Welcome to Beavers

The Beaver Program stems from the book FRIENDS OF THE FOREST, written specifically for
Beavers. The book describes how the Jones family have come to live in the clearing along the river
bank and how they quickly become aware of their new neighbours, a colony of beavers that also live
along the river bank. The story illustrates how the beaver colony observes the Jones family, giving
them names and then eventually how the beavers meet the members of the Jones family, mom, dad
and their three children

The story is the background resource which provides the terminology, setting, theme and program
material for operating a Beaver Colony.

Beavers is a program for children ages 5-7. Seven-year-old Beavers receive an introduction to the
Wolf Cub program where they can continue their Scouting adventure.

A new member begins as a KIT and works to become an EAGER BEAVER (see investiture
ceremony).

Parents, you can help your children learn the Beaver Law, Promise and Motto and even help them
learn what to do at the opening and closing ceremonies. (Everything you need to help your young
Beaver is included in this Parents Guide).

Beaver Law: A Beaver has fun, works hard and helps family and friends.

Beaver Promise: I promise to love God and to help take care of the world.

To meet the Mission and Principles of Scouts Canada in the Beaver program, the following GOALS
guide activities that encourage Beavers to:

• find examples of God’s love for them and the world;

• be healthy and have good feelings about themselves;

• develop a sense of belonging and sharing in small group activities;

• develop a sense of co-operation through non-competitive activities;

In Beavers, the Mission, Principles and Goals are achieved through the use of a program of
understanding, supportive fun. Activities are built around seven Program elements: Games, Crafts,
Music, Storytelling, Playacting, Spiritual Fellowship and Outdoors.

BEAVER TERMINOLOGY

When you visit your children’s Beaver Colony or talk to them about Beavers, you will need to
understand the “Beaver lingo”. To help you out, we’ve listed some of the names typically assigned
to the Leaders (taken from the characters in Friends of the Forest), and other terms used, along with
an explanation of who or what is being referred to.

Friends of the Forest Names used by Beaver Leaders:

Bubbles - the person having so much fun splashing her feet in the water

Hawkeye - the tall person that first noticed the beavers in the pond

Rainbow - the child who wore clothes of many colours

Ringtail - the clever one

Rusty - child whose hair was the colour of a red fox

Sunshine - the person with sparkling eyes and whose smile made people feel warm and good
inside

Tic Tac - the squirrel

Terms Frequently Used:

Beaver Hand Signal –Leader’s arm straight up with hand forming Beaver salute. This signals
Beavers to stop everything they are doing and pay attention to the leader.

Beaver Salute - Special sign of greeting, made with bent fingers. It represents the two front teeth of
a beaver.

Sitting Position - Seated cross-legged on the floor.

Big Brown Beaver - A large toy Beaver mascot used in ceremonies.

Busy Beavers - Seven year old Beavers who are getting ready to swim up to Wolf Cubs.

Chopping Position - Squatting down with elbows on knees, and both hands making a Beaver
salute. (Used in the opening and closing ceremonies)

Colony - The entire group of Beavers and leaders.

Dam Formation - Circle formation used for organizing Beavers.

Eager Beaver - A Kit who has learned the Promise, Law and Salute and the opening, closing and
investiture ceremonies.

Feeding The Beaver- The act of feeding the beaver.(using wood chips children).

Grand Tail Slap - Sit cross-legged on the floor, raise the right hand above the head and bring it
down to slap the floor in front of you.

Investiture - The ceremony in which a KIT is invested (receives the Beaver neckerchief) and
becomes an Eager Beaver.

Keeo - Keeo is a Wolf Cub who works in a Colony to serve as a link between the Beaver and Wolf
Cub sections and to strengthen communications between Beavers and the adult leadership team.
Keeo is also a member of the
Beaver colony leadership team.

Kit - In nature, a growing beaver. In the program, a Beaver who has not yet been invested.

Lodge - Lodges are smaller working groups of five or six Beavers and a leader. Lodges are useful
for some activities like crafts and discussions, or, at times during the meeting when Beavers would
benefit from more individual attention.

Pond - The place where a Beaver Colony meets: i.e. , a church, school, community club, auditorium,
etc.

Lodge Patch - Beavers usually decide upon a name and symbol for their lodge and attach their
symbol (lodge patch) to the right hand pocket of their uniform as a sign of identification and
belonging.

Lodging - The name of the closing ceremony which occurs at the end of each meeting

River Banks - A formation used to organize Beavers quietly. Beavers stand side by side in two wavy
lines that are about three feet apart.

Swimming-Up - The ceremony in which the oldest Beavers are transferred to the Wolf Cub
program. A Beaver goes to Cubs when he/she is between 7 1/2 and 8 years old.

Tail Celebration - The meeting, usually held in the Fall, at which the Colony recognizes that all
Beavers have grown older. The children receive a new colour coded tail to symbolize their growth.
The tail is then sewn onto the back of their Beaver hat for all to see.

Tail Groups - A very useful sub-grouping system which is used to create smaller working groups
within the Colony. Tail groups are indicated by Beavers wearing different colours of tails on their
hats. Typically, they are the same age: 5 year olds (Brown Tail), 6 year olds (Blue Tail) and 7 year
olds (White Tail) form the three different tail groups. This type of grouping is very practical at
different points in the program. It allows leaders to give older Beavers a different or more challenging
activity than younger or newer Beavers.

