Figure 1.--Cubs are involved in a variety of outings. These English cubs were visiting a small museum during a camping weekend in 1992.

English Cubbing from the beginning involved a wide range of activities. The range of activities is as wide as the imagination of Scouters and boys involved. Many of the activities are home-based, but there are also a range of outings. Some involve Scout oriented activities like camping and hiking. Others are more like school field trips to museums and other educational sites. There are also purely recreational trips such as visits to theme parks and beaches. Some actibities are joint underakings with Scouts and guides like bands. We have gathered some information about these events. Hpefullubreadercwill provide some infomtion about some of the sectivties.

Bands

While not a common acivity in Americn Scouting , many English Scout groups organozed Scout bands. Cubs participated in the Scout bands that troop organized. While most of the prticipants were Scouts and Guides, many bands also had a few Cubs participating. We have begun to develop some information about English Scout bands. These were not Cub bands, but rather Scout bands in which the older Cubs participated.

Bicycles

Cub programs often include biking and bike saftey. Many Cubs did nit have bikes in the early years, but after World War II, bikes became much more common. We are not sure when bike activities first appeared. Cubbing like Scouting is flexible and program activities are added or deleted depending on the interests and needs of the boys. Thus as more Cubs had bikes, biking was an obvious activity choice. We do not know much about early Cub bike programs. We do know that boys did not wear helmets util relatively recently. Cubs of course wore their caps. Cub bike activities now always show the boys wearing helmets--adult leaders insist for saftey reasons.

Camping

Unlike Scouting, camping was not a major part of the program which was more home-based. There were, however, learning activities prepaing boys for camping. Cubs might visit jamborees to learn about Scout camping. The Cubs do take short camping trips. One group writes, "Our leaders take us camping, and show us what to do, But if things get too boring, we just beat up Baloo, Akela isn't happy, she says: 'You've gone too far,' 'STOP IT NOW,' she tells us, We say 'O. K. AH-KAY-LAAAAAAAAAAAA'. Ballo we assumed was a stuufed mascot they took along. An English Scouter tells us, however, "You say 'Baloo was presumably a stuffed mascot they took along.' Not so!! Baloo is one of the other leaders, that's why at that point in the video you see one of the leaders get set upon. All the leaders have names from the Jungle Book.

Cooking

An important adjunct to camping is of course cooking. And it something the boys are interested in, esoecially if there is atasty payoff. For Cubs, especially the younger boys, camp cooking has to fairly simple. And safty considerations are important. Much of the training can be done at pack meetings before the boys actuaslly go camping. Boys Cub age can be charmingly cheeky. One Cub group writes about cooking, "They try to teach us cooking, and other things as well, They say it is important, to learn things for ourselves, But if we're feeling hungry, that isn't what we want, 'Cos we know how to track down A McDonald's restaurant ...." In addition to cooking itself, the Cubs learn how to set up the cooking site. And we see the boys learming to make ovens.

Figure 1.--Games were particulasrly popular with the boys at Cub pack meetings.

Games

The weekly pack meetings always had games which were very popular with the boys. There were both inside games and outdoor games. Wide games were especially popular. There are many other popular outdoor games. British bulldog and red rover are popular with American Cubs and I am guessing that they are also played by English Cubs. There are also many indoor games. There are many old standards, but a resourcefull Akela will constantly introduce new games to keep up the Cubs interest.

Model Building

There were a variety of projects like model building. Model building was very popular with this age group and a variety of Cub activities picked up on this enthusiasm.

Music

We note some images of English Cubs involved with Musical instruments. As far as we know, the only formal activity with instruments was with Scout bands. We do note other images of Cubs with musical instruments. This appears to have been primarily informal activities in which Cubs might add musical accompaniment to group singing. Hopefully some English Scouters will know more about this. Cubs of course would be just beginning to learn their instruments, but some older Cubs had developed some skill.

Outings

Outings and field trips to zoos, museums, and other interesting places were an especially popular activity. These were often essentially the same a school field trips. Some of the most common were the ones to zoos and museums. England of course has been fascinating histical sights including medieval castles and palaces. Most of these outings are selected for some kind of educational value. There were also outings to places just for fun such as amusement parks.

Parades

Cubs and other Scouts participate in many parades and public events. The most important each year is the annual St. George's Day Scout parade. Other events depend on the the particular unit, the community, the sponsoring organization and a variety of other factors. Usually the Cubs parade with other levels, including Rovers, scouts, and Beavers. British Cubs comminly parade in the full uniform. The uniform is more important in Britain than most other European countries. Emphasis on the uniform does, however, differ from unit to unit.

Projects

Packs organized many projects. The Cubs here are participating in a gardening project (figure 1). There wewe, however, quite a range of other projects with which the Cubs engaged. We have very few details on these various projects, but we are collecting information.

Public Speaking

Scouts have an annual public speaking competition called a Chatterbox Contest. The boys speak on a topic for a set time. We note Cubs involved in this activity. We assume Scouts were also involved, but have no information about their participation at this time. Their efforts are judged by a panel. The final in 1991 was held in the House of Commons in London.

Figure 3.--Here some English Cubs are having a great time singing.

Singing

Another popular Cub activity is singing. And there are many great songs for the boys to sing.

Skill Learning

There were skills to learn like knot tying.

Skits

There might also be skits.