The Crossing Over Ceremony takes place at the end of the school year. This is when a Tiger becomes a Wolf, a Wolf becomes a Bear, a Bear becomes a Webelo, and a Webelo becomes a Boy Scout. We usually get a pavilion at the local park and have a cookout for all the Scouts and their families and for anyone entering first grade who might be interested in becoming a Scout.
This is the very simple advancement board I made three years ago and it is still holding up well.
To make it, all you need is a
- Large Foam Core Poster Board
- 2 12x12 pieces of cardstock cut in thirds
- 2 colors of alphabet stickers
- clear packing tape
- one clothespin for every member of pack
- blue pen or marker
I used 1/3 of the paper for each rank. For the pack number I cut a third in half again. I adhered the blue strips with clear packing tap but left a space at the bottom big enough for a clothes pin to fit under.
Write the name of each Scout on a clothespin. I wrote the name Peter on this one, although we have no one named Peter in the pack. (Just want to respect privacy). Then clip that on his current rank.
We also made two holes on the corners to hang the board. Just depends where we are.
My husband (pictured) made this bridge out of some scrap wood in the basement. My son C is "crossing over" the bridge to the board which is hung next to my husband. He will find his name clip and move it from the Bears to the Webelos amidst pack applause. It really does give the boys a sense of pride and achievement.
Here's our board in action at the park just before the ceremony began.
Thanks for stopping by Scout Mom! Come back later this week and I will show you the fun game we played with the extra clothespins.