Welcome John!!!

Not to point out the obvious, but you've found PTC! Your GOLDEN!!! (LOL) I've taken so much from ALL of the contributors at PTC and much of it is based on experience rather than the written word. Now, each unit/den is individual and has it's own dynamics that always have to be considered but being able to think outside the box is a big help!! Even if it's just taking a "simple" idea and expanding on it.

Now, to directly answer your question….sorta. We have a large den that meets for 90 min every other week. What he does to keep them engaged & interested is that he breaks them up into smaller, shorter activities. This works for both the size of the den and the length of the meeting. He's lucky enough to have VERY active parents and 3 assistants so they all take turns running different activities. One of the meetings that I sat in on he was working on achievements. One group was working on flag raising protocols (he had made a special flag pole so they could work inside!), another group was playing skill games and the third was writing letters or family trees (can't remember which). He had a parent watching the clock and at a certain mark the boys switched up. Then at the end of the meeting they regrouped and worked on their skit for the upcoming Pack Meeting.

The boys were so busy they didn't even realize that they had just spent 90 min at cub scouts! And they all seemed to have alot of fun.

So, I'd say break it up. Do several "little" projects to keep them on their toes. They don't even have to be all on the same achievement or work together well. I personally would stay away from longer projects/activities. Studies show that the attention span of an average cub scout is between 7 & 12 minutes so you really need to be on your toes!

Good luck and feel free to throw up your hands with any questions!!!!

You sound like you're well on your way.  MISS Kris already said pretty much what I would have said.  When I was den leader, I stuck to once a week, one hour meetings, but two of our current den leaders are cramped for time and thus have 90 minute meetings twice a month as you do.  They have several smaller activities – and sometimes even stations so that different boys are working on different things at the same time and get some very focused adult supervision while working on them.

As Mark mentioned, Baloos Bugle is a fabulous resource. 

For craft and project ideas, I often head to http://www.makingfriends.com/ for ideas and even materials (though I feel inclined to warn you that it often takes them awhile to ship things out, so if you do order through them, order well in advance!)  A lot of the stuff there is a bit too "girly" for my tastes (ha! the irony!) but there are some good ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  I loved the "What's for Dinner" pictures found here: http://www.makingfriends.com/dinner.htm and we made use of them when our Wolves discussed healthy food options, the food pyramid, food planning, etc.  We played around with the paper food for awhile then moved to the kitchen to actually make stuff.  Good times.

I really love the ideas here: http://www.e-scoutcraft.com/ – though some felt a little outdated when I did the den leader gig.  (Truthfully, I haven't been a den leader in a long while nor used the site in awhile so it may be different, now.)

There was a man named Bill Smith who was a Roundtable Chairman who had a TON of stuff up on his site, but his site seems to be defunct now, sadly.   There are probably dozens of other sites that have Round Table publications, so check those out.  They probably won't step-by-step plan meetings you'd be satisfied with, but they'll get your juices flowing and you'll be able to adapt things to suit your needs.

Do you have a How-To book?  There are great project ideas in there. 

I often would find project ideas by doing 'net searches related to the monthly theme and then the grade level for the boys… for example: "earth friendly projects for third graders", or "circus crafts for second grade" – I realize that'll eat up a lot of time, but for me it's generally just a matter of getting some base ideas and then making them my own.

Enjoy your Wolf Den!