How to Run a Cub Scout Pack or Younger Girl Scout Troop Campout with Lots of Natural Advancement!
Prelude: Where did this come from?
I was a scout (not a Boy or Girl Scout, coed just scout) as a youth and I loved it. So, when my child was old enough to join (coed) Cub Scouts, we joined a pack and started adventuring together! I became a den leader and Cubmaster as well as ran the hiking club. When I attended Wood Badge, and felt called to make sure I left our pack a sustainable outdoor adventure system.
As an Arrow of Light, my child wanted to join Girl Scouts so that they could become a Golden Eagle one day, so we also joined Girl Scouts. I went back and added the relevant GSUSA policies and badge requirements to help troop leaders use this as well!
There is virtually nothing new or of my own invention here – I’ve just done the lookup work to find policies from Scouting America BALOO and Girl Scout Troop Camp Leadership, in general (fire safety), Leave No Trace’s guidance, the Scouting America Scout Handbook, and the Cub Scout adventure + Girl Scout camping-related badge requirements and put it all together into easy printables! My aim is that whoever is performing a role at a campout doesn’t have to prepare beyond reading these materials to know what needs to be taught to the scouts, what the camping adventure and eating healthy requirements for all the ranks are, and what applicable Scouting America and/or Girl Scout policy is. Happy camping!
Avoid leader burnout by leveraging other leaders and parents!
When I became a den leader with my child’s Scouting America Cub Scout Pack, the then Cubmaster did almost everything at the campouts. The pack was still recovering from COVID, and he was running himself ragged trying to do everything. Some more of us stepped in to help, but then when the Cub Scout program changed and added camping adventures for every rank (and added two more knife adventures!), we had a heck of a time meeting all the new camping adventure requirements with the way we had been doing things. (2-3 adults run the show.) We got it done, but it wasn’t pretty.
So, after the first year of the new program, I as current Cubmaster sat down to divide the organization tasks into roles that together meet all the camping adventure requirements as well as the new knife safety requirements. We also got the feedback from parents that they really enjoyed learning some skills themselves at a campout where we taught them a number of things as well, so I set the roles up to allow parents to take some of them (for example supervise the scouts setting up and taking down the dish line) as well as showing confidence in even the youngest scouts by giving them a job. (Helping cook; setting up the dish line, for example.)
I’m actually quite a fan of the new program – the much higher expectations for the adventures are about where our pack had already been trying to get them to, but now we have scouting bling to help! It was definitely a lot to take it all in, but I’m posting my roles and responsibilities document as well as my camping supply tub organization cards to help other Cub Scout and younger Girl Scout leaders take advantage of the work I put in. The camping tub organization cards coordinate with our new camping gear tub organizing system to make it clear to the Quartermaster (who doesn’t have to be a long-time leader who “already knows”) what’s supposed to be in which tub. (To my shame, we went camping without dish soap once – but now we have a system to avoid this!)
GS Leader Primer on Cub Scout Lingo
A Cub Scout Pack is a Daisy-Brownie-Junior multilevel GS Troop with a (den) leader for each grade (because each school year is one rank in Cub Scouts) and a head leader called a Cubmaster. Every Pack campout is therefore a giant multilevel troop campout, but there are also at least 6 leaders. (Sometimes more.)
Cub Scouts also uses Family Involvement as a method, and so all Cub Scout camping is family camping. Bringing the safety of parents to a campout makes it much easier to take especially Daisies but also Brownies out! And by taking the littles out at least 3 times a year, they move up the progression chart without much effort and start thinking of themselves as campers. A scout who’s been in since Daisies will have been camping 15 times by the end of the Junior year if you do that! If you keep Explaining and Demonstrating, Brownies and Juniors will be ready to be Guided and Enabled to Camp Out by the time they’ve been camping so many times.
I’ve seen first year Juniors plan a camping menu based on food they’ve had together at previous campouts, shop for it on a budget, learn how to make a teepee fire and tend it, set up the dish line without help, pitch their own tents without help and choose good spots for pitching a tent.
I’ve seen second year Juniors do all that again but also run the campfire ceremony and want to run meetings as well. (Great segway for the Junior Aide Award!)
The point is – it’s easy for Juniors to know how the dish line works when they’ve seen it for years already. The foundation for strong scoutcraft skills is spending time practicing them, and bringing parents makes it much easier to do it!
