Cub Scouts do fun things with other kids! They get to wear a cool uniform, go places, and see things. They play all kinds of sports and build things, like race cars and bird houses.
Want to learn a secret code? Want to learn about wild animals? If you're in the first through fifth grades (ages 6 to 10), go Cub Scouting!
Program Facts
What is Cub Scouting?
In 1930 the Boy Scouts of America launched a home- and neighborhood-centered program for youth 9 to 11 years of age. A key element of the program is an emphasis on caring, nurturing relationships between Scouts and their parents, adult leaders, and friends. Currently, Cub Scouting is the largest of the BSA's three membership divisions. (The others are Scouts BSA and Venturing.)
The Purposes of Cub Scouting
Cub Scouting has nine purposes: to
- Positively influence character development and encourage spiritual growth
- Help youth develop habits and attitudes of good citizenship
- Encourage good sportsmanship and pride in growing strong in mind and body
- Improve understanding within the family
- Strengthen your youth's ability to get along with other children and respect other people
- Foster a sense of personal achievement by helping Scouts develop new interests and skills
- Show how to be helpful and do one's best
- Provide fun and exciting new things to do
- Prepare youth to join Scouts BSA
Membership
Cub Scouting has program components for youth in the first through fifth grades (or ages 7, 8, 9, or 10). Members join a Cub Scout pack and are assigned to a den, usually a neighborhood group of six to eight children. First-grade Scouts (Tiger Cubs) meet twice a month, while Wolf Cub Scouts (second graders), Bear Cub Scouts (third graders), and Webelos Scouts (fourth and fifth graders) meet weekly.
Once a month, all of the dens and family members gather for a pack meeting under the direction of a Cubmaster and pack committee. The committee includes parents of youth in the pack and members of the chartered organization.
Volunteer Leadership
Thousands of volunteer leaders, both men and women, are involved in the Cub Scout program. They serve in a variety of positions, as everything from unit leaders to pack committee chairmen, committee members, den leader coaches, and chartered organization representatives.
Like other phases of the Scouting program, Cub Scouting is made available to groups having similar interests and goals, including professional organizations, government bodies, and religious, educational, civic, fraternal, business, labor, and citizens' groups. These "sponsors" are called chartered organizations. Each organization appoints one of its members as a chartered organization representative. The organization, through the pack committee, is responsible for providing leadership, the meeting place, and support materials for pack activities.
Who Pays for It?
Groups responsible for supporting Cub Scouting are the Scouts and their parents, the pack, the chartered organization, and the community. The Scouts is encouraged to pay their own way by contributing dues each week. Packs also obtain income by working on council approved money-earning projects. The community, including parents, supports Cub Scouting through the United Way, Friends of Scouting enrollment, bequests, and special contributions to the BSA local council. This financial support provides leadership training, outdoor programs, council service centers and other facilities, and professional service for units.
Tiger Cubs BSA
Tiger Cubs BSA is a simple and fun program for first-grade youth and their families. The Tiger Cub program introduces youth and their adult partners to the excitement of Cub Scouting as they "Search, Discover, and Share" together.
The Tiger Cub program is conducted on two levels. First, the Tiger Cub and their adult partner meet in the home to conduct activities for the whole family. Second, the Tiger Cub and their adult partner meet twice a month with other Tiger Cubs and adult partners in the den, using the planned "big idea" (or theme) for their activity during one of the meetings. Each den meeting is hosted by a Tiger Cub-adult partner team.
Tiger Cubs BSA follows a school-year cycle. Scouts remain in the Tiger Cub program until they complete first grade. At that time, they graduate into a Cub Scout den and are eligible to participate in Cub Scout summer activities, including Cub Scout day camp.
Advancement Plan
Recognition is important to youth. The Cub Scout advancement plan provides fun for the Scouts, gives them a sense of personal achievement as they earn badges, and strengthens family understanding as adult family members work with youth on advancement projects.
Activities
Cub Scouting means "doing." Everything in Cub Scouting is designed to have the Scouts doing things. Activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting - citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness.
Many of the activities happen right in the den and pack. The most important are the weekly den meetings and the monthly pack meetings.
Camping
Age-appropriate camping programs are packed with theme-oriented action that brings Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts into the world of imagination. Day camping comes to the youth in neighborhoods across the country; resident camping is at least a three-day experience in which Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts camp within a developed theme of adventure and excitement. "Cub Scout Worlds" are used by many councils to carry the world of imagination into reality with actual theme structures of castles, forts, ships, etc. Cub Scout pack members enjoy camping in local council camps and council-approved national, state, county, or city parks. Camping programs combine fun and excitement with doing one's best, getting along with others, and developing an appreciation for ecology and the world of the outdoors.
Publications
Volunteers are informed of national news and events through Scouting magazine (circulation 900,000). Scouts may subscribe to Scouts' Life magazine (circulation 1.3 million). Both are published by the Boy Scouts of America. Also available are a number of Cub Scout and leader publications, including the Wolf Cub Scout Book, Bear Cub Scout Book, Webelos Scout Book, Cub Scout Leader Book, Cub Scout Program Helps, and Webelos Leader Guide.
Cub Scout Program Ideals
Apart from the fun and excitement of Cub Scout activities, a number of ideals are expressed in the day-to-day life of the Scout and their leaders.
The Tiger Cub Motto
Search, Discover, Share
The Cub Scout Promise
I, (name), promise to do my best
to do my duty to God and my country,
To help other people, and
To obey the Law of the Pack.
The Cub Scout Motto
Do Your Best
The Law of the Pack
The Cub Scout follows Akela.
The Cub Scout helps the pack go.
The pack helps the Cub Scout grow.
The Cub Scout gives goodwill.
Learn More...
To learn more about Cub Scouting, or to find out how to start, join, or support a pack, contact the Council Service Center or the local unit in your area.
