Good Citizens

Four nights exploring what it means to be a good citizen — Australian identity, democracy, environmental responsibility, and the Scout Promise. Cubs develop civic awareness and pride.

Challenge Area
Community
Award Type
General Skills
Nights
4
Total Duration
5 hr 35 min
Equipment Summary
Australian flag, Aboriginal flag, Torres Strait Islander flag, flag images (large), paper, coloured pencils, flag fact sheets, anthem lyrics printed, speaker (optional), quiz cards and 42 more

About this trail

This 4-night trail is designed around the Community Challenge Area, making it straightforward to program community-focused nights that contribute to Milestone credit. Each night follows the Scouts Australia Plan > Do > Review cycle and is structured as a mix of indoor and outdoor nights.

The SPICES developmental domains covered by this trail are: Intellectual, Social, Character, Spiritual, Physical, Emotional. Programming across multiple domains in a single trail helps Groups demonstrate balanced youth development in their term plans and annual reports.

You can run the four nights in order for a coherent multi-week program, or pick individual nights to fill gaps in your existing term plan. In Tussock, importing a night from this trail pre-fills the Scout Night wizard: Challenge Area, SPICES domains, OAS requirements, and suggested segments are all set. Customise from there to suit your Section.

Import into Tussock

Import this trail into Tussock to run each night with attendance tracking and automatic OAS requirement awarding built in — no manual requirement lookup needed.

The Four Nights

Each night below is a standalone Scout Night session of approximately 1 hr 24 min and follows the Plan > Do > Review cycle. Run them in order for the full Good Citizens trail, or adapt individual nights for your program.

Night 1: What Makes Australia

Australian flag, anthem, Indigenous Acknowledgement of Country. Quiz game on Australian symbols, animals, and places.

Indoor Challenge Area: Community Duration: 1 hr 25 min
Intellectual Social Character Spiritual
  1. Opening Ceremony Ceremony

    Grand Howl. Flag break. Acknowledgement of Country — explain what it means and why we do it. Introduce the Good Citizens trail.

    Character Spiritual
    Equipment (3 items)
    • Australian flag
    • Aboriginal flag
    • Torres Strait Islander flag
  2. Our Flags Instruction

    Discuss the Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag, and the Torres Strait Islander flag. What does each part represent? Cubs draw and label the three flags.

    Intellectual Character
    Equipment (4 items)
    • flag images (large)
    • paper
    • coloured pencils
    • flag fact sheets
  3. Advance Australia Fair practice

    Listen to or sing the national anthem. Discuss the lyrics in simple terms: "What does it mean? Who does it include?" Cubs try singing the first verse from memory.

    Character Spiritual Social
    Equipment (2 items)
    • anthem lyrics printed
    • speaker (optional)
  4. Australia Quiz Game

    Patrol quiz: 15 questions about Australia — animals, landmarks, states, capitals, Indigenous heritage, inventions. Buzzer format or hand-raise. Points per patrol.

    Intellectual Social
    Equipment (3 items)
    • quiz cards
    • buzzer or bell
    • scoreboard
  5. Australian Symbols Craft creative

    Each Cub creates a "My Australia" collage on A4 card — draw or paste pictures of things that make Australia special to them: animals, places, food, people, symbols.

    Emotional Intellectual
    Equipment (5 items)
    • A4 card
    • magazines for cutting (Australian themes)
    • glue
    • scissors
    • markers
  6. Closing Ceremony Ceremony

    Cubs share one thing they are proud of about Australia. Grand Howl. Dismiss.

    Character Spiritual

Total night duration: 1 hr 25 min

Night 2: Democracy in Action

Mock election. Cubs vote on a fun decision. Discuss fairness, rules, and how democracy works in simple terms.

Indoor Challenge Area: Community Duration: 1 hr 25 min
Social Intellectual Character
  1. Opening Ceremony Ceremony

    Grand Howl. Flag break. Tonight: "Everyone gets a say — that is democracy."

    Character
    Equipment (2 items)
    • flag
    • flag pole
  2. What Is Democracy? Instruction

    Simple explanation: democracy means everyone gets a fair vote. Discuss: "Where do we vote in Australia? Who can vote? Why is it important?" Show a ballot paper example.

    Intellectual Social
    Equipment (3 items)
    • sample ballot paper
    • whiteboard
    • markers
  3. Campaign Speeches practice

    Set up a mock election: "What should we do for our end-of-term celebration?" Three options (e.g. movie night, games night, outdoor adventure). One Cub from each patrol volunteers as a "candidate" and gives a 60-second speech for their option.

    Social Emotional Intellectual
    Equipment (2 items)
    • podium (or chair to stand on)
    • candidate name cards
  4. Secret Ballot practice

    Set up a voting booth (cardboard screen) and ballot box. Each Cub marks their vote in secret, folds their ballot, and places it in the box. Count the votes publicly.

    Character Intellectual
    Equipment (4 items)
    • cardboard voting screen
    • ballot box
    • ballot papers
    • pencils
  5. Fair Rules Game Game

    Play a simple game (e.g. musical chairs) but start with unfair rules (some Cubs get two turns, one gets a head start). After the unfairness is obvious, stop and discuss: "Was that fair? How should we change the rules?" Replay with fair rules.

