Cub Scouting and Your Family


Cub Scouting and Your Family

The Cub Scout program helps to meet your boy’s growth needs. As a boy develops, he has
specific developmental needs such as:

1To learn new physical skills. He can do this through games, sports, and crafts. As he develops his coordination, he gains a sense of worthiness and acceptance by his peers.


2To learn to get along with boys of his same age. He needs to form friendships with other boys. He needs to learn how to balance giving and receiving affection if he is to relate well to his peers. He needs to belong to a group of boys his own age. Being a part of a Cub Scout den helps fulfill these needs.


3To develop his mental processes. He can develop his mental process by reading, writing, and calculating. He needs opportunities to use language to express ideas and to influence others. He must move from a preoccupation with self to understanding how and what others think of him. Opportunities for observation and experimentation will help him learn self-­reliance. Den activities and meetings, along with the advancement program, help him develop mentally.


4To develop a value system. He is developing a sense of what is right and wrong and what is fair and unfair. He will do this by cooperating with other boys, by being taught, by examples of adults, and from positive reinforcement. He begins to develop democratic social attitudes.


5To develop personal independence. He is becoming less dependent on adults. His same age friends become important to him. In his den, and in the pack, he exercises his independence while learning to get along with others.


Your son also needs to belong to a ‘‘group’’ of boys his own age. This group is a key component of the Cub Scout program. A den is like a neighborhood group of six or eight boys in which he will achieve status and recognition.


As you learn more about how Cub Scouting works and what goes on in a den and a pack, you will see that the program helps your boy in these five important developmental needs. The uniqueness of Cub Scouting is that you, as his family, join the program with your boy. You will help him all along the way.


To find out how you can support your boy by becoming a Cub Scout family, we encourage you to complete the Parent and Family Talent Survey Sheet found here. Your cooperation and help are appreciated.