Teaching Cub Scouts

[BobD]

Hi Everyone,
I just got this message today and didn't know if anyone out there could help the woman out. She lives in Claremont, NC.
If you can help, please e-mail me at duncan@foxchapelpublishing.com

I am a leader of the Bears, 15 eight year old boys. In their book they have a section Shavings and Chips. I was hoping to locate someone in my area that could help cover this section. Do you have any suggestions as far as handouts for Safety Rules, Show that you know how to take care of and use a pocketknife, Carving with a pocketknife, Pocketknife Pledge, respect of a useful tool and Knives are not Toys.

Any suggestions of who I can talk to or email would be great, there is not alot of Internet resource for this subject.

[Heine]

Hello,

I have spent a part of my last four summers teaching carving st Owasappie Scout Reservation in Michigan. An outstanding resource for everything related to youth carving, and scouts in particular, I recomend:

Bob Reitmeyer, a scout himself:
http://www.whittlerbob.com/

He has teaching aids, tools, and carving kits.

Happy Holidays,
Dan Heine

[Kenny_S]

Ditto.

I have taught Cubs Scout , Boy Scouts and several different groups of SOSSOS( Seasoned Outdoor Sportmen Sharing Outdoor Skills)children ranging from 5 years to 17 years and some adults a,Bob Reitmeyer, Has some of the best info. http://www.whittlerbob.com/nd

ALArchie has a lot of experience in this field also.
I used the Scout hand book as that is where the leader or Parents has to sign off on and Bob Reitmeyers info. The only on who got a cut druing these teachings was ME. Go Figure.
Glad to see this subject discussed here as if we don't teach these youngsters Proper use of knives or tools, who will. I see adults who uses a knife as a pry bar or screw driver and a knife isn't a Toy to play chicken or Dare or whatever the game is called throwing the knife at your opponent's feet to see how close you can get to themand making them move. Not that I know anything about that.

[AlArchie]

Bob, I'm not anywhere near NC, but maybe I can pass along a few tips that will help in teaching Cub Scouts some basic carving techniques.One of the first things I noticed when trying to teach these young kids (age 8 to 11) is that they have absolutely no concept of "sharp", and most of their pocket knives are more like your average kitchen butter knife than one suited for wood carving. Your sucess with trying to get them to sharpen their own blades will vary from horrendous to catastrophic.....in other words, they will NOT be able to sharpen their own knives.

So.......step one is to get a few adults willing to get their knives sharp for them. If anybody remembers Grampa Marten, from Samoset Council's Camp Tesomas, he kept a tool box full of sharpened pocket knives just for the kids he was teaching. He'd also help them sharpen their own, but having those knives sharp and ready to go helped so many young boys get off on the right foot. Pardon the plug, but he was a true gentleman and one of those kind souls that never got enough credit.

Apart from the safety factors involved, like making sure some type of protection against cuts is worn (glove, thumb guards, heck, even duct tape) the next item on the agenda should be having simple projects that can be completed in one sitting of an hour or less. One of the best I've found is the "Five Minute Owl", and another is a cute fish pattern from Susan's site. It's posted there for free and requires the instructor to have some pre-cut blanks made up, but they are simple to make. I made up a dozen full kits for our kids in less than an hour. (body, fins, and base) I'll see if I can find links for these patterns and post them a bit later.

With that many Cubs, all wielding sharp knives, it would also be advisable to have at least two other adults present to keep an eye on things and to limit the horseplay. Having easily completed projects will also help reduce the amount of horseplay, as they will stay occupied.

Finally, have a finished project done for each carving they will be doing. It may help to have some very well done carvings at the meeting to inspire young artists BUT......... have at least one completed project that they will be doing, and have it finished in a style similar to what an 8 year old will do. It's important not to intimidate them by showing a finished product that they can never hope to complete. That's where this little owl and fish work exceptionally well.

Reitmeyer has some great slide idaes, too, and they are easily made.

Owl
http://www.mindspring.com/~chipps96/club-owl.htm

Link to carving rules, etc.
http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/whittlin-chip.html
You should be able to print as many copies of these rules as you will need for the boys, right from this site.
Al

[Mitchell]

I'll take care of it....

I'm about 45 minutes away and actually have a carving friend there that teaches carving. Claremont is also close to Hickory which is the home of the Catawba Valley Woodcarvers.

[Claude]

Here's another source of info for you that I found on the net (Google is our friend... Talking )

http://www.etowahcreek.com/slides.htm

Claude