When I was a younger boy, one of the things I used to enjoy doing was going down into the #8 Woods and going rock hunting with my dad. He got me interested in looking for Indian arrowheads and also looking for fossils among the stones as we looked around the woods. There was a place at the edge of the woods that had been excavated a little bit, and the turned over soil was an excellent place to find stones of all types. The fossilized stones I saw got me thinking and wondering about dinosaurs and the creatures that roamed the earth a long time ago. Nowadays, there is a flood of discoveries coming in from Africa, South America, and Asia. Much more is known about the dinosaurs than what was known when I was in Cub Scouting. I used to spend a fair amount of time thinking about what kind of dinosaurs used to live where I lived.
Cub Scouts today have the same curiosity, and they think about what the dinosaurs ate, where they lived, and how they moved. Scouts also think about what could we learn of these creatures that lived so long ago? Have you ever had a chance to make a model of a dinosaur or visit a museum where dinosaur fossils can be seen? Perhaps your Pack could make your own “dinosaur footprints” or “fossils” in plaster. The Scouts could also take a “dinosaur scavenger hunt” by going on a hike and looking for things that might have been found during the Jurassic period. This might be a great time to work on the Geology belt loop and pin. As I searched around the web, I saw several good ideas for Dinosaur skits and songs that you might be able to do with your Scout group. In no particular order or ranking are several good ideas…
From https://campsongs.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/the-dinosaur-song/, here is a fun song to sing with your Pack. Sung to the tune of “Five Little Ducks” is The Dinosaur Song. The song has six verses.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
v.1
Five dinosaurs came out to play / hold up five fingers
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus, crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
And ate up a dinosaur, munch, munch, munch / make munching motion with arms
v.2
Four dinosaurs came out to play / hold up four fingers
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus, crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
And ate up a dinosaur, munch, munch, munch / make munching motion with arms
v.3
Three dinosaurs came out to play / hold up three fingers
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus, crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
And ate up a dinosaur, munch, munch, munch / make munching motion with arms
v.4
Two dinosaurs came out to play / hold up two fingers
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus, crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
And ate up a dinosaur, munch, munch, munch / make munching motion with arms
v.5
One dinosaur came out to play / hold up one finger
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus, crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
And ate up a dinosaur, munch, munch, munch / make munching motion with arms
v.6
No dinosaurs came out to play / shrug
Out in the land of lost one day / hand over eyes & looking around
Along came Tyrannosaurus crunch, crunch, crunch / stamp three times
He stood there and shouted, “WHERE’S MY LUNCH?!” / hands on hips
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Another idea for you Pack is a Play that your Scouts could put on. This is from http://usscouts.org/bbugle/bb0405/bbskit.html website. Prehistoric Play from The
Longhorn Council…
Scene: Big city, outside a museum’…
Characters: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, Scientist, Pterodactyl, Tyrannosaurus Rex
(Enter Triceratops arid Stegosaurus)
Triceratops: Did you see that? That honking thing almost hit me!
Stegosaurus: Yes, I saw it. But what was it?
Triceratops: Who knows? All I know is that this doesn’t look like my home!
Stegosaurus: I know. What are those tall stone things? And what are those---
Triceratops: Shh, I hear thumping.
(Enter Brontosaurus. . . slowly)
Brontosaurus: I thought I heard familiar voices. How are you.. and——where are we?
Triceratops: We don’t know.
(Enter scientist)
Scientist: Oh, my! I don’t believe my eyes! Are you d-d-dinosaurs?
Stegosaurus: Of course! But what are you?
Scientist: That’s right. There were no people when you were alive.
Triceratops: When we were ALIVE? What do you mean?
Brontosaurus: Are we.. .d-d-dead?
Scientist: Well, we thought so. You see, you became extinct about 65 million years ago!
Stegosaurus: Ex...what?
Brontosaurus: Did you say STINK?
Scientist: No, no. Extinct means that you all died out.
Triceratops: Oh, really? What are WE?
(Enter Pterodactyl)
Pterodactyl: Ouch! I tried to soar and I bumped into something very hard I
Scientist: That’s a building. Actually, a museum.
Pterodactyl: Do you know where I can find a space to soar?
Scientist: Yes, try the park. About four blocks that way.
(Exit Pterodactyl, enter Tyrannosaurus rex)
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Aha! Food.
Brontosaurus: Where’s the water? I need to get into the water! Help!
Scientist: You wouldn’t really eat these wonderful animals, would you?
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Who. . or what. . are you? You look good to eat too! GRRR!
Stegosaurus: Knock it off or I’ll hit you with my tail. We’ve got a problem here!
Triceratops: Yeah, and I’ll stick you with my horns!
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Well, you don’t have to gang up on me! Isn’t anyone afraid of me anymore?
Brontosaurus: I am!
Scientist: Well, no one should be afraid of you now. There’s plenty of food for everyone to eat. So you can leave these dinosaurs alone!
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Food. . for everyone! Great.
Stegosaurus: I’m starved.
