Pirate Theme Games Wanted for Cub Camp
Robert DeMone
Hello fellow Scouters,
I am Robert DeMone, an assistant cub leader with the 1st Harrisvilles
Cubs in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
This spring we are putting on a Pirate Camp with, you guessed it, a
pirate theme.
We were wondering if anyone out there had any pirate games, events,
crafts, etc. that they would like to share with us to help us put on a
better camp.
Suggestions can be emailed to me at dem...@fox.nstn.ca
Yours in Scouting
Robert DeMone (Chill)
ma...@moose.erie.net
Well, here's some ideas. Hope you can use some.
Invitations: Burn or tear edges of brown paper. Write the following
poem. Roll invitation, writing side out and stuff into a clear bottle,
preferably plastic if you're working with kids. If you put it into a
bottle with a small neck, put a skewer in to help unwind the paper so you
can read it from the outside.
YO HO HO and a bottle of rum!
To a buccaneer party we want you to come!
To play some games; to hunt for treasure
For pirate fun in full measure.
Don't forget to draw a map on the paper and an X for where the party will
be held.
Favors: Tie a bandana around each child's head. Earrings and eye patches
can also be made from tagboard attached with yarn.
Games: Scavenger hunts are a must. There are all kinds of variations
for these. Alot would depend on the ages of your kids. More games are
on the GSUSA page. Try there for more ideas.
Hope this helps.
Mary
Glen Jensen
dem...@fox.nstn.ca (Robert DeMone) writes:
>Hello fellow Scouters,
>I am Robert DeMone, an assistant cub leader with the 1st Harrisvilles
>Cubs in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
>This spring we are putting on a Pirate Camp with, you guessed it, a
>pirate theme.
>We were wondering if anyone out there had any pirate games, events,
>crafts, etc. that they would like to share with us to help us put on a
>better camp.
If this is going to be a more than one weekend camp you might:
1) Make a map of the camp, cut it into a number of pieces,
have the den assemble it and go on a treasure hunt. The
treasure could be a small metal "tin" full of chocolate
coins. Each den will have a different route to follow.
2) Give them a piece of paper with a bunch of symbols written
on it. they are to look at the paper and figure out the
password for the activity. Take a needle and punch the
password into the paper (ala dot matrix printing). If they
are having a problem, have them hold the paper up to the sky
to look at the problem differently. Unless the holes are really
small, the password becomes clear quickly.
3) Have them "walk the plank". All you need is a plank and a
plastic wading pool ;-).
4) Have them make cardboard cutlas' (glue two pieces of cardboard
together).
5) Get some face paints and give them scars or beard stubble.
(use water based, SAFE paints, check the theater supply stores).
You only need red and black. They can cost money, but they last
a while when used properly (I'm a face painting clown ;-).
6) Bob for apples. Once they get their apple, they are issued a
metal skewer, hotdog, bun and drink. Have either a campfire with
a few seats of a BBQ set up. Don't forget the catcup or mustard.
7) Shooting enemy boats with a catapult and beanbags. A simple cat
with a half dozen beanbags. Three or four friget silletts(?)
mounted to a stand that can be knocked over easily.
8) Sword Skill area. Hang three or four3-4" sewing hoops from
string. Swing the hoops and give each youth X-attempts to
skewer the rings.
9) Boarding drill. The scouts toss a big bean bag "grappeling
hook" on a rope to secure the enemy ship, then a rope swing
over to do battle.
>Suggestions can be emailed to me at dem...@fox.nstn.ca
>Yours in Scouting
>Robert DeMone (Chill)
These are from a dozen past activities. You can put these into an
order of progression as in doing #9 then #8 on the enemy ship.
Hope that these give you some ideas.
Glen Jensen
gje...@hevanet.com
Kim Hannemann
Not to pick on any posters to the Pirate Theme thread, and remembering that as
Cubmaster I once wanted to put on a Pirate Theme pack meeting, what is the
modern equivalent of the pirate? How about . . . drug smugglers?
We are glamorizing the lifestyles of seagoing gangs of brutal, thieving,
drunken, lawless thugs?
Scouting - it made me the (fill in the blank) I am today!
Kim (KHann...@worldbank.org)
John Kelleher
In article <4nagn7$1...@minerva.worldbank.org>, KHann...@worldbank.org
(Kim Hannemann) wrote:
> We are glamorizing the lifestyles of seagoing gangs of brutal, thieving,
> drunken, lawless thugs?
Kim -
While I understand your concern, I think it's a good idea sometimes to
take things a bit more in perspective. Or, as my son would put it,
"Lighten up, dad!" If we dwell on the pointed origin of things, there are
few bits of history that are glamorous. It's only in the ability of the
story teller, or the re-enactor, that things take on a certain grandeur.
As you study the true history of piracy - including contemporary piracy,
such as the Achille Lauro hijacking - you realize that piracy is a
demonstration of awful brutality. But starting certainly no later than
Robert Louis Stevenson, or Gilbert and Sullivan, and their "Pirates of
Penzance", piracy became almost a mystique. Swashbuckling, derring-do,
audacity: these are the characteristics ascribed to pirates, and it makes
it a rather fun and humorous review of those terrible days. With the
introduction of films and television, everybody from Bob Hope to the
Muppets has been a pirate. Erroll Flynn took the excitement to its
pinnacle. Note that the traditional symbol for poison, the skull and
crossbones, gave way in the 70's to the "yuckie" (a version of the smiley
face) because poison control experts learned that kids thought the pirate
flag was a good thing!
