Hallowe'en Party & Enrolment

This week was our annual Hallowe'en Party - and also our Enrolment Ceremony. Each Patrol was responsible for planning and running an activity as part of the part. 

Our first Patrol was the Forget-Me-Nots who led a Costume Contest. Each Guide walked along the "catwalk" and then everyone voted on their favourite costumes and the winner received a paper crown made by the Patrol. 

This was followed by a game of Charades led by the Daisy Patrol and Wax Museum (in the dark with glow sticks) led by the Thistle Patrol.

We had a short rehearsal, and then held our Enrolment Ceremony once the families of our new Guides arrived. We enrolled 3 new Guides and gave out badges and insignia to everyone. 

We closed with reminders for next week (Positivity) and Taps.

Promise, Law & Planning

Tonight was a bit of a catch-up night with a review of the Promise and Law, planning for our Hallowe'en Party, beginning to organize our Patrol-Planned meetings and activities, voting on the new uniform designs, and talking about a holiday service project.

As the Guides arrived, the Patrols marked their attendance books and collected dues. They were also challenged to see if as a team they could remember the words to the Promise, Laws and Motto. We opened with our usual horseshoe and then checked in with the Patrols - everyone knew the Promise, but the Motto and Laws were a mystery to most of the group. We talked a bit about the Motto and then practiced BURRPLS for the Guide Law. (BURRPLS is an acronym using the first letter of each Law and can act as a memory aid when trying to recall all of the Laws!) We then moved onto an active game before diving into our program for the evening.


Our first, and longest, activity was to plan our upcoming Hallowe'en Party. Each Patrol was responsible for brainstorming ideas, choosing an activity and making a plan. The Patrols will have 20 minutes next week to set up, run and clean-up from their activity. As we are working on planning as a skill, we asked the Patrols to follow a step-by-step process:

1. Brainstorm activity ideas - write down everyone's ideas.
2. Choose your favourites (no more than one per Patrol member) - everyone has an equal vote!
3. Run your list by the Guiders to make sure all are do-able in our meeting space and the time given. 
4. Make your final choice. You might be able to combine more than one idea into a single activity. 
5. Create a plan - What supplies are needed? What are the instructions/rules? Who will explain the activity? How long will you need to set-up/clean-up your activity?

For some Patrols, this was an easy activity and they moved on to coming up with ideas for activities they could lead at other meetings. Other Patrols needed more assistance, but we managed to come up with three unique Patrol plans. 


While the planning was taking place, we visited each Patrol to conduct a survey on the New Uniform Designs. We used a tablet to show images of all of the options, and each Guide was given a ballot and voted for her favourite options for the front of the shirt, back of the shirt, sleeve logo, sleeve length and fit style. Each person was also able to provide any additional comments they had. All of their votes and responses will be entered into the survey site so they can be part of the National Uniform Team's data!


Once planning was completed, we moved on to Guide Law Skits. Each Patrol was given two of the Guide Laws and had to come up with one or two short skits demonstrating the Laws. Skits are always entertaining and the Patrols did a good job as the rest of the Unit was able to guess which Law they were acting out.


Our final activity was a discussion about a service project we've been asked to participate in - The Shoebox Project. This is a program that provides gifts to women in need through shelters and community groups. Each box is packed with items to help the recipient feel good about themselves and to let them know that people care about them. Donors are asked to choose items that they would like to receive as a gift, or that they would buy for a family member or close friend in order to keep the quality of items in the boxes high. We were specifically approached to see if we would like to make a box (or boxes) as part of a batch for young women aged 15 to 18 living in a transitional housing program in Brantford. After explaining the project, the Guides and Pathfinders decided we should take part, and we will be collecting items to pack two shoeboxes over the coming weeks.

We closed with reminders for next week (Hallowe'en Party!) and Taps.


Links:

• The Shoebox Project (external link)

International Day of the Girl - #TeamGirl 2018 Challenge

This week we celebrated the International Day of the Girl (October 11th) with the WAGGGS #TeamGirl 2018 Challenge. This Challenge ties in well with the Gender Power theme badge under the Explore Identities program area. 

