Cub Scout Restructuring
No matter when your Cub Scout journey begins, there are many wonders to be experienced at each level of the program from Lion to Arrow of Light dens.
Cub Scouts must complete six required adventures and two elective adventures to earn their Rank badge. The six required adventures for each den are summarized as Character & Leadership, Outdoors, Personal Fitness, Citizenship, Personal Safety Awareness, and Family & Reverence. The activities within these six adventures are similar at each den level though they vary slightly based on your youth’s abilities.
For instance, the Outdoors Adventure requires Lion and Tiger dens to walk for 20 mins exploring the outdoors, whereas Wolf den is required to walk for 30 mins, Bear den is required to walk 1 mile and Webelos den is required to walk 2 miles. The Arrow of Light (AOL) den does not have a time or distance requirement for walking but instead are expected to complete other age-appropriate tasks to prepare them for Scouting with a troop. The Cubmaster could consider organizing a Pack walkabout in a neighborhood, on a park trail, or through a nature center where the AOL den could lead the other dens on the path. Thus, empowering the AOL den to lead others in a safe, supported, and fun activity.
The new structure of the Cub Scout program provides an opportunity to hold more pack meetings. These are where all the dens come together and work on similar adventure requirements across each of the dens. A future den meeting can be held later to address the remainder of the requirements that are specific to each rank.
Youth are just as likely to learn from a peer in their den as they are to learn from an older peer in another den. Pack meetings allow the upper dens (Bear, Webelos, & AOL) to lead and work alongside the lower Dens (Lion, Tiger, & Wolf) in a supervised setting. The upper dens can use this opportunity to reinforce their Cub Scouting knowledge by mentoring the lower dens. The lower dens can also learn from pack meetings by observing the upper dens on how to conduct one‘s self in a meeting, work on their listening and attention skills, and give them someone to look up to in Cub Scouting.
Consider holding one pack meeting and one den meeting a month. The pack meeting should be led by the Cubmaster and should address similar requirements across each of the dens. The den meeting should be led by a Den Leader and should focus on addressing the remainder of the den-specific requirements. The new structure provides a refreshing change to the Cub Scouting program, by sharing the responsibilities of completing Adventures.
Pack meetings provide an opportunity for parents to engage with the Cub Scout program. Just because the pack meeting is led by the Cubmaster doesn’t mean that they won’t need help. Although the Den Leaders are likely available to support the Cubmaster during the pack meetings, it’s also a great opportunity for other parents to get involved. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.
The Advancement Trail