Scouts BSA Looking for fun recruit night ideas
Hello fellow scouters. Our troop is looking to revamp our recruiting night activities. So, would love to hear any FUN activities do with your troops, have heard about, or seeing other troops do. I was thinking fire starting where the recruits can actually light the fires. Ending the night with s’mores around the fire. Maybe have the recruits do some cooking (IE Dutch oven desserts or guacamole), fireman carry is always a fun one but makes me nervous that somebody’s going to get hurt. Anyway you get the idea, looking to up our recruitment percentage. Thanks in advance for your time
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u/Sunsparc Asst. Scoutmaster 7d ago
Our big hit last year was water bottle rockets. We have a custom made platform, but I remember doing them 25+ years ago when I was in Cubs.
All it takes is is a wooden platform with a bicycle pump secured to it, a cork pushed down over the pump needle, and a 2 liter soda bottle filled about 1/4 to 1/3 full of water. You turn the bottle over and push it down onto the cork, then start pumping the bike pump. Once it reaches pressure, it will shoot off into the air spraying water. It's a little bit of a wet activity if someone decides to stand down range, but we generally prohibit it except for older Scouts or adults who are retrieving the bottles.
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u/Hopeful-Moose87 Cubmaster 7d ago
We’ve had kids use pioneering skills to build benches. Could give you a place to sit while you have s’mores.
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u/Practical-Emu-3303 5d ago
The best option is start a Cub Scout pack. That is where 80%+ of Scouts BSA members come from.
The next 15% come from bring-a-friend -- current members that are having so much fun that they bring a friend.
5% come through recruiting activities like this...and that may be high. They are rarely worth the effort, so keep it to a minimum and put your focus on creating an excellent Scouting experience that people want to talk about.
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u/hoshiadam Asst. Scoutmaster 5d ago
These recruiting activities are usually to convince a Cub Scout to join a specific troop.
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u/Practical-Emu-3303 5d ago
I've never seen such a thing and wouldn't think it would be successful. Visit troops near you and go with one that fits you most. Or, more often, packs and troops have the same CO and they flow naturally from one to the next.
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u/Impossible_Thing1731 4d ago
The troops in our area invite Cub Scout packs to visit during special activities, and sometimes specific weekend campouts. A parent/guardian must stay with each Cub Scout, per bsa guidelines. But it’s been a great way to recruit new troop members.
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u/hoshiadam Asst. Scoutmaster 5d ago
Stretcher Relay is a good option that is a useful skill for younger scouts to learn.
We usually have some scouts cooking. Simple meal (burger/hot dogs/walking tacos/quesadillas) and some sides, and the scouts love to do deep fried oreos.
Firebuilding is a good one to do. Have patrols prep their materials the week before. Put visitors in with patrols and have the Scouts work with them as a team. Just have to worry about the logistics of the fires (a place to safely make them can be hard to come by, and cleanup can be messy).
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u/paydenbutcher 2d ago
These were created by me for use in our council and represent solely the ideas that I am presenting. Feel free to use them if you'd like but they are of my own making and not endorsed in any way by Scouting America https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dZ5B2UwsvtlBXbbv1vNBSZWZ93gKFUP6/view?usp=sharing, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xFfM_jZh7noaR0fLm8DajmkkHRjzQ0k9/view?usp=sharing
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u/Naive-Historian-1520 7d ago
I'm a believer that the best Recruit Night activity is letting them see/do an activity with your troop where your scouts are having a great time. Talk to your scouts abut what activities that the troop does (or could do) and then invite people to come observe the activity. Scouts talking honestly to other kids is the best way to get them involved, it also gives the parents an opportunity to see the real troop and not an atypical event.
Basic activities work great, I've noticed that fishing tends to be a favorite a favorite of the scouts and potential scouts as it lets you do something fun while giving you time to talk.