For the parent who got volunteered
A new Cub Scout den leader needs four things in the first month: Youth Protection Training, a meeting night, a plan for sixty minutes, and a way to record what got done. These articles cover each of them, written for somebody who said yes in August and has a meeting on Tuesday.
Short, practical and specific to Cub Scout dens. No theory, no forms to fill in.
Getting started 6 min read
Your first den meeting needs four things: a start time, a plan for sixty minutes, the Bobcat adventure, and a way to write down what got done. Everything else can wait until week three. Here is the meeting, block by block, and what to send parents first.
Running the den 7 min read
A den meeting agenda that works is five blocks long: gathering, opening, talk time, activity, closing. Give the activity thirty-five of your sixty minutes, write the requirement number next to each block, and keep the order identical every week so the den stops needing to be told what happens next.
Scoutbook Plus 7 min read
A Scoutbook Plus advancement report tells you which adventures each Scout in your den has completed and which are still open. Read it by rank first, then by Scout, then by requirement. It will not tell you what to do on Tuesday, and that gap is the whole job.
Advancement 6 min read
Every Cub Scout earns the Bobcat adventure before the badge of rank for the year they are in, whatever age they joined at. It covers the Scout Oath and Law, the sign, salute and handshake, the motto, and a child-protection exercise done at home with a parent. Two den meetings will finish it.
Planning 7 min read
Plan the den year by counting meetings first. A Cub Scout year gives you about thirty den meetings between September and May. The required adventures plus two electives take two to three meetings each, which leaves four to six meetings of slack. Put the pack calendar down before you place a single adventure.
The role 7 min read
A new den leader needs two trainings, one shirt and a few patches. Youth Protection Training is required and renews every two years. Position-specific training earns you the Trained strip. The Den Leader Training Award, and the square knot that goes with it, comes later from tenure, training and doing the job.
All six ranks, every adventure, and a sixty minute den meeting plan on each adventure page.
The standard rules, a six week countdown for the pack, and a race day schedule that finishes on time.
How the two fit together, what the import reads, and why nothing is ever written back to Scoutbook.
Import your den from Scoutbook Plus, see what each Scout still needs, and build the agenda from the gaps. One den is free, forever.
Free for one den. No credit card. Works with Scoutbook Plus.
DenBuddy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Scouting America. Cub Scouts, Scoutbook and adventure names are trademarks of their respective owners.