PREPARATION AND MATERIALS NEEDED
• Materials for Gathering game: 5 (or more) paper lunch bags each containing a fruit or vegetable
• With the adult partners, determine if any of the Tigers or their parents have food allergies.
• Read the Tiger Bites adventure in the Tiger Handbook.
GATHERING:
Set out the five different lunch bags on one surface. As members of the den arrive, invite them to reach into the bags without looking inside. Have them guess the fruit or vegetable in each bag, while adult partners record their guesses. Choose a nice range of fruits and vegetables for the bags—not limited to the most common choices.
OPENING
• Conduct a flag ceremony of your choosing that includes the Pledge of Allegiance and the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
• Optional Opening: Invite the Scouts and their adult partners to form a circle. Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Scout Oath with support from partners. Invite the Scouts to give a big Tiger growl in unison. Then ask them to give a Tiger growl as if the tiger were hungry.
TALK TIME
• Introduce the Tiger Bites adventure to the den. Build interest by describing the goals of the adventure and some of the activities that are planned.
• Carry out business items for the den.
• Share with Tigers and adult partners that they can complete requirements 4 and 6 at home. Explain that the snack in requirement 6 only needs to be enough for everyone to taste if all the Tigers are bringing their snacks to the same den meeting.
• Now that everyone has made their guesses in the Gathering activity, reveal what was in each bag.
• Ask the Tigers what all the items from the bags have in common. See if the Tigers can name all the items, and ask if they have eaten those fruits or vegetables before. This is a brief sharing time, so allow each Tiger a moment to tell what they know about fruits and vegetables.
• Have an adult partner prepare these fruits and vegetables for tasting later in the meeting. Tell the Tigers that they will have some “Tiger Bites” to try at the end of the meeting!
Play the game “Up and Down” to help Tigers recognize fruits and vegetables and where they grow.
1. Have Tigers stand next to their adult partners in a circle. One at a time, call out the names of fruits or vegetables that grow either above or below the ground. For example, strawberries grow above the ground, but potatoes grow below. When you call a fruit or vegetable that is found above the ground, the players stand; if it’s found below, they sit down. Keep the game quick and lively. Encourage the partners to help Tigers if they are unsure.
2. Suggested fruits and vegetables to call include apples, potatoes, carrots, oranges, strawberries, radishes, tomatoes, grapes, and any others you may want to add. If a specific fruit or vegetable is common to your area, be sure to include it as well.
3. You can also call out different hygiene habits to make the game a little more challenging. Tigers stand if the habit is a good one; they sit if it is not good. Use habits such as: washing hands before handling food, washing hands after going to the restroom, drinking out of someone else’s glass, having dirty fingernails, washing your hair, not brushing your teeth, making sure your cooking area is clean, not throwing away used tissues, taking a bath or shower, not covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
1. Examine the difference between a fruit and a vegetable. Let the Scouts touch some sample fruits and vegetables to find which ones have seeds and which ones do not. Provide enough samples so that the den can be divided into two teams.
2. Have each team take about five minutes to decide which samples are fruits and which ones are vegetables. Remind them that fruits have seeds and vegetables do not. Present them with some challenging foods such as cucumbers, avocados, or tomatoes.
3. After five minutes of exploration time, talk about the differences between fruits and vegetables. If the samples have not been cut open, do so now to demonstrate those with seeds and those without.
4. Have the Scouts wash their hands so they can try the different fruits and vegetables. Allow each Tiger to taste at least one fruit and one vegetable. Make sure that samples are properly cleaned and ready to eat.
Ideas for Adventure Requirements:
1. Collect grocery store ads from the newspaper. Have scouts cut out, or circle with a marker, three healthy and three unhealthy foods for sale.
2. Lay out a sample of each: apple, orange, pear, banana, kiwi, cucumber, tomato, celery, broccoli, lettuce, spinach. Have the den group them into what they believe are fruits and vegetables. Explain the botanical difference between fruits and vegetables, then find out which items have seeds. Cut them up while scouts wash hands, then let each scout sample at least one fruit and one vegetable.
3. Hawaiian Punch Song (sing to the rhythm of the Brady Bunch theme song)
Lyrics:
Here's a story of a dole banana
Who was bringing up three very lovely fruit.
All of them had yellow peels, like their mother,
The youngest was a beaut.
Here's a story of a great papaya
Who was living in a tree all on his own.
They were two fruit in the same forest
Yet they were all alone.
Until one day when banana met papaya,
And they knew that it was much more than a hunch
That this fruit could somehow form a fruit drink.
That's the way they all became Hawaiian Punch.
Hawaiian Punch, Hawaiian Punch
Thats the way they became Hawaiian Punch
4. Clean Silverware Skit:
This Skit has gross parts, but can be tailored for little cubs
Required:
5 to 10 scouts.
Some spoons, forks, and knives and bowls.
Preparation:
1 scout is the Cook.
2 scouts are dogs crawling around his feet.
The rest are scouts coming to dinner.
Script:
(scouts are spread out across stage doing things while the cook is stirring pots with his two dogs crawling around on the ground.)
Cook: Come and Get It!
(all the other scouts come running and line up in front of the cook to receive silverware and bowls of food.)
Scout #1: (when handed silverware) Wow! This spoon is sure clean for being out camping. How do you get them so clean?
Cook: Soapsuds and Scrubpad.
(cook hands him his bowl of food)
Scout #2: (when handed silverware) Wow! This fork is sure clean for being out camping. How do you get them so clean?
Cook: Soapsuds and Scrubpad.
(cook hands him his bowl of food)
(repeat for each scout. When the last scout gets his, the first scout just finishes his meal and brings his dirty dishes back.)
Scout #1: Thanks, Cookie.
Cook: (whistles and bends down with dishes to the ground offering them to the 2 dogs.) Here, Soapsuds! Here, Scrubpad!
(the dogs run over and start licking the bowl while the other scouts watch and get sick.)
(optional)
Cook: Always do your OWN dishes at camp!
CLOSING
• Gather the Tigers in a circle. Using a ball, gently toss it to each Tiger, asking them to name one fruit, vegetable, or polite manner. When everyone has had a turn, close the meeting with a Tiger growl, in unison, to show how happy the tigers are after their “Tiger Bites.”
Hand out the Do-at-Home Project that needs to be completed before the next meeting. (See Meeting 1 Resources.) Tigers will assist with meal preparation, bring a nutritious snack to share, and practice good hygiene during food preparation.
AFTER THE MEETING
• Clean up after everyone has finished with the fruits and vegetables.
• Record completion of requirement 3.