To follow-up on my post last week, I just finished a great book called, I Thought Scout Uniforms Were Fireproof: Putting the Fun in Scouting.
The first thing I liked about it was that it was not a big book. It was a quick and easy read that I could pick up and read a chapter in whenever I had a free minute.
Despite the size, however, it contained tons of ideas and tips for making Scouting activities more exciting and enjoyable for everyone involved. The book was arranged by topic - for example, there was a chapter on cooking, one on the patrol method, one on winter camping, etc. Each chapter had some humorous anecdotes to illustrate the point and leave the reader wishing he/she were in the troop that was having so much fun.
The book was written by an LDS Scouter and was based on Boy Scouting experiences. However, LDS terms only came up a few times and were not related to the points made, and those points could be applied to other levels of Scouting. I found myself thinking of many ways the ideas could be utilized in a den or pack. This book would be useful to any Scouter on any level.
In fact, I felt like I had gotten more out of reading this small volume than other longer books which focused more on the nuts and bolts of the program.
One thing that did not sit right with me was that there did not seem to be an emphasis on letting the boys run the troop. The book made it sound like the leaders were doing all of the planning. It would have been nice to have some clues about training your patrol leaders to do this stuff. (On the other hand, this could just be due to my lack of experience in Boy Scouting. Obviously, as a Cub Scout leader I do get to plan all of my activities.)
As always, this book is no replacement for training, but I think it is a must-have for anyone who wants to be a better Scout leader.
(It's also available in Kindle version.)
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