Scouting Floats and Boats

At Whitman Marine Training, we are a nationally recognized boating safety school based right here in South Jersey. As the owner of the school, and with my son being a member of a local Cub Scout pack, I learned that there is a new “Floats and Boats” activity for the Tiger Dens this year.

Given our resources and expertise, I thought it would be a great idea to help other packs and Tiger Dens meet the requirements for this activity! As 2024 ends, we enter our “Tabling” season, during which we will have a table or booth at shows almost bi-weekly from January 10th until the summer. Alongside our existing PFDs and educational materials, we will add a small fish tank and the necessary crafts to our booth to meet the “Floats and Boats” activity requirements.

Our first Tabling event of 2025 will be at the Wildwood Fishing and Boating Expo, a three-day event from January 10th to the 12th. These events offer excellent opportunity’s for the Tiger Dens to complete their “Floats and Boats” activity while enjoying a fun and educational day.

Time slot:
I am allotting a 2 hour window for each den. This should provide an appropriate amount of time for the den to complete all activities. Please meet at our booth or other agreed meeting location at your allotted time.

Admission cost:
Depends on the event location.

Activity Highlights:

• If the activity is at a boat show:
  Visit a Marina and Observe Boats: Our instructors will guide the Tiger Dens through the Boat show to identify different types of boats and their parts, fulfilling the first requirement of the “Floats and Boats” activity.
• If the Activity is at a fishing flea market:
  Color the boats in the Tiger handbook. We will provide the den or group with an assortment of coloring pages, and ask various questions to the group about the boats we have on display at our booth. Many smaller fishing flea markets include a small boat dealer or paddle craft dealer so we will do our best to also include a tour and discussion about those vessels as part of the activity.

Float or Sink Experiment:

• We will bring a container to test if various objects float or sink right at our booth, allowing the scouts to learn through hands-on experimentation.

Boat Building:

• Each scout will have the opportunity to build a boat using our kits and test its buoyancy in our water tank.

Life Jacket Fitting:

• We will provide multiple life jackets for the scouts to try on, ensuring they meet the safety requirements.

We are running this activity to be both educational and enjoyable, providing valuable learning experiences for the scouts. We believe it will be a memorable day for everyone involved.

This is not a full fledged council event, only an olive branch offered to help with completing a new activity.

Please let us know if your group will be attending so we can ensure we have enough supplies

Link to BSA’s activity page: – https://www.scouting.org/cub-scout-adventures/floats-and-boats/