Reopening your doors to Scouting!

Summer is the time for Scouts, young and old, to experience the outdoors and learn new skills. In addition to Virtual opportunities, here are some ideas to help get back the “outing in Scouting”.

ARE YOU READY?

With all the updates we receive almost daily, it’s hard to tell when the best time is to “restart” Scouting. Here are some checklists and guidelines to help you prepare your family and unit!

Unit Leader Checklist | Scouts BSA Checklist | Cub Scout Checklist

National Boy Scouts of America Checklist

DAY PROGRAMS

Orange County Council is offering a full array of camp programs at the Newport Sea Base and Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center for Cubs and Scouts BSA which includes rank advancement, Merit Badges, and FUN! Each location takes advantage of the unique program experiences Scouts can participate in. Cubs also have an opportunity for a Virtual Day Camp experience. See the full details. ocbsa.org/summerprograms/

CUB SCOUT DEN MEETINGS

Although large groups are still discouraged at this time, small Den sized groups are allowed and encouraged! Dens can meet within the safety guidelines of social distancing and PPE to work on Adventures and Den outings. Start with the Cub Scout Checklist to get your Den ready!

SCOUTS BSA PATROL MEETINGS AND OUTINGS

Although large groups are still discouraged at this time, small patrol sized groups are allowed and encouraged! Patrols can meet within the safety guidelines of social distancing and PPE to work on advancement and merit badges. Patrols can also plan campouts with help from their Troop leadership. Start with the Scouts BSA Checklist to get your Patrol ready!

MERIT BADGES

Each District has a dedicated group of Merit Badge Councilors that can work remotely with Scouts that are unable to meet in person. Scouts may contact the District Merit Badge Councilor Coordinator for local contacts.

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Your Virtual Resource for Keeping Scouts Advancing, Connected & Having Fun During the COVID-19 & Beyond

We’re not letting COVID-19 stop us from Scouting! That’s why we’ve created the Virtual Advancement Page. We’re lining up merit badge counselors, advancement experts and fun activities for you and your Scouts! Here you’ll find webinars, resources, tools and more for your Scouts to keep achieving, growing and advancing in Scout skills.

Be sure to check out our Resource Hub for all the latest articles, tips and kid friendly activities.

 

Purchasing Rank Advancement Items

During this time that Scout Shops are closed and a leader needs to purchase Rank advancement items, please use the following steps. 

1. Unit Leader will email in their ScoutBook Advancement report to NDCSupply.Orders@scouting.org
2. Please include a contact phone number so the Customer Service team member can contact for payment information
3. Customer Service Rep will contact Unit Leader for credit card information, ship to and bill to address, and verify the correct Council along with the actual advancement needed

 

 Exercise is Essential Patch Contest

 

CUB SCOUTS

Cub Scouts and their parents can join in the FUN of games, songs, crafts, advancement and more during their daily Cub Adventure Hour!!  CLICK HERE to learn more. 

 

30-Day Lion Challenge 

Lion Bingo! 

Animal Kingdom | This Adventure is all about community. | Required Adventure

Build it Up, Knock it Down | This Adventure is all about building. | Elective Adventure

Gizmos and Gadgets |  This Adventure is all about motion, force and creating objects. | Elective Adventure

I’ll Do It Myself |  This Adventure is all about being prepared. | Elective Adventure

Pick My Path |  This Adventure is all about to do a good turn daily. | Elective Adventure

Ready, Set, Grow | This Adventure focuses on plants and gardens. | Elective Adventure

30-Day Tiger Challenge 

30-Day Wolf Challenge

Animal Kingdom | This Adventure is all about community. | Required Adventure

30-Day Bear Challenge

30-Day Webelos Challenge

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SCOUTS BSA

[su_button url=”https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/03/25/advancement-during-covid-19-official-details-about-eagle-extensions-and-more/” target=”blank” background=”#150db6″ size=”4″ center=”no”]Advancement: Official details about Eagle extensions[/su_button] 

[su_button url=”https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/cyber-chip/” target=”blank” background=”#150db6″ size=”4″ center=”no”]Learn More about Cyber Chip Requirements[/su_button] 

Quarantine Eagle Project Continuation Suggestions

JUST ADDED

Continue your Trail to Eagle by working on rank advancement with our Trail to First Class sessions! The classes below will focus on specific requirements and will be held online through face to face Zoom sessions. Classes are multiple sessions and all need to be attended and completed in full to receive a checklist of the requirements the Scouts’ completed and been exposed to. 

• Each class is $20 with the start date listed. 
• Ranks covered will be listed as S – Scout, T – Tenderfoot, 2nd – Second Class, 1st – First Class.

