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!
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
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.
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.
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!
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Lion: Pick My Path
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Tiger: Tiger Tales
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Wolf: Collections & Hobbies
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Bear: Paws for Action
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Webelos/Arrow of Light: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Scouts BSA (Boys or Girls, Ages 11-18)
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.
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!
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!
Camp Connected Virtual Summer Camp
Your Trail to Eagle
Some adjustments may be needed for some Scouts on their Trail to Eagle during this temporary shutdown.
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 do so electronically. The request must be submitted on form 512-077 “Request for Extension of Time to Earn Eagle Scout Rank”. The form along any other supporting documentation can be emailed to eaglescout@gardenstatescouting.org. The extension request will be reviewed by a member of the Council Advancement Committee. You will contacted by either phone or email if your extension was approved or not approved. 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.
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 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!
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)
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
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!
- Mo Willems, creator of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and the Elephant and Piggy series, offers a new Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems every weekday at 1pm on the YouTube channel for the Kennedy Center!
- Crayola offers At-Home Learning art instruction through their website, geared toward younger Cub Scout-aged kids.
- Beautiful Symmetry: A Coloring Book About Math is a mesmerizing, free, browser-based activity that explores symmetry and repeating shapes. (A printed book for coloring is available for purchase)
- Train your cat to walk on a leash
- How to make a bow tie for your dog (uses a sewing machine)
- Make your own dog treats
- Sharks! Sharks4Kids is offering free online webinars with shark scientists, divers, conservationists, videographers, and more! Click the link for the live webinar schedule!
- From the team behind America’s Test Kitchen is the new 177 Milk Street, with free online cooking and technique classes.
- Make a rag rug using old sheets and a large crochet hook
- Learn to finger crochet and make a grocery bag
- 75 indoor games kids can play offline
- Play Minecraft with Scouts from around the world through the Scoutlink server!
- UrbanFarm.org has free resources including a podcast and webinars
- You Bet Your Garden show archive on WHYY.org
- U.S.D.A. plant hardiness zone information and map
- Burpee seed company offers a page of info for beginners.
- Dairy Farm Tour: Yep! A virtual tour of a working dairy farm, complete with cute cows.
- 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.
- Nikon’s online classes are free for the month of April!
- Photography lessons and activities for kids, sorted by age range on the blog: Click It Up a Notch.
- “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 Omens, Coraline). 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!
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!
- Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska (glaciers, fjords, and icebergs!)
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida (remotely located more than 70 miles west of Key West; includes a Civil War-era fort!)
- Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii (see the Nahuku Lava Tube!)
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico (more than 100 caves in the Chihuahuan Desert!)
- Bryce Cavern National Park, Utah (a Dark Sky certified National Park!)
- 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!
- Hands-on activity: Mummified Fruits & Veggies, from the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. Make your own desiccant the way the ancient Egyptians did!
- The USS Constitution–the U.S. Navy’s longest-serving vessel–is offering daily, live tours through its Instagram page!
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.
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!
Contact Us!
Know of an activity or adventure we can add to our list? Have a question about Scouting at Home? Want to share with us your Scout's or unit's success Scouting On? Reach out and contact us!