Spoon Beetle SWAPS

 Spoon Beetle SWAPS

Materials: Air-dry clay or plaster of Paris, plastic spoon, jewelry back pin, jewelry wire (~1” piece)
Also need: Paint or drawing materials, glue
Optional materials: Clear coat spray, desired decorative elements such as googly eyes

1. Either use air dry clay or plaster of Paris (if using plaster of Paris, be sure to mix it according to instructions on the box), mold your clay or plaster into the bowl of a plastic spoon and let it harden (preferably overnight).
   
2. Once it is dry, you should be able to slide the clay or plaster right off the spoon. The mold is then ready to paint!
3. Paint your beetle and allow time to dry. If desired, especially with tempera paint or other non-waterproof material, have an adult assist with spraying a clear coat of paint over your beetle. Allow the clear coat to dry.
4. Decorate your beetle! Googly eyes are particularly ideal decorative elements.
5. Attach your jewelry pin to the back of your beetle. Especially for air-dry clay, it is ideal to use some jewelry wire to secure the pin like a staple and add glue for further strength in holding the pin in place.

This SWAPS complements activities in at least one Adventure!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = My Tiger Jungle

Pet Ghost (Finger Puppet) In A Bag SWAPS

 

Pet Ghost (Finger Puppet) In A Bag SWAPS
“Easy care pet. No food. No water. No litter.”

Materials: cotton ball, two small googly eyes, small plastic jewelry bag, a safety pin.

Also needed: glue

1. Carefully push a finger into the cotton ball without poking a hole all the way through. Aim to shape it like a mini ghost. If needed/desired, glue around any weak spots and/or around the top of the shaped cotton ball to hold its desired shape and allow time to dry.

2. Glue the googly eyes and allow time to dry.

3. When not using your ghost as a finger puppet, carefully flatten and place it inside the bag for safekeeping.

4. Stick the safety pin through the bag to turn into a SWAPS.

This SWAPS is fun because it can be used as an actual (though small) puppet!

This SWAPS ties in wonderfully with at least one Adventure!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Tiger Theater

Tiger Tracker SWAPS or Den Doodle

 Tiger Tracker SWAPS or Den Doodle

Materials: 3D printed pawprint base*, twine or string, small rubber band, pony beads (listed below), and optional safety pin.

Bead Colors (can be revised as desired):

• 3 Black: At-Home Rank Requirements Completed
  (Includes: Cyber Chip, Protect Yourself Rules, and Duty to God Adventure)

• 1 Yellow: Bobcat Rank Completed

• 1 White: First Elective Adventure Completed (Required Elective for Rank)

• 5 Orange: Required Adventures Completed as Den
  (Includes: Games Tigers Play, My Tiger Jungle, Team Tiger, Tiger Bites,
  and Tigers in the Wild Adventures)

• 1 Gold: Tiger Rank Completed

• ⪯12 Red Orange: Elective Adventures Completed

*I designed the model for the Tiger Tracker Base in SketchUp

Scouts add the beads of the appropriate color to their Tracker as they complete requirements for Rank and additional Tiger Adventures during the year. The idea for this tracker is based on an early tradition in Tiger Scouts where they received beads rather than the Adventures/Belt Loops they earn in the current Tiger Scout program.

Note that the At-Home vs. Den Requirements are based on what is scheduled in my Den and you can change or revise the colors to match how your Den completes requirements.

I allowed my Tigers to vote on whether they wanted to keep their Tracker themselves, with the option to wear it on their neckerchief or as a temporary patch on their uniform, OR if they wanted to have their trackers displayed with their Den Flag as a Den Doodle.

This SWAPS can be a great tie-in for the first meeting at the beginning of the year, particularly if you are working on an Adventure like Team Tiger which focuses on being a Tiger Scout.

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Team Tiger Adventure, Earning Your Stripes Adventure, or Rank Requirements

Soda Cap Boat SWAPS

 

Mini Boat SWAPS

Materials: Plastic bottle cap, string, toothpick/dowel/or wooden skewer, scrap paper, safety pin
Also needed: Glue and/or hot glue, scissors

Optional: decorations for ship and/or paint 

1. Take a recycled bottle cap and hot glue string in a loop to be able to attach a safety pin to the boat when not in use.

2. Trim a stick, dowel, skewer, or toothpick to the desired size for your mast (Be careful that a mast too tall will make the mini ship top-heavy). Hot glue the dowel, skewer, or toothpick for the mast of your ship to the center of the bottle cap.

3. Use scrap paper to cut a sail. Paint, color, or decorate the sail as you desire.

4. Punch holes into the sail and slide onto the mast. You can style your sail and ship however you choose.

5. Decorate the mini ship as desired.

6. Attach a safety pin on your string loop or have fun floating your mini ship!

Ideally, you should be able to float your mini ship in the water (leave the safety pin off as needed)! 

