements by Celebrating Earth Day with Your Tiger Cub

Getting involved in Cub Scouts is a wonderful way for children to learn responsibility, respect for others, get exercise, have fun and go on an the occasional adventure. Before becoming a Boy Scout, young boys have to first complete many achievements as Cubs. The International Celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd and month of April is a great way for your Tiger Cub Scout to get together as a Den, Pack or even just with family to earn certain achievements.

Tiger Cubs have one really great achievement to do in April. Achievement number 5 is "Let's Go Outdoors" and the (F5) Family Achievement for this is to "Go Outside and Watch the Weather". This is the perfect opportunity to talk to your Scout about the change of seasons and how Spring awakens the Earth after a sleepy winter. The Earth is alive and needs to be taken care of so that it can be healthy and grow. As you look around discovering different aspects of the weather point out the budding leaves on the trees. You can talk about how they are affected by the warming temperatures and how they will grow into large leaves that will help to clean the air. This gives you the opportunity to talk about keeping the environment clean so the trees can stay healthy.

The (D5) "Den Activity" for Achievement 5 is "With a crayon or colored pencil and a piece of paper, make a leaf rubbing". So while you are out checking out the weather, look for different leaves left over from the fall, pick a new leaf from a spring flower or grab a small branch from an evergreen. While the Scouts are doing their rubbings you can talk to them about how important clean water and clean soil are to help keep the plants that their leaves came from healthy so that they can grow big and strong to help the environment.

Another great time to collect leaves or other items for the leaf rubbings is while doing the (5G) "Go See It" activity, which is "Take a Hike with your Den". If you have a park nearby, that is a great place to collect leaves, if not, taking a walk around the neighborhood, or on another Scout's property is a possibility. It might be a good idea to schedule the hike and follow that up with the D5 leaf rubbing activity.

Many fun Electives can be incorporated into Achievement 5 to help Celebrate Earth Day. Some of them are:

Elective 22: Picnic Fun. This would be great to add to the end of the hike in the park.

Elective 25: Snack Time. There is a recipe for "Ocean Bottom Crackers" in the Tiger Cub Handbook. Basically, it is dyeing cream cheese an Ocean blue color, spreading it on crackers and adding some Goldfish crackers to the top. This gives an opportunity to talk about healthy Oceans and what we can do to keep them clean. This would be fun to do as a Den, Pack or even just as a Family after playing outside.

Elective 29: Safety in the Sun. This elective is about protecting yourself in the sun. Here is the chance to talk to your Scout about the Ozone Layer and how harmful pollution can cause holes in the Ozone layer.

Elective 30, Plant a Seed. For this elective, choose something easy to grow, like Sunflowers or green beans. While planting, you can discuss the importance of plants and how they clean the air.

Elective 33: Cleanup Treasure Hunt. Make a list of some of the average pieces of garbage that you see in your neighborhood or Local Park, then go out and clean up. You can do this as a family or in teams with your Den.

Elective 34: Conservation. Discuss ways to conserve our natural resources by turning off lights and water or adjusting the heat or air conditioning to use less energy.

Elective 35: Fun Outdoors. Just go outside and play, as you are playing with your Scout, talk about the environment and how important it is to keep it clean so we all have fresh air to play in.

Elective 47: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If you don't have a recycling center at your house, April is the perfect time to start one. If you already have one, spend time with your Scout sorting out the recycling and take them to the recycling center.

Your Cub Scout can earn the "Cut Scout Outdoor Activity Award", which includes attending a Cub Scout day camp and Achievement 5 along with at least 3 different outdoor activities. There are 13 different activities to choose from in the Tiger Cub Handbook, and several of them can be completed by doing some of the Electives I mentioned.

I hope you have fun spending time outside with your Cub Scout talking about the environment and cleaning up your neighborhood or Local Park. Have a great Earth Day!