Cub-Stuff!

The Grey Wolf Award

The Grey Wolf Award is the highest acheivement for a cub, and one that not all cubs will be able to obtain. It is the Cub's equivalent to the Queen Scout Award, so it is well worth encouraging your cubs to attempt it if you think they are ready to do so.

The Grey Wolf Award is the only Cub badge that they are able to wear on their uniform while at Scouts other than the link badge. It can be worn on their Scout Uniform in the position that the (red) Pioneer target badge goes, until they achieve that badge - which then replaces the Grey Wolf on their uniform.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • The Gold Boomerang
  • Have attended at least 4 outdoor activities in the past year.
    • One must be an overnight camp
    • One must be an inter-pack activity
    • One must be a bushwalk, of at least 2 hours, planned and led by the cub.
    • Any other outdoor activity
  • Have attended at least 2 pack councils in the past year
  • Have completed at least 4 Level Two badges, including one from each category
  • Have completed a special interest badge
  • Develop and present a resource for your pack, based on the Jungle Books. This should be presented to the pack prior to the resource being seen by the District examiner for the award.
See the yellow Cub Scout Record Book for more details.

The Application form needs to be signed off and sent to district/region/state levels, along with a $10 Chq.

When should it be done?

The key to sucessfully achieving the Grey Wolf Award is to get it done as early as possible!.
ONE requirement is the Gold Boomerang, however the rest of the requirements can be worked on during the year while the cub is working towards his/her Gold Boomerang. They do not need to wait until that is finished before working on the other bits.
If you have never had a cub attempt the award, then you, and they may find it a little daunting, however a chat with your district or regional Cub leader should enable you to fill in the gaps. The two "hardest" would probably be planning their hike and developing a resource.
For the hike, you can give them a suggested list of possible tracks etc that they could use that would be suited to their age and ability, so that they don't plan a hike that involves a cliff ascent or something like that. I get my Cubs to email me the details for the A1 activity form, and I produce it for them, so they do not need to also learn how to complete the form from scratch.
As for their pack resource, some ideas to get you thinking are listed below.
ONE requirement is the Gold Boomerang, however it is best that the Boomerang is the last item gained in the list. Planning for the hike should commence before your cub has progressed half-way through the Gold Boomerang. Actually, planning can usually start as soon as he/she STARTS working on the Gold Boomerang.

Gaining the four Level 2 achievement badges should be planned from the time the cubs joins the pack, not left until the final year. This also has the advantage that when they are working on the Gold Boomerang, the only things remaining are the resource and hike.

Please note that when "testing" for the Grey Wolf, the examiner will expect the Cub to be able to talk about what they did to achieve the various parts of the requirements, including the achievement badges, so a "log book" (possibly like this sample log) that the Cub can take with them showing what was done is a good idea.
A log is not a requirement of the Award, just a good way for the Cub to be able to record what was done and when. After all, it may be 2 years after gaining a badge that the Grey Wolf examining is being done, so it helps to have some notes to refer to.

Keep in mind too, that since not all Cubs are able to become a Sixer or a Second (for a number of good reasons) it will often be necessary to invite Cubs who are planning to achieve the Grey Wolf to at least 2 Pack Councils during the year while they are working on their Gold Boomerang in order to gain that requirement.

A good timetable is

  • Ages 8-9.5 - first 3 L2 badges
  • Age 9.5-10.25 - 4th L2 badge and Special Interest Badge
  • Age 9.5 - start Gold Boomerang
  • from Age 10 - attend two Pack Councils
  • Age 10.25 - Run Grey Wolf Hike
  • Age 10.5 - Grey Wolf pack-resource presented to Pack
  • Age 10.5 - Gold Boomerang completed
  • At least TWO MONTHS before turning 11 - Testing completed for Grey Wolf and form signed and passed to Region for approval.

Please remember that the District and Region (etc) Cub Comissioners are all in "part-time" roles and thus are not "in the office" every day. Therefore it is not a good idea at all to leave the application for the Award until the last month, as it is a simple matter for a couple of small delays to result in a Cub missing out on having it approved (by all people/levels required) BEFORE their 11th Birthday. It also means a lot to most Cubs to be able to be presented with their grey Wolf while still attending Cubs (even if it has to be the night they go up to Scouts), so please do not leave it until the last minute.

Resource ideas - Some of the resources I have seen are..

  • A memory-match game using laminated cards with pictures of Jungle Book Characters.
  • A Snakes and Ladders type game with Jungle Book characters and themes.
  • A puzzle-matching game.
  • A board game called Boomerang Bamboozle, and another based on first aid.
  • An Australian coat-of-arms jigsaw game (for each team to get a piece of their puzzle, they needed to answer a jungle-book quiz question correctly).
  • A quiz-based game where the team members progress across a chalk-drawn grid on the floor as they get answers correct.
  • A poster showing the trails signs, with photo's of them using rocks, sticks and grasses.
  • One of our cubs created a set of attendance books for each Sixer to use weekly, where they can also write notes/feedback etc to bring along to Pack Councils
  • - be creative, and come up with a great resource yourself -
NOTE - the resource does not have to be a game! However, if it is a game, the parts need to be laminated etc so they last well.
Some games I have seen allowed for an entire pack to play at the same time rather than a std board-type game, which is a great idea.
To inspire your Cubs even further, here are several photographs of other Cubs completed grey wolf projects.

© 2010 Ian Moggs, all rights reserved.

Last updated 4th August 2010.

Email me anytime - i2 @ robian .net (without the spaces).