{"content":{"layouts":[{"type":"sidebar","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EWe believe in empowering young people to take the lead and make their own choices wherever possible, which is why we try to make sure all Squirrel\u0027s meetings are run together with young people themselves, and designed around their interests and needs. Across Scouts, this is often referred to as \u2018Youth Shaped Scouting\u2019.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe more young people are involved in shaping their experiences, the more they\u2019ll get out of them, and the more likely they are to thrive within the Scouts \u2013 achieving their top awards, and staying onto the older sections. One way you can make this happen is by making sure your Squirrels have plenty of opportunities to practice\u003Cspan\u003E\u00A0\u003C/span\u003Epeer leadership, in their groups and elsewhere.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve provided you with some top tips below to help you make your Squirrels meetings \u2018youth shaped\u2019.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"accordion","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","showExpand":false,"items":[{"gridType":"accordionItem","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAt this age, you can\u2019t expect four and five year olds to organise a full evening\u2019s programme or a trip. However, they could teach others in the section how to play a new game or sing a new song they\u2019ve recently learnt.\u003C/p\u003E","label":"Keep it age appropriate"},{"gridType":"accordionItem","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELetting young people push their creativity and imagination allows you to gain as many ideas as possible and use these to plan realistic, fun activities based on their interests.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the young people could say that they want to travel to lots of different countries, which wouldn\u2019t be possible, but you could use their ideas to plan an international night with activities and food from the countries they\u2019d named.\u003C/p\u003E","label":"Allow imaginations to run wild"},{"gridType":"accordionItem","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAgain, this must be done in an age appropriate way, but young people of this age can and want to take on responsibility. Give them tasks to do, like helping a leader to set up or demonstrate an activity.\u003C/p\u003E","label":"Give them some responsibility"},{"gridType":"accordionItem","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAlways take time to review what you\u2019re doing with the young people. This can be built into the reflection during the meeting.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt could be as simple as, at the end of the meeting, lining them up and saying if you really enjoyed tonight\u0027s activities, stand here; if you thought they were OK, stand here; and if you didn\u2019t enjoy them, stand here. You could then ask them simple questions like, what was the best part of the meeting? Or, what could we do better next time?\u003C/p\u003E","label":"Review"},{"gridType":"accordionItem","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EShow that you\u2019ve actually listened. This is as simple as letting them know, when you do an activity that they suggested, that you\u2019re doing it because they asked for it.\u003C/p\u003E","label":"Proof\u2019s in the pudding"}]}]},{"items":[{"type":"Image top","cta":"Check out the ideas","body":"\u003Cp\u003EEven at this age, young people can contribute to the design of their meetings. It just looks a little different for four and five year olds. The youth shaped pages will give you more ideas about how to support your Squirrel Drey to be youth shaped.\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Youth shaped","id":null,"url":"/volunteers/running-your-section/programme-guidance/information-for-volunteers/youth-shaped/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"Youth shaped Scouting","image":"/media/14002/210510_squirrels_0368.jpg?rxy=0.4388888888888889,0.14444444444444443\u0026width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dadf67f199e070","imageFocus":"","imageId":27031,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"prev":{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/community-impact-in-squirrels/","title":"Community Impact in Squirrels"},"next":null,"allParts":[{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/planning-ahead-and-organising-the-programme/","title":"Planning ahead and organising the programme"},{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/badges-for-squirrels/","title":"Badges for Squirrels"},{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/squirrels-ready-made-programmes/","title":"Squirrels ready-made programmes"},{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/reading-stories-with-squirrels/","title":"Reading stories with Squirrels"},{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/community-impact-in-squirrels/","title":"Community Impact in Squirrels"},{"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/helping-squirrels-take-the-lead/","title":"Helping Squirrels take the lead"}],"link":"/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/helping-squirrels-take-the-lead/","id":50864,"nodeName":"Helping Squirrels take the lead","title":"Helping Squirrels take the lead","type":"codexPart","image":{"url":"/media/14012/210510_squirrels_0585.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dadf67f1b13900","caption":"Squirrels holding hands and pointing","type":"jpg","size":976611,"width":6450,"height":4300,"altText":"Three Squirrels, wearing red jumpers and red scarves, walk along a field while one of them points straight ahead."},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Helping Squirrels take the lead","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"searchDescription":"Empowering young people to lead and make their own choices by youth shaped scouting for Squirrels.","subHeader":"Empowering young people to lead and make their own choices by youth shaped scouting for Squirrels.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDg2NCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/running-your-section/running-a-squirrel-drey/programme-planning/helping-squirrels-take-the-lead/"}