Look at other great themes we use to instill values and have fun with our
young charges.
Cowboys and Indians? How The West Was Won? You should check the history
of the American West to learn the horrific cost paid by Native Americans
as these "gallant men" opened the path across America.
George Washington and company? Imagine if Yorktown had gone the other
way. We might today still be British subjects and those evil traitors -
Washington, Jefferson, Franklin - would be despised; their pictures would
be of wigged men on gallows. They were, after all, the wealthy, landed,
gentry who spilled the blood of poor young men to support their cavorting
throughout the courts of Europe, were they not?
Great explorers? Which of the great explorers did not exploit local
residents to further their goal of self-aggrandizement? Spanish explorers
destroyed a civilization in Mexico. Father Junipero Serra is not thought
of too highly by many of California's Native Americans. Sea captains
throughout the world sent press gangs ashore to kidnap men and boys for
their crew. Pacific island populations were decimated by the diseases of
foreign visitors.
Political leaders? I shudder when I realize how tough it is to find an
honest politician, whether it's in the local city hall or in the nation's
capital.
Even something as simple as the nursery tune "Ring Around the Rosy" is a
song about Europe's most devastating natural disaster - the Black Plague.
You see, it's easy to find the negative side of many things. But taking
things and making them enjoyable might open the interests of the boys. As
they grow older and are better prepared for some of the bitter reality
that is the history of the human condition, then they can learn more of
the past as it truly was.
In fun and Scouting,
John
Kim Hannemann
In article <kelleher-150...@kelleher.vip.best.com>,
kell...@best.com says...
>
>In article <4nagn7$1...@minerva.worldbank.org>, KHann...@worldbank.org
>(Kim Hannemann) wrote:
>
>
>> We are glamorizing the lifestyles of seagoing gangs of brutal, thieving,
>> drunken, lawless thugs?
>
>While I understand your concern, I think it's a good idea sometimes to
>take things a bit more in perspective. Or, as my son would put it,
>"Lighten up, dad!"
Actually, my note was originally intended to be in a light vein, but . .
>Swashbuckling, derring-do,
>audacity: these are the characteristics ascribed to pirates
And outlaws of all sorts. And that is one reason many kids think there's
nothing wrong with flouting the law - and in fact, they believe it to be
"heroic".
>
>Look at other great themes we use to instill values and have fun with our
>young charges.
>
>Cowboys and Indians? How The West Was Won?
When I use "cowboys" and "indians", it is in the context of teaching the
values of e.g. teamwork (cowboys) and appreciation for the earth and its
bounty (native Americans), not how good guys beat bad guys. There are positive
values here - not so with piracy.
>
>George Washington and company? [snip] Great explorers? [snip] Political
leaders?
Again, there are positive values in all these themes. Not so with piracy,
sorry.
>
>Even something as simple as the nursery tune "Ring Around the Rosy" is a
>song about Europe's most devastating natural disaster - the Black Plague.
And Christmas is a pagan holiday. Halloween is even worse.
>
>
>You see, it's easy to find the negative side of many things. But taking
>things and making them enjoyable might open the interests of the boys.
Why would we want to open up the interest of the boys in negative things (like
piracy)?
>As they grow older and are better prepared for some of the bitter reality
>that is the history of the human condition, then they can learn more of
>the past as it truly was.
So then, they will either: (1) refuse the truth, preferring to believe the
sugar-coated misinformation with which they were indoctrinated in their youth
by people they trusted (many do, and it is the source of much stupidity,
bigotry, etc. today); or (2) when the truth is finally known, become bitter
about the falsity of the beliefs they once held and the values they thought
were worthwhile; or (3) become happy, healthy, unconcerned and mindless
drones.
Oops, I forgot, lighten up, Kim!
>
>In fun and Scouting,
Walk the plank, landlubber, or we'll keelhaul you afore we feeds you to the
fishes! Aarrggh, shiver me timbers! Dead men tell no tales.
Kim
cwelch
>Why would we want to open up the interest of the boys in negative things
>(like piracy)?
Depending on who you ask the Privateers(?) were either the good guys or
mercenaries (pirates)... The adventure is the appeal more so than what
the pirates [allegadely] ACTUALLY did.
>>In fun and Scouting,
Yeah, that's the ticket....
CW
poZ
John
I'm digesting your food for thought. I am pleased with the menu.
I wish more people could serve such dishes & not be the waitperson, ready
to sweep the table clear of such desserts.
More power to you my gourmet!
Margaret
--
Keep your hands, heart & mind open & someone might put something
wonderful in them.
Best Sellers
kell...@best.com (John Kelleher) wrote:
>George Washington and company? Imagine if Yorktown had gone the other
>way. We might today still be British subjects and those evil traitors -
>Washington, Jefferson, Franklin - would be despised; their pictures would
>be of wigged men on gallows. They were, after all, the wealthy, landed,
>gentry who spilled the blood of poor young men to support their cavorting
>throughout the courts of Europe, were they not?
You eventually say that it is easy to find something
sinister in nearly any tradition. Perhaps, but it is VERY
easy if the evidence is cooked. Washington, JEfferson,
Hamilton, et al. wer not the wealthy, landed gentry who
spilled the blood, etc., they were patriots who risked their
wealth, their lands, and even their "gentry" in a political
battle turned to war. I dispise revisionist history.
And, no, I will not "lighten up."
______