New Cub Scout Preview Adventures

The Protect Yourself Rules adventure, Yo-Yo adventure and Modular Design adventure have been added to the Cub Scout program. Learn all the details in this post.

The Boy Scouts of America has released three new Cub Scout Preview Adventures. These elective adventures will count toward advancement.

What are Cub Scout Preview Adventures?

Having Preview Adventures is a new concept for the Cub Scouting program. They are a way for the BSA to test an adventure to see what works for our Cub Scouts before including it in the program.

The Preview Adventures will be evaluated and possibly revised during the preview period. Depending on how much interest there is in the adventures, they may be included in the next edition of the Cub Scout handbooks.

These adventures count toward advancement just like other elective adventures.

Where Can I Find Out About the Cub Scout Preview Adventures?

Because they're in a test phase, the Preview Adventures won't have any printed materials. Instead, you can find all the information online including the requirements, den meeting plans, and program resources.  

The adventure loops and pins for the Preview Adventures are purple for all ranks to show that they're still in preview mode. You won't be able to purchase the loops and pins at your local Scout Shops. Instead, they will need to be ordered online at ScoutShop.org.

The Protect Yourself Rules Preview Adventure

The BSA partnered with the Barbara Sinatra Foundation to bring us the Protect Yourself Rules Adventure. This adventure will help children “recognize, respond to and report abuse.”

The adventure is available to all Cub Scout ranks–Lions through Arrows of Light. It will become a required adventure after the preview period.

The Protect Yourself Rules Preview Adventure can be used as an elective or it can be earned instead of the Cyber Chip for the ranks that require the Chip.

Compare this adventure's requirements to the Cyber Chip requirements to choose the one that works best for your den.

Note: The Lion rank requirements do not require the Cyber Chip.

You can find the adventure requirements, den meeting plans, and videos for each rank on this page. All of these resources are currently available free of charge.

The videos can be downloaded to your computer so that you can show them to your dens even if your meeting facility doesn't have access to the internet.

It looks like the Lions, Tigers, Wolves, and Bears use the same video which is about 13 minutes long. The Webelos and Arrow of Light video is about 22 minutes long.

The Yo-Yo Preview Adventure

Sponsored by Duncan Toys, the Yo-Yo Preview Adventure will teach our Scouts about physics in a fun way. The adventure is available for Wolves, Bears, Webelos, and Arrows of Light.

The Scouts will learn about yo-yo tricks and safety rules as well as how to do a yo-yo science experiment.

This page includes the requirements, den meeting plans, and instructional videos.

The Yo-Yo adventure is an elective, and it's possible that it will become a new adventure in the handbook. If that happens, the corporate branding will be removed.

The Modular Design Preview Adventure

This Adventure is for Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light.

The Scouts will learn about modular designing and building.   

This preview adventure is being used to explore different methods of instant recognition. This
adventure does not have an adventure loop or pin associated with it. Instead, a downloadable
certificate is available.

This page includes the requirements and den meeting plans.

Providing Feedback for the Preview Adventures

On the bottom of each page for the Preview Adventures, you'll find a feedback button. Or you can email your feedback to [email protected].

The information you provide will be used to improve the adventures and to determine if they should be added to the handbooks.

What is the Purpose of This Process?

On a recent episode of the CubCast podcast, Lisa Wylie, the National Cub Scouting Committee Chair, explains the goal of the Preview Adventures.

So, our goal for the Preview Adventures is to be able to experiment, to try something out before we commit resources and our Cub Scouts’ valuable time. You know, as adults we have great ideas for fun, but they may not necessarily resonate with the youth that we are serving or even their parents. I’m really excited about having this digital platform. It will allow us to be agile and respond to the desires of our Cub Scouts much more quickly than we have in the past. I believe this is going to be super beneficial to everyone.

Lisa Wylie, National Cub Scouting Committee Chair

The ideas for Preview Adventures will come from the BSA, corporate sponsors, and leaders and parents like us. You can send your ideas for potential future adventures to [email protected].

What do you think about these new Preview Adventures and the process for creating them? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Yours in Scouting,
Sherry

P.S. Sign up below for more Cub Scout ideas!