Pinewood Derby Certificate Printable

It's that time of year again.

PINEWOOD DERBY!
The ultimate pack meeting that every cub scout looks forward to all year long. 

Okay! It's also got the dads all in a mess as well. 

It's always so fun to watch what the boys come up with and the creativity and personality that shows through in their cars. 

I also smirk at the dads. We have a couple who are wonderful dads and great examples to my own boys. They are also just a TAD BIT competetive. My dear husband noticed an ever so slight fist pump by the most reserved, quiet man I know. Yep, even THAT dad couldn't hold back his anticipation and excitment at seeing HIS boys car cross the line in first place. 

We are blessed to have healthy competition that doesn't get out of line. It's a great evening for everyone. 

For a scout leader.....it's also a TON of work! The payoff comes in the boys faces lighting up. I just LOVE it!!

This year I am not a cub scout leader *sniff* but I had a request for some of the certificates I have previously done. So I did a little editing so that you can print one for your little pack and hopefully save you a little time and headache. 

 Here is my original post when we used this certificate. It was a couple of years ago. So fun to look through those old pictures.

You can download it 2 ways. Just click on the link you want:

Dropbox

4share

And the pit pass. Just print it and make the copies you need. I laminated mine and made lanyards for all the boys. They absolutely LOVED it!

Here are the links for the pit pass:
Dropbox

4share

Have fun!!

How to make an Easle

Project 18 of 52

I needed a way to display information to the girls during camp. After going up for pre-camp clean up I realized there were not many trees to hang signs from. There were plenty of trees, just not in the right spot for signs. So I set out to make my own. I mean, how hard can an easle be to make right!?!

RIGHT!

Here's what I did:

Supplies: 1x4x8 boards (I think I got 3)

Gorilla glue

screws 2" I think

Hardboard

 Corner brackets

Hinges

spray paint

I wanted this to be about 5 feet tall. I wanted it to be a focal point in our camp. Something everyone would see easily. I cut 2 1x4 boards 5 feet. The cross boards are 16 3/4 inches. I found the easiest way to mark the small boards was to lay them across and mark from inside of one long board to the inside of the other board.

Then use gorilla glue or wood glue to secure it to the hardboard. We clamped each board and let it dry over night to be sure it was secure. 

 

After gluing each side we put the corner brackets on. I wanted added support at each corner so as it gets tugged on it won't split at the weak corners.

 

My sweet hubby wanted to surprise me and helped to finish it from here so I missed some pictures, but I was so thankful for his help. He used basic hinges secured to the top so that it would fold flat. 

Then I got to paint it. A bright Krylon Turquoise worked well. I used a whole can but had great coverage.

I didn't bother spray painting the outside of the hardboard. Instead I used my chalkboard paint for it. You just paint the chalkboard on, wait for it to cure a couple of days then rub chalk over the whole thing to prep the board. Each time we use it it wipes off easier but at first it doesn't wipe off well.

One side was for writing notes.....

 

I screwed decorative clips to the other side to hold our menu and schedule for each day.

I love how it turned out. I wanted to put a chain across the side to prevent it from slipping but it's heavy enough we didn't have that problem. I also thought about a tray for the chalk but didn't get that done. Being relatively flat made it travel nicely packed in the pickup. 

Now I have something to help with scouts and PTA events. I see this little beauty getting A LOT of use!

America

I have been a cub scout leader in various ways for the past 8 years. My 8 year old was serious when he said he had waited his who life to be a cub scout. He has grown up being part of cubs but not really yet. 

One of the great things of scouting is the lessons of patriotism. There is something about starting each meeting with a flag ceremony; pledging allegiance to this great nation. Sometimes that flag ceremony is simply the boys forming a color guard and presenting the colors of our nation. Sometimes though, I like to instill a little spirit in the meeting. One of my favorite flag ceremonies is to turn off all the lights and have the flag in spotlight. Then I play this by Red Skelton.

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

Think about how you say the Pledge. How do you feel about our nation? How do the words move you? How do we teach our teach our children to respect the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance? Do your children recite the Pledge in school?

My children still do for which I am grateful!

Gecko neckerchief slides

This past month we talked about respect and pets. I ran short on time so I stopped by the $1 store. I was hoping for a bag of pets of some sort. What I found was a bag of geckos. Not the puppy I had pictured but it worked none the less.

Add a simple ring to the back and VOILA!

This months neckerchief slide.

Cub Scout Advancement Ceremony

We have some of the best Cub Scout leaders!! They do an amazing job. My Wolf den leaders put so much into the meetings for the boys. Of course Markay tends to be a big boy himself. The boys love all the activities and fun they have. 

This young man even called his leader at work to let her know he had finished his last requirement for his wolf badge. Love it!

Markay has a wonderful advancement he does for the boys. The first time he did, the room was filled with ooohs and ahhs. It was simply COOL!

Cut open a glow stick (use the larger ones) and drain the liquids in separate jars. During the ceremony explain that if the cub has followed the path of Akela and completed his tasks the jar will glow, proving he is worthy to advance. Turn out the lights and pour the liquids together. The kids just love this! Truth be told, so do the adults.

