Posted on by Ben

Tiger Den Year Plan

As I mentioned last week, I am the den leader for my oldest son’s Tiger Den. The Cub Scout Tiger Program is for first grade boys. In our pack, for the most part, we take the summer off, so the Rank Program for the year is typically completed from the months of October through May. The boys receive their completed rank in June at our Pack Blue and Gold Dinner.

Every new cub scout, regardless of age, must first earn the Bobcat rank. As the Tiger Program is the first official rank, this is also the year that boys typically earn their Bobcat rank as well. I’ll go over the details of the Bobcat rank below. The Tiger rank requires completion of six Required Adventures, and one elective Adventure. Since I want to facilitate each boy being able to complete the rank, I want my lesson plan for the year to achieve that goal. Also, since the boys are now in school and used to the concept of homework, most months they will have some sort of project to work on over the course of the month.

I do plan to ask each family to do the My Family’s Duty to God Adventure on their own, as well as to try to do at least one elective adventure on their own as well.

The Required Adventures for the Tiger Rank are Backyard Jungle, Games Tigers Play, My Family’s Duty to God, Team Tiger, Tiger Bites, and Tigers in the Wild. I’m planning to also do the Tiger Tag and Tiger Theater adventures with the boys in den meetings.

Here is my plan for my Tiger Den meetings. In addition to the program that I have laid out, I plan to appoint one of the boys, on a rotating basis, to be the “Denner” or lead scout for that meeting. That boy will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath, and Scout Law.

October (Bobcat and start Backyard Jungle)

  1. Bobcat Requirements – mostly this is a discussion of each of the basic concepts in Cub Scouts – Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout sign, Scout handshake, Scout motto, and Scout salute
  2. 1 Foot Hike (Backyard Jungle Adventure) – after all of the scout talk, the boys will want to be able to get outside a little bit, and the 1 foot hike lets them do that.
  3. Plant seeds. After discussing the 1 foot hike, the boys will plant seeds. I’m thinking that we’ll do bean seeds in plastic bags with paper towel. This will really let the boys see how the seed starts to grow.
  4. Assignment – identify two kinds of birds, go on a hike, identify two sounds

    November (Complete Backyard Jungle)

    1. Build a birdhouse (Backyard Jungle Adventure)
    2. Discuss how the seeds grew over the past month
    3. Talk about Nutrition, and choosing good snacks. The boys will be assigned an upcoming den meeting that they need to pick out and bring a healthy snack for the rest of the group. (This will fulfil a requirement for both of the Tiger Games and Tiger Bites Adventures)

December (Team Tiger)

  1. Discuss what teams the boys are a part of
  2. Make a Den Job Chart
  3. Each boy will decide two jobs around their house that they will do for the month
  4. Make a chart of ways that the boys in the den are similar and different.
  5. Community Help – we will make holiday cards as a den and at the end of the meeting deliver them to a local nursing home.
  6. Assignment – perform the jobs around the house that the boys selected

January (Tiger Games) – This will take place in the school gym.

  1.  Play two team building games, listen to the rules, and discuss the outcomes of the games.
  2. Make up a new game as a den.
  3. Play the new game.
  4. Assignment – go to a sporting event (we will do this as a Pack, or done individually)

February (Tiger Bites)

  1. Identify three good food choices, Identify three bad food choices.
  2. Discussion on the difference between fruits and vegetables.
  3. Discuss ways that the boys can help at dinnertime.
  4. Discuss ways that the boys should be and keep clean before a meal.
  5. Discuss finger foods and manners for eating.
  6. Assignment – select a way to help at dinnertime and do that chore for a month.

March (Tiger Tag) – This will take place in the school gym.

  1. Discuss the boys’ favorite active games.
  2. Play two different kinds of relay races and discuss what the boys liked best about the games, choose a favorite (or different ) relay race and play that several more times.
  3. Talk about and decide upon another active game to play.
  4. Play it with the den.

April (Tiger Theater)

  1. Discuss puppet shows, reader’s theater, and pantomime.
  2. Play charades.
  3. Make a puppet
  4. As a den perform reader’s theater. Possibly, split the den in two so that each part of the group can watch the other part perform.
  5. Discuss the Six Essentials for an outdoor trip (Tiger Wild Adventure)
  6. Assignment – attend a story time or a play (may already do this through school).

May (Tiger Wild) – Outdoor Hike

  1. Pack a backpack with the Six Essentials, and carry it for the hike
  2. Discuss the outdoor code and leave no trace and explain how that can apply to a hike.
  3. Identify three plants, animals, or signs of animals.
  4.  Sing a song while on the hike
  5. Identify two trees and two plants.
  6. Assignment – visit a nature center or a zoo.

There you have it, that is my plan for the activities that we will do each month this school year to complete all of the Tiger Scout Rank. We will typically have one or two Den meetings per month, in part depending upon how much of the adventure we complete in the first meeting that month.

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