Webelos Cub Scout Beginning of the Year Campout for your Den and Pack

Are you ready to plan a Webelos Scout fall campout where you can complete all requirements towards making rank this scout year? Hopefully, a fall campout has been planned by your Cub Scout pack, council, or program. As you have become a more seasoned camper, so have your Webelos Cub Scouts, so planning your Webelos Cub Scout beginning of the year campout should allow you to make a lot of progress toward rank.

Hopefully, you have a good idea of your scouting families preferences with regards to camping. Many families love to camp the entire weekend, Friday night to Sunday morning. However, other families can only commit to part of the day Saturday. While still other families may wish to camp overnight only Saturday evening. Therefore, we use Friday night, Saturday morning and Sunday morning for more elective or optional activities. Consequently, we jam pack out Saturday afternoon/early evening with our requirements.

If your scouting families love to camp, feel free to spread out our Saturday afternoon/evening activities more equally throughout the weekend. You could even add in time for your scouts to work on Duty to God with their family. Moreover, you could complete additional elective adventures. Additionally, this is a great opportunity to add in a STEM project or Nova Award too.

Before the Webelos Cub Scout Fall Campout

For Webelos Cub Scout year, it can be helpful to have a meeting prior to the beginning of the year campout. During this meeting, you can prepare for the campout with your scouts to allow you to further progress towards Webelos Cub Scout rank. This meeting doesn’t need to be long and you can always add more if you have a full hour to fill.

Webelos Cub Scout Den First Meeting

As this first meeting, we find it beneficial to invite each scout’s parent or guardian as you will be discussing the Webelos cub scout fall campout. During this meeting you will most likely also assign roles and responsibilities for the camping trip.

Webelos Cub Scout Den Meals

With the scouts, plan out your camping trip meals. Preparing, budgeting, and shopping for meals is a big part of Webelos scouting found in Cast Iron Chef, Webelos Walkabout, and Castaway advancements for Webelos Cub Scouts. At the very least, the scouts will need a Saturday lunch and dinner. However, if your families plan to camp both Friday and Saturday night, you will also need a snack or dinner for Friday, breakfast for Saturday and Sunday morning and a few snacks for the day on Saturday.

You will want to plan 2 nutritious meals that can be cooked without a pot or pan. The webelos cub scout handbook has recipes on page 35, 96, 297-298. You can practice cooking on a camp stove, dutch oven, box oven, solar oven, open campfire, or grill. Be sure to plan for the food and the cooking equipment necessary. Cast Iron Chef 1

Webelos Cub Scout Den First-Aid and Survival Kit

For Webelos rank, you will need to create a first-aid kit for First Responder and we love the survival kit from Castaway. This is a perfect time to brainstorm the materials necessary for a first-aid kit: both a den first-aid kit and a personal first-aid kit for each scout. Then work with your den to create a list of items needed for your survival kit. We like to ask parents to help us gather the necessary items either by having each family supply their own or having each parent bring 2 or 3 items for the entire den.

Webelos Personal First Aid Kit

The Webelos handbook recommends a list of items to add to both a den and personal first aid kit. Our own personal list is below, but you can add or change as you see fit. These are the items my cub scouts, girl scouts, and my own children carry in their first aid kits. Don’t forget a Ziploc bag for each scout to keep their first aid materials. You can grab our free labels for a first-aid kit as well. First Responder 6 & Webelos Walkabout 2

Webelos Survival Kit

This includes all of the Cub Scout 6 essentials, but now that your scouts are a little older, the handbook suggests a few extra items for scouts to carry. These extra items are especially helpful as your cub scouts begin to plan longer outings and hikes. Castaway 2A

Also, discuss your camping weekend agenda with the families. This way they know when to plan to arrive, when the most requirements will be covered, and any other special events scheduled during the camping trip.

What Should I Bring for a Webelos Scout Beginning of the Year Campout?

