November 9, 2023
It’s official! The Cub Scout program will be updated for the 2024-25 program year. Over the past several years the National Cub Scouting Committee under the leadership of past chair Lisa Wylie and current chair Audrey Oakes has identified four areas to improve the Cub Scout program to ensure that it is fun, simple, and easy.
Over the past five years the National Cub Scouting has been working on these updates. These updates are based on feedback from over 23,000 parents and Cub Scout leaders through various surveys and data. Listening to and identify the key opportunities to improve the program the National Cub Scout committee is excited to finally reveal these improvements. Over the past year these improvements have been socialized to thousands of individuals with overwhelming support.
The four areas of improvement are the Bobcat badge, Cub Scout Adventures, Webelos, and Cub Scout Awards.
Bobcat will no longer be a badge that is earned once when a Cub Scout joins. It will become a required Adventure for each rank and earned each year. The requirements for the Bobcat Adventure are different for each grade to make them age-appropriate.
Cub Scout Adventures have been improved to make it easier to deliver the program to multi-rank dens or as a Pack. To earn each rank in Cub Scouting will require a Cub Scout to earn the six required Adventures and two elective Adventures. Required Adventures reflect the aims and focus areas of the BSA. The number of elective Adventures increases.
Webelos and Arrow of Light will be separated. Webelos becomes the 4th-grade program in Cub Scouting. Arrow of Light becomes a stand-alone badge of rank for 5th graders and will no longer be associated with Webelos. Arrow of Light will be the program that prepares Cub Scouts to join Scouts BSA.
Cub Scouts Awards will be reimagined as Cub Scout Adventures. Topics like camping, STEM, and range and target sports will remain and are reimagined into elective Adventures that can be used towards earning a badge of rank.
The changes will take effect officially on June 1, 2024.