Stylish squirrels

You’ll need

Scissors
Coloured pens or pencils
Stapler
Craft materials (for example, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, stickers)
PVA glue
Card for the ears, tails and headbands (enough for set one per person)
Piece of string (enough for one per person and long enough to go around their waste)

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
You could do this activity for Squirrel Appreciation Day on 21 January and get your paws on a fun badge from Scout Store.

Buy the Squirrel Appreciation Day badge

Preparing for this activity

On the card, draw a pair of ears and tail with enough for each person to decorate and then cut them out before the session starts.
Cut enough pieces of string for everyone, making sure they’re long enough for everyone to tie around their waists.

Crafty Squirrels

Ask everyone to sit in a circle and explain that you’re all going to make your own squirrel ears and tail to dress up in.
Give everyone two ears and a tail to decorate with the craft materials. Make sure you have enough adult volunteers around to help anyone who needs it.
While everyone’s decorating their ears, an adult volunteer or young leader can measure around everyone’s heads to create a band to attach the ears too with card.
Once everyone is finished with their creation, they can place it to one side to dry.
When all the ears are dry, staple the ears to the band and attach the tail to the string ready for everyone to dress up in. It may be best if an adult does the stapling.
You could then create a fashion runway for everyone to walk down and show off their ears. Parents and carers could be invited to watch your Woodland Fashion Week and sit on chairs, just like the real Fashion Weeks around the world. People could walk in pairs if they feel nervous, or they could even pretend to be a squirrel. It’s OK if people don’t want to walk down, perhaps an adult volunteer or young leader could show off their ears and tail for them.

Reflection

This activity gave everyone the opportunity to develop their skills and be happier by creating a squirrel costume.

How did it feel to become a squirrel by creating your own ears and tails? Were they easy to make? How did you act after putting on your costume? Did you act like a squirrel or pretend to climb anything like squirrels climb trees?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Scissors: Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
Glue and solvents: Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.
Sharp objects: Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.