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Safe and Smart

Cub Scouts · Adventure, Elective

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Safe and Smart helps you know what to do at home in an emergency. You'll memorize important information, practice fire safety, and meet the people who help in emergencies. Being prepared keeps you and your family safe.

Why it's worth it

Firefighters say the most important thing in a fire is knowing what to do before it happens. In Safe and Smart you'll memorize your address and an emergency phone number, practice Stop, Drop, and Roll, make a fire escape plan with your family, check your smoke alarms, and meet real emergency responders. You could help keep your whole family safe.

Start this week

  1. Make up a little song or chant with your address in it and sing it on the way to school.
  2. Pick an emergency contact with your adult and practice saying their number.
  3. Walk around your home together and count the smoke alarms.

Stay safe

  • Never play with matches, lighters, or candles. Test smoke alarms with an adult, and practice your escape plan at least twice a year.

Requirements · 7

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

    Memorize your address and say it to your adult partner or den leader

    Tip: Turn your address into a little song or rhyme and say it every day until you know it.

  2. Requirement 2

    Memorize an emergency contact's phone number and say it to your adult partner or den leader

    Tip: Practice the emergency number with your adult, saying it like a chant, until you can recite it.

  3. Requirement 3

    Show you can Stop, Drop, and Roll

    Tip: Practice Stop, Drop, and Roll on soft carpet or grass until it's quick and automatic.

    For example: If your clothes catch fire: Stop where you are, Drop to the ground and cover your face with your hands, and Roll over and over until the fire is out. Practice on carpet or grass until it's quick.

  4. Requirement 4

    With your adult partner or den leader, plan how to escape a fire at home or at your den meeting place, including an outside meeting spot, and practice your way out

    Tip: Draw your home's map with two ways out and an outside meeting spot, then practice it with your family.

    For example: Draw a map of your home with your adult. Mark two ways out of every room, like a door and a window. Pick a meeting spot outside, like the mailbox or a big tree. Then practice with everyone.

  5. Requirement 5

    With your adult partner, find where the smoke detectors are at home or at your den meeting place and check that they work

    Tip: Find the smoke detectors with your adult and have them press the test button while you listen.

    For example: Your adult presses the test button on each smoke alarm while you listen for the loud beep. Write down where each alarm is, and remind your family to test them every month.

  6. Requirement 6

    With your adult partner or den leader, learn why only adults use matches and lighters

    Tip: Talk with your adult about why only grown-ups use matches and lighters, and what to do if you find one.

    For example: Matches and lighters can start fires in seconds, even by accident. If you find one, don't touch it. Tell a grown-up right away where it is.

  7. Requirement 7

    Visit an emergency responder station, or invite a responder to come to your den

    Tip: Visit a fire or police station, or have a responder visit your den, and bring questions.

    For example: Visit a fire station with your den. Watch a firefighter put on their gear, so you know they look different but are there to help. Ask what they want kids to know about fire safety.

Places to visit

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

  • A fire station

    Firefighters can show you their trucks, gear, and tools, and teach you what to do if there's a fire.

    How: Have your den leader call the station's non-emergency number and ask about a tour for a first-grade den. Many stations also host open houses in October.

  • A police station or ambulance station

    Officers and paramedics can show you how they respond when someone calls 911.

    How: Your den leader can call the non-emergency number and ask about a short den visit, or invite a responder to a den meeting.

Talk about it together

  • Where is your family's outside meeting spot, and how do you get there from your bedroom?
  • Who would you call in an emergency, and what would you say?
  • What did you learn from the emergency responders that surprised you?
  • Why do you think a firefighter in full gear might look scary to a kid, and why shouldn't you hide?
  • What can you teach a younger kid about fire safety?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Arrange a fire station visit and ask firefighters to show their gear.
  • Send home a simple fire escape plan sheet for families to complete together.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Counts toward

More Tiger adventures

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