The Shaping Us badge

Straight from the tree, this week we have news about a new Blanket Badge for Squirrels  recently launched by the Scout Association in conjunction with the Royal Foundation.

The badge can be given to anyone who engages with the Shaping Us Framework, initiated by our Joint President, HRH The Princess of Wales.

The framework describes, in a clear and accessible way, the social and emotional skills that young people need to thrive and forms a part of passing on opportunities to discuss and develop particular social and emotional skills.

This might in game form where learning to play a game helps develop communication skills such as listening, speaking, taking turns and things like understanding each others feelings though empathy so we're able to complete the task and work with each other effectively.

Anniversaries

 

A couple of weeks ago we marked five years of Squirrels, born during Covid, forty years of Beavers  for six to eight year olds and a massive One Hundred and Ten years of Cubs with a special badge being issued.

Each program dovetails into each other as you learn new skills and have exciting experiences as you get older in the Scouts family.

Playtime

 After a bit of a lull over the last few years, while out recently I have seen more squirrels on the move, climbing trees, crossing paths and playing together in the woods or on grassland which I find really interesting to watch.

Filling the larder...

 Autumn is making itself known much to the delight of the local grey squirrels with an abundance of acorns ready for being buried if only they can remember where!

I find it interesting that on the whole they tend to land in fairly neat bundles rather than being scattered around.

Treelined adventures

After that bit good news it also was the case the weather improved here making it easier to get about on foot so I was able to go for a good walk crossing roads that had been rather like skating rinks just days before.

It was while doing that that I saw a group of six squirrels playing one morning and pulling the camera from out of my coat pocket took this picture of one in the woods before he made his way into a garden while the blackbirds in the other trees just looked on.

Just standing their, blending in with the surroundings watching wildlife fascinates me.

Woodland adventures

It's been a funny old week in some respects because outside of you know what it has been been one of the coldest Winters I can recall for a good while so snow from a week back is still here and where it has melted and frozen over ice remains which is a problem for a person with my kind of physical disabilities being very unstable on my feet.

That said I did find parts I could with care get around to explore which yesterday saw me spending time watching over six grey squirrels playing in a pocket of woodland running up and down trees, leaping from branch to branch and the dashing across the grass with acorns!

I stood still transfixed for a a good while observing this behaviour as one crossed from the wood to a road and then into someone's garden!

I also staying very still was ale to observe a few members of the Tit family close up apart from the every present blackbirds