There is a LOT of information out there, but it can be overwhelming if you're just starting out in cub scouting. I'll try to condense the necessary bits into something easy to digest. Don't be upset if it doesn't all make sense right away. It took me a full year before my head stopped spinning, and there are people who've been in scouting for decades and they still get confused! You'll find that just when you thought you knew it all, you'll learn something new! :)
BADGES
Bobcat:
Every cub scout must first earn his Bobcat Badge before doing anything else (no matter how old he is or where he is starting in the program). Think of it as Cub Scout initiation. There are 8 requirements, which are listed in the beginning of each handbook.
Tiger:
The Tiger program is for boys who have completed Kindergarten or are 7 years old. I don't know anything about the Tiger Badge, because our den is through our church, and they don't do Tiger Badges. I will try to add information to this section in the future!
Wolf:
Next up is Wolf, for boys who have completed 1st grade or are age 8. The Wolf program is pretty simple. They have 12 achievements in their handbook, and they need to do all of them to earn their badge.
Bear:
Then is Bear, for boys who have completed 2nd grade or are age 9. The Bear program is a little different. They also need to do 12 achievements to earn their badge, but there are 24 achievements in their handbook to choose from. These are divided up into 4 sections:
Webelos:
Webelos is the last of the Cub Scout Program, and is for boys who have completed 3rd grade or are age 10. While a cub scout works on his Webelos Badge, he may also earn the Arrow of Light Award, which is the highest honor a cub scout can get, and is the only patch
he can take with him to Boy
Scouts to wear on his uniform!
BADGES
Bobcat:Every cub scout must first earn his Bobcat Badge before doing anything else (no matter how old he is or where he is starting in the program). Think of it as Cub Scout initiation. There are 8 requirements, which are listed in the beginning of each handbook.
Tiger:The Tiger program is for boys who have completed Kindergarten or are 7 years old. I don't know anything about the Tiger Badge, because our den is through our church, and they don't do Tiger Badges. I will try to add information to this section in the future!
Wolf:
Next up is Wolf, for boys who have completed 1st grade or are age 8. The Wolf program is pretty simple. They have 12 achievements in their handbook, and they need to do all of them to earn their badge.
Bear:Then is Bear, for boys who have completed 2nd grade or are age 9. The Bear program is a little different. They also need to do 12 achievements to earn their badge, but there are 24 achievements in their handbook to choose from. These are divided up into 4 sections:
God, Country, Family, Self.
Webelos:
Webelos is the last of the Cub Scout Program, and is for boys who have completed 3rd grade or are age 10. While a cub scout works on his Webelos Badge, he may also earn the Arrow of Light Award, which is the highest honor a cub scout can get, and is the only patch
he can take with him to Boy
Scouts to wear on his uniform!
THE HANDBOOK
I will focus on Wolf & Bear, since that's what I know best right now. There are two main sections in each handbook: Achievements and Electives.
Achievements:
To earn his Wolf or Bear badge, a cub scout needs to finish the necessary achievements in the handbook. Each achievement has a certain number of requirements to pass it off. For example, this is Achievement #10 in the Wolf Handbook:
10. Family Fun, pg 88
- Do requirement a and any TWO other requirements 10b through 10g:
- a. Complete the Character Connection for Cooperation.
- b. Make a game like one of these. Play it with your family.
- c. Plan a walk. Go to a park or a wooded area, or visit a zoo or museum with your family.
- d. Read a book or Boys' Life magazine with your family. Take turns reading aloud.
- e. Decide with Akela. what you will watch on television or listen to on the radio.
- f. Attend a concert, a play, or other live program with your family.
- g. Have a family Board Game night at home with members of your family.
So he will need to do requirement a, and any two others of his choice. Then he has finished achievement #10. To keep track of their progress (and help motivate them), you'll give them Progress Beads at Den Meeting for their 'Progress Towards Rank' clip. That's this do-hickey that clips onto their scout shirt pocket:
Once all of his achievements are finished, he earns his badge. This is the bare minimum for the cub scouting program.
Electives:
After the achievements section, there is a section of electives. These are optional and don't count towards earning a badge. As a Den Mom, you may want to do a few electives throughout the year with your boys, just to keep things interesting, or to cater to a specific interest among the boys. But generally, these are things a scout can do on his own time, if he so wishes. Each topic has a list of electives to do. For example, this is Elective # 4 in the Bear Handbook:
4. Electricity
- a. Wire a buzzer or doorbell.
- b. Make an electric buzzer game.
- c. Make a simple bar or horseshoe electromagnet.
- d. Use a simple electric motor.
- e. Make a crane with an electromagnetic lift.
So #4a: wire a buzzer or doorbell, counts as 1 elective. He doesn't need to do all of the activities for #4 (a-e) for the elective to count- he can pick and choose, and skip around to his heart's content. For every 10 electives he passes off, he gets an Arrow Point. The first Arrow Point is gold, after that, they are all silver.They are sewn on the scout shirt.
BELT LOOPS AND PINS
(otherwise known as the 'Cub Scout Academics & Sports Program')
Besides Electives, a cub scout can also earn Belt Loops and Pins. These are also optional and are not required to advance. They are just fun insignia that show the varied interests and talents of the boy.
A list of the different Belt Loops and Pins is in the back of the handbook, but it doesn't list the requirements to earn them. For that you'll either need to purchase the Program Guide ($8 either online or at your local scout store) or you can look them up online at MeritBadge.org. I recommend buying the guide because it makes planning a LOT easier.
Belt Loops:
Each belt loop has only 3 requirements, and you can easily finish them in one den meeting. As a Den Mom, you'll want to do belt loops often. They are fast and easy to earn, and it helps keep the boys motivated as they work towards their badge (and they LOVE wearing them!). In my den, I try to do one belt loop every month. (They are pretty pricey awards, so your Cub Master probably wouldn't want you to do them more often than that!) You'll tell your Cub Master what belt loops your boys have earned, and they'll receive them at Pack Meeting. Pins:
After a scout has earned a belt loop, he can then go on to earn the pin as well. Honestly, I don't know many scouts who do these, and I don't do them with my den. I think a scout would have to have a very specialized interest in the activity to want to earn it. Each pin has a list of 10-15 requirements, and usually they need to pass off 5 of them to earn it.OTHER AWARDS
Is your head spinning yet? Well, there's just one more area to cover in the Basics! Besides the normal badges, achievements, requirements, beads, belt loops, pins, arrow points, and electives...**DEEP BREATH**...there are a few more awards a cub scout can earn. These are not necessary, and are usually done as a Pack if done at all (like at Scout Camp), so you really don't need to worry about them. But if you're interested, here is the list of them.
My favorite, and one our Pack is going to earn together, is this one:
