‘The best part of Scouting is definitely the camps. I love every activity we do apart from swimming. They told us the pool was 24 degrees centigrade. Minus 24 more like!’

Cubs is the third section of the Scouting movement, originally started in 1916 for younger brothers who wanted a ‘look-in’. In nearly a century, the section has constantly evolved and adapted its programme and methods to meet the changing needs of each generation of young people, and these days admits girls as well as boys.

Basics

Cub Scouts are young people aged between 8 and 10 1/2, who make up the second section of the Scouting family, between Beavers and Scouts.

Joining

Under some circumstances, Cub Scouts can join the Pack as young as 7 1/2 if, for example, they have friends joining at the same time, or are mature enough to move on early from Beavers, (and there is space in the Pack). Such decisions are taken by Cub and Beaver Scout leaders.

Activities

During their time in the Pack, Cub Scouts will get a chance to try lots of different activities like swimming, music, exploring, computing and collecting.

There are a range of badges available which Cub Scouts can wear on their uniforms to show everyone how well they’re doing.

Cub Scouts also get to go on trips and days out, to places like the zoo, theme parks or a farm. Sometimes they will be able to go camping with the rest of the Pack and take part in all kinds of outdoor activities.

There is a range of badges and awards available to young people in the Cub Scout Section. A full list with requirements can be found on the Scout Associations website here

Structure and Organisation

A Pack of Cub Scouts is organised into Sixes, with each Six named after a colour, and a Sixer and a Seconder in charge.

The recommended maximum size of a Cub Scout Pack is 36 Cub Scouts. To meet local circumstance this maximum number may be increased, either in the long term or the short term with the agreement of the Group Scout Leader.

Promise, Law and Motto

Promise

I promise that I will do my best
To do my duty to God and to the Queen
To help other people
And to keep the Cub Scout Law.

Cub Scout Law

Cub Scouts always do their best
Think of others before themselves
And do a good turn every day.

The Cub Scout Motto

Be Prepared

Activity badges

Many of the badges available are activity badges, which allow Cub Scouts to show their progress in existing pursuits, but also to try all kinds of new things and form new interests.

Challenge awards

Gaining a challenge badge involves accomplishing a number of more ambitious tasks within the Pack or community. There are several challenge badges across a number of themes, from the physical and outdoorsy to challenges dealing with the local community or issues connected with the Scouting world.

Core badges

In addition, there are a number of special badges, obtained upon joining or moving on from the Pack, or for time spent in the Scouting movement.

Activity packs

Some activity badges are sponsored by outside companies, and these companies often provide extra exciting resource packs to help Cub Scouts towards gaining their badges.

Staged Activity Badges

The staged activity badges have been designed to provide a unified approach throughout the sections.

There are six activity badges staged across the sections.

This means that a young person can gain whichever badge is appropriate to the level they have reached. It is possible, for example, for a Beaver Scout who is an excellent swimmer to gain a higher level badge than a Scout who has just taken up the activity.

A young person should always wear only the highest of each staged badge type that they have gained on the uniform.

Balanced Programme

The philosophy underpinning the programme is that every Cub Scout should participate in a Balanced Programme over a period of time.

What we offer to young people in the Cub Scout section is a range of activities, events and experiences built around six Programme Zones.

You balance the programme in the same way you’d balance a diet, by simply ensuring that over a given period (a month or a term, for example), there is something from each zone in the programme.

Young people experience scouting by regularly taking part in quality activities, drawn from each Programme Zone (or self development area for scout network). Personal achievement can be recognised by earning awards and badges leading to the chief scout’s awards and the Queen’s Scout Award.

We deliver the activities across the Programme Zones using a variety of Methods, and the final element of the Balanced Programme for Cub Scouts is the Bottom Line – a list of things you’d hope to see going on if you were to walk into a typical Pack meeting.

The bottom line experience of being a Cub Scout will always include:-

Uniform

uniform

Flag

flag
The Cub Scout flag is yellow, bearing the Scout symbol and motto.