This is a question many parents continue to ask even as a Webelos den. The easier you make this for families, the better. If possible send out a master list of the materials to pack for each family. Then include a list that shows the specific group materials that each family should plan to bring, especially with regards to meals and advancement materials. We like to send this by email shortly after our scouts divide up the necessary materials.

Scouts

Each family will need to bring their own materials for camping. This includes their campsite materials and also their individual clothes and hygiene materials. Provide your scouts a packing list if you pack has one. The easier this is for families, the more chance they will take on camping. Be sure to include your scouts Webelos Cub Scout handbook.

Scouts should have the Cub Scout 6 Essentials of hiking plus a few extra items for their survival pack. We suggest the scouts get a hydration pack for ease of drinking water. Your scouts will consume more water with one than just a water bottle. Also, these hydration packs have a built in whistle, but we prefer to also have our own. Additionally, we love headlamps to use as our flashlight. Not only do these let your scouts be hands-free, they also make it a lot harder for scouts to shine the light in other’s eyes.

The other essentials that you scout needs are a first aid kit, sun protection, and trail food. We have each of our scouts prepare their own first aid kit to keep in their hydration packs. We suggest making this at the campout on either Friday night or Saturday morning. You can ask each family to help contribute materials to lessen the costs for leaders.

Cub Scout Leader

As a scout den leader, you will need to bring a more complete first aid kit. Most cub scout packs will have one that the leaders can bring filled with everything you need. If they don’t, you can purchase one to keep and then just refill as you use items.

Next, you will need to think about food. We like to ask each family to bring something, whether they each bring a side dish, dessert, or meal. You can also ask families to bring something for each meal. Secondly, you will need coolers with ice (or ice packs) as well as a way to cook your food. We love grilling and find we can make just about anything on a grill. But with Webelos cub scouts it’s also important to let the scouts start cooking too, so you may need to explore other options.

For breakfast, think eggs, pancakes, or cinnamon rolls. Lunch could be grill cheese, mini pizzas, or walking tacos. Dinner we tend to grill chicken, sausages, hamburgers, don’t forget the buns and condiments. Don’t forget some snacks too! Your scouts will want to each about every 2 hours or so.

There are other items that you will need to bring for specific adventure requirements. Your scouts will need something with which to write and their pocket knife. We also bring an extra box of pencils along just in case. To make Webelos rank, your scouts will need a 5-lb weight and jump rope. These can be shared or each scout can bring their own.

Webelos Cub Scout Fall Campout Agenda

We have included plans for Friday night to Sunday morning for this Webelos Cub Scout beginning of the year campout since our pack often chooses to camp over the weekend. However, knowing that families are busy, we plan for most of our Webelos Scout rank requirements for Saturday afternoon and evening. This allows the majority of our scouts to attend when we focus on rank adventures. If you are wondering ‘what are typical scouting outdoor activities?’, we’ve got you covered. See the Webelos scout activities we recommended to earn Webelos rank in just one campout.

Webelos Fall Campout Friday Night

Families will need time on Friday evening (or Saturday evening) to plan and set up their campsite. Provide enough time to allow families to make a quick store trip if they have forgotten anything. Try to set aside time early so that scouting families can set up in the limit daylight hours. This is also a great time to leave a little time for Duty to God and You, which scouts complete with their families.

Depending on when you will arrive, you will need to provide dinner (or a late night snack). This is the perfect time to set up a first aid station. First, have each family place out their supplies. Then hand each scout a Ziploc bag and let them place 1 – 3 of each item in their first aid kit. First Responder 6 & Webelos Walkabout 2

It is always fun to go on a night hike scavenger hunt. Have each scout bring a headlamp or flashlight and take a little hike to familiarize yourself with the area (especially the bathrooms and how to get there). Have your scouts make a clear track to the bathroom, maybe add some signs or string lights to help them find their way.

