Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method. It is a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of The Girl Guides Association. Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, which, with his previous books, his 1884 Reconnaissance and Scouting and his 1899 Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men and The Scout magazine helped the rapid growth of the Scout Movement.
A Scout is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section. Scouts are organized into troops averaging 20–30 Scouts under the guidance of one or more Scout Leaders or Scoutmasters. Troops subdivide into patrols of about 6–8 Scouts and engage in outdoor and special interest activities. Troops may affiliate with local, national, and international organizations. Some national Scouting associations have special interest programs such as Air Scouts, Sea Scouts, outdoor high adventure, Scouting bands, and rider Scouts. In the United States there were around 6 million scouts in 2011.
A Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. Robert Baden-Powell chose to name his organization for girls "the Girl Guides". In the United States and several East Asian countries the term "Girl Scout" is used instead. Female scouts go under the name of "girl scouts" in many more languages. The two terms are used synonymously within this article.
Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scout organizations, for children generally aged between 8 and 10 or 12. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a group of Cubs is called a "Pack".
Agnes Smyth Baden-Powell was the younger sister of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, and was most noted for her work in establishing the Girl Guide movement as a female counterpart to her older brother's Scouting Movement.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and it has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It is the counterpart of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). WAGGGS is organized into five regions and operates five international Guiding centers. It holds full member status in the European Youth Forum (YFJ), which operates within the Council of Europe and European Union areas, and works closely with these bodies.
The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of the member organizations of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) share the same mottoes.
The three-finger salute is used by members of Scout and Guide organizations around the world when greeting other Scouts and in respect of a national flag at ceremonies. In most situations, the salute is made with the right hand, palm face out, the thumb holding down the little finger. There are some variations of the salute between national Scouting organizations and also within some programme sections.
Rovers or Rovering is a programme associated with some Scout organizations for adults, originated by The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1918 to provide a programme for young men who had grown up beyond the age range of the Boy Scouts. It was adopted by many other Scouting organisations. A group of Rovers is called a 'Rover Crew'.
The Scout method is the informal educational system used in the Scouting Movement. The aim of Scouting is character training with the goal of helping participants become independent and helpful, and thereby become "healthy, happy, helpful citizens".
A Ranger or Ranger Guide is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 14 and 18. It is the female-centred equivalent of the Rover Scouts.
The Scout and Guide movement in Malta is served by three organizations:
Mary Malcolmson was born in Ireland in 1864 later immigrating to Canada where she married A.H. Malcolmson. She started the first Girl Guide company in Canada on 1910-01-11 in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the British Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author's own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.
The Baden-Powell Award, also known as the B-P Award or Baden-Powell Scout Award (BPSA), is the highest award achievable to Rover (adult) Scouts.
Girl Guides is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909, when girls requested to join the then-grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
Rovering to Success is a life-guide book written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell and published in two editions from June 1922 as a handbook for The Boy Scouts Association's Rovers program which had been launched in November 1919. It has a theme of paddling a canoe through life. The original edition and printings of the second edition were subtitled "A Book of Life-Sport for Young Men" but this was changed to "A Guide for Young Manhood" in the later printings, which ran until 1964. It was used by The Boy Scouts Association as the handbook of its Rover program until 1966, when its review, The Chief Scouts' Advance Party Report, recommended that "a new Training Section be formed to replace the existing Senior Scout and Rover Scout Sections".
The Grand Howl is a ceremony used by Cub Scouts and Brownies. It was devised by Robert Baden-Powell, the author of the scouting guide Scouting for Boys, and is based on the Mowgli stories in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. In the ceremony, Cubs act out the wolves greeting Akela, the "Old Wolf", at the Council Rock and are reminded of the Cub Scout Promise. Baden-Powell also created a Grand Howl for Brownie Guides, which was in imitation of an owl instead of a wolf. It has been used as an opening and closing ceremony as well as a method of conveying thanks or appreciation by all sections of Scouting.
Marguerite de Beaumont was a Girl Guide leader, horse breeder, author and poet. She published biographies of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, and was a recipient of the Silver Fish Award, Girl Guiding's highest adult honour.
