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Garden State Council Scout On Hub

Welcome to the Garden State Council's Scout On! Hub

For Scouts, at home is not the same as out of action. To help you stay engaged with Scouting and Scouting related activities, we will continually add to this Hub, and encourage you to share with us what you are doing to Scout On!

Not Yet a Scout?
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GSC's Zoom Best Practices Guidelines

Scouts BSA Temp. Rank Allowances

BSA's Scouting at Home Resource Page

Upcoming Virtual Events

To see all of Garden State Council’s upcoming events, visit our main calendar here

Activities and Awards for All Scouts

Any Scout at any level or program--and in some cases, adults--can work on these Scouting Activities and Awards

BSA Cyber Chip patch

Cyber Chip

As Scouts do more and more activities online, the Cyber Chip moves to the top of the "must do" list. The Cyber Chip activities include developmentally appropriate online safety lessons and activities for Scouts of any age. Click the image of the patches to go to the Cyber Chip page on Scouting.org.

BSA Emergency Preparedness Award

Emergency Preparedness Award

Activities are broken out for each Cub rank and each Scouting program, including Venturers, Sea Scouts, and adults! (That means adults can earn this, too!) Click the patch to access the details.

Scouting in New Jersey

Now is a great time to learn all about the state of New Jersey using this Council-specific patch activity available to Scouts of all programs and levels! Units can order the patch from our Council Scout Shops for Scouts who complete the activites. Scouts can report their findings to their leaders or units via video conference! Click the patch to access the details.

BSA Crime Prevention Award

Crime Prevention Award

Although the site explaining this award has not been updated for awhile, the award is still available to Scouts of all levels! Click the patch to access the details!

World Conservation Award

Although conservation service hours are not easy to get while under quarantine, they are not impossible. Click the image for an FAQ about this award, which is available to Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, and Venturers. Then see the link at the bottom of that article for the expanded list of requirements.

Activities by Scouting Program

Cub Scouts (Boys or Girls, Grades K-5)

Cub Scout Adventures are filled with great activities your Cub can do around the house — on their own and together as a family! Click through to visit the BSA’s page on Cub Scout Adventures, where you will find details on every Adventure, for every Cub Scout rank!

Additional Activity Resources

Did you know that Boy’s Life Magazine has a YouTube channel? Not only does it have fun activity videos, it now features rank-specific 30-day challenge VIDEOS for Cub Scouts! 

30 Day Challenge calendar for Lion Cub Scouts

Click the image to see it larger.

Printable PDF

30 Day Challenge Calendar for Tiger Cub Scouts

Click the image to see it larger.

Printable PDF

Click the image to see it larger.

Printable PDF

30 Day Challenge calendar for Bear Cub Scouts

Click the image to see it larger. 

Printable PDF

30 Day Challenge Calendar for WEBELOS

Click image to see it larger.

Printable PDF

A Scouter with this museum put together this video and associated worksheets, available for each Cub rank, downloadable from her Google link. The customized worksheets will help Cubs attain…
  • Lion: Pick My Path
  • Tiger: Tiger Tales
  • Wolf: Collections & Hobbies
  • Bear: Paws for Action
  • Webelos/Arrow of Light: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Access video at: https://bit.ly/2yPWQdq
Access the worksheets at: https://bit.ly/3eWwJBX

Scouts BSA (Boys or Girls, Ages 11-18)

Scouts BSA Scout On

While at home, Scouts have plenty to do to stay engaged with their rank advancement, their merit badges, and their lives on the Trail to Eagle. Virtual merit badge classes, video calls with your Troop, virtual camp outs, 30-day challenges, and at-home service projects: all of this and more is how we Scout On!

Virtual Activity Ideas

Enjoy this video tour of Garden State Council’s very own Kathleen B. Hansen & Henry R. Hansen Scouting Memorabilia Museum, located at the Loren S. Riggins, Jr., Scout Center in Millville, N.J.

See all of Norman Rockwell’s Scouting paintings at a museum in Ohio: Read Scouting Magazine’s article

An Eagle candidate in Seneca Waterways Council, NY, put together this points-based challenge designed to motivate Scouts and their units to act on climate change issues. Read all of the details on this Scout Share blog post. The challenge offers activities Troops can do during and between virtual meetings.

