Wolf

Cub Scouts · Rank

Wolf is the rank for second graders. You'll explore the outdoors, stay healthy, help your neighborhood, and learn to stay safe, all with your den and family. Every adventure is a chance to try something new and have fun along the way.

Why it's worth it

Wolf is the second-grade year, and it's when Cub Scouting starts to feel like real adventure. Your child takes a first nature walk with a buddy, learns rules that keep their body safe, builds a model neighborhood and then helps the real one, and shares what makes your family special. Each adventure fits in a den meeting or a weekend afternoon, and each ends with something your child did themselves. That's where a second grader's confidence comes from.

Start this week

Ask your den leader when the den will do Bobcat, and put the first few den meetings on the family calendar.
Pick a calm evening this week for the Parent's Guide youth protection activities. They're part of Bobcat and easy to leave until the end.
Read the list of Wolf electives together and let your child circle the two that sound the most fun.
Find your child's Annual Health and Medical Record, or fill one out, so it's ready to review for Running with the Pack.

Plan ahead: Start with Bobcat in the first den meetings; it builds the den and includes the Parent's Guide. Save Paws on the Path and any water, fishing, or bike electives for good weather, and use winter for indoor ones like Code of the Wolf or Germs Alive.

Stay safe

Outings near water, on bikes, or with fishing hooks need adults watching closely. Every outing uses the buddy system your Wolf learns in Safety in Numbers.

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: Get to know your den and learn the Scout Oath and Law. Try saying them together at the start of each meeting.
For example: In the first weeks, the den might play get-to-know-you bingo, make a den flag, and write a Code of Conduct poster that everyone signs. At home, you do the Parent's Guide activities together.
Requirement 2
Paws on the Path
Tip: Prepare for and take a nature walk. Pack your Six Essentials and look for animal homes as you go.
For example: A fall Saturday works well: pack the Six Essentials, pick a buddy, and walk a park loop for at least 30 minutes. On the way home, ask your Wolf to name four animals that could live there.
Requirement 3
Running with the Pack
Tip: Eat colorful foods, move your body, and rest. Try a family stretch break after dinner.
Requirement 4
Council Fire
Tip: Learn flag respect and build a model neighborhood. Then do a service project that helps where you live.
For example: The den might build homes from cardboard boxes, then a school or library from the same boxes, and line them up into a tabletop neighborhood before heading out to clean up a park.
Requirement 5
Safety in Numbers
Tip: Learn the Protect Yourself Rules and the buddy system. Practice picking a buddy at the park.
Requirement 6
Footsteps
Tip: Share your family's traditions and do an act of kindness. A thank-you card for a neighbor is a great start.
For example: At dinner, share a holiday your family celebrates and why it matters. Then pick one act of kindness, like a thank-you card for a mail carrier, and do it together.
Requirement 7
Complete any 2 elective adventures
Tip: Pick two electives that sound fun to you, like fishing, paper airplanes, or dinosaurs.
For example: One simple plan: an indoor elective in fall, like Code of the Wolf, and an outdoor one in spring, like A Wolf Goes Fishing. Many dens do Race Time alongside the pack's Pinewood Derby.

Talk about it together

What was your favorite thing your den did this year, and why?
What can you do now that you couldn't do when you started Wolf?
When did you see someone in your den live out a point of the Scout Law?
When something felt hard this year, what helped you keep trying?
What are you most excited to try when you're a Bear?

Good questions to ask your den leader

When does the den plan to work on each required adventure this year?
Which parts can we do at home, and how should we let you know when they're done?
Is there an adventure where a parent could help, like leading a walk or a service project?
When is the Pinewood Derby or Raingutter Regatta, and does the pack hold a build night?
How will our Wolf be recognized when they earn the rank?

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 den year so required adventures are spread out, with an elective sprinkled in when energy is low.
Celebrate each finished adventure at the den meeting so scouts can see their progress toward Wolf.

People & places that can help

Den leader and Cubmaster — They can explain how adventures are done and recorded.
Scouting America (opens in a new tab) — Official requirements and Cub Scout program updates.
Public library — Picture books and easy readers on nature, safety, and community.
Scouting America: Wolf Adventures (opens in a new tab) — Every required and elective Wolf adventure, with den activity ideas for each requirement.
Scouting America Youth Protection (opens in a new tab) — How Scouting keeps kids safe, and resources for the Parent's Guide conversations.
Cub Scout Camping and Outdoor Adventures (opens in a new tab) — What a pack campout looks like and how families take part.
National Park Service Junior Ranger (opens in a new tab) — Free activity books and badges kids can earn at national parks and online.

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