Tiger Cubs BSA is the part of the program of the Boy Scouts of America that is for boys who are in the first grade and their adult partners. Seven-year-old boys and their partners may also join Tiger Cubs BSA.
The basic element of Tiger Cubs BSA is the boy-adult team. The adult may be a parent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, aunt or uncle, or even a neighbor. The only requirements are that the adult be 18 years of age or older, care about the boy, and have a strong commitment to his well-being. The boy and his adult partner join Tiger Cubs BSA together.
Normally, five to eight Tiger Cub teams are formed into a Tiger Cub den, which is part of a Cub Scout pack. The Tiger Cub den meets with the pack for as many activities as the pack feels are appropriate prior to the Tiger Cubs' graduation into Cub Scouting. If a pack has more than one Tiger Cub den, each Tiger Cub den has its own meetings. There is no one Tiger Cub den leader. However, each den should select a Tiger Cub Den Coordinator from among the parents in the den.
Tiger Cub dens meet twice a month. Their meetings are based on the Big Ideas the den has chosen from the Tiger Cub Family Activity Book. One of these meetings should be an activity or field trip, such as attending a community event or visiting a place of interest. (Your council may have compiled a Tiger Cub "Where to Go" booklet for dens to use in planning these activities.) The second meeting can be another big idea, a pack meeting, or an age-appropriate pack activity.
Tiger Cubs follow a school-year cycle. Boys and their adult partners join Tiger Cubs BSA at the beginning of the first-grade school year and remain in the program until the completion of first grade. At that time, they graduate into Cub Scouting and are eligible to participate in Cub Scout summer activities, including Cub Scout day camp.
Because one of the keys to success of the program is maintaining the "togetherness" of the den, additional Tiger Cub teams are not usually added once the den has established its identity by conducting Big Idea 1, "Getting to Know You." Instead, a new den should be formed. However, after conducting Big Idea 1, the den may decide to add one or two additional teams in order to bring a small den to a more workable size, or to accept a team that wishes to transfer from another den because of a family move. For the same reason, the den should stay together for the entire Tiger Cub experience and by completing Big Idea 17, "Cub Scouting, Here We Come," in May, graduate as a den into the Cub Scout pack.