Wolf Required adventure 2nd grade

Paws on the Path requirements (Wolf)

Paws on the Path is a Wolf required adventure with 7 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 on the Path requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

Show you are prepared to hike safely in any outdoor setting by putting together the Cub Scout Six Essentials to take along on your hike.
Handbook requirement 2

Tell what the buddy system is and why we always use it in Cub Scouts. Describe what you should do if you get separated from your group while hiking.
Handbook requirement 3

Choose the appropriate clothing to wear on your hike based on the expected weather.
Handbook requirement 4

Before hiking, recite the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids with your leader. (This may be combined with Requirement 3 of The Call of the Wild Adventure.) After hiking, discuss how you showed respect for wildlife.
Handbook requirement 5

Go on a 1-mile hike with your den or family. Find two interesting things that you've never seen before and discuss with your den or family.
Handbook requirement 6

Name two birds, two insects, and/or two other animals that live in your area. Explain how you identified them.
Handbook requirement 7

Draw a map of an area near where you live using common map symbols. Show which direction is north on your map

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Paws on the Path

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, Paws on the Path, 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 on the Path 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: Show you are prepared to hike safely

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Paws on the Path.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Show you are prepared to hike safely in any outdoor setting by putting together…".
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 2: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Tell what the buddy system is and why we always use it in Cub Scouts", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Choose the appropriate clothing to wear

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Paws on the Path.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Choose the appropriate clothing to wear on your hike based on the expected weather".
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: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Before hiking, recite the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids with your leader" once, in their own way.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: Go on a 1-mile hike

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Paws on the Path.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Go on a 1-mile hike with your den or family".
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: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Name two birds, two insects, and/or two other animals that live in your area", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: Draw a map of an area near

Close requirement 7 of Paws on the Path: Draw a map of an area near where you live using common map symbols. Show which direction is north on your map

Show a finished example first so every Scout can picture "Draw a map of an area near where you live using common map symbols" before they start.
Set materials out at two or three tables so nobody stands waiting for the scissors.
Move table to table while they work and ask each Scout to tell you what they are making and why.
Give a five minute warning, then have every Scout hold up what they made and say one thing about it.

Requirement 7

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
Paper, markers and a few pencils
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
A field guide or printed identification cards, and two magnifying glasses
One laptop or tablet, and a printed copy of the pack's device rules
A printed sky chart or weather chart for each pair

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 on the Path 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 on the Path

How many requirements does Paws on the Path have?

7. 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 on the Path required for Wolf?

Yes. Paws on the Path is one of the six required Wolf adventures, so the Wolf badge cannot be awarded until it is complete.

How long does Paws on the Path take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 7 of the 7 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 on the Path at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Paws on the Path 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.