OBJECTIVES
To help Webelos develop a sense of family responsibility. To help the boys see how finances affect their families. To help Webelos gain insight into the running of a household.

RELATED BOY SCOUT MERIT BADGES:
Skills required for advancement to First Class, Cooking, Public Health, Energy, Personal Management, Safety.

RESOURCES

Official Boy Scout Handbook.

Webelos Leader

Webelos Den Activities, pp. 33-36.

Cub Scout Family Book, No. 3846.

Cub Scout Family Award Certificate, No. 3710.

Prepared For Today, BSA No. 3941.

Youth's Frontier, Making Ethical Decisions, BSA No. 3620. Child Abuse. No. 3943.

Public utility companies for information on energy conservation

Federal Energy Administration, Washington, D.C.

TRC

THE  FAMILY CREED We believe that the family is the first and basic institution of humanity.
More than any other group the family determines who we are.
We want the family to be recognized, supported, and preserved in our city, nation, and world.
We believe the family represents man's best hope for unity in the world.
In the family all of mankind has a ../common bond, stronger than military, economic, educational, or political ties.
The family is, therefore, the primary institution for peace in the world.
We acknowledge our belief by showing love first to our own family members.
We pledge respect for the rights of all those in the family of man. We want to help touch the world, one family at a time.

---The International Family Organization

 
 

WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO DO

Invite a Mom to talk to the boys about clothes washing. Announce that next week's meeting will be at the local Laundromat. Each Webelos is to bring a load of wash, soap, and change for the washer and dryer. Better bring a Mom along, too.
Invite a professional house cleaner to tell the Webelos about his/her job and short cuts for cleaning. Use this information in a cleanup project for the chartering organization.
Have a den car wash.
Do a craft project  that includes hand or machine sewing and sewing on buttons. How about learning to sew on uniform patches?
Invite a dietician to a den meeting to talk about the four food groups and menu planning.
Plan menus for your next campout. Make a shopping list from the menus.
Cook a breakfast as a den. Meet at a park and cook pancakes on the grill.
Inspect your den site for safety hazards. How can they be corrected?
Plan some fun den-family outings. Invite the families and do them!
Invite an instructor from your local baby-sitting course (through the hospital or park district or Red Cross) to your den meeting to talk about emergency and safety procedures for baby-sitters.
Put your written work for this Activity Badge into your Logbook

TRC

HAZARDS AND SECURITY CHECK Using the list below. Have the boys do a home inspection inside and outside for possible hazards.

Is trash lying around outside the home or in the garage?

Are insecticides stored in a safe place out of reach of small children?

Are flammable substances such as paint thinner, gasoline or charcoal lighter fluids stored in marked containers and kept in a cool well ventilated area away from any flame?

Are sharp tools in a locked cabinet?

Are power tool cords unplugged and out of the reach of small children?

Are roller skates, skateboards and bicycles kept out of the driveway and sidewalks?

Are oily rags lying about?

Is the door of an unused freezer or refrigerator removed?

Are all outside lights in working order?

Are garbage cans kept covered?

Is your sidewalk free of uneven areas or broken cement?

Are curtains and furniture away from air conditioners and heating elements?

Does the fireplace have a screen?

Do large glass doors have a decal as a safety reminder?

Are electrical cords in good repair?

Are electrical wires on the floor where people can walk or trip on them?

Are poisonous substances in childproof containers?

Are all prescription drugs in childproof containers?

Are non- prescription drugs kept in the medicine chest?

Are matches stored in rodent proof and childproof containers?

Are smoke alarm batteries checked on a regular basis?

Are fire extinguishers operable?

Are the telephone numbers of the police, fire and paramedics displayed on or beside each phone?

C10

• Invite a policeman, fireman or security guard to a den meeting to talk about home safety.
• Keep a personal budget for a month.
• Have the boys plan a days worth of meals and cook at least one of them.
• Have a grandparent come talk about life when he was their age.
• Have the boys make a family tree which covers their family back to their grandparents. Let each
• boy show his tree after completion.
• Make a chore chart that the boys can use at home for 2 months.
• Teach the boys how to clean house.

• Visit a waste treatment facility.
• Visit a bank or savings and loan.
• Tour a fire or police station.
C10

BE SAFE AT HOME We can help keep our family from being hurt or injured in home accidents. With an adult, become your “Home Inspector.” Be sure to have an adult help you. NEVER do it alone. After completing the inspection, list any corrections you and your adult family member made.
 
 

Careers/Speakers

Social worker, day care provider, family counselor, parent, human services agent, ombudsman, YMCA activities planner, family education specialist, dietitian, cleaning person, community education director, congressman.

