Wolf Elective adventure 2nd grade

Paws for Water requirements (Wolf)

Paws for Water is a Wolf 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.

Paws for Water 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 swimming safety rules that you need to follow.
Handbook requirement 2

Demonstrate how to enter the swimming area properly.
Handbook requirement 3

Using the buddy system and staying within your ability group, go swimming with your den or family for 30 minutes.
Handbook requirement 4

Attempt at least one swimming stroke: front crawl, restful backstroke, or breaststroke.
Handbook requirement 5

Jump feet first into water that is chest high or deeper.
Handbook requirement 6

Demonstrate how to exit the swimming area properly.

NOTE: To earn this Adventure, you may enroll in and complete a swimming instruction program offered by an accredited instructor OR pass the BSA swimmer test OR complete the requirements below (mark adventure completed to the left 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 Paws for Water

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, Paws for Water, 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 Paws for Water 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: Learn about the swimming safety rules

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Paws for Water.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Learn about the swimming safety rules that you need to follow".
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: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Demonstrate how to enter the swimming area properly" once, in their own way.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: Using the buddy system and staying within

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Paws for Water.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Using the buddy system and staying within your ability group, go swimming with your den or family for 30 minutes".
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: read "Attempt at least one swimming stroke: front crawl, restful backstroke, or breaststroke" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Jump feet first into water that is

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Paws for Water.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Jump feet first into water that is chest high or deeper".
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: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Demonstrate how to exit the swimming area properly" once, in their own way.

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 ball, four cones and a whistle
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 Paws for Water 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 Paws for Water

How many requirements does Paws for Water 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 Paws for Water required for Wolf?

No. Paws for Water is a Wolf elective. A Scout needs the six required Wolf adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Paws for Water 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 Paws for Water at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Paws for Water 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.