This SWAPS ties in wonderfully with the annual tradition of the Raingutter Regatta! For young scouts, this one may require the assistance of an adult partner if they need hot glue, but can easily be done on their own. Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Floats and Boats

Lion Face SWAPS

Lion Face SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: Wood disk, two small googly eyes, felt in tan and black, yarn in yellow or orange Also needed: pencil/pen/marker, glue, scissors, hot glue with adult supervision (optional)

1. Glue your googly eyes on the wooden disk for a lion's face.
2. Cut out two ears from the tan felt and a nose from the black felt.
3. Glue your ears and nose to the wooden disk and allow time to dry. You may choose to glue your ears sticking up from the back of the disk.
4. Draw the mouth and whiskers on your lion's face.
5. Cut a 12” piece of yarn and set it aside.
6. Wrap the remaining yarn around 4 fingers, be sure not to wrap too tight which can hurt your fingers and be harder for the finished yarn bundle to slide off. Wrap it all around!
7. Take the piece of yarn you set aside and push it through the middle between your fingers (get some help or use a tool like a toothpick to help, if needed.
8. Wrap the piece of yarn around through the tips of the fingers and tie a knot with assistance as needed.
9. Slide the yarn off your fingers and tighten/secure the knot as needed.
10. Glue the mane to the back of your lion's face.
    

Visual Guide for making mane from adventuresofadiymom.com:

While I chose another Lion-face craft for my Lions to do, this craft is grrrrr-eat alternative!

It can truly fit in anywhere during the year.

Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In: Lion = Rumble in the Jungle (focus on animals)

Mini Scout Neckerchief SWAPS

Materials: 3” square of fabric (can be a piece of a full-size bandana), pony bead, safety pin

1. Fold the square in half, to form a triangle. Roll or fold from the long edge over several times, just like folding a scout neckerchief.
2. Fold edges over to resemble a worn neckerchief. 
3. Slip bony bead through ends like a neckerchief slide (secure with glue, if desired).
4. Add a safety pin to the top of the neckerchief.

This SWAPS can be a great tie-in for discussing uniforms and the neckerchief near the beginning of the year, or cross over ceremonies when scouts are getting their new neckerchief for their new rank year.
Additionally, there can be Adventures related to team building or the rank color that can also apply to crafting this SWAPS!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Team Tiger Adventure, Earning Your Stripes Adventure, or Rank Requirements

Artwork/Trading Card SWAPS

 

Lion Sailor Scout  Art by Me (Elaine Eigel)

Artwork/Trading Card SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: Paper (copy, drawing, colored, etc), lamination/contact paper/shipping tape, safety pin
Also: Pencil/pen/markers and/or crayons (really any art medium), scissors

Optional: Labels for the back of your trading card (https://tinyurl.com/5ep9jyjp), thread and needle, other art supplies/crafting materials for embellishment.

1. Draw your artwork on your chosen paper (may be a cut-shaped paper).
2. Add your signature or label on the back.
3. Seal your artwork inside lamination/contact paper. 
4. Cut excess lamination/contact paper away. If desired, you can leave a border edge (or extra space) that you can pierce the safety pin into without damaging the art.
5. If desired, you can glue/attach embellishments on top of the laminated artwork.
6. Either stick the safety pin directly through the laminate for pinning or sew a thread through the laminate and attach a safety pin by a tied loop to the artwork.

This is a great one to be creative on. You can use any flat, small surfaces such as cardboard thread/embroidery cards or cutouts of cereal boxes, etc, and then seal them in lamination or contact paper. 

Note possibilities of making scrapbook-style themed to year (Lion on my example)

Be mindful of the size. I personally recommend trading card size or smaller (2.5 x 3.5”)

Lamination can also be applied to mini collage works or even favorite small art prints as SWAPS. There are all kinds of things you can laminate and turn into a swap!

Just be clear on artwork that you did not create that you do not take credit for that artwork.

Some contact paper types can start peeling away at the edges before very long, so I recommend ironing the trimmed and finished art on a low setting with your art sandwiched between layers of paper towels or scrap ironable fabric (protect your ironing table and iron from adhesive residue).
Alternatively, you can use other lamination paper or clear packaging tape instead!


