How Military Families Can Join Scouting for Free

Fall 2026 Cub Scout Recruitment

Backpacks are packed. Schedules are back. This is the best two weeks of the year to start something new.

Every August, families reset. New teacher, new bus route, new bedtime, new activities. It is the one moment in the calendar when trying something different feels normal instead of disruptive.

That makes right now the best time to join Scouting, or to come back to it.

Across the twenty-three counties Simon Kenton Council serves, Cub Scout packs and Scouts BSA troops are holding their first meetings of the school year. They are planning fall campouts, building pinewood derby cars, learning to cook over a fire, and figuring out who is going to lead what. Every one of them has room for your family.

Find a pack or troop near you at BeAScout.org. Type in your ZIP code, and you will see the units meeting closest to you.

For families new to Scouting

Scouting is where kids do things they cannot do anywhere else. They shoot rockets. They sleep in tents they set up themselves. They learn to swim, to tie knots that hold, to speak up in front of a group, to cook a meal for eight people, and to keep going when something is hard.

It is also, plainly, fun. Cub Scouts is built for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, and it works because it is hands-on from the first meeting. Scouts BSA picks up from there for youth ages eleven through seventeen, with more independence and more responsibility as they grow.

The skills stick. The friendships tend to last longer than the school year.

For families coming back

Life happens. We know it does.

If your family has missed a few meetings, or a few months, or last year entirely, nothing about that is unusual and nothing about it disqualifies you. Sports seasons collide. Work changes. Kids get busy. Units know this, because it happens in every unit.

The start of the school year is the natural place to step back in. Your unit is meeting. Your Scout’s friends are there. The advancement they earned is still on the record, waiting for them to pick it back up.

Reach out to your unit leader, or find a unit near you at BeAScout.org. You do not need a reason and you do not owe anyone an explanation. Just come back.

If cost is a concern, say so

Scouting should be within reach for every family in our council. If registration fees or the cost of a uniform are the reason a young person is not signed up, Simon Kenton Council offers registration and uniform scholarship assistance.

This is real, it is available now, and asking for it is routine. Visit SKCScouts.org to learn more, or talk with your unit leader or district membership coordinator. No family should sit out a year over cost, and no one has to.

What you can do this week

  • Not registered yet? Go to BeAScout.org, enter your ZIP code, and contact the unit closest to you.
  • Registered but drifted away? Message your unit leader and tell them your Scout is coming to the next meeting.
  • Already active? Bring one friend to your next meeting. Nearly every new Scout joins because another family invited them.
  • Worried about cost? Ask about scholarship assistance before you decide anything.
  • A unit leader? Confirm your unit’s meeting information on BeAScout.org is current, so families searching this month can actually find you.

The school year is going to fill up fast. Make sure the adventure is on the calendar.

Questions about joining, or about scholarship assistance? Contact Simon Kenton Council at 614-436-7200 or [email protected].