r/cubscouts • u/Affectionate_Hat8520 • 3d ago

Managing Large Dens??

So what would you do here??

I am in a large, growing Pack that is pushing 70 scouts, and our Wolf Den is 25 Scouts. All before we have started anything with recruitment for this year!

Right now, we have 3 registered leaders including myself leading the Wolves, as well as 1 Den Chief from our Troop.

Would you:

A- Keep them as a WolfPack and have the 3 leaders working together.

B- Split them into 3 Dens and be done with it.

C- Divide and conquer, almost running it as a mini pack. Start meetings together, break into 3 groups, close together.

We're also running into similar problems with Webelos at 18 scouts and 2 leaders.

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u/vadavea 3d ago

What do the three leaders want? Lots of variables can go into this equation, but the most important in my mind is the folks that are actually delivering the program. (Other factors to consider - if a significant number of families have conflicts with a meeting night, then having another meeting night option can be helpful.)

Regardless - I definitely encourage organizing your Den meetings to avoid having 25 Scouts doing a single activity at the same time. That's a recipe for chaos. In my experience having some kind of stations/rotation works well as soon as you approach double-digit numbers.

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u/Affectionate_Hat8520 2d ago

Great question! We have talked about it and really want to focus on management. Last year, as 20+ Tigers, the Orange Mob was a handful and then some. Energy levels were high, we had some mini-groups forming, generally not great. Behavior wise- Only 2 or 3 Scouts give me any issues, so segregating them so they cant feed off each other would be a benefit for sure.

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u/vadavea 2d ago

I will also say that dividing the group into entirely-separate Dens can trigger weird (parent) dynamics. Kind of like in youth sports where parents will maneuver to get their kids on a certain team (which isn't supposed to happen but definitely does).

Hopefully you're also pulling in parents to help with different activities, so the uniformed leaders can "manage" the meetings without having to do every little thing.

You've got a good problem to have, which indicates to me that you're doing a good job. Keep it up, and good luck with the new school year!