Bear Achievement 21 (Build a Model) and Pinewood Derby

A lot of packs have their Pinewood Derby in January, so this is a good time to think about how this fun event can fit in with advancement. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Pinewood Derby and Webelos Craftsman.  Today, I want to remind you that this also fits in well with Bear Achievement 21 – Build a Model.

When my guys were Bears, some of them used their Pinewood Derby cars to fulfill Requirement 21A – Build a model from a kit.  My rules were similar to what I told them as Webelos this year. In order to count this as an advancement requirement, they needed to do a significant amount of work on the cars themselves, such as sanding and painting.

We also  made shoebox displays for their cars to fulfill Requirement 21B - Build a display for one of your models. They each had a shoebox and various materials and their creativity took over. Some made displays which looked like roads or a crew pit. But if their car wasn’t a traditional shape, some took another approach. When LC was a Bear, his car looked like a slice of watermelon. So he made his display look like a garden. He still has it sitting on his shelves in his room.