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Description

Aim of the Session

To help Beavers develop key life skills by exploring the six themes of The Shaping Us Framework through fun, age-appropriate, and inclusive activities. The session encourages self-awareness, emotional regulation, communication, teamwork, kindness, and curiosity.

Suggested Session Timings (for leaders)

These timings are flexible and can be adjusted depending on group energy and needs.

Know Ourselves – 10 minutes

Manage Our Emotions – 10 minutes

Communicate with Others – 10 minutes

Focus Our Thoughts – 10 minutes

Nurture Our Relationships – 15 minutes

Explore the World / Close – 5 minutes

Total session time: approximately 60 minutes

Resources

-Paper heart shapes,
-Colour based emotion resources/ pictures,
-X3 sticks,
-Duplo or Lego,
-Biscuits/icing/decorations,
-Postcards (printable attached),
-Certificates (printable attached).

Instructions

1. Know Ourselves (10 minutes)

Activity:
Leaders greet each Beaver individually, telling them something they are good at or a positive quality they’ve noticed. Each Beaver is then given a heart shape with their name on it and asked to draw or write things that make them happy.

Purpose and explanation:
This activity helps Beavers recognise their own strengths and individuality. Being personally welcomed builds confidence and a sense of belonging, while reflecting on what makes them happy encourages self-awareness and positive self-esteem. It also sets a supportive tone for the session.

Skills developed:

-Self-awareness
-Confidence
-Recognising personal strengths

2. Manage Our Emotions (10 minutes)

Activity:
Leaders talk to the Beavers about emotions, why all emotions are important, and how recognising them can help us. Colour based emotions resources are used to support understanding. The activity finishes with a simple relaxation or breathing exercise.

Purpose and explanation:
This section supports Beavers in identifying and naming emotions and learning that feelings can change. Leaders reinforce that there are no bad feelings — just feelings that sometimes need help. The breathing exercise introduces a practical strategy they can use to calm themselves when emotions feel overwhelming.

Skills developed:

-Emotional awareness
-Emotional regulation
-Self-calming strategies

3. Communicate with Others (10 minutes)

Activity:
Leaders explain the importance of listening and sharing feelings respectfully. Beavers go into their lodges with a leader or helper. Using a talking stick, each Beaver takes turns sharing how they feel about Beavers. Before speaking, they repeat one thing the previous Beaver said.

Purpose and explanation:
This activity encourages active listening and respectful communication. Repeating what someone else has said helps Beavers focus on others, shows empathy, and reinforces that everyone’s voice matters.

Skills developed:

-Listening skills
-Expressing feelings
-Empathy and respect

4. Focus Our Thoughts (10 minutes)

Activity:
The group discusses the importance of focus and encouragement. Beavers are split into two teams and take turns building a Duplo/Lego tower in rainbow order while the rest of the group encourages them. Once finished, the towers are placed side by side.

Purpose and explanation:
This activity shows how focus, patience, and positive encouragement help individuals succeed. Seeing the towers together reinforces the idea that working as a group creates something even more impressive than working alone.

Skills developed:

-Concentration
-Teamwork
-Positive encouragement

5. Nurture Our Relationships (15 minutes)

Activity:
Leaders talk about accepting people for who they are and noticing when someone might feel sad, unsure, or left out. Each Beaver decorates a biscuit, then gifts it to another Beaver they don’t usually talk to. Everyone finishes with one biscuit.

Purpose and explanation:
This activity promotes kindness, inclusion, and empathy. Gifting encourages Beavers to think about others and helps strengthen relationships across the group.

Skills developed:

-Kindness
-Inclusion
-Empathy and friendship building

6. Explore the World (5 minutes)

Activity:
Beavers are congratulated on their hard work and awarded their badge and a certificate highlighting the six themes covered. They are then given a weekend challenge:

-Be curious
-Be creative
-Feel joy

Postcards are handed out with space to draw or write about what they discover. These can be brought back to the next session or photographed and shared by a grown-up in the parents’ group.

Purpose and explanation:
This final activity encourages Beavers to take their learning beyond the meeting place and apply it in everyday life. It reinforces curiosity, creativity, and joy as ongoing habits.

Skills developed:

-Curiosity
-Creativity
-Applying learning to real life

Session Outcome

By the end of the session, Beavers will have explored all six key areas of The Shaping Us Framework through engaging, practical activities. They will leave feeling valued, calm, connected to others, and confident to explore the world around them.

Tags

• care
• care for one another
• confidence
• Confidence building
• emotional intelligence
• emotions
• friend
• kind and helpful
• kindness
• kindness week
• Listening
• Listening skills
• Listening to others
• sharing
• teamwork

Badge Links

• Creative - Construction
• Creative - Craft
• Personal - Leader challenge
• Skills - Decorate food
• Teamwork - Friend
• Teamwork - Team game