    Social Character Emotional
    Equipment (2 items)
    • chairs
    • music player
  6. Rights & Responsibilities discussion

    Cubs brainstorm: "What rights do we have at Cubs? (To be safe, to be heard, to have fun.) What responsibilities come with them? (Listen to others, follow the rules, help clean up.)" Write on two columns.

    Intellectual Character
    Equipment (2 items)
    • whiteboard or poster
    • markers
  7. Closing Ceremony Ceremony

    Announce the election result. Cheer for democracy. Grand Howl. Dismiss.

    Character Social

Total night duration: 1 hr 25 min

Night 3: Our Environment

Discuss environmental responsibility. Plant a tree or garden. Hands-on care for the world around us.

Outdoor Challenge Area: Community Duration: 1 hr 20 min
Intellectual Physical Character Spiritual
  1. Opening Ceremony Ceremony

    Grand Howl outdoors. Buddy up. Tonight: "Good citizens look after the land."

    Character Spiritual
    Equipment (1 item)
    • flag
  2. Our Environment Discussion discussion

    Sit in a circle. Ask: "What do you love about the outdoors? What worries you about the environment?" Cubs share ideas. Introduce key concepts: recycling, water conservation, protecting wildlife.

    Intellectual Emotional Spiritual
    Equipment (1 item)
    • talking stick
  3. Tree or Garden Planting practice

    Each patrol plants a native seedling or herbs in a garden bed near the hall. Dig the hole, position the plant, backfill, water. Discuss why native plants help local wildlife.

    Physical Character Spiritual
    Equipment (5 items)
    • native seedlings (one per patrol)
    • small shovels or trowels
    • watering cans
    • mulch
    • gloves
  4. Recycling Relay Game

    Energiser: scatter a pile of mixed "waste" items (clean, pre-collected). Cubs sort them into bins labelled Recycle, Compost, and General Waste as fast as they can. Check for accuracy afterwards.

    Physical Intellectual
    Equipment (2 items)
    • clean waste items (plastic bottle, cardboard, banana peel, chip packet, etc.)
    • three labelled bins or bags
  5. Water Conservation Challenge Game

    Patrol challenge: carry water from a bucket to a measuring jug using only a cup — but the cup has holes. Cubs must figure out how to minimise waste (cover holes, work together). Discuss: "This is what wasting water looks like."

    Physical Intellectual Social
    Equipment (3 items)
    • bucket of water
    • cups with holes
    • measuring jugs
  6. My Environment Pledge Reflection

    Each Cub writes a personal environment pledge on a leaf-shaped card: "I will..." (e.g. turn off lights, pick up rubbish, water our plant). Display on the pack "Tree of Pledges".

    Character Emotional
    Equipment (3 items)
    • leaf-shaped card cut-outs
    • pens
    • tree poster for display
  7. Closing Ceremony Ceremony

    Next week: Promise Night. "Bring your family if they would like to watch." Grand Howl. Dismiss.

    Character

Total night duration: 1 hr 20 min

Night 4: Promise Night

Formal ceremony for new Cubs. Investiture practice. Reflection on the Good Citizens trail. Celebrate completion.

Indoor Challenge Area: Community Duration: 1 hr 25 min
Character Spiritual Social Emotional
  1. Opening Ceremony Ceremony

    Grand Howl. Flag break. Special opening: families are welcome to observe tonight.

    Character Spiritual
    Equipment (2 items)
    • flag
    • flag pole
  2. Investiture Practice practice

    Walk through the investiture ceremony step by step: forming the horseshoe, Akela calls the Cub forward, the Cub makes the Promise, receives their scarf and woggle. Cubs who have already been invested help guide newcomers.

    Character Spiritual
    Equipment (3 items)
    • scarves
    • woggles
    • ceremony script
  3. Investiture Ceremony (or Renewal) Ceremony

    Conduct the formal investiture for any new Cubs. If none, hold a "Promise Renewal" where all Cubs re-make the Promise together — a powerful moment of recommitment.

    Character Spiritual Emotional
    Equipment (4 items)
    • scarves
    • woggles
    • certificates (for new investees)
    • candle (optional)
  4. Citizenship Scavenger Hunt Game

    Energiser: hide cards around the hall with citizenship facts and quiz questions (from all four nights). Patrols find and answer as many as they can. Review answers together.

    Physical Intellectual Social
    Equipment (3 items)
    • fact/quiz cards (20+)
    • answer sheets
    • pencils
  5. Good Citizens Reflection Reflection

    Cubs sit in a circle. Reflect on the trail: "What does being a good citizen mean to you now? What was your favourite night? What will you do differently?" Pass a talking stick.

    Emotional Character Social
    Equipment (1 item)
    • talking stick
  6. Trail Celebration & Closing Ceremony

    Celebrate completing the Good Citizens trail. Thank families for attending. Award trail completion recognition. Grand Howl. Dismiss.

    Character Spiritual Emotional
    Equipment (1 item)
    • trail completion certificates (optional)

Total night duration: 1 hr 25 min

See also

OAS Framework Reference

Full breakdown of all 9 OAS streams and their stage requirements.

Browse OAS framework →

More General Skills Trails

Find other trails with a similar Community focus.

All Night Ideas →