Not all Cub Scout packs are the same.
Some might be lucky enough to have six to eight Cub Scouts, one den leader and a couple of assistant den leaders for each den. Others, though, have membership scattered throughout the ranks — maybe a couple of Tigers, one Wolf, three Bears (two of whom only show up half the time), not to mention barely enough adult leaders to keep things together.
Whether you’re the former or the latter or somewhere in between, whether you have a giant pack or a tiny pack, the new Cub Scout pack meeting resource page is for you.
“We’ve learned from a lot of discussions and a lot of survey data that many of our packs are not necessarily made up of a full den for every rank,” says Tamara Christensen, chair of the National Cub Scouting Committee. “Trying to put all of that together is hard. These pack meeting planners are designed to support that.”
Christensen was kind enough to discuss the new resources on last Friday’s episode of #CubChatLive. You can watch the show in its entirety below and read on for some highlights.
What are pack meeting resources?
Pack meeting resources have existed in a variety of books, websites and other media over the years. Now, the official Scouting America pack resources page has been refreshed to reflect the latest program updates and to account for the wide variety of pack and den sizes common in Cub Scouting today.
The idea is to make planning a meeting as fun, simple and easy as the meeting itself.
The new resources suggest four types of pack meetings:
- Adventure-based: These are meetings based on a Cub Scout Adventure. The resources page features guidance on conducting meetings covering the six required Adventure themes that span across all the ranks of Cub Scouting: Citizenship, Outdoors, Family & Reverence, Character & Leadership, Personal Fitness and Personal Safety.
Plans for elective Adventures are coming soon.
- Special events: These pack meetings include events such as Pinewood Derby or a blue and gold banquet.
- Recognition: Achievements such as earning a badge of rank or crossing over into a Scouts BSA unit deserve their own special ceremony.
- Outdoor/camping: The resources also include plans for pack meetings that take place away from your normal meeting spot, such as a hike or campout.
What are the parts of a pack meeting?
The new resources advise that every good pack meeting has three parts:
- before the meeting, which may include brief presentations, games or activities;
- during the meeting, which includes the meat of the meeting itself; and
- after the meeting, which includes the cleanup and discussion of what went well and maybe what went not so well.
Click here for the pack meeting resources page.
Photo by Jesse Scofield
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