Cub Scout Promise: I promise to do my best to do my duty To God and my country, To help other people, And to obey the Law of the Pack. Law of the Pack The Cub Scout follows Akela. The Cub Scout helps the pack go. The pack helps the Cub Scout grow. The Cub Scout gives good will. Cub Scout Motto Do Your Best

If a Cub Scout has completed the second grade (or is 9 years old) and has earned the Bobcat Badge, he may start earning the Bear rank. He receives a Bear Scout handbook and Bear neckerchief, but continues to use the Wolf neckerchief slide when beginning the Bear portion of the boy scout trail. He will continue to use the blue Cub Scout Uniform. This part of the boy scout trail is intended to take one school year, preparing the scout to begin earning his Webelos rank after he completes third grade.

Your Bear den will have opportunities to participate in Pack meetings. Prepare your scouts by having them ready to perform a couple of Bear Scout Skits and lead the pack in some Games. By having a Bear favorite ready, your scouts will look good, have fun, and increase their confidence through leading the pack.

Tip: Choose 2 skits and games before September and do them at your first den meeting. Don't wait until your Cubmaster calls on you for a skit.

Tip: Many packs award the Bear badge at their Blue-Gold banquet in February. If you begin your Bear program in September, this means you have less than 5 months to complete the Bear requirements. You must plan out what requirements your den will do and make a Schedule so everyone knows what is expected. A calendar kept up to date helps families keep track of their scouting commitments.

Tip: Our Bear Cub Scout den is fortunate to have one member whose family has a cabin. We had a winter weekend campout in January where each adult led an activity that met some requirements. So, in one weekend, we had a lot of fun, did some great activities, and completed a large number of requirements.

In the Bear scouting program, there are 4 general achievement groups: God, Country, Family, and Self and a total of about 120 individual achievement tasks. In each group, a certain number of achievements are required to earn the Bear rank badge. After earning the Bear badge, the scout may earn arrow points by completing additional achievement tasks.

The Bear badge must be earned first before any arrow points are awarded. A gold arrow point is awarded for the first 10 achievement tasks over the Bear requirements. A silver arrow point is awarded for each additional 10 tasks completed. Since all arrow points are awarded after the Bear badge is awarded, your scouts would not receive any awards until February at the earliest. To provide frequent recognition, Bear scouts can earn Progress Beads - you need to buy these Progress Towards Ranks Kits at a Scout Shop. For completing the requirements of 3 of the Achievements listed below, one RED bead is awarded and placed on the Progress Towards Ranks totem. This provides the scout with a total of 4 beads culminating in the award of his Bear badge. These beads are awarded at the den level rather than at Pack meetings.

Much of the advancement for the Bear rank is done by the scout with his family outside of the den, similarly to the Wolf rank. The parent signs off in the scout's handbook and the Den Leader records the advancements from the handbook to tracking chart or software program. The Bear program relies heavily on family involvement, but you will see this gradually change with the scout doing more with his den and more individual direction as he reaches Webelos and Boy Scouts.

Tip: Supplement your Bear program with the Cub Scout Belt Loop program to provide further opportunities for your scouts. If you have boys that are highly driven by recognition items, these belt loops and pins can be very useful. They can become expensive quickly, though, so plan how your pack, den, and parents will cover the cost.

Tip: Many available Awards go unused, especially by Bear dens because of the short time to earn rank. Try to work extra awards into your program, such as the World Conservation Award and Leave No Trace Award - especially in the spring and summer months.