First Aid class B – T, 2nd, 1st: 5/11

Knot Tying class B – ALL TFC ranks: 5/26

 

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7 knots from Scout – First Class

Square Lashing

Fusing Rope

Shear Lashing

Diagonal Lashing

 

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30 Day Scout Rank Challenge

4a.

Square Knot

Two Half-Hitches

Taut-line

Whipping

More coming soon! 

 

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30 Day Tenderfoot Challenge

Coming soon! 

 

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30 Day Second Class Challenge

2f. Sheet Bend

2g. Bowline

More coming soon!

 

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30 Day First Class Challenge

3b.Timber Hitch / Clove Hitch

Clove

Timber

Shear

More coming soon! 

 

 

VENTURING

Keep your skills sharp and continue learning, click to start your Venturing 30 Day Challenge!

 

SEA SCOUTS

Keep your skills sharp and continue learning, click to start your Sea Scout 30 Day Challenge!

Continue with the Sea Scout 30 Day Logo Challenge!

 

In response to COVID-19, the Orange County Council, B.S.A. will be offering online merit badge classes starting April 1, 2020 to any scout(s) involved in a Scouts BSA program. We believe that this will help support our youth and their families in these programs as our local communities have suspended all school and / or other group programs with no more than ten individuals present at one time.

Beginning April 1, 2020 scouts and their families will be able to select and participate in any of the following online merit badge for $20 each session. Each merit badge session will have its own schedule, please refer to the registration information for times and days. The scout(s) will receive a link to log into their classes (no less than 24 hours before the start of the class).

Scouts will use the same link each lesson day to receive live instruction from a merit badge counselor and guest presenters related to those important topics. Scouts will have various requirements to complete in between classes which may require email submission to the Merit Badge. A parents email must accompany all online submissions to comply with Youth Protection practices.

Overall, we believe that these online merit badge-based programs will make a great educational supplement to ongoing online efforts being made by our current public, private, and charter schools throughout our impacted region.

Blue cards will be provided digitally to the scout after the lessons are over and only after the merit badge counselor has verified that the individual scout has completed all listed requirements under that specific merit badge.

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Support Us During These Challenging Times

We acknowledge the hardships and stressors that many in our Scouting community are facing today. The Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America will do our best to continue our mission of delivering the Scouting program to youth, even if from a distance. We are providing programs, like this, as a service to our community, our family, at $20 per Merit Badge. 

If you are in a position to alleviate some financial stress for the Orange County Council, as we face a significant shortfall in excess of $1.5 million due to the closure of our camps like the Newport Sea Base, Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center, Lost Valley, and Oso Lake, during a critical time of our operations, please click below to make a donation.

Donate Now

Instructions for Scouts to sign up for Virtual Merit Badges

1) Each scout must register individually via Black Pug so we can track their progress and attendance.

2) Current youth protection guidelines (two – deep leadership and no one-on-one contact) will be followed by all staff and volunteers under the Orange County Council, BSA and its merit badge counselors at all times while working with youth and their families; more information can be found here: Advancement Guidelines

3) All merit badge classes are open to any Scout(s) from any council(s) that are currently participating in a Scouts BSA program.

4) We strongly encourage and recommend that any Scout(s) participating in these online classes receive verbal permission from their parents / guardians and their unit leader(s); please read the Virtual MB Guidelines.

5) All live merit badge instruction will be provided by an online format called Zoom; an online portal provided by the Orange County Council, BSA. Please be sure to download the app or program on your computer prior to the start of your lesson. A link will be emailed at least 24 hours before the start of class.  

6) Lastly, please be aware that not all merit badge requirements may be completed by the end of the end of the session.  Your Scout will receive a partial and they will need to complete the missing requirements once they are able.  A digital Blue Card will given once the class is complete for all requirements achieved. 

For more information and updates on the current COVID-19 situation and how Orange County Council operations have been impacted, click here for the OCBSA Rescoure Hub.

 

The Merit Badges listed below run 5 days, Mon-Fri unless otherwise noted on the registration page.  The day listed is the start day.  Click on the Merit Badge to register! 

 

Dog Care class B: 6/1  ** Please note, Scout must have a dog to complete this MB**

Family Life F: 6/4

 

Medicine class E: 6/1

Music class B: 6/1

Personal Fitness class B: 6/1

 

 

Click here to see all available Merit Badges.  Keep checking as we’ll be posting more soon!

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• Family Life
• Personal Management
• Personal Fitness
• Reading
• American Heritage
• Pets
• Emergency Preparedness 
• Public Health
• Medicine
• Radio
• Citizenship in Community
• Citizenship in Nation
• Citizenship in the World

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30 Day STEM Challenge! 

Below are some great science websites you can visit:

Stem in a Box

Steve Spangler Science

Exploratorium

Science Bob

Scientific American

The Math Lab

American Chemical Society

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Coming soon!