MySummitKeep now supports Chipmunks

Scouting America Chipmunks is a pilot program for children aged 4 and 5. Today MySummitKeep adds support for it. If you lead a Scurry, you can set one up now, and it is free.

This post covers what Chipmunks is, what we built, and what we have left out on purpose.

What Scouting America Chipmunks is

Chipmunks is a preschool program. Families meet every week in a small group called a Scurry. The meeting lasts about an hour and has a playdate feel: stories, puppets and hands-on activities led by eight forest friends. A parent volunteer, the Scurry Coordinator, leads it. A Chipmunk Ranger, who is a district or council volunteer, supports the Scurries in their area.

There are no badges. Children collect stickers in a sticker book, with helper stickers for children who lend a hand, and the uniform is a neckerchief and slide. The program lasts one year. It is separate from a pack, and when a child starts kindergarten the family can move to a pack as a Lion.

Chipmunks is a pilot. It began in April 2026 in seven councils: Bay-Lakes, Circle Ten, Gateway Area, Great Smoky Mountain, Patriots’ Path, Twin Rivers and Western Massachusetts. Pine Tree Council in Maine joined on October 9, 2026, so the pilot now covers at least eight. Details can change as the pilot grows, so the official Scouting America sources always win.

A note to avoid a mix-up: this post is about Scouting America Chipmunks in the United States. Scouts Canada runs its own Chipmunks pilot, and BPSA is a different organization.

What we built for a Scurry

A Scurry is its own type of unit in MySummitKeep, not a pack with a different name. It gets the tools a parent-led weekly group actually needs.

• Parent communication. Message every family in the app and by email. Messages to families go to the parent.
• The weekly schedule. Set the meeting up once and let it repeat. It cycles through the eight themes: Citizenship & Multicultural, Problem Solving, Adventure, Friendship & Teamwork, S.T.E.M., Outdoor Skills, Creativity, and Music & Movement.
• The parent role rota. A family adult comes to every meeting, and parents take turns with small jobs. The rota comes with roles for snack, setup and story reader.
• The sticker book. Award stickers from a weekly grid, and let each parent see their own child’s book.
• The hand-off to Lions. When a child is in kindergarten this fall, or turns 5 by September 1, the family hears about it. A parent can tap once to ask to join the linked pack as a Lion, and the pack approves the request. The pack sees a count, not a list of other families’ children.

It is free

A Scurry costs nothing to run on MySummitKeep. There is no trial, no credit card and no upgrade to remember. A Scurry uses the Basecamp tools that fit it. Our pricing page has the full picture for packs, troops and the other unit types.

Starting a Scurry

Anyone can set one up. Because Chipmunks is a pilot, if your council is not one of the pilot councils, please check with your council first. When you create the Scurry you can link it to the pack your children will join. The link needs both sides to agree: the coordinator asks, and the pack’s leaders accept.

Register a Scurry or read the Chipmunks page.

What we left out

We have not made up anything the program has not published. We do not show Scouting America artwork, and our icons are our own. The facts here come from On Scouting, the Scouting America New Programs Update and the Pine Tree Council Chipmunks brochure. MySummitKeep is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Scouting America.