Webelos

Cub Scouts · Rank

Webelos is a big year in Cub Scouts. You'll take longer hikes, learn to keep yourself and your family safe, and get to know your community better. Work through the adventures with your den, and you'll be ready for Arrow of Light.

Why it's worth it

Webelos is the year your child starts doing things instead of watching them. Fourth graders plan their own 2-mile walk, cook a real meal, talk with an elected official, and help their family get ready for storms or other emergencies. Those are grown-up skills, and kids feel it. It's also the year a den learns to work as a team, which makes the jump to Arrow of Light and then a Scouts BSA troop feel natural instead of scary.

Start this week

Sit down with your Scout and the handbook or the den's plan, and let them circle the two electives that sound most exciting.
Do the Parent's Guide youth protection activities for Bobcat at home this week. It takes one quiet evening and checks off a requirement.
Put the pack's big dates on the family calendar: the Pinewood Derby, any campouts, and summer day camp.
Ask your den leader which adventures the den will cover at meetings and which ones families are expected to do at home.

Plan ahead: Spread the six required adventures across the school year and drop the electives in between to keep it fun. Watch dates you don't control: Race Time follows your pack's race day, and Summertime Fun only counts May through August.

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).

Requirement 1
Bobcat
Tip: Bobcat helps you get to know your den and the Scout Oath and Law. Make up a den code of conduct together.
For example: A good Bobcat month: a name game at the first meeting, the den writes its own Code of Conduct, and each Scout takes a turn as denner. At home, one evening on the Parent's Guide.
Requirement 2
Webelos Walkabout
Tip: Webelos Walkabout is a 2-mile hike. Pack your Six Essentials and pick a fun route, like a park trail.
For example: Walkabout fits nicely in early fall. Your Scout picks a 2-mile loop at a park, checks the forecast the night before, and packs their own Six Essentials while you only double-check.
Requirement 3
Stronger, Faster, Higher
Tip: Stronger, Faster, Higher is about eating well and staying active. Try cooking a healthy meal with your family.
Requirement 4
My Community
Tip: My Community is about voting, laws, and service. Ask a local official how they were elected.
For example: Many dens schedule My Community around an election season, when officials are visible and voting is in the news. The service project can be a den park cleanup or a food drive at school.
Requirement 5
My Safety
Tip: My Safety is about staying safe at home and in emergencies. Go on a hazard hunt around your house with a parent.
Requirement 6
My Family
Tip: My Family is about faith, kindness, and traditions. Make a holiday craft or food your family loves.
Requirement 7
Complete any 2 elective adventures
Tip: Pick two electives that sound fun to you, like Aquanaut, Build It, or Yo-Yo.
For example: Let interests lead the electives. A builder might pick Build It and Modular Design; an outdoor kid might choose Let's Camp and Catch the Big One; a creative kid might love Art Explosion.

Places to visit

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

Your pack's Arrow of Light or crossover ceremony
Seeing fifth graders cross over gives Webelos a clear picture of where this year is headed.
How: Ask your Cubmaster when the ceremony is and come as a family. Most packs welcome younger dens to cheer.

Talk about it together

Which adventure this year made you feel most grown-up, and why?
What's something you planned yourself this year that went the way you hoped?
When the den had a disagreement, how did you help work it out?
What's one thing you can do now to keep yourself or your family safe that you couldn't before?
What are you most curious about for Arrow of Light next year?

Good questions to ask your den leader

Which adventures will the den do at meetings, and which should we do at home?
How do you want families to report adventures we finish on our own?
Which electives is the den planning, and can my Scout suggest one?
What outings or campouts are coming up, and how can I help?
When do Webelos usually start visiting Scouts BSA troops in our area?

Helpful reads

Cub Scouts: a guide for families, How Cub Scout ranks and adventures work from kindergarten through fifth grade, what an adult partner does, and how to keep it fun at meetings and at home., Families · Leaders · 4 min read

For leaders & parents

Plan the year so required adventures are spread out, with electives mixed in to keep meetings fresh.
Ask scouts which electives excite them and let their interests shape the den's choices.

People & places that can help

Den leader and Cubmaster — They can help plan adventures and record progress.
Scouting America (opens in a new tab) — Official requirements and program updates.
Scouting America: Cub Scouts (opens in a new tab) — How the Cub Scout program works, rank by rank, for families.
Guide to Safe Scouting (opens in a new tab) — The safety rules Scouting follows for outings, camping, and activities.

Arrow of Light, Rank · 7 requirements

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