Cub Scouts

Part of Scouts BSA, Cub Scouts is a values-based youth organization. The Cub Scouts program helps young people build character, trains them in the responsibilities of citizenship, and develops personal fitness. For more than a century, Scouting has helped build the future leaders of this country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun.

Pack 539: The Basics

• WHO: Boys and girls in K-5 can join Cub Scouting. Cub Scouting means "doing" and the program is designed around active involvement. Hands-on activities are used to achieve the aims of Scouting: citizenship training, character development and personal fitness. Cub Scout Pack 539 has been active in Plymouth since 1989. We have had scouts from across the Wayzata school district including Plymouth Creek, Kimberly Lane, Meadow Ridge, NorthWoods, Greenwood and Birchview, as well as a number of private schools. We are affiliated with Troop 539 for older scouts — more information about them can be found here.

• WHAT: All the Cub Scouts in Pack 539 are split into dens by grade level - Kindergarten - Lions; 1st - Tigers; 2nd - Wolves; 3rd - Bears; 4th + 5th - Webelos. Your child will participate in activities with both their age group and the Pack.

• WHEN: Scouting lasts the entire school year and typically you'll have two meetings a month. The Den (organized by your child's age group) meets once a month as does the Pack (all age groups together) from September through June.

• WHERE: Pack 539 typically meets the first Monday of each month, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, in the large recital area at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church off Old Rockford Road. Den meeting times and locations will be determined by your adult leader.

What Scouting Teaches Your Child 

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

1. To learn new physical skills.  Your scout can do this through games, sports, and crafts. As they develop coordination, they gain a sense of worthiness and acceptance by his peers.

2. To learn to get along with children of the same age.  Your child will benefit from forming friendships with other scouts. They learn how to balance giving and receiving affection. Being a part of a Cub Scout den helps fulfill these needs.

3. To develop mental processes.  Your child can develop mental process by reading, writing, and calculating. They need opportunities to use language to express ideas and to influence others. They move from a preoccupation with self to understanding how and what others think of them. Opportunities for observation and experimentation will help teach self-reliance. Den activities and meetings, along with the advancement program, help your child develop mentally.

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

5. To develop personal independence.  He or she is becoming less dependent on adults. Your child’s same-age friends become important. In his or her den, and in the pack, your child exercises independence while learning to get along with others.

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 child in these five important developmental needs. The uniqueness of Cub Scouting is that you, as his family, join the program with your child. You will help all along the way.

Questions? Email Jeremy Peterson, New Scout Chair, at peterson.jeremy@comcast.net

Please watch the short video below for more details.