What do Spring Recruitment and Summer Camp have to do with each other? Simple ... just answer this .... What do Scouts of all ages want to do more than anything else? Right! Have FUN! And what is one of the most fun activities Scouts look forward to every year? Right again! Summer Camp!

Whether it's Day Camp, Resident Camp, Webelos Weekend, Napowan or High Adventure, every boy in Northwest Suburban Council looks forward to the summer camp experience.

So how Spring Recruitment is related to Summer Camp?

Summer Camp is your Spring Recruitment tool! What a great way to be introduced into Scouting - the preparation, anticipation and experience of Summer Camp! Even if your unit does not have a summer program, every boy in the Council has an opportunity to attend a camp. The only pre-requisite is that you have to be a registered Scout!

Let's offer this great opportunity to every boy at every school in our Council - put up some posters, send out some fliers, invite your super District Executive to give a Boy Talk, hold a Rally Night or Open House!

Some ideas for Spring Recruitment ... (Be sure to get the OK from your school or church to hold any of these events.)

Set up various Scouting demonstrations in the parking lot or gym - each den could run one.

Set up your Pinewood Derby Track and make some simple cars. Invite boys for a "Day at the Races with Pack xxx" .

Make a dozen "business cards" for each active cub scout to distribute to friends who are not cubs. Put basic meeting info and the den leader's phone number. Put a space marked "Invited by" for the cub to put his name. If a new boy turns in the card at his first meeting, the cub receives a recruiter strip.

Hold a Bicycle Safety Rally. Allow girls & non-scout age boys to come too. Consider a sale of bicycle helmets by the pack to anyone in the school.

Make a box hockey game and take it to the school at lunch time and let your boys play. Show the boys waiting their turn some one on one games like hand wrestling or the squatting tug of war. Showed them the handbook and explained that what they had been doing was called Cub Scouting and they were invited to do it again next week at a den meeting. Send them home with parent information kit and an application.

Talk to the (Kindergarten) teacher and ask if you can work into her program. Offer to bring a tent and teach some outdoor skills to the class. She might love the break (and learn something too). Wear your uniform.

Have a table at your school or church ice cream social or fun fair. Give away a rocket or boat for your next regatta (if it is within a month or two) to any boy who registers that day.

Host a talent night. Invite the whole school to participate. Be sure each den has a presentation. Have cub-related door prizes for the potential kids who attend (or participate). And of course, have a info / registration table. Be sure to hand out a program with Scouting info in it.

Encourage the Cubbies to wear their uniform to school on every Den meeting day or at least on every Pack meeting day and especially during the recruitment period.

Plan a super summer program - before you start spring recruitment. Talk about those plans. Include Cub Day Camp. Be sure to make those new recruits feel part of the program. Remember that the boys and their parents may feel a little like outsiders, so treat them like guests for a little while - get to know them!

First and foremost, make your Program fun every week. Word of mouth is a great recruitment aid. If you have a great program, you talk about having fun with other parents and your boys talk about having fun with other boys, you'll have people asking "How can we join?"