Arrow of Light Elective adventure 5th grade

Swimming requirements (Arrow of Light)

Swimming is an Arrow of Light elective adventure with 4 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.

Plan this meeting in DenBuddy Jump to the plan

Free for one den. DenBuddy reads your den from Scoutbook Plus, and writes back only when you press Send.

Swimming requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

Review the Safe Swim Defense.
Handbook requirement 2

Explain the meaning of "order of rescue" and demonstrate the reach and throw rescue techniques from land.
Handbook requirement 3

Attempt the BSA swimmer test.
Handbook requirement 4

Have 30 minutes, or more, of free swim time where you practice the Buddy System and stay within your ability group. The qualified adult supervision should do at least three buddy checks per half hour swimming.

NOTE: This elective Adventure may be earned by completing the requirements below OR passing the BSA swimmer test OR taking swimming lessons (mark adventure completed to the left on the adventure page if using the alternate requirements.)

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

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Swimming

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: three questions

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

Tape three index cards around the room, each with one question from tonight's adventure.
Arriving Scouts move between them and write an answer on the card under the question.
Read the best two answers out during talk time so the early arrivals get the credit.

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, Swimming, 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 Swimming 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 · 18 min

Activity 1: Review the Safe Swim Defense

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Swimming.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Review the Safe Swim Defense".
Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
Mark requirement 1 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
Then requirement 2: show "Explain the meaning of "order of rescue" and demonstrate the reach and throw rescue techniques from land" once at full speed and once slowly, then watch every Scout do it back to you.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:38 · 17 min

Activity 2: Attempt the BSA swimmer test

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Swimming.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Attempt the BSA swimmer test".
Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
Mark requirement 3 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
Then requirement 4: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Have 30 minutes, or more, of free swim time where you practice the Buddy System and stay within your ability group" once, in their own way.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

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 den first-aid kit and a handful of roller bandages to practice with
Towels, drinking water and a change of clothes

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.

Plan Swimming Create a free den

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 Swimming

How many requirements does Swimming have?

4. 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 Swimming required for Arrow of Light?

No. Swimming is a Arrow of Light elective. A Scout needs the six required Arrow of Light adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Swimming take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 4 of the 4 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Swimming at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Swimming 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.