Welcoming Cubs and moving on

It’s a good idea for adult volunteers to meet regularly as it helps you to build relationships, organise joint activities and plan young people’s move from one section to another.

Joint activities that groups run together help members of both sections get to know each other and feel comfortable with others outside the section they’re currently in.

If a young person’s moving to a different area, you can point them towards the group finder found our homepage. They can use this to get in touch with a group in their new area.

It can help to plan ahead and welcome new Cubs in small groups so they’re not the only new face in the room. The flexibility in the age ranges is there to support this. Beavers can move up between ages 7½ and 8½. 

The Cub logbook, available from Scout Store, is a useful tool to help young people feel connected and comfortable with their new Pack. It explains who Cubs are and what they do, and has space to add info about their Pack.  

Consider arranging to meet the new Cubs with their parents or carers before the meeting to introduce yourself. You could tell them the plan for their first meeting. Explaining who Cubs are can help new members feel at ease.

Why not play a quick game or two to help new Cubs forget their nerves and meet their new friends?

Try to get your current Cubs involved in supporting new members. This's a great task for older Cubs or Sixers, and helps then towards their Team Leader Challenge Award too. Remember to support Cubs through their Membership Award as they settle into the Pack.

Some new members might benefit from visual stories to help them understand what Cubs is and what they will be getting up to.

Plan ahead to make sure that young people move at the right time for them. Cubs can move up to Scouts anytime between age 10 and 11.

This core flexibility in the age ranges means that young people could move up with a small group of friends, which may help them feel more comfortable.

Extra flexibility is sometimes needed to support young people with additional needs. You can find out more about section flexibility here as well as further practical information on our inclusion and diversity pages.

Try to regularly link up with the Scout section so you can build relationships, plan joint activities and share ideas. You can support young people to complete their Moving On Award, which involves spending three weeks with their potential new group while keeping up their regular routine. Doing so helps them make friends and get used to how things will work in their new section.

Try to spend some time chatting with Cubs about moving up. What do they think will be different about Scouts? What will stay the same?   

It's good to remind Cubs of former members who have since moved on to Scouts, to reassure them familiar faces are waiting on the other side.

You should consider having a moving on ceremony. You could use this as a time to celebrate all the skills Cubs have learned during their time with you and to help them process the change.

Welcoming new faces? Investing new Cubs into your Pack? Preparing to say goodbye?

We’ve got an activity for that. You can find even more ideas using our activity finder.

Take a look at our icebreakers and games blog to welcome everyone into Scouts.