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.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Tonight the Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers had their annual Hallowe'en Party! This year, we did things a bit differently and challenged the girls to gather clues (and curses) in order to solve a mystery. We used the "Clues, Spells, and Curses Scavenger Hunt" from PartyPlus (www.queen-of-theme-party-games.com/scavenger-hunt-clues.html) (I found this activity somewhere online for free, but I'm afraid I can't remember where!)

As everyone arrived, they showed off their costumes to each other and some girls talked while others played a game of tag. We skipped our usual opening and started the program off with reading the letter from the wicked witch. This set the tone for the evening, and everyone was eager to get started. After going over the rules, the girls were divided up into 5 teams (one of Pathfinders/Rangers and four of Guides).

Before the meeting, we had gone outside and hidden 10 Clue Cards (1 of each per Group), 10 Curse Cards, 10 Cure Cards and 10 Magical Objects. The girls were set loose outside the church to gather as many of these items as they could. As Curse Cards were found, groups acted them out! Once everything was found, we headed back inside for the second part of the game.

Each group went through their findings and sorted out the Clue Cards. They then shuffled any Curse and Cure Cards and took turns turning them over. Anyone turning over a Curse Card had to take on that curse until they group cured them. In order to cure someone, you needed both the appropriate Cure Card and any Magical Objects that were listed. For example, here is the set of cards for the Frog Spell:

Each girl was given a supply of play money and the groups got right into swapping and selling Cure Cards and Magical Objects! Once the Curses were broken, the groups turned their attention the Clue Cards. Each card provided a pair of letters to spell out the name of the wicked witch. With a few hints along the way, two groups came to the answers at the same time and shouted out the name three times to break the final curse! The 'money' everyone had collected would be used later to bid on items.

Before we moved on to our auction, one of our leaders had made an amazing Hallowe'en mystery box where the girls put their hands in to feel four different "body parts". We had teeth (popcorn kernels), fingernails (sunflower seeds), hair (steel wool), and a dead hand (glove filled with water and cooled in the freezer). The girls had to guess what each 'body part' was and also what was actually in the box.

Our final activity of the evening was the auction. We had a variety of items from the dollar store and out of the prize drawer (sparkly notebooks, hardcover notebooks, giant pencil, relaxation colouring books, sewing kits, craft kits, body wash and lip balm). The girls had a great time bidding on items - and then trading among themselves until everyone was happy with what they were taking home.

We closed our meeting with reminders for next week and distributing newsletters and camp forms. As each girl left she received two small treat bags to take home.

Halloween Party

We ended October with our annual Halloween costume party.

As the girls arrived, they had some time to work on their Collections & Hobbies posters before we had our usual opening followed by an Active Game.

Our first activity was a Costume Show while everyone's costume was still intact. After showing off their outfits, each girl got to vote for their 3 favourites, who received a prize at the end of the meeting.

Our first game was Graveyard - played in the dark, where the girls have to keep moving as long as the lights are out, but freeze when they are turned back on.

We then did a Mad Libs puzzles as patrols - which were then read aloud to the group. This was followed by a Skeleton Relay Race (patrols had to gather all the pieces for their skeleton and then put it together in the right order).

Our craft for the evening was Day of the Dead Skulls. We learned a little bit about the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), a Mexican public holiday that focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Our skulls were made from Styrofoam plates and decorated with markers. 

While the Guides were working on their skulls, pairs of girls challenged each other to eat a donut off a string. Our final activity was a group Mad Libs, with each Guide contributing at least 1 word.
On a sparkly orange October night, Charlotte and I decided to go trick-or-treating. Charlotte was dressed as a cucumber and I was dressed as a McDonalds. After walking 100 miles, we saw a spooky house in the distance. We exchanged looks and I exclaimed "Eek! What if there are cows in there or, even worse, bacons?" My friend let out a purple laugh. "Don't be a shoe! The worst thing that could be in there is a water bottle. Besides, we need to get more candy! It's almost 12.34am." We quickly jumped toward the door of the house, but before we could knock, a figure pulled the door open. "Hola!" said the figure. I was so scared that it felt like there were chocolates running around inside my butt! Then the door opened the rest of the way and I saw that the figure was actually a person dressed as a Grace! the house was not haunted at all. It was a Halloween party complete with butterflies and banana twins. The person at the door offered some delicious-looking bananas. My friend and I each took one, then waved goodbye and set off for home. What a crazy night!

We ended the meeting with treats (rice krispie pumpkins and chocolate covered worms), followed by Taps.

Hallowe'en Party

We finished October with our annual Hallowe'en Costume Party. This year, the 3rd Year Guides ran the program along with our Junior Leader.

We had a costume parade, made "Monster Bags", played a variety of different games, including Freeze Dance, and decorated cupcakes (or just ate the cupcakes and candy...)

September & October with the Pathfinders

Our year started off at the end of August with a barbeque and planning session. We made chicken and veggie kebabs, baked potatoes and chocolate brownies. Our first formal meeting was held on September 11th and was spent planning activities and meals for camp. At the next meeting, we went grocery shopping for camp and talked about last-minute camp preparation and up-coming meetings.

