Welcome to Scouting

If you have a new group of Otters or you scout on a yearly schedule as opposed to a year-round/ongoing schedule, this is a great way to kick off the scouting year!

• Opening Ceremony
• Name Game & Welcome New Scouts
• Sing Otters on a Cedar Log
• Demonstrate the Otter salute and sign
• Talk about what scouting is and where it comes from
  • Who was Robert Baden-Powell?
• Read a Book About Otters
  • Talk about the difference between sea otters and river otters.
• Steam Off Game
  • Raft game: the leader calls out “Rafts of [number]” and the otters have to clump together in groups of that number. Any who aren't in a group are out that round.
• Build a Holt
  • Have the kids collect sticks and build a holt
• Friends of the Forest and Snack Time
  • Use Friends of the Forest to introduce the Otter Motto, Law, and Promise
  • Ask the kids whether the otters in the story are sea otters or river otters. How do they know?
• Steam Off Game
  • Red Light/Green Light where when they get caught they are frozen until they say the motto/law/promise.
• Closing Ceremony

• Extra Games

• Learn a little about otters
• Know a little about the Jones family from Friends of the Forest
• Learn a little about the history of scouting
• Say the Otter Law
• Show the Otter Salute and Sign
• Say the Otter Promise
• Participate in an opening and closing ceremony

• Learn the names of every otter in your den