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Bear Badge Requirements

As revised in the 1998 edition of the Bear Cub Scout Book.

(Revisions to requirements are shown in bold underlined type.
Deletions are shown struck through in red italics, like this text.

To see the current requirements with no highlighting of the changes,
Click Here

To earn the Bear Badge, a Cub Scout must complete 12 achievements out of a possible 24 that are offered in the book. The achievements are grouped in 4 major areas, GOD, COUNTRY, FAMILY, and SELF. Within each group, a required number of achievements must be completed, as indicated below. Also, any achievements that they do NOT use to earn the Bear Badge may be used to earn Arrow Points.

(Note that these achievements, as were the Wolf activities, are primarily done at home and signed off by an adult family member after the boy has completed each one. The book is then shown to the Den Leader who records the progress and also signs the boy's book.)

The Bear Achievements are as follows, page number references to the Bear Book are in parenthesis.

If the Cub Scout has not previously earned the Bobcat Badge, it must be earned first.

ACHIEVEMENTS

GOD (Do ONE of the following)

  1. WAYS WE WORSHIP (Page 24)
    Practice your religion as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious community.

    Back to the Achievements List

  1. EMBLEMS OF FAITH (Page 26)
    Earn the religious emblem of your faith. (A list of the religious emblems available to Cub Scouts is listed on this site.  Click here to see it.)

Back to the Achievements List

COUNTRY (Do THREE of the following)

  1. WHAT MAKES AMERICA SPECIAL?  (Page 30)
    (Do requirement (a) and three of the other six requirements. 
    1. Write or tell what makes America special to you.
    2. With the help of your family or den leader, find out about two famous Americans. Tell the things they did or are doing to improve our way of life. 
    3. Find out something about the old homes near the place where you live. Go and see two of them. 
    4. Find out where places of historical interest are located in or near your town are located or city.   Go and visit one of them with your family or den. 
    5. Choose a state;  it can be your favorite one or your home state. Pick your favorite state or home state.   Name its state bird, tree, and flower. Describe its flag. Give the date it was admitted to the union.
    6. Be a member of the color guard in a flag ceremony for your den or pack.
    7. Display the U.S. flag in your home or fly it on three national holidays.

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  1. TALL TALES  (Page 36)
    Do all three requirements.
    1. Tell in your own words what folklore is. List some folklore stories, folk songs, or historical legends from your own state or part of the country.
    2. Name at least five stories about American folklore. Point out on a United States map where they took place happened. 
    3. Read two folklore stories and tell your favorite one to your den.

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  1. SHARING YOUR WORLD WITH WILDLIFE (Page 44)
    This achievement is also part of the World Conservation Award.
    Do four of the following requirements.
    1. Choose a bird or animal that you like and find out how it lives. Make a poster showing what you have learned.
    2. Build or make a bird feeder or birdhouse.
    3. Explain what a wildlife conservation officer does.
    4. Visit one of the following:
      Zoo, Nature center, Wildlife refuge, Game preserve.
    5. Name one animal that has become extinct in the last 100 years. Tell why animals become extinct. Name one animal that is on the endangered species list.

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  1. TAKE CARE OF YOUR PLANET (Page 50)
    Do three of the following requirements.
    1. Save 5 pounds of glass or aluminum, or 1 month of daily newspapers. Turn , and turn them in at a recycling center or use your community's recycling service.
    2. Plant a tree in your yard, or on the grounds of the group that operates your Cub Scout pack, or in a park or other public place. Be sure to get permission first.  
    3. Call city or county officials or your trash hauling company and find out what happens to your trash after it is hauled away.
    4. Do a water-usage survey in your home. Note all the ways water is used. Look for any dripping faucets.
    5. Discuss with one of your parents an adult in your family the ways your family uses energy. 
    6. Find out more about your family's use of electricity.

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  1. LAW ENFORCEMENT IS A BIG JOB (Page 58)
    Do four of the following requirements.
    1. Make a set of your own fingerprints.
    2. Make a plaster cast of a shoeprint in the mud.
    3. Check the doors and windows of your home.
    4. Visit your local sheriff's office or police station.
    5. Be sure you know where to get help in your neighborhood.
    6. Be sure fire and police numbers are listed by the phone at your home.
    7. Know what you can do to help law enforcement.

