Tail Ceremony, a celebration of growth

All Beavers are presented with tails at a Beaver Tail Ceremony held early in the fall of each year. Only one tail is worn on the hat at a time: any previous tail is removed and may be given to the Beaver as a keepsake.

The primary purpose of the ceremony is to present and receive the Beaver tails, making it a special occasion of its own. The ceremony should be designed to emphasize personal growth and development. It provides an opportunity for each Beaver to be recognized personally in terms of growth and development without being compared to anyone else. The ceremony may include reference to the growth and changes that occur in nature.

With the Beavers, talk about changes like:

• How they listen better when someone is talking
• How they’re trying harder to live up to their Law, Promise and Motto
• How much they have grown
• How they play games with more skill
• How they share more with other Beavers.

The tail celebration includes making new tails, tail group discussions, refreshments and games. Some colonies try to heighten the experience in a variety of ways, including:

• At each tail celebration, Beavers in some colonies construct and decorate new Beaver boxes,which they use to carry crafts and materials to and from home. Leaders and parents comment on the differences between the old and new boxes.
• Beavers draw a picture of a scene from Friends of the Forest. Leaders bring out the pictures
• they did while in the last tail group for comparison.
•  Leaders and parents measure and weigh each Beaver, recording the statistics in a special scrap book. This can be compared to the statistics from the last tail celebration.
• Leaders take photos of each Beaver in each tail grouping. These too can be compared and added to the special scrap book.
• Beavers themselves sew their new tails on their hats.

A few months before Swim-up, the White Tails may be presented with new tails (white with a magic light) to signify that they will now be preparing to swim up to Cubs. The Magic Light symbol is a silver streak down the centre of the tail. This provides special recognition for those Beavers who will be swimming up, and an opportunity to introduce and discuss the concept of

swimming up with all the Beavers.

Although these ideas take a bit of organization and storage space, their impact is very significant.