Brownies and Cub Scouts – Do your best!
Kids aged 6 to 10 years belong to the Brownies and Cub Scouts section, although in Switzerland all children in this age group are referred to as «Cub Scouts». The groups can be coeducational or separate for boys and girls depending on the preferences of the local group. They live in the imaginary world of the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The group is divided into wolf packs, smaller groups which are led by an older and more experienced Brownie or Cub Scout.
Uniform and scarf
The uniform the Brownies and Cub Scouts wear is turquoise and looks otherwise same as the Scout and Guide uniform. Brownies and Cub Scouts wear their group’s scarf.
Types of activities
The motto of the Cub Scouts and Brownies is «Do your best!». Their activities are embedded in an imaginary world and follow a storyline. Cub Scouts and Brownies might dress up as witches or goblins and learn about edible food in the forest, build a hut from forest materials after being stranded on a lonely island, learn how to light a fire and cook magical potions (tea) in wizarding school, chase evil bank robbers in a sports game or participate in a scavenger hunt across the city in order to return an escaped elephant to the circus. Cub Scouts and Brownies learn about living as community and experience opportunities to take responsibility for their own small group.
Meetings and camps
Brownies and Cub Scouts meet on three to four Saturday afternoons per month. Most groups also have a three-day camp on Pentecost weekend and a week-long camp in summer or autumn. Often Cub Scouts and Brownies also stay in a Scout home or sleep at a farm instead of camping outdoors.
Law and promise
Wolves live in a pack. This is possible because they follow the same rules. The law rules their hunts, expressions and life and is very important for the pack. The Law and Promise are very similar to the first Cub Scout Law and Cub Scout Promise, after adaptations to fit the Swiss culture.
The motto
Do my best!
The Cub Scout and Brownie Law
We Cub Scouts and Brownies want to look after each other, help each other and learn from each other, take care of nature and our environment, and discover new things with our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hands.
The Cub Scout and Brownie Promise
I want to participate with the Cub Scouts and Brownies, and I try to do my best to follow the Cub Scout and Brownie law.
Badges
Each Brownie or Cub Scout has at least the emblem of their group, as well as a fabric wolf head in the colour of their pack. The left sleeve of the shirt is intended for membership badges and the right sleeve for personal development badges.
Personal development
Personal development is promoted through the personal progress system. To follow the track and obtain a progress badge (young wolf, first star wolf and second star wolf), Cub Scouts and Brownies learn about lighting fires and cooking, first aid, plants and animals, tying knots, secret codes, songs and traditions, the jungle book story and so on.
In addition to this, Cub Scouts and Brownies have the opportunity to strengthen their skills in one or more specific skill and obtain specialty badges, like the gardener, cyclist, winter sports, entertainer or collector badge.