What Bobcat is
Bobcat is the adventure that teaches a Cub Scout how to be a Cub Scout. It is not a rank of its own in the current program, it is a required adventure that sits in front of the rank badge for the year the Scout is in: Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos or Arrow of Light. A Scout who joins in third grade does Bobcat and Bear in the same year.
Why it comes first
Two reasons, one practical and one about the program. The practical one: a Scout cannot receive the rank badge until Bobcat is complete, so a den that leaves it until spring discovers in April that nobody can be awarded anything. The program one: everything else in Cub Scouts assumes the Oath, the Law and the den routine are already there. Teach them first and every later meeting is easier to run.
In DenBuddy this rule is built in. When a den is new, Bobcat is flagged as blocking everyone, ahead of every other open requirement, because it is.
What the requirements cover
The exact wording is Scouting America's and it changes between handbook years, so read it from the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off. The substance across the ranks is consistent:
- The Scout Oath and the Scout Law, said and understood in the Scout's own words.
- The Cub Scout sign, salute and handshake, and what each one means.
- The Cub Scout motto, Do Your Best, with an example of a time the Scout lived it.
- Getting to know the den, which for a brand new den is a real requirement and not a warm-up.
- For older ranks, the denner position and how the den leads itself.
- A child-protection exercise done at home with a parent or legal guardian.
The part that happens at home
One requirement is done at home with a parent or legal guardian, working through the child-protection booklet that comes with the handbook. It is not a den meeting activity and it should not be. Your job is to hand it out, explain in one sentence why it exists, and then chase the families who have not reported back.
That chasing is the part that stalls dens. Send it home the first week, ask for it in week two, and record it the moment a parent tells you it is done, in the room, before you forget. Requirements like this are marked on the adventure pages here so you know which ones will never close by themselves.
Finishing it in two meetings
Meeting one: the sign, salute and handshake in the opening, then the Oath and Law as the activity, in small pieces. Take one line of the Law per pair of Scouts and have them act it out for the den. Send the booklet home at the door.
Meeting two: the motto, with each Scout telling the den about a time they did their best, and the den getting-to-know-you requirement as a game. Collect the booklet reports. Anyone who is missing a piece finishes it during the gathering block of meeting three.
Ready-made plans per rank: Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, Arrow of Light.
Recording it, and what comes next
Record Bobcat as it happens, Scout by Scout, rather than as a block at the end. Then tell the Cubmaster, because Bobcat is usually awarded at a pack meeting and somebody has to buy the badge.
After Bobcat, the rest of the rank is the required adventures for the year plus two electives the den picks. Start from your rank page: all six ranks and every adventure. If you want the den's open requirements in front of you while you plan, import your den into DenBuddy.