In the beginning, Robert Baden-Powell, tried a camp for 20 boys
It was a huge success, so he wrote his ideas down in a book called ‘Scouting for Boys’. The boys that read the book got into groups and called themselves Scouts. They used the ideas in the book for camps, hikes and other things. This was how Scouting started.
At first it was for boys over ten years of age, but very soon their younger brothers were keen to join in the fun and adventure. So Baden-Powell decided to start a section for them, and asked his friend Rudyard Kipling if he could use his Jungle Book stories as basis for this.
Baden-Powell then wrote a new book, ‘The Wolf Cub's Handbook’ for them, and in 1916 the first Wolf Cub Packs were started.
Wolf Cubs wore a green jersey, a knotted Pack scarf, shorts, long socks and a green cap. Stars were worn on the cap and Sixer and Seconder stripes were worn on the arm. When the Wolf Cub had gained two stars, they could work for other badges.
In 1966 boys who were Wolf Cubs changed their name to Cub Scouts and had a different uniform. They stopped working for the Stars but had three Arrow Badges to try for. These have now been replaced with new badges.
2016 commemorated one hundred years of the Cub Scouts, and the Cubs themselves played a massive role in this special year.
