Bear Elective adventure 3rd grade

Salmon Run requirements (Bear)

Salmon Run is a Bear elective adventure with 6 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.

Salmon Run requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

With your den or an adult, identify the attributes of qualified adult supervision at a swimming activity.
Handbook requirement 2

Learn the three swimming ability groups for the Boy Scouts of America and water depths appropriate for each.
Handbook requirement 3

Go swimming with your den, pack, or family for 30 minutes using the buddy system.
Handbook requirement 4

Demonstrate the use the buddy system, buddy checks, and ability groups with your den or an adult.
Handbook requirement 5

Attempt the BSA beginner swim test
Handbook requirement 6

Demonstrate both a reach rescue and a throw rescue.

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 Salmon Run

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: keep it up

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

Put a beach ball or a balloon in the middle of the room and start a den count.
The den's job is to keep it off the floor and beat the count from last week.
Stop it the moment the opening is ready, mid-count, so it stays fun and short.

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, Salmon Run, 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 Salmon Run 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 · 12 min

Activity 1: With your den or an adult

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Salmon Run.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "With your den or an adult, identify the attributes of qualified adult supervision at a swimming activity".
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: read "Learn the three swimming ability groups for the Boy Scouts of America and water depths appropriate for each" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: Go swimming with your den

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Salmon Run.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Go swimming with your den, pack, or family for 30 minutes using the buddy system".
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 "Demonstrate the use the buddy system, buddy checks, and ability groups with your den or an adult" once, in their own way.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Attempt the BSA beginner swim test

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Salmon Run.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Attempt the BSA beginner swim 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 5 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
Then requirement 6: show "Demonstrate both a reach rescue and a throw rescue" once at full speed and once slowly, then watch every Scout do it back to you.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

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
A ball, four cones and a whistle
Towels, drinking water and a change of clothes
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.

Plan Salmon Run 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 Salmon Run

How many requirements does Salmon Run have?

6. 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 Salmon Run required for Bear?

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

How long does Salmon Run take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 6 of the 6 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Salmon Run at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Salmon Run 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.