Colony Lingo

Below is a list of terms used in Beavers and what they mean.

You can find other terms that are common to all Scouting Sections on the Scouting Lingo Page.

Beaver Hand Signal Scouter’s arm straight up with hand forming Beaver salute.This signals everyone to stop everything they are doing and pay attention to the Scouter.
Beaver Position Seated cross-legged on the floor.
Beaver Salute Special sign of greeting, made with bent fingers. It represents the two front teeth of a beaver.
Beaveree Adapted from the word Jamboree (see definition) for larger events involving Beavers.
Big Brown Beaver A large toy Beaver mascot used in ceremonies.
Bubbles A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to the person having so much fun splashing her feet in the water.
Busy Beavers Seven year old Beavers who are getting ready to swim up to Wolf Cubs.
Chopping Position Squatting down with elbows on knees, and both hands making a Beaver salute. (Used in the opening and closing ceremonies)
Colony The entire collection of Beavers and their Scouters.
Dam Formation Circle formation used for organizing Beavers.
Eager Beaver A Kit who has learned the Promise, Law and Salute and the opening, closing and investiture ceremonies.
Feeding The Beaver The act of collecting dues (money children contribute weekly for supplies or special activities). At the 24th we symbolically “feed the beaver” but we collect our dues all at once at registration.
Friends of the Forest The story is the background resource which provides the terminology, setting, theme and program material for operating a Beaver Colony.
Grand Tail Slap Sit cross-legged on the floor, raise the right hand above the head and bring it down to slap the floor in front of you.
Hawkeye A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to the tall person that first noticed the beavers in the pond.
Investiture The ceremony in which a KIT is invested (receives the Beaver neckerchief) and becomes an Eager Beaver.
Kit In nature, a growing beaver. In the program, a Beaver who has not yet been invested.
Lodge Lodges are smaller working groups of five or six Beavers and a Scouter.  Lodges are useful for some activities like crafts and discussions, or, at times during the meeting when Beavers would benefit from more individual attention.
Lodge Patch Beavers usually decide upon a name and symbol for their lodge and attach their symbol (lodge patch) to the right hand pocket of their uniform as a sign of identification and belonging.
Lodging The name of the closing ceremony which occurs at the end of each meeting.
Pond The place where a Beaver Colony meets: i.e. a church, school, community club, auditorium, etc.
Rainbow A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to the child who wore clothes of many colours.
River Banks A formation used to organize Beavers quietly. Beavers stand side by side in two wavy lines that are about three feet apart.
Rusty A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to child whose hair was the colour of a red fox .
Sunshine A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to the person with sparkling eyes and whose smile made people feel warm and good.
Swimming-Up The ceremony in which the oldest Beavers are transferred to the Wolf Cub program. A Beaver goes to Cubs when he/she is between 7 1/2 and 8 years old.
Tail Celebration The meeting, usually held in the Fall, at which the Colony recognizes that all Beavers have grown older. The children receive a new colour coded tail to symbolize their growth. The tail is then attached to the back of their Beaver hat for all to see.
Tail Groups A very useful sub-grouping system which is used to create smaller working groups within the Colony. Tail groups are indicated by Beavers wearing different colours of tails on their hats. Typically, they are the same age: 5 year olds (Brown Tail), 6 year olds (Blue Tail) and 7 year olds (White Tail) form the three different tail groups. This type of grouping is very practical at different points in the program. It allows Scouters to give older Beavers a different or more challenging activity than younger or newer Beavers.
Tail Magic The magic light symbol is a silver streak down the centre of the Light Symbol white tail. Seven year old Busy Beavers may change from a White Tail to a White Tail with a “magic light” symbol a few months prior to swim-up to Wolf Cubs.
Tail Slap The name of the opening ceremony which occurs at the beginning of each meeting. The action of clapping the hands behind the back.
Tic Tac A Scouter’s name taken from The Friends of the Forest story referring to the squirrel.

If you have ideas for our Lingo List… send them to   webmaster@24th.ca

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