Cub Scouts Neckerchief Slides- Dutch Oven

Another Pinterest inspiration.

Each pack meeting I give the boys a neckerchief slide to introduce the next months theme. Kind of a little reminder and incentive to come each month. Last month we had the Pinewood Derby. It is THE scouting event for cubs. We had a blast. Check back later for what we did!

I love finding great idea that are simple and quick. My scouts loved these slides. Blue and Gold Banquet is the birthday celebration of scouting. It is generally held in February. We are doing a Western theme this year so what better to do than a dutch oven?!

Gather your supplies:

bottle caps (paint them black if you need)

small black beads

thin gauge wire

wire cutters

lentils/beans

white school glue

hot glue gun

Step 1: glue the small pony bead on the bottom. These are the feet of the oven.

 Step 2: Cut the wire to an appropriate length and glue in the lid. This is the handle. I don't remember what gauge I used but it was a little too small, but in an effort to be RESOURCEFUL ;-) I used what I had.

I

 Step 3: mix your lentils with white school glue. A small paper cup and a tongue depressor works great here. I used red beans, black beans, white beans, and rice. It was all dried stuff but absorbed some of the moisture. They still dried well.

 Step 4: fill the caps with small amounts of "soup" mix.

 Step 5: After they have dried completely glue your attachment to the back. You can use thin slices of PVC pipe, milk jug handles or small hair bands. I had milk jug pieces but they were a bit too wide so I used hair bands.

 Step 6: Display them on a handy thread organizer. You can get this do-dad at Walmart or JoAnn's. I love how the boys ooh, and ahh as they walk in and see what the next slide is gonna be. It is just fun to see them light up.

Let me know if you have any great neckerchief ideas! I would love to see them.

Pinewood Derby Time

For those of you lucky moms who have never experienced cub scouts, the Pinewood Derby is perhaps THE scouting event of the year. Dads and boys get to work together to build the most creative, fastest car they can. Then we meet at the track. 

After being in cubs several years, first as a bear leader, now as cubmaster I am still overwhelmed at how crazy this night can be. But oh, the FUN!!

We have had a tank, race cars of all sorts but this year Keegan wanted an alligator car. He worked all weekend with his dad. Cutting sanding, painting, trimming, painting, sanding, adding wheels and graphite and just the right amount of weights in the right spot to make his car zoom!
This was the finished product.

Not too bad huh! Keegan did the paint job himself. I thought it turned out great. I love the eye!

When the boys come their car can only be 5 oz. They have to weigh in and then the car is off limits. We had a pit crew to help with last minute adjustments or adding of graphite or weight as needed. (Sorry, I thought I got a picture of them at work but guess not).

Once the car was weighed in they were placed on a plate with the boys name and a number.

The number just helped to set up the racing brackets. We were nearly ready to start. I found checkered napkins and spread them out in the center of the table. Years ago I made checkered flags, we made sure to put them to use again this year.

The derby is increadibly competetive. We like healthy competition but also want to acknowledge all the boys for their participation. Each boy recieved a certificate and ribbon.

The winners recieved the perfect oil to treat their engines. ;-)

I was quickly running out of time looking for last minute additions and the perfect trophies. Walking through the automotive section I spied these oils. They were a bit more than I had planned on spending but they were perfect! Besides the cold weather was messing with my paint job sitting at home. 

I simply sprayed a matchbox car gold, silver, and bronze and glued them to the appropriate oil bottle. 

I love how it turned out. The dads thought it was ingenious.

Then it was race time. We had a great track that had an electronic sensor at the finish line so we knew just who had placed.

The boys had such a great time. Everyone got to race numerous times, after all that's what the night was for- racing!

In the end we narrowed it down to 3 winners. I am proud to say Keegan came in 4th. 1st place belonged to a young man whose had several older brothers. Needless to say, they had experience on their side. 2nd place went to a Bear cub whose dad is great, and very competitive. They wanted to be sure to place. 3rd place ironically went to a young man whose car was significantly lacking. He showed up with a painted block. My sweet hubby was manning the pit crew and spent the bulk of his time placing wheels, weights and lubricating the wheels with graphite. I told him he did a good job since that car beat out his own son's. lol

It was a fun night for all. And I think everyone went away happy.

Now on to the Blue and Gold celebration. These are the neckerchief slides I made. Check back tomorrow for the how to on these cuties!

Pinewood Derby Pit Pass

Yep, it's that time of year again. 

Pinewood Derby Races!

We have our Cub Scout Pinewood Derby coming up. It promises to be loads of fun. 

This year I am trying to be a bit more prepared in an effort to eliminate a bit of stress in life. With that comes prepping for pack meeting a little at a time. I have my ideas mapped out, now I get to start "building them". To start with...

The Pit Pass

 No one can get into the Racing Pits without a pass, right?! I plan to print them, laminate them and hang them from a checkered lanyard. I made these from a great kit "Do a good turn" by Scrap 'n' Pieces. You can pick it up here. It is a great kit to have on hand. If you don't have a photo editing program you can download the pass I made here.

