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Aware and Care

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Elective

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Aware and Care helps you understand what life is like for people with disabilities. You'll try activities that show some of the challenges and look for barriers around you. Most of all, you'll learn how to be a kind and helpful friend.

Why it's worth it

About one in four adults in the United States lives with some kind of disability, so you already know people who do, even if you don't know it. This adventure helps you notice the stairs, signs, and sounds that can make life harder, and the ramps, captions, and kind choices that make it easier. You'll learn to be the friend who includes everyone.

Start this week

  1. Learn to sign your first name in American Sign Language with your adult.
  2. On your next walk to school or a store, count how many curb ramps, automatic doors, or braille signs you see.
  3. Write three friendly questions you'd like to ask someone who lives with a disability.

Stay safe

  • During blindfold activities, have a buddy guide you, stay in a clear space, and never walk near stairs, streets, or hot things.

Requirements · 4

Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).

  1. Requirement 1

    Do an activity that shows what it's like to have a visual impairment

    Tip: Wear a blindfold and try a simple task, like pouring water, with a buddy keeping you safe.

    For example: With a blindfold on and a buddy guiding you, try to find your shoes, pour a cup of water over a sink, or tell coins apart by touch. Then talk about what helped, like a voice describing things or an item always kept in the same place.

  2. Requirement 2

    Do an activity that shows what it's like to have a hearing impairment

    Tip: Wear earplugs or try to understand a friend without sound. Learn a few signs in American Sign Language.

    For example: Wear earmuffs or earplugs while your den plays a game with spoken directions. Then play again using hand signals or written cards and talk about which way worked better.

  3. Requirement 3

    Explore barriers to access

    Tip: Walk around your school or a store and look for things that could be hard for someone in a wheelchair.

    For example: Walk around your school or a park and look for barriers: a step with no ramp, a heavy door, a sign that's too high or has tiny print. Draw a map that marks what works and what doesn't.

  4. Requirement 4

    Meet someone who has a disability, or who works with people with disabilities, to learn what obstacles they face and how they overcome them

    Tip: Invite a guest to your den, or visit someone with an adult. Prepare a few friendly questions to ask.

    For example: If someone visits, you might ask: "What's something you love to do?" "What do people get wrong about your disability?" "How can kids be good friends to someone with a disability?"

Talk about it together

  • Which activity was hardest for you, and how did it change how you think?
  • What's one barrier you noticed that you'd never seen before?
  • What did the person you met teach you?
  • How can you make sure everyone feels included in your den?
  • What's one thing you'll do differently after this adventure?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Remind scouts the goal is understanding and respect, not making fun.
  • Reach out to a local disability organization or school specialist to find a guest speaker.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Counts toward

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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.