As the girls arrived, they went to their Patrol corners and marked their attendance and dues books. We started with our usual opening ceremony and then moved right into our activities. 

We started with Changing Places to get the girls thinking about equality. Everyone stands in a circle, with one player in the centre. A Guider read out the statements one at a time. If a girl agreed with the statement, she had to leave her spot and cross the circle to try to find a new place. At the same time, the player in the centre tries to 'steal' a spot so that there will be a new person in the centre. We also added a rule that girls could not move into a spot immediately beside them to ensure the player in the centre had a chance of getting a spot. After the game finished, we had a discussion about the various statements and the types of stereotypes about boys and girls they have heard. Here are the statements we used:

• Boys and girls can wear pink clothing
• Housework (cleaning, ironing, cooking) are chores for both men and women
• Both women and men can play football
• Both men and women can dance ballet
• Men are good at caring for children and other family members
• Girls can do anything they want to do
• Equality makes all people happier
• It's OK for boys to cry in public

This activity was followed up with a brief discussion about things the girls thought or have heard boys can do but girls can't. We found that our group is well aware that girls and boys can do the same things and that they should have equal opportunities.

Our next activity was Discussing Gender Equality. Everyone moves around the room and listens for a Guider clapping. When they hear clapping, they need to form groups based on the number of claps (i.e. if the Guider claps 4 times, then they need to form groups of 4). Once the groups are formed, a question was asked, and the group had a few minutes to discuss it and then share the results of their discussion. This is repeated with different sized groups for each question. The questions we used were:

• Are girls and boys treated equally at your school? Why or why not?
• Do you think there are any jobs women cannot do? Why or why not?
• Imagine there is a science club at your school, but only boys are allowed to join. How could you convince the school to let girls join in too?

We paused here for an active game - Everybody's It Tag!

Next up, we did the From a Picture to a Story activity. We printed and cut out the pictures from the challenge pack and had each person pick one before we started. Everyone was introduced to Maria, a 10-year old Girl Guides. We then went around the circle and each person added an event or experience to Maria's life based on the picture they had chosen. Maria had a very interesting life, climbing trees in the woods, riding her bicycle to school, exploring welding as a career, eventually becoming a famous singer, and traveling around the world!

The final activity of the night was Team Girl Are Superheroes! Everyone split up into pairs/small groups and created a new superhero, including dressing up a team member using newspapers. Here are the latest team of superheroes!

	Name: Flashgirl Powers: Speed Message: "If you need help, I'm on the run"
	Name: Noob Powers: Turning things into blocks Message: "Even though I'm a Noob, I can do things too!"
	Name: Tea Lady Powers: Shoots tea from her eyes, Makes people happy by giving them hot tea Message: "All you need is an imagination"
	Name: Ronald McDonaldette Powers: Can Fly Tools: Burger of Truth, Whip of Encouragement, Sword of Happiness Message: "I will feed you all"
	Name: Galaxy Girl Powers: Mind reading, telepathy, teleportation Message: "You can do anything you put your mind to"
	Name: Hero Heart Powers: Speed, Flight, Making people fall in love Message: "Spread love and kindness around the world"

We closed with reminders for next week (the Power of Positive Thinking) and Taps.

• #TeamGirl 2018 Challenge (WAGGGS)

Hamilton City Hall Campfire 2018

This week we joined over 100 other Guiding members at City Hall in Hamilton for a nighttime campfire! We swapped with other Guides, learned lots of new songs, and earned the 2018-2019 Sing Ontario Sing Challenge!

