The Cub Scouts, often known simply as Cubs, is a section of the Scouting movement for children between the ages of around 8-11 (depending on the country).

The section was founded by Robert Baden-Powell (B-P), in 1930 ,with the intention of extending the scouting movement to younger children. B-P asked his friend Rudyard Kipling to use The Jungle Book history and universe as motivational frame for cub scouting. Reflecting this origin, the original name for the section in the UK was the "Wolf Cubs"; this was dropped in the latter half of the twentieth century.

The Cubs were originally open only to boys, and the Brownies were set up as a parallel section for young girls. This remains the situation in some places. Even where girls are admitted to the Cubs, in some places there are separate packs for boys and girls.

Cub scouts are organised in packs, which are usually linked to a scout group, providing a community with all the age-sections. Adult leaders of Cub packs take the names of The Jungle Book 's main characters. Cub scouts have a distinctive two-fingers salute, in contrast to the three-finger salute of Boy Scouts.

Cub Scouts, like the Boy Scouts, use a ranking system, but unlike its counterpart, the ranking is dependent upon age or grade level. The entry-level rank, sometimes considered a separate entity than Cub Scouts, is Tiger. The next ranks, in successive order, are Wolf, Bear, and Webelos. The Webelos rank is unusual because a boy must spend two years as one before receiving the Arrow of Light Award, the highest given to a Cub Scout and the only patch from Cub Scouts worn on the Boy Scout uniform.

See Also

• Scouting
• Rover Scouts
• The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book

External Links

• The Virtual Cub Scout Leader's Handbook