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Mountain Lion

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Required

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Mountain Lion is your first real outdoor adventure. You'll pack the Cub Scout Six Essentials, go exploring with your grown-up, and notice the plants and animals around you. A short walk can turn into a big discovery.

Why it's worth it

Mountain Lion is your first time heading outside as a Cub Scout explorer. You'll carry your own Six Essentials, notice what nature made and what people made, and learn what to do if you ever get separated from your group. Knowing these things makes every walk, hike, and campout after this one feel less scary and a lot more fun.

Start this week

  1. Find the Six Essentials at home with your adult: a first-aid kit, water bottle, flashlight, trail food, sun protection, and a whistle.
  2. Pack them in a small backpack and try carrying it around the house or the block.
  3. With your adult, pick a park or trail close to home where you can walk for 20 minutes or more.

Stay safe

  • Stay with your adult the whole walk, carry your whistle, and look at wild animals from far away without touching or feeding them.

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

    Name the Cub Scout Six Essentials and show how you use each one

    Tip: Lay out your Six Essentials on the floor and act out how you'd use each one. Then pack them in a small backpack.

    For example: Hold up each item and act it out: sip from the water bottle, pretend to put on sunscreen, shine the flashlight under a blanket, eat one cracker, open the first-aid kit, and blow the whistle three times.

  2. Requirement 2

    Spend at least 20 minutes exploring outside with your Six Essentials, with your den, pack, or family; with your adult partner, point out natural things and human-made things

    Tip: Walk at a park or trail for 20 minutes. Make two piles of pictures or a list: things nature made and things people made.

    For example: On your walk, play "Nature or People?" Point at a tree (nature), a bench (people), a rock (nature), a trash can (people). Count how many of each you find.

  3. Requirement 3

    Learn what S.A.W. means

    Tip: Ask your den leader what S.A.W. stands for, then practice it on a walk so you remember.

    For example: S.A.W. means Stay, Answer, Whistle. If you get lost, stay where you are, answer when you hear your name, and blow your whistle three times. Practice it in the backyard as a game.

  4. Requirement 4

    Name common animals that live near you and sort them into wild and domesticated

    Tip: Name animals you see near home, then sort them: pets and farm animals in one group, wild animals in the other.

    For example: Make two piles of animal pictures. Dogs, cats, chickens, and cows go in the domesticated pile. Squirrels, robins, deer, and ducks go in the wild pile. Which ones live near you?

Places to visit

Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.

  • A nature center or park visitor center

    Staff can show you which wild animals live nearby and the signs they leave, like tracks and feathers.

    How: Have your adult check the center's website for family programs, or call and ask if a naturalist can say hello to your den.

  • An animal shelter or farm

    Seeing pets and farm animals up close helps you tell domesticated animals from wild ones.

    How: Your den leader or adult can call ahead and ask if young groups can visit. Go with your den and stay with your grown-up.

Talk about it together

  • Which of the Six Essentials do you think you'll use the most, and why?
  • What was the coolest thing nature made that you saw on your walk?
  • What would you do first if you could not see your grown-up on a trail?
  • What wild animal would you most like to see on your next walk?
  • How did it feel to carry your own backpack?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Choose a short, easy trail with restrooms nearby so the first outing feels fun, not tiring.
  • Bring picture cards of local animals for a quick sorting game during snack time.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Counts toward

More Lion adventures

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