Showman Skills

COS with her first finger puppet.

We began working more earnestly on the Showman badge requirements a couple of weeks ago. JSS completed the badge on Monday night at a den meeting with his Dad leading. :)

Here are some photographic highlights.

COS making a set of four Fandango-inspired
paper bag puppets. Good recycling was practiced
in the making of all of our paper bag puppets.

I came home from an errand one day to find that
both JSS and COS had turned the family room
into a puppet theater! They put on some puppet
plays for me that they had come up with themselves
and had a BLAST doing it! How creative AND what initiative!

Open wide!

Below are two of JSS's four puppets for the
Puppet Play he wrote with three other
Scouts and performed at the meeting on Monday
night (see photos below). He actually made
ALL the puppets in his WEBELOS book, which
included finger puppets, stick, moving stick,
paper bag and a marionette...on his own and
spurred out of his own initiative! I like that kind of learning!

Below are just a few shots from Cub Scouts
of the boys working on their Showman badge by
giving their puppet plays they wrote AND
made puppets to star in for their den. That is Simon leading.

JSS's group wrote a puppet play titled:
Bunnies vs. Robots

JSS's puppet is the big Iron Giant-inspired
moving stick puppet on the far right.
As you can see, the boys made different types
of puppets to star in the play alongside one another.
I loved seeing the variety! They had a BLAST!

In case there are any that are thinking, "Yeah, this is all play. What learning is happening?" I have included below the requirements for the Showman badge. There was a good amount of learning involved, but seeing someone think in a photo isn't as fun as seeing the doing, so I included only the doing photos for your viewing pleasure. :)

I bolded the ones JSS accomplished and italicized the ones he wants to do at the Camp Out this weekend, even though he has already completed the minimal badge requirements.

Do this:

1. Complete six activities of your choice; these can be from any area (puppetry, music, or drama).

PUPPETRY
And do one of these not already done for requirement 1:

2. Write a puppet play about one of your Webelos den activities or a subject of your choice.
3. Make a set of puppets or marionettes for the play you have written or for another play.
4. Build a simple stage for marionettes or puppets.
5. Alone or with the help of others, put on a puppet show for your den or pack.
6. Make a set of four paper bag puppets for a singing group. With the help of three other den members, sing a song with the puppets as the performers.
7. There are sock, stick and finger puppets. There are paper bag puppets and marionettes. Explain their differences and show any puppets you have made for this badge.

MUSIC
And do one of these not already done for requirement 1:

8. Play four tunes on any band or orchestra instrument. Read these from music.
9. Sing one song indoors and one song outdoors, either alone or with a group. Tell what you need to do differently when singing outdoors.
10. Make a collection of three or more records, tapes, or music CDs. Tell what you like about each one.
11. Tell what folk music is. Hum, sing, or play a folk tune on a musical instrument.
12. Name three American composers. Name a famous work by each.
13. Draw a staff. Draw on it a clef, sharp, flat, natural, note, and rest. Tell what each is used for.
14. Show the difference between 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time by beating time or playing an instrument.
15. While you are a Webelos Scout, earn the Cub Scout Academics belt loop for Music.

DRAMA
And do one of these not already done for requirement 1:

16. Give a monologue (a talk) on a patriotic, humorous, or holiday subject, or another subject of your choice.
17. Attend a play. Describe the story. Tell what you liked about it.
18. Read a play. Make a model stage setting for one of the acts.
19. Write, put on, and take part in a one-act play.
20. Make a list of stage directions. Tell what they mean.
21. Describe a theater-in-the-round. What are its good and bad points?
22. Explain the difference between a grand opera and a light opera. Explain the difference between a musical and a play.
23. Read about William Shakespeare. Draw a picture of his Globe Theater.