Western Hemisphere

• Tall Trees (Canada)
• Fire's Burning
• Land of the Silver Birch (Canada)
• Make New Friends (USA)

Europe

• Rosen fra Fyn (Denmark)
• Tree in the Wood (England)
• Dans Mons Pays (Spain)

Asia-Pacific

• Kookaburra (Australia)
• Tongo (Polynesia)
• Hey, Hey, Hey, Jubilee Hey! (Sri Lanka)
• The Other Day I Met a Bear (India)

Europe

• Tzena (Israel)
• Shalom Chaverim (Israel)

Africa

• Zulu Warrior (South Africa)
• This Little Guiding Light of Mine (Tanzania)

Western Hemisphere

• Waddle Atchaa (Canada)
• On My Honour (Canada)

Europe

• Softly Falls (Germany)

Africa

• Zulu Farewell (South Africa) 

LINKS:

• Sing Ontario Sing Challenge 2018-2019 (GGC - Ontario Council)

Looking Back, Moving Forward

This week we explored the History of Guiding to finish up the Our Story theme badge.

As the Guides arrived, they gathered in their Patrols to check attendance and collected dues. This week, they also had to gather supplies and put together their Patrol Box. Each Patrol will be responsible for their own supplies this year. They also had to put together a short presentation about one of the B-Ps - Robert, Agnes and Olave. 

After our opening, each Patrol shared their presentation so everyone could learn about Robert, Agnes and Olave Baden-Powell.  This answered some of the questions from last week:

• Who started Guiding and why?
• When was Guides started?
• Where did Guides start?

We then spent a bit of time answering the other questions the Guides had come up with:

Why are Patrols named for flowers and birds?
The original Scout Patrols were birds and animals, and each Scout was expected to learn about their chosen emblem, where it lived, what it ate, etc., and also to use its cry as their Patrol call. Now, the idea of girls going around roaring and hissing like lions or snakes wasn't going to go over well, so B-P and Agnes suggested flower, and later bird, emblems for Guides. Patrol calls stopped, but Guides were still expected to learn all about their chosen emblem.

Why don't we wear dresses as uniform anymore? 

The same reason we don't wear long skirts and blouses - times change, and so does fashion. The Guide Uniform has changed many times, becoming less formal and more comfortable over the years. The dress was discontinued about 2001 as very few girls were choosing it as a uniform option, instead going for pants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt. If you like skirts and dresses, you can always wear a skirt with your Guide t-shirt - or find an old Guide uniform and wear it instead!

We also spent a few minutes looking at a Guide Uniform from the 1970s and talking about the challenges of running and playing games in a skirt and how t-shirts are much more comfortable for meetings. I actually wore the same uniform (skirt and blouse) in the early 1990s and could speak from experience! A few of the girls are determined to find old uniform dresses to wear now.

Next we played an active game, Twos and Threes, from Sixty Indoor Games for Scouts by J.B. Collyns (Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd: Glasgow). In this game, players make a large circle that is two-deep (Guides stand in pairs, one in front of the other). One pair steps out of the circle, with one player going inside the circle and the outside. At 'go', the girl in the circle chases the other girl. To change places with another player, the runner or the chaser stands in front of a pair of girls, and the girl at the back takes her place. 

Our next activity was to make Guiding Collages. We had paper, clippings from Guiding publications, and some old Canadian Guider magazines. Each Patrol had supplies to make two collages with the theme "Spirit of Guiding". Everyone got really into this activity and we will be finishing it up in two weeks time.

After cleaning up, we played Kim's Game. This is a classic observation and memory game that has been played by Guides and Scouts since the beginning. Patrols have one minute to look at a tray of items (we used Guiding-themed items), the tray is then removed and players have a short time to try to recall everything they've seen. The Patrol that remembers the most items wins.

Our final activity was to learn Why We Are Called Guides. We read the excerpt from How Girls Can Help to Build Up the Empire (the first Guide Handbook) and found out that we are named for the Corps of the Guides in India. These Guides can turn their hand to anything, are brave and determined, skilled at woodcraft, homecraft, and outdoor lore. 

We closed with reminders for next week (City Hall Campfire) and Taps.

Links & Downloads:

• How Guiding Began
• Meet the Baden-Powells
• The Three Baden-Powells: Robert, Agnes and Olave - Girl Guides of Canada 
• Why We Are Called Guides - Girl Guide History Tidbits