2012 - 2013 Scout Planning Calendar

September is the beginning of the Boy Scouts fiscal year.  One of the hardest things to get the scouts to do is sit down and plan out the year.  One of the worst mistakes that I have seen is due to lack of planning.  Many patrol meeting have turn into planning meeting where we plan to plan... this is a waste of time not only for you as a leader with your busy schedule, but a waste of the Scouts time.  The following is what has worked for me in the past.

Get the 2012-2013 Planning Calendar Here

Patrol Meeting the week before the planning meeting:

• Last five minutes of the meeting hand the boys a list of merit badges and have them return it next week with the ones they would like to work on marked.
• Inform them that we will be having a dutch oven cobbler social for next weeks patrol meetings. (doughnut eating contest works great also).
• Have them bring any schools, family, or sports schedules to add to the calendar.

Day of Planning Meeting

• Have multiple copies of the Planning Calendar.
• Have Pencils available (not pens... you will be making many changes throughout the meeting)
• Get your coals ready for you cobblers!
• If available, use round tables rather than long rectangle ones (there is a reason why Roundtable has the name it does... so all participants can interact with each other and voice their opinions.)
• Have a game ready for the 3, 6, 9, and end month while planning.  It gets really boring sitting at a table for an extended amount of time.  Make sure the activity does not take too much time. You, along with the boys, do not want to be there all night.

Have Fun! When a Scout is doing rather than planning at every patrol meeting, he is growing and having fun.