I also made a certificate. 

Each of the boys will get one. I left it blank to fill in the reason that fits their car and a spot for their name. I want to be able to personalize them to each boy. This also helps plan for just those coming.

I think they turned out great. Now on to the next project prep....neckerchief slides.

Tunics for cub scouts....

A while back I wanted to make a simple tunic for each of my cub scouts to go with out knight theme. I had 20 to make so they really needed to be BASIC. Here is what I came up with. Just in case you are as crazy as I.

  Each tunic was 1/2 a yard. I use basic 45 wide muslin. It's cheap and had the right feel.

Thankfully my son was helpful enough to let me measure and test the measurements on him.

Once they were all cut to rectangles I needed to cut a neck hole. Once again I just guess on what looked about right then held it up to my 10 yr old. I think I left about 4 inches on each shoulder.

I didn't want the fabric to fray out so a simple stitch down each side fixed that.

Add another stitch around the neck......

And VOILA! A nice pile of scout tunics. Sorry, I should have gotten a picture of my son with it on. They are opened at the top to slip over the head then open down the sides. Tunics were generally secured with a belt of some sort.

Project 17 of 52: Pinewood Derby Time!

In a house of boys you are destined to be involved in Cub Scouts in one way or another. Well, I have bent he Bear Den leader for almost 5 years, yeah, I know! DH was put in as the Cubmaster last summer and without an assistant I get to fill in that part by default. Well, we will be having our Pinewood Derby tomorrow night. After much struggle in getting everything set up (we ran into so many problems ugh), the cars are now weighed in, shined and polished. Graphite is in place and they are ready to go. Now for the decorations. My dear sweetheart relied on me for a big part of that. I think he had had it with all the other preparations and planning excitement. So I thought I would share what I came up with. I think it will work out rather well. DH made certificates for each boy. We will have each den racing against themselves since we have such a large pack at the moment. So here is their "trophy"...

We will have black table clothes from the Dollar store on the floor with yellow crate paper down the center, for a road. From the ceiling will hang the stop light....

Along the wall with be a these banners....

There is a banner for each boy with their name on it. These were so simple, just take large sheet of construction paper and fold in half lengthwise....

Then draw a line from corner to corner.....

I folded several together and  then cut them at the same time too. When you unfold it you have a banner....

I found the trophy cut outs at the dollar store as well. I didn't know what we would use them for but I was thinking "Piston Cup" so I grabbed them. I'm glad I did cuz the banners look great! And was race would be complete without THE Checkered flag? Yep, made a couple of them! I was going to quilt squares together (yes, I am a bit insane) then I found the checkered fabric at Walmart. I just seamed it together, flipped it right side out and did a pocket to hold the stick, then a finishing stitch around the outside. I think they turned out great. I am excited to use them tomarrow. We will be having a "Cars" themed birthday next month so it will be a great addition to that as well.

Not the best picture (DH is still learning) but it gives you the idea. What do you think? Will the boys like it? We will have refreshments set up in one corner at "Flo's V8 Cafe" and across the street will the "Quido's Pit Stop". By the way the boys cars are amazing. This is so fun even with dad's who are a bit competitive themselves ;-).  Back in February I downloaded some supplies for the "Cars" themed party but for the life of me I can't remember where. It was a scrapbook site so I will have to back track a bit. I will link it if I find it again.......

I am linking this to Fireflies and Jellybeans...

Scout Calendar

This past week has been busy planning scout activities. Here is the calendar if you need one or are interested. Next month is Flying High. We have lots of fun activities planned. This week we will be having the Blue and Gold Banquet. With DH as the Cubmaster and me as the Bear Den leader, I will be doing lots to help with that as well. I scoured the DI for supplies for cupcake stands today. Found several items. Got home, worked the superglue over and VOILA.

What do you think? I think they will work well for Blue & Gold plus for the birthdays we have coming up.I also found a 3 teared stand that is green but we plan on painting it blue. Blue for B&G and for 4 boys birthday parties. Love it when you can multi-task with supplies.

Did you know about the section of "Yard" stuff at the DI? It's back off the clothes section. I found lots of goodies back there. Canning jars- $0.25, large frames, school desks, milk cans, holiday decor. Lots of good stuff. After blog surfing and seeing how things can be redone I look at DI items with whole new eyes. My sis-in-law is truely the Queen of thrift shopping. I am in envy of her $7 pressure cooker found IN THE BOX! Or what about her Victorio Strainer for $2? That paid for itself 10x over with all of our applesauce. Yep, I am an aspiring thrift store shopper. One day I will come home with an amazing find! ;-)

I am hoping to finish my next project this weekend. With working extra and the B&G I won't get much else done during the week. I am so excited. Plus I want to make an Easter garland. I also desperately need to get some organizing done in my crafty area, make a few cards for upcoming events. I only have a couple of months to get things done before it's garden time. In another couple of weeks I plan on getting my starts going so I really have to dive in and get projects done. I have an itching to do SOMETHING. Ever feel that way. I need a good before/after project.

I think I will be doing some painting soon too. Ah, so many projects, too little time.