Scientist: Why don’t you all come inside the museum with me?
Brontosaurus: I don’t think I’d fit.
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Nor would I.
Scientist: Of course you will. We have some of you skeletons in here. Oh, I’m sorry.
Triceratops: Skeletons? You mean of our families?
Scientist: Well, I mean, we found their bones.
Brontosaurus: I want to see!
Stegosaurus: Me too.
Tyrannosaurus Rex: We’ll all go inside with you.
(All go into the museum, look at the displays)
Brontosaurus: I’ll bet that’s my Aunt Sara!
Stegosaurus: Wow! It looks like my Uncle Max!
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Something is wrong here. Where are all the other living dinosaurs? Where are the mountains and the swamps? Why are there so many things I don’t understand?
Brontosaurus: He said we were extinct. .dead!
Stegosaurus: He said there were no dinosaurs.
Triceratops: Tell us, what happened to the rest of them?
Scientist: We don’t really know. But if you stay here with me, maybe we can find out!
Brontosaurus: I have nowhere else to go.
Tyrannosaurus Rex: If you’ve got food, I’ll stay.
Triceratops: I’ll stay for sure.
Stegosaurus: If it’s good enough for Uncle Max, it’s good enough for me!
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
Here is another song from our own website…
https://insanescouter.org/p/4366/141/The_Dinosaur_Race.html#.X2UuAGgzZhF
Tune: William Tell Overture
All the dinosaurs come from far and near,
And they gather 'round for a great big cheer,
'Cause the day has come for the dinosaur race,
Now they all line up and take their place.
And they're off and quickly gaining speed
As Allosaurus takes the lead,
But now moving up is Triceratops
Who runs as if she'll never stop
Brontosaurus stretches out his neck
To reach Tyrannosaurus Rex
Bringing up the rear but doing his best,
Ankylosaurus stops to rest.
See Deinonychus who is running fast,
But now even she is being passed,
Here they come now to the finish line,
Neck and neck, breathing hard.
Who's in front?
It's hard to tell, he looks so small,
But now I see before them all just one.
Struthiomimus wins! Hooray! Hooray!
Image by Dmitry Abramov from Pixabay
And lastly, here is a fun story that you can use over and over again. It's fun because the story will be different every time you tell it. The story is from the website http://primetroop.org/Campfire_files/Skits-VOL-cm.pdf. The name of the story is “A Trip to Remember.”
A TRIP TO REMEMBER This can be used either at a pack meeting or den meeting. If used as a den meeting, give each boy several items to read. Type or write the items below, one per card or strip of paper. (Hint: If you do it on a word processor, you can save it and reprint each time.) Give one or more expressions to each participant and make sure they can read them aloud. Then read the story below, pausing for boys to read a goofy expression to fill in the blank.
| A loose tooth | some red ants |
| two snowballs | a limping dinosaur |
| a rip in your pants | a yellow parrot |
| a purple crayon | a bar of soap |
| a butterfly net | a short pencil |
| a fat onion | a tall pine tree |
| four sour pickles | a broken radio |
| a red kite | a fat cat |
| a bald eagle | three raisins |
| some smelly socks | three boiled eggs |
| a green tomato | a swarm of bees |
| a pound of feathers | a used firecracker |
| an ice cream bar | a can of tar |
| a cat’s meow | a rattlesnake |
| four hot rocks |
One day my mom and dad decided to take me to the store for a surprise. We got into our car and my dad placed _____ into the ignition. We drove down the street towards _____. My mom said, “Look, son, it looks like our neighbors have _____ planted in their front yard. “It looks more like _____ to me,” grumbled my dad. Just them, _____ fell out of the sky, landing in the road ahead of us. We swerved, nearly hitting _____. “Wow, that was close,” Dad said. “It’s getting so the roads aren’t even safe for _____ anymore!” Finally, we arrived at the mall. There in front was a clown, juggling _____ and _____ and _____, all the while he rode a _____. As we went into the mall, I asked my mom if I could get _____. “No, son,” she said, “Remember you already spent your allowance on _____. We’re here to pick out your birthday present. “ “Neat! What is it?” I cried. “Well,” said my dad, “We feel you’re old enough to have your own computer.” I was happier than my wildest dreams. As we walked down the mall, my mouth started watering as I could smell _____. We stopped for a treat and my dad had _____. While Dad and I ate, Mom looked at a window display of _____ and _____ artistically arranged around _____. Finally, we entered the computer store. “May I help you?” asked the manager. “Why, yes,” said my dad, “We’re looking for a deal on a computer with a _____.” “Hmmm,” said the manager, “We just sold out of those, but take a look at this model. It comes standard with _____ and _____, and if you buy it today, I’ll even throw in _____!” My dad said, “We’ll take it!”
All the way home, I thought about my new computer. My friend Jeff would be jealous since all he had on his computer was _____. My mom and dad helped me set up my new computer in my room, right next to my _____ . What a great birthday!
If you have some more dinosaur skits, songs, or stories to share, please add them to the comment section below!