Our third meeting was devoted to the 'We're A Team' module and learning to work together

as a group. We did a number of team challenges and Minute to Win It Games. Challenges included:

• Change Over - Ask the team to stand together on a tarp. Without stepping off the tarp, players must turn the tarp over completely and remain standing on the tarp the entire time. Repeat with a smaller tarp.
• Everybody Up - Hold hands in a circle, with feet pressed against the feet of the people on either side. While keeping hands clasped and feet together, the whole group must sit down on the ground. Then stand up again!
• Pass the Can - Players sit in a circle with a coffee can on one player's foot. Tell players to pass the can around the circle using only their feet. If the can falls to the ground, they must start over.
• All Aboard - Spread out a cloth or tarp in front of the group. When "All Aboard" is called, everyone is to get both feet on the tarp (platform). Once this is done, everyone steps off the platform. The tarp is then folded in half and the actions repeated. Continue until the group is unable to get everyone onto the platform.

October started off with a meeting on "Cookies, Code of Conduct and Choosing Your Own Direction" to cover the Cookies Rising and Choosing Your Own Direction Modules. Two of the activities we did were re-writing the Promise in text and designing Cookie Selling brochures with tips for Sparks and Brownies.

At our second meeting in October we celebrated the International Day of the Girl. We learned about what the Day of the Girl is and about The Girl Effect. Activities included "Who Are the Lucky Ones?", "How is the World Divided?" (from the Equitas Play It Fair Toolkit), and "Minefield". Each girl then completed a postcard answering the question "We need girls in the lead because..."

Our next meeting was a Board Game Night. We played Twister, Checkers and Taboo, as well as active games - Blob Tag, Fetch, Arches, and Duck, Duck, Goose.

We participated in the annual Cookie Day at Sears on October 19th where we teamed up with the Rangers to sell 6 cases of Spring cookies and 14 cases of Fall cookies.

Our October 23rd meeting was "The Arts From A to Z" module. We started off with two drama games - "Emotion Actions" (charades with emotions) and "Imagination Walks" (moving in a certain way - i.e. walking as if you were on the moon, as if your pinky finger weighed 100 pounds). Next we went on to dance, with girls sharing steps from the different types of dance they have taken. Keira shared the "Coffee Grinder" from Hip Hop, Lynsey shared "Jazzy Blues" from Jazz, Taylor shared steps from Highland and Meaghan shared "Laundry" from Hip Hop. Then we moved onto music, with people sharing their favourite songs and music genres. Our final activity was crafting, making beaded spiral bracelets using coiled wire and small beads.

The last meeting of October was a Hallowe'en Party. We had a wide variety of costumes - a Pathfinder, a Hockey Fan, a Gummy Bear, a Scarecrow, a Devil, a Zombie, a Nerd and an 80s Rock Star. We made two edible crafts - Lollipop Ghosts (lollipop covered with a napkin tied under the lollipop and a face drawn on) and Dead Surgeon's Hands (plastic glove [mine were blue] with candy corn in the fingers as nails and then filled with caramel corn). We also shaved balloons (cover inflated balloon with shaving cream and try to shave with a plastic knife without popping the balloon) - very, very messy! We created toilet paper mummies, and layed "Pin the Tail on the Zombie Unicorn". The evening ended with snacks and drinks.

Hallowe'en Party

Our Hallowe'en party had full attendance, with many interesting costumes!

Our arrival activity was a craft - Lollipop Ghosts, made by tying a napkin over a lollipop and drawing on eyes and a mouth.

We had our usual opening and then started the evening off with a costume parade - while everyone's costume's were still intact! Then we started into a series of Hallowe'en-themed games:

• Pass the Creature - Girls are in patrols and must pass the creature (a rubber toy) along the line without using their hands.
• Goblins & Ghouls - Girls are divided into two teams and line up facing each other. One team is Goblins, the other Ghouls. Call out Goblins or Ghouls, the team called chases the other team to the back of their playing area. Anyone tagged joins the other team.
• Pumpkin Ball - similar to Prison Ball. Girls are in two teams and face each other. an area behind each team is marked at the 'pumpkin patch'. Girls throw balls from opposite sides of the room and try to hit other players below the knees. If you are hit, you go to the pumpkin patch behind the opposite team. If a player in the pumpkin patch catches a ball, she frees everyone in that pumpkin patch and they rejoin their team.

Towards the end of the evening we did a creepy murder story. The girls sat around in the circle with the lights off and were told that sadly Mr. Hal O. Ween had been murdered and that his remains had been recovered (I don't recall where the original story came from - we modified some of the items). Dishes were then passed around for the girls to touch:

• This is his brain, which no more shall think (soaked torn up paper towel)
• These are his eyes, frozen in surprise (2 peeled grapes)
• This is his hair, once so fair (an unraveled piece of string)
• Some drops of his blood, the rest turned to mud (ketchup mixed with water)
• One hand alone, just rotting flesh and bone (plastic glove filled with water and put in the freeze at the beginning of the meeting)
• Worms are all that's left, for them 'twas a lovely meal (cold cooked spaghetti)

We ended the evening with another edible craft - Dead Surgeon's Hands (blue plastic gloves with candy corn for finger nails and filled with caramel corn), followed by treats.