{"alias":"newsItem","byline":"","standfirst":"We\u2019re delighted that a new badge will help raise awareness of the need for children and young people to gain social and emotional skills for the future and recognise those supporting them. ","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/icmgrsvt/hrh-the-princess-of-wales-and-squirrels-2.jpg","width":800,"height":537,"altText":"HRH The Princess of Wales and Squirrels ","caption":"HRH The Princess of Wales and Squirrels (Kensington Palace)","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EA special blanket badge has been launched to recognise the work of all those who are helping young people develop the skills they need to thrive. This includes volunteers, parents, carers and young people themselves.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s especially relevant for those in and supporting our youngest section, Squirrels. which is celebrating a milestone birthday this year.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe badge can be given to anyone who engages with the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://centreforearlychildhood.org/our-work/research/the-shaping-us-framework/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #006ddf;\u0022\u003EShaping Us Framework\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040;\u0022\u003E, initiated by our Joint President, HRH The Princess of Wales. It describes, in a clear and accessible way, the social and emotional skills that young people need to thrive. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cdiv style=\u0022mso-element: comment-list;\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040;\u0022\u003ETime to talk and reflect \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040;\u0022\u003EWe\u2019re encouraging volunteers to give children and young people opportunities to discuss and develop particular social and emotional skills. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040; background: white;\u0022\u003ETo help, we\u2019ve mapped activities from our Squirrels programme to the relevant clusters of skills in the Shaping Us Framework.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\u0022\u003EYou can use these activities to reflect on the skills the c\u003C/span\u003Ehildren \u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\u0022\u003Ehave practiced and learned. For example, if you play the parachute game you might want to talk with the children about how they needed to communicate to complete the task.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191;\u0022\u003EWe hope this will help our volunteers, potential volunteers, donors, supporters and parents understand the benefits of their children taking part in an early years programme such as \u003C/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/squirrels/\u0022\u003ESquirrels\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cdiv style=\u0022mso-element: comment-list;\u0022\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\n\u003C/div\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/q4edzjxn/shaping-us-badge.jpg","width":2000,"height":2000,"altText":"The Shaping Us blanket badge ","caption":"The Shaping Us blanket badge","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; mso-fareast-font-family: \u0027Times New Roman\u0027; mso-bidi-font-family: \u0027Times New Roman\u0027; color: #404040; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\u0022\u003EWhy this work matters \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191;\u0022\u003EImproving social and emotional development in early childhood has been shown to improve the likelihood that children will be happy and healthy in childhood, and throughout life. These skills are linked to better academic and career outcomes, and physical and mental health in adulthood.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp style=\u0022background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 12.0pt 0cm;\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; color: #404040;\u0022\u003EDeveloping children\u2019s social and emotional skills supports\u0026nbsp;\u003C/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/our-people/joint-presidents/\u0022 title=\u0022Joint Presidents\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family: \u0027Nunito Sans\u0027; mso-fareast-font-family: \u0027Times New Roman\u0027; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: #006ddf;\u0022\u003EHRH The Princess of Wales\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E mission of creating a happier, healthier society.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"quoteText":"The Shaping Us Framework is designed to provide an accessible way of focusing on social and emotional skills. It can be used by organisations of all shapes and sizes to design and deliver interventions that raise awareness across society, and to support the development of these critically important skills for people at all stages of life.","attribution":"HRH The Princess of Wales","gridType":"quote","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"Order the Shaping Us blanket badge","body":"\u003Cp\u003EYou can order stocks of the badge from Scout Store which is available now. It can be given to volunteers, parents, carers and young people.\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Shaping Us badge on Scout Store","id":null,"url":"https://shop.scouts.org.uk/new-in/shaping-us-framework-blanket-badge-30465#selection.size=7331\u0026selection.color=34","newWindow":false,"target":"_blank"},"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"Order the badge","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"14 January 2026","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"Learn more about the Shaping Us Framework and discover activities","url":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/supporting-the-shaping-us-framework/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"Order the Shaping Us blanket badge from Scout Store","url":"https://shop.scouts.org.uk/new-in/shaping-us-framework-blanket-badge-30465#selection.size=7331\u0026selection.color=34","newWindow":true}],"id":88301,"nodeName":"Shaping Us badge launch","title":"New Shaping Us badge launched with Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood  ","type":"newsItem","image":{"url":"/media/icmgrsvt/hrh-the-princess-of-wales-and-squirrels-2.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dc8162987ed7e0","caption":"HRH The Princess Of Wales And Squirrels 2","type":"jpg","size":109711,"width":800,"height":537,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"New Shaping Us badge launched with Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood  ","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"The new badge will help raise awareness of the need for children and young people to gain social and emotional skills for the future. 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