A year-round family program designed for boys and girls who are in kindergarten through fifth grade. Parents, leaders, and organizations work together to achieve the purposes of Cub Scouting. Currently, Cub Scouting is the largest of the BSA's three membership divisions. The ten purposes of Cub Scouting are: Character Development, Spiritual Growth, Good Citizenship, Sportsmanship, Family Understan
ding, Respectful Relationships, Personal Achievement, Friendly Service, Fun and Adventure, Preparation for Scouts BSA. Cub Scouting members join a Cub Scout pack and are assigned to a den, usually a neighborhood group of six to eight boys. Lion Cubs (kindergarteners), Tiger Cubs (first-graders), Wolf Cub Scouts (second graders), Bear Cub Scouts (third graders), and Webelos Scouts (fourth and fifth graders) meet weekly. Once a month, all of the dens and family members gather for a pack meeting under the direction of a Cubmaster and pack committee. The committee includes parents of boys in the pack and members of the chartered organization. Thousands of volunteer leaders, both men and women, are involved in the Cub Scout program. They serve in a variety of positions, as everything from unit leaders to pack committee chairmen, committee members, den leader coaches, and chartered organization representatives. Like other phases of the Scouting program, Cub Scouting is made available to groups having similar interests and goals, including professional organizations; government bodies; and religious, educational, civic, fraternal, business, labor, and citizens' groups. These "sponsors" are called chartered organizations. Each organization appoints one of its members as a chartered organization representative. The organization, through the pack committee, is responsible for providing leadership, the meeting place, and support materials for pack activities. Groups responsible for supporting Cub Scouting are the scouts and their parents, the pack, the chartered organization, and the community. The scouts are encouraged to pay their own way by participating in the annual popcorn fundraiser. Packs also obtain income by working on other approved money-earning projects. The community, including parents, supports Cub Scouting through the United Way, Friends of Scouting enrollment, bequests, and special contributions to the BSA local council. This financial support provides leadership training, outdoor programs, council service centers and other facilities, and professional service for units. Cub Scouting means "doing." Everything in Cub Scouting is designed to have the boys and girls doing things. Activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness. Many of the activities happen right in the den and pack. The most important are the weekly den meetings and the monthly pack meetings. Age-appropriate camping programs are packed with theme-oriented action that brings Lion Cubs, Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts into the world of imagination. Day camping comes to scouts in neighborhoods across the country; resident camping is at least a three-day experience in which Cub Scouts and Webelos Scouts camp within a developed theme of adventure and excitement. "Cub Scout Worlds" are used by many councils to carry the world of imagination into reality with actual theme structures of castles, forts, ships, etc. Cub Scout pack members enjoy camping in local council camps and council-approved national, state, county, or city parks. Camping programs combine fun and excitement with doing one's best, getting along with others, and developing an appreciation for ecology and the world of the outdoors.