Scouts know knots because we use them every time we camp, which is usually often. This knowledge can grow fuzzy when we are stuck inside too long. Spend a virtual meeting or two on knot clinics or games! The Scout handbook is always a great resource for knots. Check out this article from Outside magazine reviewing “the best” knot-tying apps.

Check out the online resource “Scout Pioneering” for activity ideas, mostly involving structures you can build through lashing.

For the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award, requirement 5 usually needs to be done outside. The The Outdoor Ethics Region Coordinators, with approval of the National Outdoor Ethics Subcommittee, created guidelines for completing requirement #5 during the stay at home phase. The activities have been selected and modified for Zoom/on-line meeting platforms. Visit this resource page for virtual activities you can do during your Troop or Patrol virtual meetings!

Your Trail to Eagle

Some adjustments may be needed for some Scouts on their Trail to Eagle during this challenging time. 

Advancement-Related Events for Scouts BSA

List includes virtual as well as in-person events run by Garden State Council and its Districts.

Life Scouts ready to submit their Eagle Scout Project can email a digital copy to eaglescout@gardenstatescouting.org. The proposal will be reviewed by your District Eagle Scout Project Review Team and the results will be communicated to you either by email or phone.  Please follow Youth Protection standards by including your parents and/or Scoutmaster on any emails. 

Eagle Scouts candidates ready to submit their final Eagle Scout project report can do so electronically. The report along with a completed Eagle Scout application and Life Ambition statement can be emailed to eaglescout@gardenstatescouting.org.  The report will be reviewed by your District Eagle Scout Review Team. Your Eagle Scout application will be reviewed by the Council and certified. The Team will reach out to you either by phone or email to set up an Eagle Scout Board of Review.  Please follow Youth Protection standards by including your parents and/or Scoutmaster on any emails.

Eagle Scouts candidates who need to request an extension of time to earn the Eagle Scout rank can contact Council through email to eaglescout@gardenstatescouting.org. Please follow Youth Protection standards by including your parents and/or Scoutmaster on any emails.  Until you hear from the Council Advancement Committee, continue to work towards earning your Eagle Scout rank.

Venturing (Boys and Girls, Ages 14-21)

Garden State Council’s Venturing Officers Association is run by youth leaders from throughout Council. All Venturers are welcome to participate with the GSC VOA and help support Venturing in South Jersey. Follow GSC Venturing on Instagram.

Venturing Summit award patch and small medal

Take the Summit Challenge

The Summit Award--Venturing's top achievement--was introduced in 2014. Garden State Council has not had the honor of awarding any yet! We have several Venturers on track to Pathfinder. Who will be the first to the Summit? Keep the Council Venturing Officers Association updated on your progress!

Venturing 30-Day Challenge Calendar

Venturing 30-day challenge calendar from Northeast Region Area 5

Venturing Activities and Info

Council Venturing President Tom Eckel shared a strategy for completing core award requirements during the shutdown. Check out that and the other announcements covered during the 4/26 VOA Zoom by looking at the Google slide deck

On the 4/26 Venturing call, we learned that Garden State Council has yet to award Summit to one of our Venturers. On the call were a few Venturers who are close! But, what is the Summit Award? Check out this Scouting Magazine article from 2018 for a useful refresher on the ALPS model and the progression to achieving the Summit Award. 

For the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award, requirement 5 usually needs to be done outside. The The Outdoor Ethics Region Coordinators, with approval of the National Outdoor Ethics Subcommittee, created guidelines for completing requirement #5 during the stay at home phase. The activities have been selected and modified for Zoom/on-line meeting platforms. Visit this resource page for virtual activities you can do during your Troop or Patrol virtual meetings!

Venturing together

Lead the Adventure

Join Venturing and Lead the Adventure! You love exploring your passions, making new friends, and discovering the world. You’re always looking for an adventure. Rappelling a cliff. Perfecting your shot. Designing a robot. Kayaking into the sunset. Exploring your faith. Volunteering at an animal shelter. The choice is yours! Venturing is youth-led and youth-inspired. You’ll acquire life skills and gain experiences that will prove to be valuable regardless of where your future takes you, all while having a blast: leadership, event-planning, organization, communication, responsibility – the list goes on!

