I have a 4th grade daughter in scouts BSA. Her den has 5-6 girls, they have older scout girls who attend as assistants to the Den leader and share what it like at the older level to help the younger girls decide if they are interested in continuing on. We’ve been camping, hiking, campfire cooking, meal planning, learning about the environment, first aid, and more. It’s been a great experience to date, and while the kids at the pack level aren’t super integrated between the boys and the girls, the parents are all friendly and encouraging of all the kids. There is way more parent involvement than I anticipated.

I wouldn’t do it. Have her join Girl Scouts and suggest those activities to do as a troop. They can do them too. My son was in Boy Scouts and daughter was in Girl Scouts and the parental involvement that was needed was significantly more in BS. The people involved really had to love it. If you don’t have an interest yourself, don’t join Boy Scouts. I can think of a million more reasons but that’s the main one.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is in an all girls troop for Boy Scouts and loves it
It’s very welcoming. It’s not at all like Girl Scouts. We are in virginia

Well that's rude. I've found girl scouts to be very welcoming. We allow LBGTQ+ individuals to join, after all.

Our pack is about 40% girls in grade two and below. The older kids it varies widely from zero girls to about 40%.

I would shop carefully but it could be great for her!

Dd was in a girl den (year group kids) from 4-6th grade when it opened to girls before covid. The curriculm is amazing and she really enjoyed it. I haven't decided on taking my younger girl because like previous poster said it is very high in parental involvement and they do a ton of activities outside of just meetings. Also, there aren't a ton of girls so i did feel like it wouldn't really be enough community because there aren't always enough girls for a whole den. It is definitely worth trying!

We did BSA with our girl when she was in K. She liked it. Most of her friends were and still are boys. So they knew her and she fit in well. We didn't continue because of the time commitment and I wasn't that keen our school troop or den mother. But being a girl had nothing to do with it. Everyone was nice (we were the only girl) and welcoming.

Anonymous wrote:Op-- just find another way for her to enjoy these activities. Please.

Why?

Most Cub Scout Packs are very welcoming and provide excellent opportunities for kids to socialize, learn about a variety of activities, and enjoy the outdoors. There is a lot of required training for Adult Leaders in order to keep the kids and the adults safe. There are very specific rules regarding contact with kids and their parents as well as how to run meetings, ratios and a whole host of other activities. Heck, the rules on where and when you can camp with Cub Scouts is impressively long.

There is always the possibility that something happens but that is the case for every organization and activity that a kid can participate in. My son has loved his experience with Cub Scouts and the girls in his Pack seem to be having a wonderful time.

Op-- just find another way for her to enjoy these activities. Please.

My daughter is in an all girls troop for Boy Scouts and loves it
It’s very welcoming. It’s not at all like Girl Scouts. We are in virginia

Cub Scout mom here. We have girls in all of our Dens and they have a blast. They participate in the activities and are interacting just fine with the boys. It might be easier in our Pack because all of our Dens are a bit larger, 6-8 kids and many ranks having 2 dens, and most of the kids are at ES together so they know each other from school.

Cub Scouts does require a parent there for all K and 1rst graders, after that many Packs allow for drop off at meetings. This can be Pack specific.

We have been loving seeing the girls in our Pack grow and blossom. Most bridge over and join a Girls Troop.

We do fishing in our GS troop, although not much. But my BS doesn’t do much fishing either. BS do camp more but it depends a ton on the troops.

The integration of girls depends a ton on the individual BSA pack. In theory they require a separate girls’ den. Most can’t support this so they put girls in with a boys den, and just say the two dens are meeting at the same time. We had very few girls in our pack and they were there mostly because their dads were very into boy scouts. But we have a strong GS program in our area so most girls that want to be a scout pick GS.

IME, girls and boys get along great from k-2 and integration is pretty easy. Then they get along terribly from about 4-6 and the boys are jerks to the girls and the girls are intolerant of the boys’ relative immaturity. Then in 8th or so, it’s all peachy again. Obviously, individual kids vary, but that’s the general group dynamic I’ve observed.

Also, fyi, cub scouts require parent involvement through 5th grade so a parent will do all these things with the boy. GS is more independent earlier. But BSA makes camping and outdoor skills more mandatory, whereas GS everything is decided at the troop level—so if your troop hates camping or no parent is willing to become camp certified, your GS troop may not camp or may not do it a lot. But most GS troops do at least some camping and outdoor skills. Our GS troop was teaching fire making well in advance of our Cub Scout pack, for instance. But my son camps a lot more regularly with his now BS troop than my girls do.

Just like all politics is local, it depends on the cub scout packs near you: how many girls there are, what the den leader is like, the group dynamics, how strong the pack is.

In Boy Scouts of America, the large elementary-age group (K-5) is called a pack (not a troop like in girl scouts). The smaller group (just your child's grade level) is called a den. In many packs, the girl and boy dens hold combined meetings.

You don't need to be athletic or skilled to keep up with your cub scout but you do need to be present, put in the time, and be willing to volunteer.

There is one girl in our troop. She seems completely out of place. She doesn’t talk to any of the boys.

We do fishing in our Girl Scout troop. Scouts BSA requires a ton of parent participation though. If you're not interesting in doing those things, Boy Scouts is not the right fit. It's not a drop-off activity. Girl Scouts can be, depending on the troop.

I am a single mom to a 5 year old girl who likes to fish and hike and who thinks she would like camping (I say thinks because we haven’t tried it). I have no interest in these things but do them with her because, well, she wants to do them. But she will soon pass me in ability and athleticism. Someone suggested that I look into Boy Scouts for her. Tell me what Boy Scouts is like for girls, please. Is it true that the girls join all-girl Boy Scouts troops? Are the activities still fishing and canoeing? How does it differ from Girl Scouts? I don’t remember any fishing in Girl Scouts but it’s been 40 years. Thank you!