Squirrels

Beaver Scouts, often shortened to Beavers, are young people aged between six and eight years old. Beavers belong to the first and youngest Section in the Scouting family.
Easily recognised by their distinctive turquoise sweatshirts, Beaver Scouts enjoy making friends, playing games, going on visits and helping others.

Beavers usually meet together once a week as a Beaver Scout Colony and these are run by local Scout Groups. Some Beaver Scout Colonies also organise Sleepovers. These are often the first time a young person spends a night away from home. They take place in suitable buildings, often Scout centres.

The Beaver Scout Promise

All Beaver Scouts undertake the beaver which is a simpler version of the Scout promise:

I promise to do my best,
To be kind and helpful,
and to love God.

Alternative promise
Scouting is available to people of all faiths as well as people who are humanist, atheist or have no affirmed faith and therefore must therefore take account of the different religious obligations or non religious beliefs of its Members.

Similarly, people of other nationalities resident in the United Kingdom, who may become Members of the Association, owe allegiance to their own Country.

To meet these circumstances, there are different variations of the Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout Promise that can be made, allowing for the individuals obligations while upholding the essential spirit of the Promise.
Please see The Promise guidance page for more information regarding the alternative promise.

Motto

The Beaver Scouts share the general Scout motto of Be Prepared.

Uniform

The Beaver Scout uniform is a turquoise sweatshirt and group scarf (neckerchief) with navy blue activity trousers.

Awards and Badges

Beaver Scouts can gain a number of awards and badges, though not as many as in higher Sections of the Movement. The Membership Award is given to Beavers after they have made their promise and been invested into the Movement,] whilst the Moving-On Award is given once a Beaver Scout has completed their time in Beavers and moved into Cub Scouts.

Joining In Awards

The Joining In Award recognises a young person’s commitment to Scouting and are usually given on each anniversary of Members joining the Movement. Two Joining In Awards can be received by Beaver Scouts and when they move up to Cub Scouts they wear the highest one they attained in Beavers. The badges take the form of a small coloured star with a number showing the amount of years they have been in Scouting.

Activity Badges

There are 23 activity badges in the Beaver Scout Section. These are Animal Friend, Book Reader, Builder, Camp Craft, Collector, Communicator, Cook, Creative, Cyclist, Disability Awareness, Experiment, Explore, Faith, Gardener, Global Issues, Health and Fitness, Hobbies, International, Photographer, Safety, Space and Sports.

Staged Activity Badges

Staged Activity Badges can be completed by any member of the Movement between the age of 6 and 18. They are completed in different stages, so after completing each stage Members are awarded the relevant badge. As they can be completed in Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts and Explorers it is possible for a Beaver Scout to attain a higher level of a Staged Activity Badge than a Member from a higher Section.

Staged Activity badges that are available are Air Activities, Community Impact, Digital Citizen, Digital Maker, Emergency Aid, Hikes Away, Musician, Nautical Skills, Navigator, Nights Away, Paddle Sports, Sailing, Swimmer and Time on the Water. The number of stages in each badge varies.

Challenge Awards

Challenge Awards are completed as a Colony rather than individually and should completed within a Colony’s normal activities. There are six Challenges, one for each Programme Zone set by The Scout Association, and each are aimed at developing skills among the young person.

Challenge badges available are Adventure, Outdoor, Personal, Skills, Teamwork, and World.

Chief Scout’s Bronze Award

The Chief Scout’s Bronze Award is the highest award which can be gained by Beaver Scouts. In order to attain it, Beaver Scouts must have completed six Challenge Awards by the time they join Cub Scouts. If they have nearly completed the requirements by then, Members have a few weeks after joining Cub Scouts in which to finish the requirements.