Looking for activities for your Cub Scout recruitment, roundup, or signup night? Find 7 great ideas that will make your recruiting night a success!

Those of us who are already involved in Cub Scouts know how much fun it can be for kids, but if someone has never been exposed to Scouting, we need to have some good Cub Scout recruitment activities.
Many packs hold a recruiting event just after school starts in the fall. It may be called a “Round Up,” a “Scout Rally Night,” or a “Join Cub Scouts Event.”
Regardless of the name, this is an important event for your pack. A Cubmaster was recently interviewed on CubCast (a BSA scouting podcast) about how he is so successful in recruiting new Cub Scouts.
What he said stuck with me. He is “selling fun to the kids,” and he is “marketing positive experiences to the parents.”
This article includes seven Cub Scout recruitment ideas to start your brainstorming. These activities are designed to be used at a recruiting event.
Some of them will need a lot of lead time and volunteers, and some can be pulled off quickly with just a few adults.
Cub Scout Bike Rodeo

A bike rodeo is a great community service event! However, it will take some time to organize. There are many online sources available to help with the planning process.
One of the best that I have seen is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They call the event a cycling skills clinic rather than a bike rodeo, but I like bike rodeo better!
You can download their three resources here:
Cycling Skills Clinic Guide
Cycling Skills Clinic Appendices
Cycling Skills Sample Letters
The Utah Department of Health has a great Bicycle Skills Rodeo Packet that explains 14 bicycle safety skills stations you can have at your rodeo.
You'll also want to check out my article about bicycle safety printable activities and the BSA resources.
Cub Scout Recycled Raingutter Regatta

This recruitment event is good for the environment! The Cub Scouts build boats from recyclable items then race them raingutter regatta-style.
Cub Scout Rocket Academy
A couple of years ago, my Cub Scout pack held a Rocket Academy as our recruitment event. It was pretty awesome! While it was a success, we learned a few things that could have made it even better.
You can host a more streamlined Rocket Academy with just one rocket. One of the simplest rockets to make and shoot off is the Alka-Seltzer rocket.
Your rockets can be very simple projects, or you can make them a bit more elaborate by adding fins and a nose. Add a rocket fuel drink, and you're ready to go!
S'mores Campfire Party
What says “Cub Scouts” more than a campfire? And you can't have a campfire without s'mores, right?
Plan this like a regular campfire with each den doing a skit or a song. To make it even more fun, your leaders should do a skit or song–the sillier the better!
These super simple campfire skits don't require props or even much practice!
Have someone bring a portable fire pit and the s'mores fixings, and you're ready to go. Even if it's hot and it isn't dark when you host your event, I guarantee you'll have Scouts begging their parents to sign them up!
Ice Cream Social Recruitment Event
If you just can't bear the thought of a hot campfire, consider a cool ice cream social. Plan a few fun games for the kids then let them build their own ice cream sundaes.
You might want to set the sundae bar up outside so that a good hosing down is all the clean up necessary. 🙂
Geocaching Event

If you don't know much about geocaching, you can read my How to Geocache article. Check out a great resource and other details about how to plan and execute this awesome activity as a recruitment event for your pack.
Cub Scout Creators Recruitment Event
For this make & take event, set up two or three tables with quick, fun projects for the kids to build. Here are some neat ideas that I found around the internet.
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I hope these Cub Scout recruitment ideas are helpful to your pack. Leave me a comment, and let me know what kinds of activities you do at your Cub Scout recruitment event.
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
P.S. Check out this post to help you have an epic first Cub Scout den meeting!
Bicycle Safety Printable Activities for Cub Scouts
Tuesday 9th of August 2022
[…] The Tiger rank is the only one that includes learning about bike safety for kids, but all of our Scouts need to be reminded about the bicycle safety rules for kids. One way to do this is by having a bike rodeo at one of your pack meetings. You can also hold a community-wide bike rodeo as your joining event or round up activity. […]
Free Printable Cub Scout Information Cards | Cub Scout Ideas
Monday 17th of June 2019
[…] P.S. Looking for ideas for your recruiting event? Here are 7 good ones! […]
Free Printable Cub Scout Information Cards | Cub Scout Ideas
Sunday 14th of August 2016
[…] P.S. Looking for ideas for your recruiting event? Here are 7 good ones! […]
Jenny
Monday 18th of January 2016
Great ideas! Thank you for sharing them. Last August we held a Rocket Academy using many of your ideas. It was a huge success and we plan to do it again this year. We are also hoping to put together a Spring recruitment activity, and I will definitely consider some of the other ideas you present here. (I especially like the Bike Rodeo idea). Another local Pack in our area holds an "Activity Fair" in May. They have a sampling of many Cub Scout activities (a stomp rocket, a few pinewood derby cars and a practice track, a couple games from the Grin & Bear It Carnival, bars of soap and plastic knives for carving, etc). The community is invited to come and see what Cub Scouting has to offer.
teri wiese
Sunday 4th of October 2015
grandma doing second go round with cubs, things change so looking for ideas, would love more quick ideas
Sherry
Monday 5th of October 2015
Thanks for your dedication! I'll try my best to keep them coming!