Saturday Morning of the Webelos Beginning of the Year Campout

Your den will need a plan for breakfast and lunch on Saturday. This is perfect because Webelos cub scout year focuses on cooking in multiple adventures. Decide the food the scouts will prepare, the materials needed, as well as a plan for preparing the food. This year your scouts will help more with the cooking, so this helps a bit.

If you have quite a few scouts, it can be difficult to have them all help cook at the same time. Try to offer a few low key activities for your scouts so that everyone has something to do. As den leaders, you may need some time to prepare for your afternoon as well, since this is where you will complete most of your Webelos rank requirements. If you haven’t already worked on Duty to God and You on Friday evening, you can add in some time for families to work on these requirements with their families.

Just like you made your first aid kits on Friday night, you could plan to make a Trail food trail mix. If each family plans to bring one trail mix food, you would end up with a great mix of foods for the scouts to fill their bags. Don’t forget containers or bags for each scout. For example, we love nuts, banana chips, m&ms, dried pineapple (or other fruit), sunflower seeds (without the shell), chocolate chips, raisins or craisins, popcorn, cereal, and chips.

Webelos Cub Scouts Campout Saturday Afternoon/Evening

We always have our highest participation from our scouting families during this time. Therefore, we focus most of this time on rank requirements. If any families are just arriving and planning to camp tonight, be sure to provide some time for them to set up their campsites for the evening.

Cooking and Building a Fire

Prepare lunch together. If you want to make Webelos rank with this one campout, we would suggest making lunch that does not involve a pot or pan. Instead, try a foil meal or something that doesn’t need to be cooked. Cast Iron Chef 2(try to cook if possible), Webelos Walkabout 4, Castaway 1A (need another meal)

While scouts wait for their meal to cook, they can practice building a fire. If possible, have your scouts light their fire and then extinguish their campfire to learn the proper protocols here. Also practice lighting a fire without matches. Cast Iron Chef 3 & Castaway 1B

Stronger, Faster, Higher Requirements

Your scouts will probably need some movement, now that they have cooked a delicious meal. This is a great time to work on these physical fitness requirements for Webelos cub scouts.

Begin with a warm up, while discussing the benefits of warming up before exercising. The Webelos handbook provides some simple stretches on page 80-81, including forward lunges, side lunges, cross-over stretch, quad stretch, and butterfly stretch. You can also have your Webelos scouts each take turns choosing and leading a warm up for 10 seconds or so. Stronger, Faster, Higher 1

Then move onto the physical activities and recording your results. We suggest setting up stations and having the scouts work in pairs. However, you could easily have all the scouts do each activity at the same time if you have enough jump ropes and 5-lb weights. Stronger, Faster, Higher 2

The activities to try are:

1. 20-yd dash – how fast can you run?
2. Vertical jump – how high can you jump?
3. Lifting a 5-lb weight – how many times can you lift it before your arm tires?
4. Push-ups – how many can you do?
5. Curls (or Sit ups) – how many are you able to do?
6. Jumping rope – how many can you do without stopping?

To complete the Webelos Stronger, Faster, Higher Adventure, you will need to choose one more activity. You can try a new sport your scouts have never played before like volleyball, golf, or tennis. Stronger, Faster, Higher 4 Just remember to bring these supplies. Another option is to lead fitness games for younger scouts, which could help out your other dens in your pack. Stronger, Faster, Higher 6 Afterward, remember to cool down. Stronger, Faster, Higher 1

Finally, scouts will need make a month long exercise plan and keep track of their progress. You can use page 82 in your Webelos handbook if the scouts want to work on the above skills. On the other hand, you could give each scout a blank calendar and let them create their own exercise plan which may include sports that they play or other activities they enjoy. Stronger, Faster, Higher 3

Webelos First Responder Requirements

Begin by gathering your scouts together to explain what first aid means. First Responder 1 Then take your scouts through different first aid cases and have them practice what to do in each one.

