Arrow of Light Required adventure 5th grade

Outdoor Adventurer requirements (Arrow of Light)

Outdoor Adventurer is an Arrow of Light required adventure with 8 requirements. Below is what each one asks in plain language, and a sixty minute den meeting plan that works through them: a gathering activity, the opening, the activity blocks, and what to say in the closing.

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Outdoor Adventurer requirements

Paraphrased for planning. Read the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Handbook requirement 1

Learn about the Scout Basic Essentials.
Handbook requirement 2

Determine what you will bring on an overnight campout including a tent, sleeping bag/gear and how you will carry your gear.
Handbook requirement 3

Review the 4 points of the BSA SAFE Checklist and how you will apply them on the campout.
Handbook requirement 4

Locate the camp and campsite on a map.
Handbook requirement 5

With your patrol or a Scouts BSA troop, participate in a campout.
Handbook requirement 6

Upon arrival at the campout determine where to set up your campsite; kitchen, eating area, tents, and firepit. Help the patrol set up the patrol gear before setting up your own tent.
Handbook requirement 7

Explain how to keep food safe and the kitchen area sanitary at the campsite. Demonstrate your knowledge during the campout.
Handbook requirement 8

After your campout, discuss with your patrol what went well and what you would do differently next time. Include how you followed the Outdoor Code and Leave Not Trace Principles for Kids.

Check out this resource page to get the most out of this adventure!

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Outdoor Adventurer

Five kinds of block in the order that works: something to do on arrival, the opening, den business, the adventure work split into chunks a Cub Scout can hold attention through, and a closing that names what got finished.

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: pack the bag

Give the Scouts who arrive first something to do, so the meeting starts the moment they walk in.

Spread the Cub Scout Six Essentials and four things that do not belong on a table by the door.
The card on the table says: pick the six you would carry, and be ready to say why.
As Scouts arrive they join in, so the ones who came early are never left sitting.

0:10 · 5 min

Opening

Flag ceremony, Scout Oath and Scout Law. The same five minutes every week, run by the Scouts.

The denner calls the den to order and leads the flag ceremony.
Say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law together. New Scouts read from a card and nobody makes anything of it.
One sentence on tonight's adventure, Outdoor Adventurer, and the one thing everybody will get done.

0:15 · 5 min

Talk time

Den business while everyone is still sitting down, and a look at what is coming.

The two dates parents need: the next den meeting and the next pack event.
Ask who already did part of Outdoor Adventurer at home, and write the names down so it gets recorded.
Take one question from the den. Answer it or say when you will.

0:20 · 9 min

Activity 1: Learn about the Scout Basic Essentials

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Outdoor Adventurer.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Learn about the Scout Basic Essentials".
Give the den five minutes in pairs to work it out, then bring the answers together on one sheet.
Go round the circle so every Scout says one answer out loud in their own words.
Then requirement 2: cover "Determine what you will bring on an overnight campout including a tent, sleeping bag/gear and how you will carry your gear" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Review the 4 points of the BSA

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Outdoor Adventurer.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Review the 4 points of the BSA SAFE Checklist and how you will apply them on the campout".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 4: read "Locate the camp and campsite on a map" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: With your patrol or a Scouts BSA troop

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Outdoor Adventurer.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "With your patrol or a Scouts BSA troop, participate in a campout".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 6: cover "Upon arrival at the campout determine where to set up your campsite; kitchen, eating area, tents, and firepit" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: Explain how to keep food safe

Close requirements 7 and 8 of Outdoor Adventurer.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Explain how to keep food safe and the kitchen area sanitary at the campsite".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 8: cover "After your campout, discuss with your patrol what went well and what you would do differently next time" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 7 Requirement 8

0:55 · 5 min

Closing

End on time, and make sure every Scout leaves knowing what they finished.

Cubmaster's minute: one short thought tied to what the den just did. Sixty seconds, no lecture.
Read back what got finished tonight, requirement by requirement, so the Scouts hear their own progress.
Send the den off with the den yell, and catch the parents who need to hear something at pickup.

What to bring

Tonight's requirement list, printed, with a box to tick per Scout
A clipboard and pen for sign-offs as they happen
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
A fire ring or camp stove, long matches and a bucket of water
Snack ingredients, napkins and hand sanitizer
One laptop or tablet, and a printed copy of the pack's device rules

Worked out from the requirement text. Swap anything you already have in the den box.

Plan this meeting for your own den

This plan does not know your Scouts. DenBuddy does: import your den from Scoutbook Plus and the planner starts from the requirements each Scout is actually missing, keeps the block times, and turns the agenda into the record sheet afterwards.

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How the planner works

Youth protection is built in: Scouts have no accounts, check-in is done by a parent from a public link, and nothing DenBuddy does writes back to Scoutbook.

How youth data is handled

Questions about Outdoor Adventurer

How many requirements does Outdoor Adventurer have?

8. Each one is a single thing the Scout does. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is Outdoor Adventurer required for Arrow of Light?

Yes. Outdoor Adventurer is one of the six required Arrow of Light adventures, so the Arrow of Light badge cannot be awarded until it is complete.

How long does Outdoor Adventurer take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 8 of the 8 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Outdoor Adventurer at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Outdoor Adventurer is marked as family-only work, so a Scout who misses the meeting can finish with a parent and you record it when the family tells you.