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Too few adults, and resulting drop in expectations resulting by BSA are not a good combo. Not that many years ago, it was a requirement that at least one adult leader on a Scouts BSA overnight outing had to be IOLS trained. That is no longer the case (why the requirement that there had to be someone BALOO trained for Cubs, and not any requirement in Scouts BSA, IDK). IOLS can be run poorly, but by and large in my experiences those who staffed the trainings I was involved in knew what we were doing (at least within a certain skillset- I was usually woods tools and knots myself), and were dedicated to make it as fun and informative as we could, while emphasizing the real objective was to demonstrate the Patrol Method. I'd love to see some reports from a national level on just how many units don't have someone who has been IOLS trained. If you have units rolling with adult leaders who don't truly get the program, it's a big ask to who may have been the only willing volunteer to be a Commissioner and expect that person is going to impart anything onto that adult. Most of the Commissioners, whether they be Council, District, or Unit that I have interacted with in the last decade+ have been retirement age, long since been active to a unit, and often have been pressed into it. The results often were mixed, especially in light of the later part. 

I remember that exact project as a kid. I recall my NatGeo picture was of a bird. Either a cardinal or blue jay. 99.9% of my cub memories were doing stuff like that with my den. The pack rarely met as a group except for the B&G dinner. I agree KIS, the "S" is for "simple", and also "small". Dens meet and do stuff, get rid of pack meetings except for once/twice a year at most. Don't even start as a pack meeting, then split off. This rarely works well.   

MiF KiS,,,,   arts and crafts,,,,   Make gifts for mom and dad (and brother/sister?  wadda concept).  The Scoutcraft stuff can be included, should be included as the Cubs grow into it, but the Make it Fun Keep it Simple has to be the watch word. Give the Cubs , no matter their  age, things they can accomplish and take pride in.   Long time ago, I remember taking scraps of plywood, sanding them smooth, gluing pretty National Geographic photos to them and then CAREFULLY shellacking them . After they dried , we glued picture hanging hooks on the back, and PRESTO , Mom Day presents.  Along the way, we went hiking, learned about birds, visited the zoo and local firehouses.  I kept many of those kids as friends all thru high school and into  adulthood..  Were my parents involved? Absolutely. Were the other parents involved?  Absolutely.  Are things that changed, maybe three generations later?  Perhaps, but that's what we are here for, for the Societal History.  Today's parents must be made aware of the need to make their kids feel worthy and loved, so that THEY will want THEIR kids to feel worthy and loved.   "The purpose of life is the planting of trees under whose shade one does not expect to sit". 

Although I was a Boy Scout myself, my son is still in Cubs and my perspective these days is more from a Cub parent. We're fortunate to have a good group of parents running our Pack; however, there are many instances where I would go about things differently than other leaders (but settle for good enough). I understand the calculus changes a bit with Scout Troops. For now, the work is getting done and the kids are having fun, getting outside, exercising, socializing, etc. I'm not going nitpick my fellow volunteers. I'm just thankful for the support we do receive.

In our district, we tend to see two kinds of units - larger units of 30+ scouts and smaller units of 15 or less scouts. The larger packs and troops have a deeper adult team that is supporting a wider array of activities.  They routinely bring in 6 or more new scouts every year.  They're active in the OA, participate in camporee, their leaders often jump over and help with district wide trainings and events. The smaller packs and troops have a small core team of leaders and don't recruit much.  They tend to hang on year to year, but they don't tend to see a lot of new members.  We rarely see them. Packs need a lot of adults period - 2 adults per den of 6-8 cubs.  Another 4-8 adults providing pack level support - CC, CM, 2x Asst. CM, membership, treasurer, fundraising,  advancement chair, and so on. Troops are a bit different. From a working directly with the Scouts perspective, yes troops do need fewer ASMs that help week to week.  But they need a supporting group of ASMs to attend weekend trips.  A monthly trip is a big ask for anyone and a supporting group of ASMs can really lighten that load. Another area where adults help is troop operations - troops need even more adult operations support than packs.  Eagle projects, boards of review, merit badge, more fundraising, specialty skills, and so on. I think the reason we see two general size groups is that units with good programs that recruit adults to help with operations tend to grow.  Units with good programs that don't recruit adults to help, end up with overburdened program leaders. There are of course exceptions - some small units simply want to be small.  These units are not that common around here.