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FAMILY (Do FOUR of the following)

  1. THE PAST IS EXCITING AND IMPORTANT (Page 64)
    Do three of the following requirements.
    1. Visit your library or newspaper office. Ask to see back issues of newspapers or an almanac. 
    2. Find someone who was a Cub Scout a long time ago. Talk with him about what Cub Scouting was like then.
    3. Start a or add to an existing pack scrapbook and give something to it. 
    4. Trace your family back through your grandparents or great- grandparents; or, talk to your grandparents   a grandparent about what it was like when they were he or she was younger. 
    5. Find out some history about your community.
    6. Write in a journal Keep a diary for 2 weeks. 

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  1. WHAT'S COOKING? (Page 70)
    Do four of the following requirements.
    1. With an adult, bake cookies. 
    2. With an adult, If your parent or guardian says it is all right, volunteer to make snacks for the next den meeting  part of your supper.
    3. Prepare one part of your breakfast, one part of your lunch, and one part of your supper.
    4. Make a list of the 'junk' foods you eat. Discuss "junk" food with a your parent or teacher. 
    5. Make some healthful after-school snacks or some snacks for watching television trail food for a hike. 
    6. Make a dessert for your family.

      Back to the Achievements List

  1. FAMILY FUN (Page 78)
    Do both of these requirements.
    1. Go on a trip with members of your family.
    2. Have a "family-make-and-do-night."

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  1. BE READY! (Page 82)
    Do the first four requirements; the last one is recommended, but not required. 
    1. Tell what to do in case of an accident in the home. A family member Parent needs help. Someone's clothes catch on fire. 
    2. Tell what to do in case of a water accident.
    3. Tell what to do in case of a school bus accident.
    4. Tell what to do in case of a car accident.
    5. Have a health checkup by a physician (optional).

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  1. FAMILY OUTDOOR ADVENTURE (Page 90)
    Do three of the following requirements.
    1. Go camping with your family.
    2. Go on a hike with your family.
    3. Have a picnic with your family.
    4. Attend an outdoor event with your family.
    5. Plan your outdoor family day.

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  1. SAVING WELL, SPENDING WELL (Page 96)
    Do four of the following requirements.
    1. Go grocery shopping with a parent or other adult member of your family. Compare prices of different brands of the same item.  Check the prices at different stores.  Read the ads in your newspaper.
    2. Set up a savings account.
    3. Keep a record of how you spend money for 2 weeks.
    4. Pretend Make believe you are shopping for a car for your family. 
    5. Discuss family finances with one of your parents a parent or guardian. 
    6. Play a board game with your family that involves the use of play make-believe money. 
    7. With an adult, figure out how much it costs for each person in your home to eat one meal. 

      Back to the Achievements List

SELF (do FOUR of the following)

  1. RIDE RIGHT (Page 102)
    Do requirement (a) and three more of the other six requirements.
    1. Know the rules for bike safety. If your town requires a bicycle license, be sure to get one.
    2. Learn to ride a bike, if you haven't by now. Show that you can follow a winding course for 60 feet doing sharp left and right turns, a U-turn, and an emergency stop.
    3. Keep your bike in good shape. Identify the parts of a bike that should be checked often.
    4. Change a tire on a bicycle.
    5. Protect your bike from theft. Use a bicycle lock.
    6. Ride a bike for 1 mile without rest, and be Be sure to obey all traffic rules. 
    7. Plan and take a family bike hike.

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  1. GAMES, GAMES, GAMES! (Page 108)
    Do two of the following requirements.
    1. Set up the equipment and play any two of these outdoor games with your family or friends.
      (Backyard golf, Badminton, Croquet, Sidewalk shuffleboard, Kickball, Softball, Tetherball, Horseshoes, Volleyball)
    2. Play two organized games with your den.
    3. Select a game that your den has never played. Explain the rules. Tell them how it is played,  to play it, and then play it with them. 