STEM Scouts (Boys and Girls, Ages 6-18)

STEM Labs

Why read about science when you can just do it? STEM Scouts re-imagines creative ways to learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Scouts in grades 3-12 interact with professionals in weekly hands-on lab sessions and discover new things in a fast-paced, thought-provoking, and fun way. It’s your world now. Join us and explore it.

Adults

Training At Your Fingertips

During this shutdown, we cannot Scout in the field, but we can keep training! My.Scouting.org is always open and always available for Scouting volunteers to renew Youth Protection Training, complete their position-specific training, or learn something new!

Training In-Person

Scoutmasters collaborating in uniform
fos-2

Friends of Scouting

Become a Friend of Scouting and help Garden State Council continue to deliver the Scouting program to kids throughout the 6 counties of South Jersey.

New Adventures

The following online opportunities offer fun for everyone, and a chance to try something new! 

  • From the team behind America’s Test Kitchen is the new 177 Milk Street, with free online cooking and technique classes.
  • American Sign Language free video tutorials: Sign Language 101
  • Duolingo — browser and app — offers lessons for a number of languages, for free
  • Connect with Scouts in other countries through ScoutLink
  • The Metropolitan Opera: Free online streaming of performances!
  • Playbill online has added a page to offer streaming sessions with Broadways performers and more
  • Folger Shakespeare Library is offering their theater staging of MacBeth for free online viewing through July 1, 2020
  • The band Crowded House produced a distributed performance of their song “Don’t Dream it’s Over” as part of a benefit concert.
  • John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival performed for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and included members of his family at his home. This video is good for live music and also for the comments from John’s family member Kelsie, who is a high school senior experiencing the lockdown from school and offering a positive perspective.
  • “100 Best Books” lists by genre, offered by National Public Radio.
  • The public library has many resources for reading without visiting the library itself (library card required). Visit your county library’s website for more information about their ebooks, audiobooks, streaming content, and more!
  • Open Library (a project of the Internet Archive), lets you borrow digital scans of books to read on your computer. (use only if you can’t access your public or school library’s collection)
  • Although it isn’t the Christmas season, anytime is a good time for Dickens! The New York Public Library offers a recorded reading of A Christmas Carol by Neil Gaiman (Good OmensCoraline). This link will take you to some background info on the reading itself as well as the soundcloud file.
  • Shakespeare! The Royal Shakespeare Company has resources for students of all ages to engage with The Bard’s works, including games and puzzle. New: a video of famous Shakespearean actors (Patrick Stewart, David Tennant, and more) answering the submitted questions of school kids! 

Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem, “The Hill We Climb,” and a lesson plan for teaching it to grades 6-12.

  • SpaceX Pilot Simulator: Do you think you have what it takes to pilot the SpaceX Dragon 2 vehicle to the International Space Station? Try this browser-based simulator to see! 

Google Arts and Culture: This is a virtual treasure trove of new experiences! Tours of thousands of museum collections, detailed looks at cultural landmarks, behind-the-scenes tours of theaters, and more!

National Park Virtual Tours: The National Parks have collaborated with Google Arts and Culture to provide virtual tours of 5 National Parks!

A bored boy and his dog watch television

Stuck Inside? 25 Fun Projects to Do at Home

This article from Boy's Life Magazine compiles 25 fun projects using common hosehold items! From snow globes to Origami X-Wings, these projects are sure to bust boredom for Scouts of all ages.

Boy's Life Magazine digital editions

Free Digital Access to Boy's Life

For a limited time, a year's worth of Boy's Life Magazine issues are available for free download from their app! The magazine for Scouts is full of interesting stories, stuff to do, games, puzzles, and more!

Share Your Scouting Ideas

Know of an activity or adventure we can add to our list? Want to share your Scout's or unit's success Scouting On? Follow us on Facebook and share your ideas!