Tiger Scout Resources for a Great Program

Tiger Scouts is an exciting scouting program for energetic first grade youth in 2026! Tigers do stuff - lots of stuff - and all with their adult partners. This program is intended to open up the world to inquisitive minds along with the caring guidance of adults. Early steps along the Scouting Trail are laid here and every rank advancement through the scouting program builds on the basic activities done as Tigers.

When a youth has completed kindergarten, whether they were a Lion Scout or not, earning the Tiger rank is for them. The scout receives a Tiger Scout handbook, Tiger neckerchief, and Tiger neckerchief slide. A blue Cub Scout Uniform is also needed. This part of the scouting trail is intended to take one school year, preparing the scout to begin Wolf adventures after completing first grade.

How to Join:

1. Go to BeAScout.org
2. Click the 'Cub Scouts' tab.
3. Enter your zipcode and click the arrow button.
4. Click on a Pack near you to see its contact info so you can call the Pack or your local Council about joining.
5. Complete a Youth Application and Health Record and give them to the Cubmaster of the Pack you choose.

The Tiger Cub program includes Tiger den meetings, den outings, and pack meetings. Meeting sounds pretty boring, but a good scout meeting is active, fun, and interesting. The hour is often packed with games, activities, and safe adventure.

A little Tiger Trivia:

• Tigers had a totem that was hung from the belt until 2006. It was replaced by a totem that hangs from the right pocket, similarly to the Wolf and Bear progress beads. In 2015, the totem was replaced by Adventure belt loops.
• Tiger Cubs did not earn the Bobcat rank. In 2006, the Bobcat rank became the first rank earned by all Cub Scouts, including Tigers. The Tigers had their own motto, but now they use the Cub Scout motto. Tiger Cub Motto:
  Search, Discover, Share
  
• For a few years, up until 2001, the Tiger Cubs had their own promise to memorize. That was discontinued in favor of the Cub Scout promise, which was replaced with the Scout Oath in 2015. Tiger Cub Promise:
  I promise to love God, my family and my country,
  and to learn about the world.

2026 Tiger Advancement
Tiger Scouts spend their time doing adventures that move them ahead towards their Tiger rank. By completing six required core adventures and two elective adventures, the Tiger rank is earned. The Tiger's adult partner participates the entire way, but the recognition items are only for the scouts.

Tiger Rank Requirements:

1. Complete each of the six Tiger required adventures:
   1. Bobcat
   2. Tigers in the Wild (Outdoors)
   3. Tiger Bites (Personal Fitness)
   4. Team Tiger (Citizenship)
   5. Tiger's Roar (Personal Safety)
   6. Tiger Circles (Family & Reverence)
2. In addition to the six required adventures, complete at least two Tiger elective adventure of your den's or family's choosing from this list: Champions for Nature, Curiosity, Intrigue, and Magical Mysteries, Designed by Tiger, Fish On, Floats and Boats, Good Knights, Let's Camp, Race Time, Rolling Tigers, Safe and Smart, Sky Is the Limit, Stories in Shapes, Summertime Fun, Tech All Around, Tiger Tag, Tiger-iffic!, Tigers in the Water

Akela is the name given to the Cub Scout's leader. This is the Tiger's adult partner, and that person is responsible for acknowledging completion of each adventure requirement by signing and dating the appropriate spot in the Tiger's handbook. There is also a spot for the Tiger Den Leader to sign for each requirement. Pages in the back of the Tiger handbook can be used by the Tiger to track progress all in one place, and some dens use advancement charts or den doodles to publicly display advancement.

Once a Tiger has completed enough adventures to earn rank, the game isn't finished. There are still many more adventures to explore until it's time to move on to a Wolf den. Some scouts strive to earn the every one of the adventure belt loops.

Tiger Den Leader:

An energetic, well-trained, and caring Den Leader is critical to the success of a Tiger Den. The Den Leader plans the program of activities for the year and makes that plan available to all the adults. But, the den leader does not organize and run every den meeting and outing, instead the actual running of the program is done through shared leadership with the adult partners.

A Tiger Den relies on the support and enthusiasm of its families! This shared leadership helps ensure participation by all, provides a sense of ownership to all, and gives each scout a chance to work on leadership skills - skills that he will work on all the way through Eagle Scout.

Tiger Den Leader is a registered volunteer Scouting America position. Every Tiger Den is required to have a registered den leader whose responsibilities are:

1. Work directly with other den and pack leaders to ensure that their den is an active and successful part of the pack.
2. Coordinate shared leadership among the Tiger adult partners, ensuring that den meetings and outings are planned, prepared for, and conducted by all adult partners on a rotating basis, and that the den activities provide advancement opportunities for the scouts in the den.
3. Attend pack leaders' meetings.
4. Lead the den at the monthly meeting and pack activities.
5. Ensure the transition of boys or girls in the Tiger den into a Wolf den at the end of the year.

Many resources available to help the den leader plan and run a successful, interesting program for the scouts can be found on scouting.org, but there is no current Tiger Den Leader Guide.

There is a Tiger Den Leader Guide from the previous version of this program which contains plans and ideas that may still be useful for Tiger adventures in 2026.

Tip: Keep in mind that participation is the key goal of the Tiger program. There is no level of competence or skill required to earn the rank badge. Don't push your scout to succeed, just participate and enjoy the time together.

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