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  1. BUILDING MUSCLES (Page 112)
    Do all of the following requirements.
    1. Do physical fitness stretching exercises. Then do sit ups, curl-ups, push-ups, the standing long jump, and the softball throw. 
    2. With a friend, compete in at least six different two-person contests. (Many examples in book.)
    3. Compete with your den or pack in the crab relay, gorilla relay, 30-yard dash, and kangaroo relay.

    NOTE TO PARENTS: If a licensed physician certifies that the Cub Scout's physical condition for an indeterminable time doesn't permit him to do three of the requirements in this achievement, the Cubmaster and pack committee may authorize substitution of any three of the arrow points in the elective section of this book Arrow Point electives.

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  1. INFORMATION, PLEASE -  (Page 118)
    Do requirement (a) and three more of the following requirements.
    1. With an adult in your family, choose select a TV show. Watch it together. 
    2. Play a game of charades at your den meeting or with your family at home. (renumbered from (c) only)
    3. Visit a newspaper office, or a TV or radio station and talk to a news reporter.  (renumbered from (b))
    4. Use a computer to get information.  Write, spell-check, and print out a report on what you learned. Visit a place where computers are used.
    5. Write a letter to a company that makes something you use.  Use e-mail or the U.S. Postal Service.
    6. Talk with one of your parents a parent or other another family member about how getting and giving facts fits into his or her job. 

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  1. JOT IT DOWN  (Page 122)
    Do five of the following requirements.
    1. Make a list of the things you want to do today. Check them off when you have done them.
    2. Write two letters to relatives or friends. 
    3. Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks.
    4. Write an invitation to someone.
    5. Write a story about something you have done with your family.
    6. Write a thank-you note.
    7. Write about the doings activities of your den. 

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  1. SHAVINGS AND CHIPS (Page 128)
    Do all of the following requirements.
    1. Know the safety rules for handling a knife.
    2. Show that you know how to take care of and use a pocketknife.
    3. Make a carving with a pocketknife. Work with your parent or den leader or other adult when in doing this. 
    4. Earn the Whittling Chip card.

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  1. SAWDUST AND NAILS (Page 134)
    Do all of the following requirements.
    1. Show how to use and take care of four of these tools. 
      (Crescent wrench, Coping saw, C-clamp, Hand saw, Drill bit, Brace, Hammer, Hand drill, Bench vise, Wood plane, Screwdriver, Pliers)
    2. Build your own tool box.
    3. Use at least two tools listed in requirement (a) to fix something.

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  1. BUILD A MODEL (Page 138)
    Do three of the following requirements.
    1. Build a model from a kit.
    2. Build a display for one of your models.
    3. Pretend Make believe you are planning to change the furniture layout in one of the rooms in your home. 
    4. Make a model of a mountain, a meadow, a canyon, or a river. 
    5. Go and see Look at a model of a shopping center or new building that is on display somewhere. 
    6. Make a model of anything - a rocket, boat, car, or plane. 

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  1. TYING IT ALL UP (Page 142)
    Do five of the following requirements.
    1. Whip the ends of a rope.
    2. Tie a square knot, bowline, sheet bend, two half hitches, and a slip knot.  Tell how each knot is used.
    3. Learn how to keep a rope from tangling.
    4. Coil a rope. Throw it, hitting a 2-foot square marker 20 feet away.
    5. Learn a magic rope trick.
    6. Make your own rope.

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  1. SPORTS, SPORTS, SPORTS (Page 150)
    Do all of the following requirements.
    1. Learn the rules of and how to play three team sports. 
    2. Learn the rules of and how to play two sports in which only one person is on each side. 
    3. Take part in one team and one individual sport.
    4. Watch a sport on TV with a parent or some other member of your family.
    5. Attend a high school, college, or professional sporting event with your family or your den.

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  1. BE A LEADER (Page 154)
    Do three of the following requirements.
    1. Help a boy join the Cub Scouts Cub Scouting, or help a new Cub Scout through the Bobcat trail. 
    2. Serve as a denner or assistant denner.
    3. Plan and conduct a den activity with the approval of your den leader.
    4. Tell two people they have done a good job.
    5. Leadership means choosing a way even when not everybody likes your choice.

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Page updated on: August 28, 2022

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