1. Teach 2 ways to treat drinking water Castaway 2B
2. Hurry Cases such as serious bleeding, heart attack or sudden cardiac arrest, stopped breathing, stroke, poisoning First Responder 2
3. How to help a choking victim First Responder 3
4. How to treat for shock First Responder 4
5. Teach how to treat at least 5 of these First Responder 5

Webelos Hike at the Fall Campout

Now it is time to go on a 3 mile hike, which should build up an appetite for dinner. Before you begin, prepare a snack that the scouts can eat somewhere along the hike. If you made trail mix earlier, this is a great hiking food. Recite the Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace Principles before beginning, which your scouts should have memorized by now. Refresh the scouts’ memories by asking them to share how they should apply these on the hike. Webelos Walkabout 1 & 3

Spend a few minutes discussing what scouts should do if they become separated from the group. Teach the S-T-O-P method and universal signaling. Basically, S-T-O-P asks your scouts to stay put, think about how they got separated, observe their surroundings (both looking and listening), and preparing to either find their way back or staying put until help arrives. Universal signaling is usually down with 3 rapid whistles with a pause before repeating, but could also use a signal mirror, bright colors, or fire. Castaway 2C

Then enjoy your hike and your snack. Throughout your hike, allow your scouts to try out different roles. These roles include trail leader who keeps the map, points out hazards, and sets the pace, including breaks. First-aid leader who carries the first-aid kit and helps to give first-aid if needed. And the lunch/snack leader who carries food, finds a good spot, and supervises clean up. Webelos Walkabout 6

Webelos Campout Dinner and Campfire Program

Your scouts will need to prepare an additional meal. Dinner is a great option to get a little more cooking practice. To earn the Webelos Castaway Advancement, try cooking without pots and pans again. Castaway 1A

With dinner, your scouts can plan for their skit during the cub scout pack campfire program. We suggest tying this with the castaway adventure. Ask your scouts to make a list of 4 qualities that leaders need during an emergency. Then pick 2 to use in your skit. Scouts should act out these qualities and share how they relate to the Cub Scout Law and Scout Motto: Be Prepared. Of course add in some humor by having a scout performing the qualities incorrectly or make the emergency humorous to the other scouts. Castaway 2D

Sunday Morning at your Webelos Fall Campout

Sunday is usually a day for families to pack up and get ready for heading home. However, you will need to plan for breakfast if you have scouts camping out on Saturday evening. This is also a great time to practice knot tying, especially bowline knots, square knots, half hitch knots, and taut-line hitch knots as you will need these for Arrow of Light rank next year.

Webelos Cub Scout Requirements Covered and Those Left to Do!

This Webelos Scout beginning of the year campout covers all of the adventures needed to make Webelos rank in one campout. If your families find time for Fellowship and Duty to God, be sure to record this too! What an amazing accomplishment.

Cast Iron Chef 1 – 3 planned during the first meeting and campout. DONE!

Duty to God and You – time planned for families to complete on their own either Friday night, Saturday morning, or Sunday morning. DONE!

First Responder 1 – 6 planned during the campout. DONE!

Stronger, Faster, Higher 1-3, 4 OR 6 planned during the campout. Scouts will need to finish part 3 of tracking their exercise for the next month. ALMOST DONE!

Webelos Walkabout 1-4 and 6 completed during the campout. DONE!

Castaway 1A, 1B, 2A-D planned during the campout. DONE! Elective Adventure

In order to earn Webelos Cub Scout Rank, your scouts will merely need to complete Duty to God and You if not finished during the beginning of the year campout and track their exercise for 30 days to finish up the Webelos adventure Stronger, Faster, Higher requirements.

We’d Love to Connect with You

Good luck on your campout and remember HAVE FUN! Be sure to read more about Webelos Scout Nova Awards. Leave a comment below if you find this campout plan helpful or see something else we could add. Have other tips for scout den leaders, we’d love for you to drop them in the comments too. Looking for more fun scouting done for you agendas and outdoor activities for your family? Subscribe to our newsletter for families for more practical solutions to real-life parenting problems and a few freebies too!

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.