On Tuesday evening, the Caledonia Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers got together to celebrate World Thinking Day 2017! We took part in the Youth Uplift Challenge, the National Service Project: Action on Poverty, and earned the WAGGGS World Thinking Day 2017 Crest.As part of the National Service Project: Action on Poverty, everyone had been asked to bring donations for our local food bank. As a group, we collected and donated over 100lbs of food and supplies!
While the girls were arriving, each Unit was provided with handprints for each girl to colour and decorate with positive messages and images. The Youth Uplift Challenge asks groups to make and decorate paper hands to raise funds for Save the Children's Youth Education and Training Programs in Nicaragua and Indonesia. For every hand we make, the Bezos Family Foundation will donate $1.90 to Save the Children. The goal is to raise $500,000 through this challenge, and young people around the world are taking part! More information can be found on the Student's Rebuild Website. We made 70 hands, which raises $133.00!
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After a short opening to introduce the "Grow" theme, and to explain about the Youth Uplift Challenge, we divided up into three mixed age groups for a round robin of activities. One station was run by one of the Guide Guiders, while the other two were run by 3 of our 3rd Year Guides and our Pathfinder.
Roots - Grow Our Cabana
At this station, we played the game outlined in the World Thinking Day Activity Pack. The players are divided into groups of three, with one person left on their own in the middle of the circle. In each group of three, two players stand facing each other, holding hands to form a roof - they are the Cabin. The third player stands between these two players, under the 'roof' - she is the Guest. The player in the middle is the Leader. The game starts with the Leader calling out 'Cabin', 'Guest', or 'Volcano'.
- If she calls Cabin, all the cabins, without breaking apart, must go and find another guest. Guests remain where they are.
- If she calls Guest, the guests have to leave their cabins and find another cabin. Cabins remain where they are.
- If she calls Volcano, the cabins will crumble and the guests have to escape. Everyone moves and forms new groups.
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Trunk - Grow Your Commitment
We adapted this activity from the one in the World Thinking Day Activity Pack.The girls were divided into smaller groups, with a mix of Sparks, Brownies and Guides in each group. All of the girls were then asked to imagine that they were a team of Arctic Explorers trekking across the frozen tundra. A sudden blizzard hits and they must build an emergency shelter to protect their team from the storm!
Each group was then given a sponge character for each girl in the group and a supply of toothpicks, index cards, masking tape and modelling clay. They had to build a miniature shelter that would protect all of their sponges from the storm!
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Branches - Grow Your Dance Moves
This activity also came from the World Thinking Day Activity Pack. The girls watched the YouTube video from the Arts4Change Session held at Sangam in 2016 and listened to "When We Shine". They were then challenged to create their own dance routines to part of the song (there wasn't time to do the whole song!). The dances were then performed at campfire.
- Watch the Arts4Change Video on YouTube
- Download "When We Shine" and read the lyrics at When We Shine (scroll to the bottom of the page)
Once the stations were completed, we all gathered back in the main room for our final activity - planting sunflower seeds! Each girl decorated a cup using Sharpies and we then added colourful aquarium gravel for drainage, soil, and seeds. Everyone was reminded to give their seeds a drink of water when they got home.
We then sang Tall Trees, and watched the dance performances from the "Grow Your Dance Moves" station. We ended with Spark Closing, Brownie Bells, and Taps.
