Know your Children’s Commissioner for Wales

Before you begin

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.  
• Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
• Make sure you have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.  

Planning and Setting up this activity

• You can use the Scouts Cymru Rights Award booklet to support this activity. 
• All the rights for young people are written on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). 
• For Squirrels and Beavers, rights can be explained as the things all children need to grow up happy, healthy and safe. 

Running this activity

1. Gather everyone together and tell them that in Wales there is a person called the Children’s Commissioner. Their job is to help children and young people and make sure everyone gets their rights – the things you need to grow up happy, healthy, and safe.
2. Show the group a picture of the Children’s Commissioner and explain a little about what they do.
   • The Children’s Commissioner for Wales is a person who helps children and young people. Their job is to make sure children get the things they need to be happy, healthy, and safe. They listen to children, speak up for them, and help adults and the government make good choices so that all children can grow up feeling cared for and safe.
3. Play a short video about the UNCRC and the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.
4. After the video, ask the young people: “What did you learn?” Let them share their ideas about what the Children’s Commissioner does and why it is important for children to have rights.
5. Finish the activity by showing a poster of the rights or displaying it on a screen. Talk about how the Children’s Commissioner helps make sure all children get the things they need and that their voices are heard.