Step 1: Decide where to go, when to go, and what to do there
Scout-led is important, but Cub Scouts, Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors are not yet ready to plan a campout entirely by themselves. Give them practical and fun options to choose between to make sure that whatever they choose will work well. Webelos, Arrows of Light, and Juniors can plan meals and choose activities fairly well, but always remember that you are the safety container. Don’t set them up for failure by asking them to lead and plan more than they are ready to pull off well at their age. It is our responsibility as adult leaders to keep it S.A.F.E. and fun. Giving them a fun and educational camping experience is setting the stage for completely scout-led in the future, when they’ve seen what a good scouting camping trip looks like. In making most of the big decisions for younger scouts, you are Demonstrating and Explaining scoutcraft (from the EDGE method).
Together with your Pack/GS Troop committee (leaders + willing/interested parents), select or narrow down a list of fun and practical places to camp with a large group of children and what kind of “headliner” activity the places might offer. Check availability of campgrounds on the dates when all the required leadership is available and book something.
Council properties, state parks, and national parks are all great ideas, but remember to check the safety details and consider the families’ camping experience and adventure readiness to make sure all your suggestions will be fun for the scouts.
If you have a lot of families and/or scouts that have never been camping, stick close to home and focus on building confidence in both scouts and parents. If most families and scouts are experienced (car) campers, keep the challenge coming with a new, interesting destination. If you have both, start close to home in fall and end the scouting year on a high adventurous note, for example with a (easy) mountain summit, paddling, or something else that stands out.
Regardless, remember your organization’s safety rules. Cub Scout Packs must camp at council-approved properties with running water bathrooms, garbage services, facilities management, drinking water readily available, emergency assistance availability, and adequate shelter for program activities in case of inclement weather. You need at least one leader who’s BALOO-trained (Cub Scouts) or TCL-trained (Girl Scouts). And you may need additional specially trained leaders/supervisors depending on the activity (paddling, swimming, archery, etc).
And if the campground you’re planning on isn’t pre-approved by your Council, you’ll have to submit the paperwork for them to approve it. Girl Scout leaders will have to submit the troop outing form on their Council’s timeline (4 weeks in ours).
Sidebar: How our Pack structures campouts
Friday night: Leaders and families arrive whenever they can get there after work and school. Everyone eats before coming and pitches their tent when they arrive.
Saturday: The main day. Some families only come for the day, if it’s close enough to town.
6 AM: Start cooking breakfast
7 AM: Eat breakfast
9 AM: Safety review, including buddy system and Leave No Trace followed by main special activity
11 AM: Lunch prep
12 PM: Lunch
3 PM: Campfire prep (work on skits, choose jokes, practice songs)
4 PM: Knife/firestarting skills as age-appropriate, start cooking dinner
6 PM: Eat dinner
8 PM: Campfire ceremony
9 PM: Go to tents
10 PM: Lights out in tents and quiet
Sunday: Cook breakfast, eat, pack up, do a final police line for trash and do a retrospective on how it went (including how we followed Leave No Trace) and drive home.
Our Pack has found that this rough Saturday schedule gives a good balance between structure and free time to play for the scouts. Waking up at the campsite Saturday morning and going to sleep there Saturday night gives that day a restful feeling.
Note that there is a trade-off between more time spent on activities and more time spend on developing scoutcraft skills; if the activities take too much time, you won’t have time to teach Webelos/Juniors how to make up a fire or good chef’s knife chopping technique, because they need a lot of instruction and practice to get it done. Sometimes the activity is worth it, but make sure to give them the chance to develop their scoutcraft skills sometime during the year.
Step 2: Make sure someone is in every role
If you have lots of leaders, you could have each person take a single role. More likely, one person will take several roles; the point of these roles is to make sure all the needs are covered but without needing the same people to do the same things they always do every time. Each role comes with a responsibility for an outcome and checklist of things to do, so they can easily be handed to parents or new leaders! Some, like Campfire MC and Dish Leader, might even be handed to Arrows of Light/Juniors.
The Cub / Young Girl Scout Campout Roles
Head Organizer
Responsibility: Ensure that all the other roles are filled and that the plan for the campout is complete. Handle any needed coordination between the roles. Monitor for gaps in preparation. Send the information email with the menu, packing list, and gear tips. Review Guide to Safe Scouting as needed.
Scheduler
Responsibility: Manage calendar entries, RSVPs, attendance, info survey. Book the campsites (30-50 people).
