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Scouting in Holland is divided into seven sections. The various sections appeared at different times. The newest section is the Beavers.
Beavers are a relatively sew section of Scouting. They are 5-7 years old. The Bevers play in a fantasy world: The World of Tall Do-All (Lange Doener in Dutch). Tall Do-All is one of the main characters in the Bever-programme, and he lives in a house called Hotsjietonia on the rim of a village. Now and then Tall Do-All invites some friends to come around and play a part in the meeting. These friends have typical fields of interest: e.g. Pompedomp (nature and music), Hippe Springveer (games and sport), Frederik
euremaar (creativity), etc. These characters are, like Tall Do-All, played by the leaders. The Bevers are encouraged to play and explore the world around them. Bevers are mixed boys and girls and they have a red sweater as uniform. A Bever-unit consists of maximally 16 Bevers.
Cub Scouts or Welpen are 7-10 years old. Single: `Welp', plural: `Welpen'). I'm not sure when Dutch Cubbing was founded, but suspect it was soon after the Cubs were founded in England (1916). The Welpen or Cub program is, like British scouting based on the Jungle Book-stories from Rudyard Kipling. Because all of you have read these stories at least once, I have nothing to add here. Although the majority of Cub-Packs consists of boys only, we have mixed Packs too. The uniform of the Welpen is a green blouse. A Pack ('Horde' in Dutch) consists of a maximum of 24 Welpen.
Estas 7-10 years old. Esta's (no translation possible). I am not sure just how Esta relates to Cubbing. They play in a fantasy world: 'The Land of Esta'. It is based on the book 'The Child With The Tall Hat' ('t Kind Met De Hoge Hoed in Dutch), which was especially written for Scouting by Simone Schell in 1991. The Idea behind the story is that you change your clothes to ... (e.g. pirate, princess, cook, wolf, wizard, or *anything* else) and then play that role. This programme is considered most suitable for mixed units. A lot of mixed Cub-Packs and Brownie-units have changed to the Esta-theme since the introduction in 1991. The uniform of the Esta's is a green blouse. An Esta-unit ('Estar' in Dutch) consists of maximum of 24 Esta's. Note that the age-group 7-10 is often referred to as the acronym: ' KWESTA '. The age limits of the sections are official, but sometimes they can be adjusted in individual cases.
Brownies or Kabouters are 7-10 years old. The Kabouters play in a fantasy world: `Bambilie'. Bambilie is a country with some villages and a number of vaguely described area's, which leave space for their own imagination. In each village lives a different community ('Volkje' in Dutch) with its own characteristics. Most of the Kabouter-units consist of girls only but, like some of the Welpen-Hordes mentioned above, there are mixed ones. The uniform of the Kabouters is a green blouse. A Kabouter-unit (`Kring' in Dutch) consists of maximum of 24 Kabouters.
Scouts are 10-15 years old. Scouts is the overall-name for members of the age 10-15. They are divided into
`Verkenners' (was Boy Scouts, but used for both boys and girls now), `Padvindsters' (Girl Scouts) and `Gidsen' (Guides). The Scout-programme has no specific central theme (unlike the younger age-groups), but often the activities are integrated in some theme or project in order to increase the value and to put it in a context. More emphasis is laid on techniques, skills and knowledge than at the younger ages. We have Scout-units that are boys only, Scout-units that are girls only and mixed Scout-units (and, of course, mixed patrols just as well). This often depends on the troop's history and/or parental preference (alas, in some areas of Holland the latter is the main reason to keep separate boys and girls troops). The
uniform of the Scouts is a khaki blouse and a unit consists of 16 up to 28 Scouts.
Explorers are 14-17 years of age.
Explorers is the name for the age-group 14-17. A boy in an Explorer-unit is called `Rowan'
and a girl is called `Sherpa'. The Explorers are considered to be able to plan and carry out the activities and projects on their own. They are supported by one or two adults. Most Explorer-units are mixed boys and girls. The uniform of the Explorers is a brique (red) blouse and most units consist of 6-16 Explorers.
Rover Scouts or Jongerentaks are 17-23 years old. The age-group called `Jongerentak', which can be translated to `Youth-branch'. A member of the Jongerentak is called a Pivo (plural: Pivo's), and that's short for `Pionier' and Voortrekker', which were the old names for the boys and girls in the age-group 17-23 before the union of the five Scouting organisations in 1973. A group of Pivo's is called a `Stam'. They are, for their activities and projects, completely on their own. There is no continuous `adult'-leader support or supervision (since all members of 18+ are adults themselves), but if needed, they can ask advice from a `Stam-Adviseur' (i.e. someone with a lot of (Scouting related) experience). Pivo's are mixed boys and girls. The basic uniform of the Pivo's is a brique (red) blouse, like the Explorers. A lot of the Pivo-units Stamen') develop their own logo and silk-print it on a sweater, and use it as uniform.
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