Scouting Rounds a Guy Out

What Is Cub Scouting?
In 1930 the Boy Scouts of America launched a home- and neighborhood-centered program for boys 9 to 11 years of age. A key element of the program is an emphasis on caring, nurturing relationships between boys and their parents, adult leaders, and friends. Currently, Cub Scouting is the largest of the BSA's three membership divisions. (The others are Boy Scouting and Venturing.)

Cub Scouting has nine purposes:

1. Positively influence character development and encourage spiritual growth
2. Help boys develop habits and attitudes of good citizenship
3. Encourage good sportsmanship and pride in growing strong in mind and body
4. Improve understanding within the family
5. Strengthen boys' ability to get along with other boys and respect other people
6. Foster a sense of personal achievement by helping boys develop new interests and skills
7. Show how to be helpful and do one's best
8. Provide fun and exciting new things to do
9. Prepare boys to become Boy Scouts

Cub Scout Activities

Activities
Cub Scouting means "doing." Everything in Cub Scouting is designed to have the boys 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.

Cub Scout Sports and Academics
The Cub Scout Sports and Academics program provides the opportunity for boys to learn new techniques, develop sportsmanship, increase scholarship skills, and have fun. Participation in the program allows boys to be recognized for physical fitness and talent-building activities.

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 boy 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.

Scout Programs

Cub Scouts

Bobcat

Bobcat rank is the first rank for all boys who join Cub Scouting. The Bobcat badge teaches new Cub Scouts the Law of the Pack, Cub Scout Promise, Cub Scout Handshake and much more that prepares them to be good Scouts.

Tigers

Tiger Cubs BSA is a simple and fun program for first-grade boys and their families. The Tiger Cub program introduces boys and their adult partners to the excitement of Cub Scouting as they "Search, Discover, and Share" together. The Tiger Cub program is for first-grade (or age 7) boys and their adult partners.

There are five Tiger Cub achievement areas.
The Tiger Cub, working with his adult partner, completes 15 requirements within these areas to earn the Tiger Cub Badge. These requirements consist of an exciting series of indoor and outdoor activities just right for a boy in the first grade.

Wolf

The Wolf program is for boys who have completed first grade (or are age 8). To earn the Wolf badge, a boy must pass twelve achievements involving simple physical and mental skills.

Bear

The Bear rank is for boys who have completed second grade (or are age 9). There are twenty-four Bear achievements in four different categories. The Cub Scout must complete twelve of these to earn the Bear badge. These requirements are somewhat more difficult and challenging than those for Wolf rank.

Webelos

Webelos

This program is for boys who have completed third grade (or are age 10). A boy may begin working on the Webelos badge as soon as he joins a Webelos den. This is the first step in his transition from the Webelos den to the Boy Scout troop. As he completes the requirements found in the Webelos Scout Book, he will work on activity badges, attend meetings led by adults, and become familiar with the Boy Scout requirements - all leading to the Arrow of Light Award.

Boy Scouting

Boy Scout Ranks

Venturing

What is Venturing?
For young men and women, 14 through 21 years of age, it is the fastest-growing program in the BSA and focuses on special interests such as high adventure activities, sports, youth ministry and the arts.

Venturing is a new program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) through 21 years of age.

The Venturing Process
Venturing identifies the needs and desires of today's young adults of high school and college age. It then matches these youth with community organizations that can satisfy these needs and desires. The result is a Venturer crew.

Methods of Venturing:

Example: The adult leadership and the elected officers provide leadership by their personal example. The lifestyle, values, and beliefs of the leader can have a positive influence on youth.

Doing Things Together: Planning and working with youth as equals give continual opportunity to influence and guide their values and expectations.

The Expectation of Good: Venturers are expected to carry out responsibility. Self-discipline is encouraged. A positive attitude produces a positive response.

Recognizing Achievement: Youth adults need and deserve recognition for achievement and leadership. The most effective recognition with this age group is the same as used with adults.

The Democratic Process: The election of officers and involvement in decision-making provided an insight into citizenship. It's the adult method of operation.

Youth and Adult Awards
A variety of awards are available to Venturers and adults, from achievement awards such as the Bronze, Gold, and Silver awards to recognitions including the Venturing Leadership Award.

Program Support
The Venturing Division provides literature, audiovisuals, training, activities, and awards to support Venturing crews and ships.

Activities
The program of every Venturing crew revolves around a special avocation or hobby interest. What a Venturing crew does is limited only by the imagination and involvement of the adult and youth leaders and members of the crew.

The Crew Program
Venturing has no packaged program for use with crews. It has a procedure whereby each Venturing unit can design a specific program to meet the needs of its members, using the resources of the chartered organization and community. The key to this program design is the program capability inventory (PCI), which actually lists the people and their resources available to the crew. The youth are then involved in designing a program based on these resources that will be meaningful to the unit's membership.

Almost all Venturer Crew programs center on a special interest--thrust of activity that serves as a central theme of what the crew does. The special interest may involve a career, hobby, sport, outdoor adventure, or other adult-related subject. Some crews' programs are so diverse that they list "varied interest" as their special interest. The important point is that the crew's program has a real direction and the Venturers know where they are headed.