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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.

For families, leaders · Cub Scouts · 4 min read

How Cub Scouts works

Cub Scouts is for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. Your child joins a den, a small group of kids in the same grade, and the dens together make up a pack. Dens meet regularly to do hands-on activities, and the whole pack gets together for bigger events, celebrations, and outings. Each pack sets its own schedule, so ask your den leader what a typical month looks like.

The program is built for families. You don't need to be outdoorsy, crafty, or experienced. You just need to show up, help your child try things, and cheer when they do their best. That's the Cub Scout standard: not perfect, but their best.

One rank for each grade

  • Lion: kindergarten, earned alongside an adult partner.
  • Tiger: first grade, also earned alongside an adult partner.
  • Wolf: second grade.
  • Bear: third grade.
  • Webelos: fourth grade.
  • Arrow of Light: fifth grade, which gets Scouts ready to join a troop.

Your child works on the rank for their grade, even if they join partway through elementary school. A fourth grader who's brand new starts with Webelos, not Lion.

Cub Scout ranks

Adventures: the building blocks of each rank

Each rank is earned by finishing adventures, which are short themed sets of activities. Every rank has six required adventures and asks for two electives your child chooses. The required ones follow the same pattern at every grade: Bobcat (getting to know the den and the Scout Law), plus one adventure each for the outdoors, personal fitness, citizenship, personal safety, and family and reverence.

For example, a Wolf earns Bobcat, Paws on the Path (a nature walk), Running with the Pack (fitness), Council Fire (community), Safety in Numbers (the buddy system and personal safety), and Footsteps (family and faith), plus two electives. Electives are where kids follow their own interests: fishing, building, science, coins, cooking, camping, and more.

Let your child pick the electives

Read the elective names aloud and let your child choose. A kid who picked the adventure cares more about finishing it. Each rank page in the guide lists its adventures with ideas for doing them.

The adult partner, and doing adventures at home

Lions and Tigers always have an adult partner: a parent, guardian, or another caring adult from the family who does the activities with them at meetings and at home. Older Cub Scouts work more on their own, but they still need you nearby to help, encourage, and make sure activities are safe.

Most adventures happen at den meetings, but some parts work well at home, especially family ones like Footsteps or the Bobcat Parent's Guide activities. If your child misses a meeting, you can often catch up together.

Every child is different. If yours has a disability, learns differently, or finds groups hard, tell the den leader what helps at home. Leaders can often adjust how an activity is done so your child can take part fully, and you know your child best.

  1. Ask the den leader what's next

    Find out which adventure the den is working on and whether any parts are meant to be done at home.

  2. Read the requirement together

    Look it up in the guide or the handbook. Let your child read it, or read it aloud for younger kids, and ask what they think it means.

  3. Do it, not just talk about it

    If it says go on a walk and look for animal signs, go on the walk. Short and real beats long and perfect.

  4. Let them tell the den

    Kids love sharing what they did. Your den leader will tell you how they want home work recorded.

Keeping it fun

  • Keep activities short. Fifteen focused minutes beats an hour of nagging.
  • Let your child do the work, even if it's messy. A crooked birdhouse they built means more than a straight one you built.
  • Use what you have. Most adventures need a park, a kitchen, a library card, or things already in the house, not new gear.
  • Bring in the family. Grandparents, siblings, and neighbors make great audiences and helpers.
  • Celebrate small wins, like finishing a hike or learning the Scout Oath.

Talk about it together

  • What was the best part of your den meeting today?
  • What's something you tried for the first time this month?
  • Which adventure are you most excited to do next, and why?
  • How did you help someone in your den or at home this week?
  • What was hard, and what helped you keep going?

Recognition, and what comes next

Packs usually hand out adventure recognition soon after kids finish, often at a pack meeting, and celebrate each new rank with a ceremony. Quick recognition matters at this age: it connects the effort to the reward. If something your child earned hasn't been recognized yet, a friendly reminder to the den leader helps.

In fifth grade, Arrow of Light Scouts visit a Scouts BSA troop and get ready to join one. From Arrow of Light to a troop explains what changes. For safety lessons to share at home, see Staying safe in Scouting.

Your next step: ask your den leader which adventure is coming up, look it up in the guide with your child, and pick one small part to try at home this week.

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