Happy Father’s Day to everyone, and hoping to help you Amazing Scout Father’s Day. Scouting in Scouts BSA is full of amazing activities for Amazing Scouts to do with their dads on Father’s Day. Dads will enjoy getting engaged with their aspiring Eagle Scouts and are all low cost, high engagement activities.
Not in scouting yet? Start off by contacting us to sign up for Scouts BSATroop 695 for Boys and Scouts BSA Troop 8695 for Girls.
In the meanwhile, here are some ideas for Father’s Day to do with your scouts with links back to various Scouts BSA Merit Badges:
Go outside and cook for Dad!
Go cook outside for dad and work on your cooking merit badge at the same time!
Think about some of dad’s favorite foods and think about how you can leverage what you are learning with cooking merit badge. Try and make them outside with a safe cooking approach with minimal environmental impact.
Cooking at Home. Using the MyPlate food guide or the current USDA nutrition model, plan a menu for three full days of meals (three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners) plus one dessert. Your menu should include enough to feed yourself and at least one adult, keeping in mind any special needs (such as food allergies) and how you kept your foods safe and free from cross-contamination. List the equipment and utensils needed to prepare and serve these meals.
Then do the following:
- Discuss with your counselor food allergies, food intolerance, and food-related illnesses and diseases. Explain why everyone who handles or prepares food needs to be aware of these concerns.
- Share and discuss your meal plan and shopping list with your counselor.
- Using at least five of the 10 cooking methods from requirement 3, prepare and serve yourself and at least one adult (parent, family member, guardian, or other responsible adult) one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and one dessert from the meals you planned. *
- Time your cooking to have each meal ready to serve at the proper time. Have an adult verify the preparation of the meal to your counselor.
- After each meal, ask a person you served to evaluate the meal on presentation and taste, then evaluate your own meal. Discuss what you learned with your counselor, including any adjustments that could have improved or enhanced your meals. Tell how better planning and preparation help ensure a successful meal.
Go for a Hike for an Amazing Scout Father’s Day
Go for a Hike With dad! A family hike is an amazing way to get outside with dad! Bring binoculars from and your ten essentials. Bring a journal to take field notes of what you spot while out and start on your bird watching merit badge. Take photos and practice the principles of leave no trace. https://www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/leave-no-trace/
Members of Scouts BSA Troop 695 for Boys and Scouts BSA Troop 8695 for Girls enjoying the view after a hike to the top at Rattlesnake Mountain Trail in Snoqualmie.
Talk with dad about your hiking merit badge requirements:
Do the following:
- Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while hiking, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
- Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while hiking, including hypothermia, frostbite, dehydration, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, sunburn, hyperventilation, altitude sickness, sprained ankle, blisters, insect stings, tick bites, and snakebite.
Go play sports with Dad!!!
Go play sports!!!
It doesn’t need to be a complex game. It can be indoors or outdoors. Grab some ping pong paddles, rackets, a basket ball or anything else. Organize a family fun tournament together or with a few other scouts with dad’s participation.
Discuss the following:
- Explain to your counselor the most likely risks you may encounter during athletics activities and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these risks.
- Show that you know first aid or understand the treatment for injuries that could occur while participating in athletics, including sprains, strains, muscle cramps, contusions, abrasions, blisters, dehydration, heat reactions, and concussions.
- The importance of maintaining a healthy diet.
- The importance of warming up and cooling down
- The importance of weight training
- What an amateur athlete is and the differences between an amateur and a professional athlete
- The attributes (qualities) of a good sport, the importance of sportsmanship, and the traits of a good team leader and player who exhibits Scout spirit on and off the playing field
Go Golfing with Dad!
Go golfing 🏌️♀️
Does dad have a set of golf clubs? Ask to go and practice putting or visit the driving range. Look over golf merit badge https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Golf.pdf
Get ahead of our golf game as we prepare for an upcoming mini-golf Troop 695/8695 activity.
Show the following:
- The proper grip, stance, posture, and key fundamentals of a good swing.
- The fairway wood shot.
- The long iron shot.
- The short iron shot.
- The approach, chip-and-run, and pitch shots.
- The sand iron shot, bunker, or heavy rough recovery shots.
- A sound putting stroke
Jump on a bike and take a ride
Jump on a Bike and take a ride with dad is an Amazing Scout Father’s Day!
Lots of opportunities with bike riding to create an Amazing Scout Father’s Day. Regardless if you are on a local trail or in the neighborhood, it is fun. Cycling is also an Eagle required merit badge and dad will be impressed you are asking to go out for a ride rather than kicking up feet to sit in front of a device.
Using a bicycle safety checklist, clean and adjust a bicycle and present it to your counselor for inspection. Do the following:
- Show points that should be checked regularly to make sure the bicycle is safe to ride.
- Show how to adjust the saddle and handlebars for a proper fit.
- Show how to adjust brakes and gear shifting (derailleurs).
- Show all points that need regular lubrication.
- Show how to repair a flat by removing the tire, replacing or patching the tube, and remounting the tire.
- Show that the bicycle meets local laws.
Demonstrate basic bicycle handling skills to your counselor, to include how to properly mount your bicycle, starting and stopping (to include emergency stops), riding in a straight line, turning, shifting gears, scanning, and signaling.
Kick Start your Plant Science Merit Badge
Kick start your plant science merit badge and visit a Pick Your Own’ Farm
It’s fun and yummy. Head out to a local pick your own berry farm and impress dad with your questions you ask the local farms.
- Learn about Pruning a tree, vine, or shrub properly. Explain why pruning is necessary.
- Learn and then Demonstrate one type of graft and tell why this method is useful.
- Ask questions about how one fruit, nut, or berry crop is processed for use.
Go to a Park for an Amazing Scout Father’s Day
Head to a National Park. Explore a nearby national park or a local Washington state park. https://www.parks.wa.gov/
Bring your ten essentials with you and impress dad with your ability to use a map and compass.
Do some Yard Work with dad!
Yet another Amazing Scout Father’s Day activity is helping with Yard work. And Yes, there is a merit badge for that too! Take some time and look over the requirements, and head outside and help dad with some of his outdoor ‘chores’. Learn about different types of plants with a trip to the local home improvement store with dad, and check off some requirements while you are at it!!!
https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Landscape_Arch.pdf
- Tell whether the design had separate spaces, a defined point of entry, a clear path system, and sun and shade variety.
- Discuss how any structures, the designated seating, eating, or parking areas suited the overall design.
- Explain how the design reflected consideration for the comfort, shelter, and security of the users.
- Discuss how the choice of trees, shrubs, and ground covers used in the project contributed to its appeal and function.
- Identify five shrubs, five trees, and one ground cover, being sure that you select examples of different shapes, sizes, and textures. With the help of your counselor or a local nursery, choose plants that will grow in your area. Bring pictures of the different planting materials or, if possible, examples of their branches, leaves, or flowers to a troop meeting. Be prepared to tell how you might use each in the design of a landscape.
https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Plant_Science.pdf
Ask questions on this section to learn about
Fruit, Berry, and Nut Crops
- Learn how to Plant five fruit or nut trees, grapevines, or berry plants that are suited to your area. Learn what you need to take full care of fruit or nut trees, grapevines, or berry plants through one season.
Other Amazing Scout Father’s Day activities to do with Dad:
Still looking for other Amazing Scout Activity Ideas to do with Dad this Father’s Day?
There are so many options to get outside and say thanks to dad. Visit https://sammamishscouting.com/advancement/ and look for something you and dad will enjoy doing together!