Introduction to Beavers

Last year my oldest son was hearing a lot of great stuff from his friends about Beavers, which here in Canada is the entry level into the Scouting movement - for 5 to 7 year olds. Unfortunately the Colony that his friends went (and still go) to meet on Thursday nights, and we already had something in that timeslot on a regular basis. So I went looking around and found another nearby colony that had been on hiatus for a couple of years because they had no leaders. They were trying to get back together and needed volunteers - so I volunteered!

That was last May. The process includes an interview, a police records check, and a number of other steps, but I had them all completed for September when the first meeting was to take place. The other night was our Colony's 2nd meeting, and it was a great success! There are 10 kids, and one of the other parents volunteered to be a leader as well, so we have things well underway.

One of the reasons I was keen to be a Beaver leader was that I wanted a good excuse to go camping with the boys. Not that I really needed an excuse, but it also gave me a chance to offer that opportunity to other kids in the area. Not that the Scouting movement encourages a lot of camping for Beaver-aged kids, but they do concentrate on the outdoors, and encourage Colonies to make 1 or 2 camping trips a year.

The Beaver program is composed of 7 key elements : Games, Crafts, Music, Storytelling, Playacting, Outdoors, and Spiritual Fellowship, and each meeting should have an activity from each of 2 or 3 of these categories. The nifty part I find is that even though the Beaver promise is "I promise to love God and help take care of the world", it recognizes that an individual's notion of "God" can vary greatly based on their religion, and the movement recognizes dozens of different religions the world over, including some really obscure ones that most people have never heard of, like Zoroastrianism! I guess it would be fair to say that Scouting is not for Atheists, but it is definitely not just for Christians, either!

Here are the Beaver Law, Promise, and Motto, respectively :

• Law - A Beaver has fun, works hard and helps his family and friends.
• Promise - I promise to love God and help take care of the world.
• Motto - Sharing, Sharing, Sharing

I can get behind that! And in fact I have :-)

The Scouting movement also encourages parents to get involved to whatever degree they feel comfortable. Most parents of course will not get involved, but some come to the meetings to lead the kids in songs, crafts, and other areas where they may have expertise. Here is the parents' guide for anyone who may be interested.

Another thing I like about the Movement is that it is very community-oriented, and I've been looking for a way to get more involved in the community in a more 'official' manner.

It is going to be fun and challenging running the meetings the next few months until May! I ended up being the head leader, since I was the first in the door and there was nobody else at the moment. But so far I've been really enjoying it, even with all the hard work that goes into designing a program from the ground up. I've got lots of support though, from our Scout troop and leaders, as well as from a neighbouring Beaver Colony. I've actually been going to their meetings on Thursday nights as well, just to see first hand what a more established Colony does.

I'll be writing a lot more about Scouting as time goes on, so please stay tuned ...