This SWAPS can also be a great tie-in for Adventures related to making artwork!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Stories in Shapes

Cupcake Liner Lion Face SWAPS

Cupcake Liner Lion Face SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: cupcake liner, construction paper (tan or yellow tint/shade), 2 googly eyes, string (~6-8"), safety pin
Also needed: pencil/pen/markers and/or crayons, glue, scissors

1. Trace two circles of ~5 cm diameter on the construction paper for the front and back of the lion head. 
2. Cut out the circles, and cut out ears of the desired shape from the remaining paper.
3. Glue on the googly eyes to one of the circles that will be the lion face (I like to use the untraced side of the paper for the face).
4. Draw the rest of the face of your lion on the circle with the googly eyes. 
5. Color your cupcake liner with shades of yellow, orange, and/or gold for the lion's mane (or use a colored cupcake liner of the desired color).
6. Cut slits into the cupcake liner, going to the circle center fold intended for the base of the cupcake. 
7. If desired, curl the strips of paper made from your slits either by hand or around a pen, pencil, or marker to form curls.
8. Glue the face onto one side of your cupcake liner center (if you curl your mane, have the face on the side with curls).
9. Glue ears onto your lion face in the desired location.
10. String the safety pin through the thread and tie the ends to make a loop. Trim excess thread as needed.
11. Glue the knot on the circle that will be the back of the head. 
12. Glue the back of the head so the knot of the string is sandwiched between the back of the cupcake liner and the back of the head.

This craft is grrrrr-eat for Lions! It can truly fit in anywhere during the year.

Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Lion = Rumble in the Jungle (focus on animals)

Bubble Wand SWAPS

 

Bubble Wand SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: 4-inch pipe cleaner, 5 Perler (AKA fuse beads or iron beads) beads, a safety pin

1. Make a loop with roughly ⅔ of the pipe cleaner and twist it around the handle, making a bubble wand shape.
2. Slide the Perler beads onto the pipe cleaner, ideally covering the joining twist of the pipe cleaner with at least one bead. You will need extra pipe cleaner on the end to bend over the safety pin, so if you need to use less than the five beads suggested to have enough pipe cleaner to bend, do not worry! 
3. Slide the loop of the safety pin through the pipe cleaner. 
4. Bend the last bit of pipe cleaner back and twist enough to keep the safety pin in place.

This SWAPS ties in nicely with bubble activities with your Den or Pack as the wand can actually be used to make small bubbles!

Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Lion = Build It Up, Knock It Down Adventure (Outing Bubble Play)

Clothespin Car SWAPS

Clothespin Car SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: (mini) wooden clothespin, 2 twist ties, 4 matching buttons, 2 pieces of drinking straw (1/2” for mini clothespin), thread (~4”), safety pin
Also needed: scissors, glue or glue gun, and paint/decorations

1. Paint and decorate clothespin as desired. Allow to dry.
2. Insert one of the twist ties into a hole in one button from back to front. Thread about an inch or so through a second hole and back to the other side of the button. Twist the two pieces at the back of the button tightly. Thread one of the straw pieces onto the twist tie. Thread the open end of the twist tie through a hole in the second button, then thread it back through the second hole and twist together like you did before. Trim any excess twist tie as needed. Repeat this process for the remaining pair of buttons.
3. Thread the string through the hole in the safety pin and thread through the spring of the clothespin. Tie the safety pin to the side of your car. Trim extra string as needed.
4. Open the clothespin and place the straw from one set of wheels in the hole of the clothespin opening. Close the clothespin. Hopefully, the clothespin will not completely flatten the straw and the twist tie should be able to turn freely inside the straw.
5. Add a dab of white glue to the back of the clothespin near the spring. Insert the second set of wheels into the handle end of the clothespin and push it toward the spring into the glue. Allow to dry.
6. Decorate finishing touches, such as coloring over showing twist ties, as desired.

Colors of scouting/rank, along with details such as troop number or Den number, can tie in well with this craft. You can also consider stickers, decoupage, or other decoration materials.

This SWAPS ties in wonderfully with the annual tradition of the Pinewood Derby!
For young scouts, this one may be tricky and require the assistance of an adult partner, but the results are very popular.

Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Lion = On My Mark Adventure

First Aid Kit SWAPS

 

First Aid Kit SWAPS Instructions

Materials: film canister, thread/string ~4" long, safety pin, white sticker label, band-aids, alcohol prep pads (or other small first aid items)

Also needed: needle, red marker or crayon, glue gun (optional)

1. Thread string through the loop of the safety pin, tie it in the middle of the string.
2. Attach the safety pin to the lid of the film canister by sewing the string into the lid.
   An adult partner may assist/do this step as needed. It may help to pre-puncture the lid with a larger needle and/or do one thread at a time.
3. Knot string inside the lid of the film canister and make sure it is secured in place. You may use hot glue to glue the knot to the inside (adult assistance as needed).
4. Draw a red cross on the white label sticker
5. Attach the sticker to your film canister
6. Fold and roll medical wipes and band-aids and insert them inside your film canister.

This SWAPS ties in nicely with many Adventures related to Scouting Essentials as one of the essential items is a First Aid Kit.

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Lion = Mountain Lion Adventure
Tiger = Tigers In The Wild Adventure