Tent Time!

Before the meeting: 

1. Learn how to set up a tent in this Scout Life magazine article, “How to Set Up a Tent.”  
2. Practice setting up your own tent and setting it up for display at the den meeting location.  
3. Remind Cub Scouts, parents, and legal guardians that they need to bring the tent they will use for the campout to the den meeting to set it up. 

During the meeting: 

1. Gather the Cub Scouts and adult partners and tell them that at the den meeting, they will practice setting up their own tent. 
2. Review the basic steps to setting up a tent. 
   • At the campsite, choose a level spot that drains well. 
   • Remove stones and sticks, but don’t disturb the natural ground cover. 
   • Always look for signs of creepy critters. 
   • Spread out your tent’s footprint, or a ground cloth, to protect the tent floor from moisture, sharp objects and dirt. 
   • Unfold the tent on top of the footprint. Pull out the corners of the floor and stake them to the ground, then assemble the poles and put them in place. 
   • Use taut line hitches to tie the free ends of guylines around stakes you’ve pushed into the ground and pull the lines tight. 
   • Put a rain fly over the tent and stake it down. 
3. Have Cub Scouts and adult partners work together to set up their tent.