Coming 2025
Being a Squirrel
We’re really excited to share the Squirrels programme with you!
Each badge is packed with wow and wonder, perfect for anyone who’s ever asked ‘Why?’ (or ‘Why not?’). You’ll tell stories and play games. Get active and explore the outdoors. Become a brilliant builder and a super chef. There’s something for everyone – and that means that there’s something for you.
When designing the badges and activities for Squirrel Scouts, our goal was to create:
- an age-appropriate programme,
- that meets the Theory of Change,
- and is respected by Early Years practitioners,
- without compromising our Scout values,
- which encourages community and home learning,
- and works in areas of deprivation and for diverse ethnic communities.
- To do this, we wrote, tested and updated a programme proposal with nearly 400 people to create badges full of adventure, fun, and, of course, skills
What is Squirrels?
The Squirrels section of Scouts is for children aged 4 to 5 years old and is the first step in their Scouting adventure. We plan to open the first Squirrel group, called a Drey, in 2025.
Our activities are designed to suit this age group. During the first few months, the focus is on helping your child settle in, make new friends, and have fun. For some children, this might be their first time away from a parent, which can feel a little scary. We’ll work with you to help your child feel comfortable, and soon they’ll be joining in with confidence.
Squirrels activities are led by our Leaders and aim to teach skills for life in a fun and safe way. Some activities, like learning about fire or using simple tools, have a bit more risk, but everything is carefully planned and supervised to keep your child safe. We also teach children how to recognise and handle risks responsibly.
Within the Drey, children are part of smaller teams called Nests. Each Nest has a Nest Leader, a child chosen to help their group stay focused and behave well. If your child becomes a Nest Leader, they’ll receive a special badge for their uniform to celebrate this role.
Squirrel Activity Badges
Within the Squirrels Section there are three types of badge Squirrels can earn:
- Activity badges There are 12 activity badges ranging from Be active to Superchef. They are light green circular badges with a blue border
- Staged-activity badges There are 16 staged activity badges. A staged activity badge is one on a particular theme, but there are different levels that can be awarded. For example, there is a Swimmer staged activity badge, which at level one a child has to be able to swim 10m, but at level five it goes up to 1,000m. They are blue circular badges with purple border
- Challenge badges There are four challenge badges for Squirrels to earn. Challenge badges are designed to encourage children to step outside their comfort zones and try something new or that may scare them - such as giving a talk to the Drey. They are blue hexagonal badges with a yellow border
You can learn more about the badges on the Scouts website: https://www.scouts.org.uk/squirrels/activity-badges/
Moving up to Beavers
Between the ages of 5¾ and 6½, it’s usually time for Squirrels to move up to Beavers.
https://www.scouts.org.uk/squirrels/moving-up-to-beavers/
Squirrels Photo Gallery
Squirrels News
Squirrels coming 2025
Tue, 15 Oct 2024
Squirrels are coming to 1st Woosehill We are excited to announce that we will be opening a Squirrels section in 2025. More details to follow. Join Us If you are...
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