Program

WE ARE PROUD of the many Scouts and adult Scouters who serve on our staff. Listed here are the program departments of our summer camp and links to schedules and more information. We hope that you will have time to acquaint yourself with our Camp Program Director and the Department Heads as they are key to the camp program.

Ages & Stages

It is the goal of the Boy Scout program to offer appropriate challenges for each age group. Participating in an activity well above or well below a Scout’s ability level often leads to disappointment. When advising your Scouts on which merit badges and activities to participate in at camp, please keep in mind this Ages & Stages format. Our departments offer programs appropriate for the different age groups in your troop. For example: The Dan Beard Program, some Handicraft and Scoutcraft badges are appropriate for first year campers. Second and third year campers may still be involved in the offerings of the Dan Beard, Handicraft and Scoutcraft Departments, but they should be ready for the new challenges in the Aquatics and Shooting Sports Departments. Third and fourth year campers may be ready for the more challenging activities offered in the Ecology, Eagle, Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking departments. Your older Scouts should be ready for just about anything we have to offer, including the required Eagle badges and the unique offerings of the Science Center. Ages & Stages has not been designed arbitrarily. It involves constant feedback from Scoutmasters and members of our own staff as to what age Scouts tend to get the most fulfillment out of a specific program or merit badge. Ages & Stages has been designed to act as a guide. A particularly gifted or challenged Scout may move outside the normal range of activities of their peers. For some physically challenging areas like Aquatics, Adventure Sports or Climbing, the staff may request that a Scout not participate for the Scout’s and other participants’ safety.

A Special Note about Science Center Badges Age requirements in the Science Center are mandatory. Many Science Badges assume a pre-requisite background knowledge for most badges that even the brightest Scout may find daunting. Scouts who’ve stayed with Scouting should be rewarded for their continuing participation in Scout as well as their advancement in school, and the challenging, involved, and fun activities of the Science Center are specifically designed for those Scouts. Please consider this format when advising your Scouts about their plans for summer camp. We also recommend that Scouts not attempt more than THREE merit badges during a single week of camp. Make sure your Scouts have time for fun in their Summer Camp Plan!

Other Areas with Other Ability Considerations

Aquatics - Scouts attempting lake activities must be able to reasonably handle their canoe, kayak or row boat with little assistance. Badge sessions are 1.5 hours and can prove physically strenuous. Instructional Swim is available for Scouts who have not passed the swim test but is not recommended for Scouts with a severe aversion to swimming.

Dan Beard - The majority of Scouts in Dan Beard are 12 or under. Older Scouts who’ve entered Scouting lately can greatly benefit from the Dan Beard program but only if they believe they’ll work well with a younger group.

Handicraft – Leatherworking and Woodcarving require both good hand strength and control. Scouts with poor knife or tool control can prove dangerous to themselves and those around them. Scouts that may have control troubles should look into less tool-centered badges like Art, Composite Materials, Fingerprinting or Textiles.

Rock Climbing – All campers that want to do any climbing at camp must get an okay from the Health Officer. The Health Officer may turn down any participant not believed to be healthy enough to climb. The recommended age for climbing is 13 but smaller or weaker Scouts may need to wait. Scouts under 13 can climb if they have both Health Officer and Climbing Director approval.

Shooting Sports – Scouts must be large enough and mature enough to safely handle bows and firearms. Any Shooting Sports Staff Member may remove a Scout from the Shooting Sports Ranges if they believe the Scout may threat the safety of the staff or other participants.

Ockanickon Program Overview

Each department offers activities in addition to merit badges. Each department header is clickable and will direct you to more information about that department. Below these lists are also individual activities that aren’t offered by a specific department followed by Patrol and Troop Activities. By Appointment badges for each department are not listed and information about By Appointment badges is available in the Appointment badges section.

Each department name is hyperlinked to the program details for that area.

Department	Merit badges	Other Activities
Adventure Sports		High COPE Low COPE Mountain Biking Mountain Boarding
Aquatics	Canoeing Lifesaving Rowing Small Boat Sailing Swimming	BSA Lifeguard Discover Scuba Evening Sailing Instructional Swim Kayaking BSA Mile Swim Open Boating Open Swim Polar Bear Swim Safe Swim Defense Training Safety Afloat Training Scuba BSA Snorkeling BSA
Dan Beard	Through Full Day Dan Beard: Mammal Study Swimming	Totin’ Chip
Eagle	Citizenship in the Community Citizenship in the Nation Citizenship in the World Communications Emergency Preparedness First Aid Personal Fitness Personal Management
Ecology	Animal Science Bird Study Energy Engineering Environmental Science Fish and Wildlife Management Fishing Forest Geology Insect Study Landscape Architecture Mammal Study Nature Oceanography Reptile & Amphibian Study Soil & Water Conservation	First Class Requirement 6 Leave No Trace Training Night Hike Second Class Requirement 5 Tenderfoot Requirement 11
Handicraft	Art Basketry Indian Lore Fingerprinting Leatherworking Pottery Textiles Woodcarving
Photography	Photography
Rock Climbing	Rock Climbing
Science	Astronomy Chemistry Nuclear Science Weather
Scoutcraft	Camping Cooking Orienteering Pioneering Wilderness Survival	Geocaching Lashing Competition Map and Compass Courses Orienteering Courses
Shooting Sports	Archery Rifle Shooting Shotgun Shooting	Open Archery Open Rifle Shooting Open Shotgun Shooting
Woodburning		Woodburning
No Specific Area or Offsite	DROP Program Golf Horseback Riding Music Photography Radio	Ajapeu Award CPR Training Duty to God Program OA Social Magic Tournament

Troop and Patrol Activities

More detail on these activities can be found in the Other Troop Activities area of the Unit Program Page

Activity	Can be Done By
Airband Competition	Troop
Bamboo Lashing Competition	Troop
Clean Campsite Award	Troop
Closing Campfire Program	Troop
Golden Skillet	Troop
Honor Camper	Troop
Honor Patrol	Patrol
Honor Troop	Troop
Inter-troop Games	Patrol, Troop
Map and Quiz Course	Patrol
GPS	Patrol
Open Games	Patrol, Troop
Orienteering and Compass Courses	Patrol, Troop
Service Projects	Patrol, Troop
Troop Boating	Troop
Troop Games	Troop
Volleyball Tournament	Troop
Water Carnival	Troop

Other camp activities can be done as troop or patrol activities with proper arrangement such as the orienteering courses and Mountain Biking. Some activities cannot reasonably be done as a troop, most notably shooting sports. The ranges have limited capacity and there’s simply too much demand to exclude other shooters and merit badge participants. There’s nothing preventing a unit from visiting the ranges all at once but their is neither a guarantee of capacity nor availability.