Learning to fold a flag (citizen)

Summary

Walking to Webelos is a session aimed to help new Webelos scouts work towards the requirements of earning their Webelos patch.  This is day 3 of our Walking to Webelos activities at day camp for 2013.  The opening exercises are shared between Walking to Webelos and Aiming for Arrow (aimed at Webelos 2 scouts).

Supplies

• Feed bags
• Pens
• Flags

Requirements covered and activities for each requirement

Opening exercises: Halloween jokes

Note this comes from: Boy Scout Trail.  We did this as a exercise where each scout had a question/answer and they read them and the others tried to guess the answer.  After a few guesses (usually wrong), we had them share the correct answer.  A printable version of the jokes is available here.

• Scout 1: What do zombies serve at tea?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Lady fingers.
• Scout 1: What is the one thing that can harm Super-Mummy?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Crypt-onite
• Scout 1: What do ghosts need before they can scare people?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: A Haunting license.
• Scout 1: Why did the Invisible Man forfeit the boxing match?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Because he was a no-show.
• Scout 1: Why did the mummy miss the party?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Because she was all wrapped up in her work.
• Scout 1: Why did the ghoul bury the trophy?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Because she wanted it engraved.
• Scout 1: How did the corpse get out of the coffin?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: It wormed its way free.
• Scout 1: What position did the ghost play in the baseball game?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Fright Field
• Scout 1: Why was the archeologist crying?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: Because he wanted his Mummy.
• Scout 1: What kind of a ship does a vampire sail?
• Scout 2: I don’t know.
• Scout 1: A blood vessel.

Webelos 1’s only (Aiming for Arrow splits off and works on their session now)

Citizen 2. Know the names of the President and Vice-President of the United States, elected Governor of your state and the head of your local government.

• We did this by discussing it and asking them the ones they all have in common (president, etc)
• President: Barack Obama
• Vice President: Joe Biden
• Oklahoma Governor: Mary Fallin
• Homework: Have scouts find out who their Mayor is (they come from many different cities).

Citizen 3. Describe the flag of the United States and give a short history of it. With another Webelos Scout helping you, show how to hoist and lower the flag, how to hang it horizontally and vertically on a wall, and how to fold it. Tell how to retire a worn or tattered flag properly.

Exercise:

• History can come through flag of the day (we did Oklahoma flag history)
• Hoist and lowering through flag ceremonies
• Talk about retiring the flags
• Use handout that shows the different ways to hang the flag. You can use images from here for ideas or as a quiz to hand out and have them circle the right ways.
• Practice folding the US flag.  Have an adult with each group if possible because they need practice and get stuck.

Citizen 4.  Explain why you should respect your country’s flag.  Tell some of the special days we fly it.  Tell when to salute the flag and show how to do it.

Resources: from HONORING OUR FLAG

It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset…however, the flag may be displayed at night on special occasions when it is desired to produce a patriotic effect. If displayed at night the flag should be illuminated. Certain historic and symbolic locations have flown the flag 24 hours a day for many years weather permitting. The flag should be flown and displayed on all days when weather permits, particularly on national and state holidays, on historic and special occasions such as:

• New Years’ Day
• Inauguration Day
• Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday
• Easter Sunday
• Loyalty and Law Day
• Mother’s Day
• Armed Forces Day
• Flag Day
• Memorial Day
• Labor Day
• Independence Day
• Columbus Day
• Constitution and Citizenship Day
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

Also any other time that may be proclaimed by the President of the United States, (like National Flag Week), birthdays of states (dates of admission to the Union), and on state holidays. All citizens should know how to display their country’s flag and how to salute it. Owning a flag and displaying it properly are marks of patriotism and respect.

Hop, skip and jump exercise, use handout (handout to be linked). 

• HOP, SKIP, AND JUMP. This is a contest to see how far a boy can travel with a hop, skip, and jump. (Hop on one foot, skip once, and jump with both feet.) Choose a den champion. You can also play this contest outdoors as a den relay, with each player beginning where the last left off. The winning team is the one that goes the farthest distance.
• Next: try it with two boys with one leg each in a sack  (If too difficult do a sack race).

Citizen 5. Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance from memory. Explain its meaning in your own words.

• We had them recite it and discussed it

Citizen 6. Tell how our National Anthem was written.

Have the boys read the story below out loud.

The Story of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from here

Francis Scott Key was a lawyer in Washington DC. In 1814, during the war of 1812, Key was asked to go on a mission with Colonel J. S. Skinner. They were to sail under a flag of truce to ask for the release of an American prisoner, Dr. Beans, being held by the British Navy. The British agreed to free the prisoner, but would not let the Americans return immediately, because they were planning to attack Baltimore.

During the night of September 13-14, Key, Skinner and Dr. Beans stood on the deck of a ship anchored eight miles down-river watching the attack. They were well out of the fight, but near enough to see most of the action. During the night the bombs and rockets proved that the city had not surrendered, but now there was an eerie silence, broken only by an occasional distant gun. Key found himself torn with anxiety. He did not know the fate of the city or of Fort McHenry. He hated the war, yet here he was in the middle of it. He was first and last an American, and in these hours of suspense, he fervently, desperately, prayed that the American flag was still waving over the Fort.

The rest of the night the three Americans paced the deck, scarcely daring to think what daylight might bring. Again and again, they pulled out their watches, trying to judge when the dawn would come. At five o’clock, the first light of day tinged the sky. However, there was no sun. Rain clouds hung low and patches of mist swirled across the water. It was growing brighter all the time, and finally Key raised his spyglass and he saw it!  Standing out against the dull gray of the clouds and hills was the American flag, still proudly flying above the Fort. Turbulent, fervent thoughts raced through his mind. These thoughts began to take poetic shape. Using the back of a letter that happened to be in his pocket, Francis Scott Key began to jot down lines and phrases.

Finally, on the evening of September 16, the Americans returned to Baltimore. There would be no sleep for Francis Scott Key that night. Vivid thoughts of the scenes he had witnessed raced through his poetic mind. He had tried to express his feelings–the thrill of seeing the flag at dawn–in a few lines scribbled down right after the attack. Later he added more lines. He called his poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” Almost from the start he thought of it as being sung to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven,” a popular song of that period. It would be weeks before it would become known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The song caught Baltimore’s fancy right away. It was published in the newspaper and people were singing it. The Fort McHenry garrison adopted it–every man received a copy–and the tavern crowds took it up. The song quickly spread to other cities, as the whole nation rejoiced in the news from Baltimore. Everywhere, Key’s stirring lyrics struck the right chord–the rare sense of exultation people felt about this totally unexpected victory.

An Act of Congress made “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official United States Anthem in 1931. The flag that flew over the fort was originally 42 feet long, but was shortened by stress of battle and relic seekers. Each stripe measured nearly two feet in width, and the five-pointed stars were two feet from point to point. This flag has been restored and is now at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Analysis (Start/Stop/Continue)

• Start: Nothing to add.  It went well.
• Stop: This was a bit much for the day.  We only barely started the story about the flag when the session ended.  Suggestion to move it to the next day.
• Continue: Continue the day as planned.