Another school year means another year of scouting. This year I’ll be running the Wolf Den, second graders ready to be.. well, prepared. I’ve been looking for activities that complement the standard scouting requirements and keep the kids earning badges and pins and belt loops. I still need to avoid wood craft, at least as far as whittling for a while. I think they are allowed to earn their whittling chips this year, and that allows scouts to carry pocket knives into camp and at meetings. There are serious requirements, however, and we’ll be putting that off for a while.

I was thinking about leather craft. There’s so much fun stuff you can do, though the kits aren’t particularly cheap. Then there’s all the tooling and dyeing and such. That’s right. Did you know you can dye leather? I mean, well yeah, I guess that’s obvious once you’ve seen a pair of purple leather pants on an 80s glam rocker. But who would have thought it was a more or less common DIY craft type thing. Maybe you. Certainly not me.

I’ve resolved to do some easier beading stuff in the beginning. I found some great beaded snake key rings for cheap. And I got some paracord kits that show you how to tie those cool knotted paracord bracelets that have become all the rage. The kits even include little plastic buckles, so these kids are going to be seriously styling.