Want to join Boy Scouts?
Boy Scouting provides awesome opportunities for boys to become well-rounded, gain leaderships skills, give service, and participate in outdoor adventures.
Boy Scouts is for boys who are at least 11 years old and younger than 18 years old. Or they may begin at 10 years old if they have completed the fifth grade or have earned the Cub Scout Arrow of Light award.
You can find a local troop via the BeAScout.org website. Or you may search online or by contacting local service or religious organizations to find a local troop.
(If you are looking for scouting for boys for younger ages, consider looking for a Cub Scout Pack. Older girls may also participate in co-ed Venture Crews. But this website and the book don't currently cover these other programs.)
As you decide on a troop to join, consider having the boy meet with their adult leadership and participate in some youth activity. Some things to base a decision on include: existing friends in the troop, costs (dues), meetings leds by boys, programs for appropriate age level and for older boys, adults with training, and a calendar with frequent outdoor activities and campouts. For some good questions, see our book page at [Getting Started]. Troops also have a formal scoring system — ask them about their Journey to Excellence scores.
Joining the troop involves submitting a completed youth membership form which also includes health history information. There may be nominal joining fee too.
The next steps for the boy when joining are: finding out what patrol he is a member of, meeting his youth leaders (other boys such as his patrol leader and the Senior Patrol Leader), completing the simple joining requirements (which is recognized with the Scout Badge), obtaining a uniform and a handbook, and hopefully participating in some introductory orientation.
For more information for the newly joined boy, visit here. And new parents, click here. Also consider ordering our book which has nearly 150 pages about getting started with Boy Scouts.