Activity Leader
Responsibility: Arrange and lead the Saturday morning focus activity
Camping Skills Coach
Responsibilities
- Explain, demonstrate, guide, and enable Arrows of Light/Juniors in setting up cooking, eating, and sleeping areas. See EDGE guide
- Explain, demonstrate, guide, and enable Bears+/year 2 Brownies+ in picking a tent spot and pitching a tent (no hands-on adult help for Webelos+/Juniors). See separate guidance sheets on Tent Placement Consideration
- Teach the three knife safety adventures to any Bears, Webelos, Arrows of Light, year 2 Brownies, or Juniors that have not yet earned them. Review the separate instructions in the tub for covering the requirements. If you have not done so already watch the Cub Scout Knife Safety Adventure video. Support the Head Cook with knife skills coaching as needed
- Teach knots
- Teach one more basic camping skill per campout to the assembly
Leave No Trace Trainer
Responsibilities:
- Notice and draw attention to Leave No Trace for Kids followed and not followed, with a special focus on camp setup and tear-down
- Give out nature-themed stickers to any scouts who can recite LNT4K by heart
- Hold Leave No Trace retrospective Sunday morning at breakfast
- Award the Most Responsible Camper award to the den that followed Leave No Trace the best
Advancement Chair
Responsibility: Track advancement completed during campout and ask scouts/parents about preparation requirement completion, enter advancement information into Scoutbook/badge tracker, purchase loops, pins, and awards and fill out cards.
Quartermaster
Responsibility: Verify that the Pack/Troop gear tubs’ contents are complete (using the kanban sheets) and are in good condition before the campout. Coordinate with the Hauler(s) to arrange dropoff/pickup of the gear. Wash/repair/re-sort the gear afterwards
Menu Planner and Shopper
Responsibilities: Facilitate Webelos and Arrows of Light/Juniors planning a balanced campout menu, then explain/demonstrate/guide them through doing the shopping within budget and deliver the food to the cooler Hauler before the campout.
Hauler(s)
Responsibilities: Haul the pack/troop gear and food to and from the campsite. Coordinate with Quartermaster regarding what you’re hauling and dropping it off/picking it up before and after the campout.
Medical Forms Steward/First Aider
Responsibilities
- Bring the pack medical forms binder, follow up with any families that haven’t submitted theirs.
- Check the forms for all attendees and share any information that needs planning around (allergies, medical conditions potentially impacted by weather/activities at the campout, etc).
Coffee Maker
Responsibility: Make coffee in the morning
Head Cook
Responsibilities:
- Initiate and organize cooking of a meal using mise en place while Explaining, Demonstrating, Guiding, and Enabling cooking tasks in such a way that all applicable adventure requirements are met and letting the AOL patrol practice the patrol method. See the EDGE reference
- Partner with the Camping Skills Coach as needed on applied kitchen knife skills and the Fireguard on fire building and fire safety
Dish Leader
Responsibility: Initiates, teaches, and supervises dish-washing after each meal.
Fireguard
Responsibility: Manage fire safety for all fires and camp stoves lit as per Scouting America rules
Sparkwatcher
Responsibility: Watch for and deal with sparks flying out of the fire ring. Make sure there is a fire extinguisher, sand, and water by the fire ring.
Campfire MC
Responsibility: Put together a campfire program and vet scout offerings (no toilet humor, no making fun of people even with their permission, no swearing, no sexual content), then run the campfire program.
Step 3: Execute
After you get everyone into a role, give them the card for their role and get the Quartermaster the gear to review. The Head Organizer needs to stay on top of planning progress to ensure that things go smoothly. They will want to keep in touch with all the adults with a role to make sure no balls are dropped, and make sure they do their own part of planning for safety and checking the Guide to Safe Scouting and the Safety Activity Checkpoints.
Cub Scout Campout Leader Printables
We have a laminated copy in a binder to write on over and over.
I laminated these and mounted them inside the transparent tub lids with velcro, so that they have a "home" inside the tub but can be removed for closer reading.
We have a laminated copy in the Campfire MC pouch to re-use.
We have a laminated copy in the Campfire MC pouch for the MC.
Also laminated.
We have a laminated set in the dish tub to place out by each tub on the line, so that how it works is clear to everyone even if they're new!
All the policies, for easy reference (and learning!)
From Scouts Trash the Trash Day.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
For keeping track of who's done what so far.
Reminder, or teaching reference. Or both.
Quick crash course for those who aren't familiar with Leave No Trace!
[…] learning or review for using the gear in each tub. Standardization is also supported by that our new shiny camping manual coordinates with the tub contents, so that parts of the manual go into each tub to make a […]