DEN MEETING IDEAS Make a list of fun activities of little cost and do them over several den meetings.
Have the boys make a chart showing the jobs of all members in their homes. Have them bring the chart to the meeting and tell what jobs they are taking on for the next two months, and how they will do them.
Have the boys fix a meal and invite the parents to your meeting for a feast! The boys should plan the meal, shop for the food, and cook.
Plan a family game night. Each family brings a game and takes part in sharing the game with another family. The boys could invent games for the families to play.
Have a contest folding the laundry.
Have a sewing contest. Give each boy a small piece of cloth, a button, needle. and thread. Have the boys sew a button on. Judging can be for speed, neatest job, most secure, etc.
Have a cooking contest. Have each boy cook one dish and bring it to the meeting. They must be able to tell how they made the dish. You might even make a small recipe book that includes all the dishes that were prepared.
Make a contest out listing things on which families spend money. See who can make the longest list. Talk about the lists and see what important expenses were omitted. Give one point for each item. Before the meeting, you might create a list of things the boys are likely to forget and, if they do include them on their own lists, give them two points for those items.
Contact the police department and ask if someone could attend one of your meetings to discuss home security.
Arrange for the local fire marshal or one of his investigators to visit your den and discuss or demonstrate fire safety in the home and community. They may also be able to provide a copy of a home inspection sheet.
Call the local health department to see if they can provide information or a speaker about the dangers of trash and garbage piling up and ways in which your den might help the community to be a healthy and safe place to live.
Visit your local financial institution to find out how the monetary system works. Tour the vault and safe deposit box area, and discuss how saving money as a family unit can be beneficial in the long run.
Contact the local public utility companies or the environmental control agency to find out how your natural resources can be saved and what we as individual family units can do to conserve.
With the help of a nutritionist, teach the boys to plan meals for the family. They should include all the basic food groups and the order in which they’re needed. Plan a week’s worth of meals for a family and visit a grocery store to price the food required to sustain this family.
C10

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If a bigger hammer doesn't work, your problem is electrical. --Dad BB -

How to Read Your Electric Meter

Electric meters are precision measuring devices which record, in units called ‘kilowatt-hours,’ how much electricity you use. One kilowatt-hour (Kwh) is 1000 watts of electricity consumed for one hour. or the power required to burn a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours. The meter reading is made up of one number from each dial. When the pointer is between two numbers, you read the number it has just passed—the lower number. The reading above is 5,964 Kwh. Meters with four dials are read the same way as a five dial meter.

Try reading this meter yourself. Then check your answer against the one below.

 
 

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Set up several hazardous conditions in a rooni. The drawing shows some possibilities. Allow one boy at a time to go into the room for three minutes. Have an adult present for safety and to time the boy.
The boy makes notes on all the hazards he sees.
After all have inspected the room, have a brief discussion of what hazards they found. Ask the boys how they could eliminate the hazards. if desired, you can name the boy with the longest list of hazards as winner of the test.

 
 

Home Inspector Checklist

First, you and a family adult locate unsafe conditions and eliminate all hazards promptly. These questions will help with your home inspection. Answer each question “yes” or “no”. When done, talk with the family about how you can correct the problems with a “no” written beside it.

Does you family have a strong, safe stepladder for reaching heights?   Are halls and stairways safe and well lighted? Is there an operating smoke detector? Are precautions taken to prevent rugs from slipping, particularly on polished floors? Is a rubber mat provided for the bathtub to prevent slipping? Are metal boxes provided for storing matches out of reach of children? Does your family have a screen in front of any open fireplaces? Are your furnace and stovepipes clean? Are all gas pipes and fixtures tight, to prevent leaks? Is there a locking cabinet for storing poisons and medicines out of reach of children? Are emergency numbers for police, fire and poison control handy by the telephone? Are toys, brooms, soap, and other articles kept off stairs and walks? Do you go out of doors to use flammable cleaning fluids? Have the children in your home been taught the danger of playing with knives, scissors, bottles, and matches or near stoves and open fires? Do you always check twice to be sure appliances are off before leaving the house? Are there proper containers in the home for cigarettes? If anyone smokes in the home encourage them to quit, for their own and the family’s health. Is the dryer lint filter cleaned after each load? Do you know how to use tools safely, and are they stored properly? Are firearms kept unloaded in a locked box? Is ammunition stored in a separate locked box? Are plastic bags and plastic materials kept out of reach of young children? C10

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Dirty Clothes Announce that the next week the den will be meeting at the local laudromat.  Each boy should bring a load of wash and coins for the washer and dryer.  Leader can bring a box of detergent and measuring cup. Meet and wash clothes.  Look around at the kinds of washers and the safety instructions.  Time how long you are there.
Bills!
Ask your parents to help you set up a chart of the electric and gas use in your home.  Write down all the ways you can think of which use electricity or gas.
Look at the bills for the last few months and write down the actual usage and  the cost.  Is the usage up or down?  For a one month time, practice turning out lights and conserving in other ways.  See how much difference you can make on your next bill. The utility companies can provide you with a list of appliance usage/hour.  Figure out how much it costs to dry a load of laundry, or to run your hair dryer or toaster.

BB

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