At our annual pack picnic in September, we present awards earned over the summer. Since we're trying to add some fun to our Cub Scout awards ceremonies, I wanted to use the picnic idea as our theme.
My first thought was ants, but I couldn't think of how to use them. Then I thought about picnic baskets, and after a quick look on Pinterest, I realized I could make them from brown paper lunch bags. They would be really cute with a red gingham napkin! But our Cub Scouts don't want cute!
That's when the idea of putting ants on the picnic basket hit me. So, I made a trip to my local Dollar Tree which is a great place to get supplies for den and pack meetings! Because they still had a lot of Halloween supplies, I found some packages of plastic ants. I couldn't find them online at Dollar Tree, but you can get them from Amazon through my affiliate link.
Here are the supplies you'll need. You can get all of them through my Amazon affiliate links.
- Brown paper lunch bags
- Red gingham napkins
- Plastic Ants
- Glue dots or glue
- Black Sharpie
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Ruler
Start with the bag folded flat. Mark and cut the bag approximately 5 1/4″ from the bottom. Save the top part of the bag. Write the Scout's name on the bag with the Sharpie. Open up the bag and fold the top down into the opened bag. Set aside.
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Using the top of the bag that you saved, cut two 1″ strips. Open them up then fold them flat so that they are only folded on the ends. Stack the two strips together, and staple in the middle. Staple each end to one side of the basket to form a handle.
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Using the glue or glue dots, attach 8 or 10 plastic ants to the front side of the bag. When I used glue, I found it easier to put a good-sized “blob” of glue on the bag first, then place the ant in the glue. Since it dries clear, the ant will show through the glue. If you do this, lay the bag on its side so that the glue will be less likely to run.
Unfold the paper napkin, and place it in the bag. We put the awards into ziploc bags with the boys' names on the outside and put the ziploc bags into the basket. That way, when they grab their “picnic basket” and swing it around, their belt loops won't go flying through the air! 🙂
While this awards ceremony wasn't quite as active as the frisbee awards or the faux campfire awards, it did give the boys something different–plastic insects to use to scare Mom!
What has been your favorite awards ceremony?
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
P.S. If you liked this awards presentation idea, sign up below for more fun Cub Scout tips!