Tail Magic The magic light symbol is a silver streak down the centre of the

Light Symbol - white tail. Seven year olds (Busy Beavers) may change from a White Tail to a White
Tail with a “magic light” symbol a few months prior to swim-up to Wolf Cubs.

Tail Slap - The name of the opening ceremony which occurs at the beginning of each meeting. The
action of clapping the hands behind the back.

UNIFORM

Beaver Uniform Leader Uniform

The official uniform for Beavers is:

- coby hat in blue and brown with Beavers Canada crest;

- brown vest with blue pockets, Beavers Canada strip on the top edge of the left pocket and coloured
lodge patch on the right;

- blue neckerchief, or group neckerchief worn cross-over style, see diagram;

- neckerchief slide;

- group, district, regional, provincial, world and sponsor/partner emblems and service stripes.

The colours brown and blue symbolize nature; brown for the earth and the beaver’s fur coat, and
blue for the clear sky and fresh sparkling water. White is the colour of the moon and stars. They give
us light to help us find our way through the darkness of the night and symbolize distant goals,
seemingly far away but attainable.

Other items worn on the uniform are the registration flash, positioned below the Beavers Canada
strip on the vest, and the Beaver tail, attached to the back of the hat.

Teach your Beaver to respect his/her uniform and wear it proudly. After your child is invested,
encourage him/her to wear the full uniform.

These items, along with other related books and accessories are available at your local Scout Shop
located at 141 School Street, Fredericton north (on 2nd floor of Kinsman’s Center).

CEREMONIES:

OPENING CEREMONY (TAIL SLAP)

The opening Tail Slap is conducted by a leader at the beginning of every meeting. All other leaders
and Keeo join the Beavers in the ceremony.

The Tail Slap gives Beavers an opportunity to let off steam in a controlled manner. They take it most
seriously and enter into it with their whole heart and lungs. It’s a way for them to express their joy in
being alive and their enjoyment of being Beavers. It is also a tangible start to the meeting’s activities.

All Kits and Eager Beavers take part in the opening ceremony. To start the ceremony, a leader
stands in the middle of the pond next to Big Brown Beaver and calls, “River Banks.” At this
command, the Beavers form two wavy lines (river formation), one line on each side of the hall, and
face inward, holding hands.

The leader then calls out, “Build the Dam.” At this command, the Beavers go into dam formation by
closing the ends of each bank to make a dam across the river which encloses Big Brown Beaver and
the leader in the middle.

The leader stretches out his/her arms sideways and then lowers them. At this signal, Beavers take
the chopping position: feet on floor and body in crouching position, with elbows touching knees,
forearms straight up and both hands in Beaver Salute (position representing paws on tree trunks.)

When the Beavers are in the chopping position, the leader asks, “Who are you and what do you do?”
As loudly as they can, the Beavers reply:

Immediately after saying this in unison, the Beavers call, “Ooo-oo-OO!”, starting quietly and building
ever louder. At maximum volume, Beavers leap up to do a Tail Slap (clap hands behind back). They
are imitating the swishing sound of the water as the beavers swim from the bottom of the pond to
break the surface.

This ceremony accomplishes the collection of the Beavers’ “wood chips” done at the beginning of
each meeting. Beavers bring “food for the Beaver” (their wood chips) into the dam to feed Big Brown
Beaver, by putting the “food” either into a slot in Big Brown Beaver or into a dish in front of him. Each
beaver has a wood chip with their name on it and use that to “feed the beaver” .

A leader conducts this ceremony and all other leaders join the Beavers during the ceremony. The
ceremony marks the conclusion of every meeting and all Kits and Eager Beavers take part.

As in the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony begins with the leader standing in the centre of
the hall next to Big Brown Beaver and calling out, “River Banks”, followed by “Build the Dam”, so that
the Beavers end in dam formation.

The leader then calls out, “Lodge” and at this command, all slowly sink to the floor into the Beaver
position (seated cross-legged). As the Beavers go down, they say the sleepy sound, “Sh, sh, sh, sh,
sh, sh”, until all Beavers are sitting cross-legged on the floor. The leader then claps his/her hands
once and all “sh-ing” ceases. Softly, Beavers call out, “Sleeping, Sleeping, Sleeping.”

The leader raises an arm above the head, and Beavers follow the action. With the palms of their
hands, both leader and the Beavers make one resounding slap on the floor in front of themselves.

The leader calls out, “Good night and busy building tomorrow.”

The Beavers reply, “Good night, (name of the leader who is conducting the ceremony).”

When a child joins Beavers, he/she is a Kit, the term used to describe a young Beaver. Kits are
placed in a lodge when they attend their first Beaver meeting. They may wear the Beaver hat and
vest right away, but not the neckerchief as it will be presented to them when they are invested.

To become an Eager Beaver, a Kit must know the Beaver Promise, Law, and Salute, and the
opening and closing ceremonies.

Parents/Guardians are invited to participate in the investiture ceremony. They are asked to stand
behind their child when the Beavers receive their neckerchief. This is an important event in the life of
a Beaver—it’s even more special if the Beaver’s parents/guardians are present and included in the
ceremony. If, for some reason, a parent/guardian or other member of the family is unable to attend,
a leader will act as a fill-in.

SAMPLE MEETING OUTLINE

6:00 – Gathering Game in Hall

6:05 – Opening Ceremony

6:10 – Game or active Activity

6:30 – Craft in Room

6:55 – Closing Ceremony

7:00 – Meeting Ends