Youth Programs

We can offer your youngster an opportunity to participate in the youth program appropriate to their age group. Scout Groups throughout Buffalo Plains Area run active youth programs for:

• Beavers boys and girls (5 - 7 years old)
• Cubs boys and girls (8 - 11 years old)
• Scouts boys and girls (11 - 14 years old)
• Venturers teens (14 - 17 years old)
• Rovers men and women (18 - 26 years old)

Beavers are young children aged between five and seven years old. They can join anytime between kindergarten and grade 2. Beavers enjoy weekly meetings that include crafts, games, song, stories and skits ... any kind of activity that can focus on learning by doing and sharing with fellow Beavers.

Beavers are also offered chances for outdoor meetings, hikes in local parks, tours of local facilities and outdoor winter activities like sledding and skating. Each year, our Beavers can attend the regional Beaveree where they can meet over 500 Beavers from around the Edmonton area. At age eight (grade 3) they can "swim up" to the next youth program, Cubs.

Once the children join Cubs, they can start to participate in alot of fun things. Some of the activities that they can do as a Cub are camping, exploring, hiking and collecting. If they do them properly they will get a badge to wear on your uniform.

Cubs also get to go on trips and days out, to places like the zoo, parks or field trips. There areopportunities to go camping with the rest of the Pack during all four seasons of the year. This will mean sleeping in a tent and doing loads of outdoor activities. Cubs "jump up" to Scouts at the age of ten (grade 6).

Our Scouts are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities as part of their program. "Participation" rather than meeting set standards is the key approach and for the Scout who wants to be recognized for his or her achievements there are a number of Challenges Awards and Activity Badges.

Scouts take part in a balanced program that helps them to find out about the world in which they live, encourages them to know their own abilities and the importance of keeping fit and helps develop their creative talents. It also provides opportunities to explore their own values and personal attitudes. When Scouts are ready to design and run their own program, they can move to Venturers, usually at age 14 (grade 9).

As a Venturer, a teenager is expected to help design their own goals and activities and run their own program. Venturers focus is to provide a teenager the opportunity to learn team-work and leadership over a three-year period that culminates in achieving an extremely challenging seven day adventure in their final year at the age of 17.

As a Rover, a young adult is expected to design their own goals and activities and run their own program. Rovers focus is to provide a young adult the opportunity to experience exceptional team-work and leadership while completing community service projects.

Scouting is about being with friends, as part of a team, participating fully in the adventure and opportunities of life. Scouting is very much a family-oriented organization and offers parents and young adults an opportunity to volunteer and participate as a parent-helper, youth-leader, adult leader, advisor or committee member. We look forward to seeing you in our Group and look forward to a great year of fun and excitement.