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Let's Camp

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Elective

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Let's Camp gets you ready for a Cub Scout campout and gives you more camping skills. You'll pack your gear, help set up a tent, and stay with your buddy. Then you'll enjoy a night outdoors with your pack.

Why it's worth it

On this campout, you're not just along for the ride. Let's Camp has you pack your own Six Essentials, show the gear you'll need, and help pitch a tent in a spot you choose yourself. Then you'll spend a night outdoors with your pack, with a buddy by your side, a campfire program, and stories to bring home.

Start this week

  1. Ask your den leader when the next pack campout or council Cub Scout overnight is.
  2. Pack your Six Essentials in a small bag and carry it around the house to check the weight.
  3. Lay out your personal gear on your bed and check it against a list with your adult.
  4. Practice setting up a tent in a yard, a park, or your living room before the trip.

Stay safe

  • Stay with your buddy, and only go near the campfire when an adult says it's okay.
  • Check the forecast with your adult and know where your group will go if a storm comes.

Requirements · 5

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

    Review how the buddy system works outdoors

    Tip: Practice buddy checks at a meeting so they're easy at camp.

    For example: Review the rules with your den: stay with your buddy everywhere, check in with your adult, and when someone calls buddy check, find your buddy and raise your hands together.

  2. Requirement 2

    Pack the Cub Scout Six Essentials to bring on the campout

    Tip: Pack your Six Essentials in a small bag you can carry yourself.

  3. Requirement 3

    Besides the Six Essentials, show the personal gear you will need for the campout

    Tip: Lay out your sleeping bag, warm clothes, and toothbrush, and show them to your leader.

    For example: Your gear might include a sleeping bag, a pad, pajamas, a warm hat, a rain jacket, extra socks, a toothbrush, and a water bottle. Pack it all in one bag you can carry.

  4. Requirement 4

    Help set up a tent; pick a good spot for it and explain why you chose it

    Tip: Look for a flat spot without rocks, roots, or low spots where water collects, then help pitch the tent.

    For example: A good tent spot is flat, free of rocks, roots, and pinecones, not in a low spot where rain collects, and not under dead branches. Explain your choice, then help set up.

  5. Requirement 5

    Go on a pack campout or attend a Cub Scout overnight camp run by your council or district

    Tip: Go to a pack campout or council overnight and enjoy it.

Talk about it together

  • How did you pick your tent spot, and how did it work out overnight?
  • Which part of packing did you do by yourself this time?
  • What was the best moment of the campout?
  • What would you do differently next time?
  • What camping skill do you want to learn next?

Good questions to ask a camp ranger or experienced camper

  • How do you pick a great tent spot?
  • What do you do if it rains at night?
  • What's the most useful thing you pack?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Practice pitching tents at a meeting before the campout.
  • Make sure the campout has trained adults and follows pack camping rules.

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.