Cub Scouting Monthly Theme Ideas

New Buddies
August and September are months when the school year starts throughout the country. This is a time when students return to school and sometimes find that old friends have moved away, and new children are now in their classes. That makes this an appropriate time to expand your pack of Cub Scouts. Ask pack members to each invite a new friend to attend a Cub Scout Troop meeting. Play games that allow the boys to ask each other questions and get to know the potential new members of the group. Talk about change and how even good friends sometimes must move away from each other, but that friendships can exist even after friends move away by communicating over the phone and Internet.
Holiday Lights
November and December feature holiday light displays in many neighborhoods, shopping centers and commercial displays. Take your Cub Scouts out for an evening walk to look at the lights in the neighborhood. It will also give you an opportunity to teach them about different religions and ethnic groups and how they celebrate, as you come across displays centered around Chanukah, Kwaanza and Christmas.
Indoor Games
Plan an indoor game month as your Cub Scout meeting theme during the winter or early spring months. Create a variety of games for the boys to play inside, ranging from scavenger hunts to board games. Include games that involve both luck and skill to appeal to the interests of each of Cub Scouts. Combine the games with skills the scouts need to earn for badges. For example, create a game to find out who can tie the required knots. Award a prize to the boy who does it fastest. Each scout will also get closer to receiving a badge by competing in these games.
Backyard Campout
Choose a warm weather month between early spring and early fall to introduce the Cub Scouts to camping out. Instead of going to a campground, have an overnight campout in the yard of the Cub Scout leader or one of the scouts in the pack. This gives you an opportunity teach the scouts how to set up a tent and prepare food over an open fire. (Be sure to check local ordinances before lighting a campfire in a yard.) This also provides an opportunity to share stories and lessons late at night either in front of a fire or by flashlight. Play games after the sun goes down, including flashlight tag.