New Scout Orientation

Everything you need to know about the Cub Scouting program

Adventure ahead!

The Cub Scouting advancement program was completely revised on June 1, 2015. We’ve got your road map to this new Cub Scouting program, including what changed (and what didn't change) including the new adventure loops.

In fact, most things about Cub Scouting are staying the same, including den and pack structures, age and gender requirements, and the emphasis on fun and doing your best.

Cub Scouting will now have seven methods:

• Living the Ideals(which incorporates the former Making Character Connections method)
• Belonging to a Den
• Using Advancement
• Involving Family and Home
• Participating in Activities
• Serving Home and Neighborhood
• Wearing the Uniform.

All that’s really changed is how the ideals and advancement methods are implemented.

As part of the revised Cub Scout program, the boys will now learn the Scout Oath and Scout Law. This change emphasizes the unity of the Scouting movement and makes it a bit easier for Cub Scouting to live out Scouting’s mission and vision statements, both of which refer to the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The Cub Scout motto, sign, salute and handshake are not changing.

What’s an Adventure?

Perhaps the most important word in the revised Cub Scout program is “adventure.” In Cub Scout terms, an adventure is a collection of themed, multidisciplinary activities representing enough engaging content for three den meetings and one pack meeting — about a month’s worth of programming,in other words.

The word “adventure” emphasizes that Cub Scout activities should be fun and should take boys places they’ve never been. The adventures focus on learning by doing instead of learning by listening. Requirements are full of words like build, play, go, find, demonstrate and discover, not words like discuss, learn and share.

The Tiger, Wolf and Bear books contain 19 adventures each,while the Webelos Handbook (which covers two years) contains 27. That means there will be plenty of material for year-round fun, even in the Arrow of Light year.

Advancement

With the introduction of the new advancement program, the Academics and Sports Program has been retired. However, many of its best elements have been incorporated into the new adventures, and the new adventure loops ensure that boys’ belts will be as jangly as ever.

To earn a rank, a boy must complete a mix of seven required and elective adventures.

New Cub Scouts will continue to earn the Bobcat badge before working on other requirements.

To earn Bobcat, boys must learn about the Scout Oath and Scout Law and the Cub Scout sign, handshake, motto and salute; they must also complete the exercises described in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide.

Boys receive an adventure loop (previously called belt loops) for each adventure at the Tiger, Wolf and Bear levels, and an adventure pin (worn on the Webelos colors or Webelos cap) for each adventure at the Webelos and Arrow of Light ranks. The recognition items for required adventures are full-color, while the ones for elective adventures are monochromatic. Once a boy completes seven adventures for a given rank, he receives the pocket patch.

To maintain consistency across ranks, boys entering the program in the fifth grade no longer must earn the Webelos badge as a prerequisite for Arrow of Light.