What Is Cub Scouting?

If you are a boy in first grade through fifth grade—or you're 7 to 10 years old—then Cub Scouting is for you. It's for your family, too. This is the first and the biggest of the three Scouting programs (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing) from the Boy Scouts of America.

Cub Scouts Belong to Pack and Den

Every Cub Scout is a member of a Cub Scout pack. A pack is a large group of boys.

The pack is divided into smaller groups called dens. Each den has about six to eight boys. All of the Cub Scouts in a den are about the same age and live in the same neighborhood.

The Cub Scout pack belongs to a church, a school, or some other group of people in your community or neighborhood. This group makes sure your pack has good adult leaders, a place to meet, and exciting things to do. The group gets help from the Boy Scouts of America, which is part of Scouting around the world.

Cub Scouts Do Things and Go Places

Cub Scouting means "doing." You have lots to do as a Cub Scout—crafts, games, sports, songs, stories, and puzzles, to name a few things. Much of the fun happens right in the den and pack. The den usually meets every week, and the pack meets once a month all year long. At den meetings and pack meetings, Cub Scouts do different things for fun and learning.

Cub Scouts also go to events like the annual blue and gold banquet, field contests, and derbies such as the pinewood derby. They go on field trips. They go camping and have other kinds of outdoor adventures. They take part in community events. Cub Scouts do all sorts of exciting stuff! Whatever it is that you enjoy, you'll have a chance to do it in Cub Scouting.

Cub Scouts Earn Awards

While you're having fun, you'll also be earning badges and awards. You'll work on projects with your parents or other adults in your family, and all of you will feel good about the things you accomplish. When you have earned a badge, you and an adult member of your family take part in a ceremony. The badge is given to the adult, and he or she then gives it to you in front of the whole pack. This is a way of saying "thank you" to your family for their help in earning your award.

The most popular awards for Cub Scouts are the advancement awards. Boys do requirements to advance and earn their badges of rank: Tiger Cub, Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and the Arrow of Light Award. The Arrow of Light is the highest award in Cub Scouting. Webelos Scouts also earn activity badges.

The Cub Scout Academics and Sports program is popular, too. Cub Scouts get to learn about favorite subjects such as art, math, science, and citizenship. Or they play individual and team sports such as archery, gymnastics, skating, or soccer. You don't need to be a star athlete to play Cub Scout Sports. You're a winner when you do your best.

Cub Scouts can earn many other awards and medals too, sometimes by themselves and sometimes as members of their pack. They can earn or help their pack earn Quality Unit awards, religious emblems, the Emergency Preparedness Award, the Outdoor Activity Award, or the World Conservation Award.

When you earn an award in Cub Scouting, you learn new skills. You also get to use your new skills and your new knowledge in projects and demonstrations. You show what you know. People get to see what you've learned as a Cub Scout.

Cub Scouting Has a Purpose

There is a reason for everything boys do in Cub Scouting. Apart from the fun and excitement, the aim of Cub Scouting is to help boys grow into good citizens who are strong in character and personally fit. This is why we say that Cub Scouting is fun with a purpose.

Cub Scout Values

As a Cub Scout, you do your best and you help others. You learn the Cub Scout Promise and the Law of the Pack. You also learn what they mean.

The Cub Scout Promise

I 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.

It's important not just to say the Promise, but to know what it means.

I promise

When you say "I promise," it means you will do your best to keep your word. It is very important to keep your promises and to stand by the things you say. This shows people that they can trust you and rely on you.

To do my best

Giving your best effort is right and honest. Always remember that your best is not the same as someone else's best. Doing the best you can is more important than trying to be better than someone else.

To do my duty to God

Doing what is right and not doing things we know are wrong is one way to do our duty to God. Another way is to practice our religion at home and at our place of worship. We should respect other people's religious beliefs even if they are different from our own.

And my country

Duty to country starts with being a good citizen. This means caring about the people in your community and helping people. Good citizenship also means obeying the law. It means standing up for the rights of all Americans. Good citizens also take care of America's land, water, and natural places.

To help other people

Helping other people means doing things to help those around you—your family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and others in your community—without having to be told.

And to obey the Law of the Pack

Besides obeying the Law of the Pack (below), you should obey the laws in your community and state, the rules in your school, the rules at home, and the code of conduct in your den.

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.

Just as the parts of the Cub Scout Promise have a meaning, each part of the Law of the Pack has a meaning.

The Cub Scout follows Akela

Akela means "good leader." To a Cub Scout, Akela may be a parent, a teacher, a religious leader, a Cub Scout leader, or another guide. A Cub Scout should choose a good leader to follow.

The Cub Scout helps the pack go

Your pack needs you to be a good member. A good member goes to all meetings, follows the leaders, and pitches in to make the pack better. Being a good member of the pack means doing your share, and sometimes a little more, to help the pack.

The pack helps the Cub Scout grow

With the leaders and Cub Scouts all working together, the pack helps you grow into a better person. You will learn new things and new skills. You'll learn the right way to do the right things. And along the way, you will help others.

The Cub Scout gives goodwill

Doing good things for others doesn't just make them happy. It also gives them the desire (or the "will") to do good things for others in turn. In this way, the good things you do for others make ripples that pass the goodwill from person to person. The spirit of helpfulness and good cheer spreads from you to others in your neighborhood.