March & April with the Rangers

We began March by working on a follow-up activity to this year's World Thinking Day Theme. We began by researching the aspects of a healthy pregnancy and looked into what resources and services are available locally for mothers and young children. All of this information was combined into a large poster featuring an illustration of a stork carrying a baby. (Healthy Living #14 Young Mothers)

At our second meeting in March we watched the movie "Mean Girls". At the following meeting, we discussed social aggression and bullying to complete Community Connections #24.

Out last meeting in March was spent planning the 2013-2014 Sing Ontario Sing Challenge - In the Key of Guiding over a dinner of Chinese food. We decided on different categories and found songs that would fit the different sections. Our first meeting in April was spent sourcing all of the songs and activities, both online and in books and finalizing our challenge plans, ready for submission to the Program Committee. Our categories were In the Key of ... Me, Active Living, Outdoors, Our Community, Our World, Fun, Cookies, the Arts, and Leadership Skills. Watch the Ontario webpage for the challenge to be posted - www.guidesontario.org.

March and April are also Cookie Months, so we sold cookies on the Saturday of Easter weekend at the LCBO with the Guides and at Sears on National Cookie Day at Sears in April with the Pathfinders.

As part of the NSP Operation: Earth Action, we had planned out a meal using as many local foods as possible and decided to have a dinner party from our planned menu. Our meal started with bruschetta bread and punch, followed by a main course of chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots and corn, and ended with a dessert of chocolate brownies and ice cream. We are fortunate in that all of the items on the menu except for the punch and the chocolate brownies are produced locally.

The next meeting was spent planning a Guide meeting for May. The topic was camping and outdoor skills and included the following activities: Food & Activity suggestions for camp, Camp Scenario Skits, Kim's Game, Cat's Tails Game, Guess What's in the Bag - Nature Edition, a snack and campfire.

At our last meeting in April we discussed perceptions and media. This discussion was prompted by a new video posted by Dove - http://realbeautysketches.dove.ca/
We talked about what the girls thought of the video, the words people used to describe themselves and others, the demographics represented, and what was included/omitted from the video. Afterwards, we made a poster showing the perceptions and stereotypes associated with Guiding versus what we are really all about and discussed how we can change these ideas.

We ended April with our annual participation in the Great Toronto Scavenger Hunt. This year's theme was The Wizard of Oz and we spent the day travelling through the "Oz" top reach the "Emerald City". In our adventures, we visited the PATH system, Simcoe Park, Roy Thomson Hall, St. Andrew's Church, Mirvish Row, Canada's Walk of Fame, Queen Street, Osgoode Hall, Old City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square, The Eaton Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Massy Hall, Elgin Theatre and Union Station.

 "We're Off to See the Wizard..." Outside Roy Thomson Hall

Sculpture in Simcoe Park

Saying the Promise at Old City Hall

Under the Clock on Queen Street

"Milking the Cow" at Brookfield Place in the PATH system

March & April with the Pathfinders

March was a short month for Pathfinders as we only had two meetings due to March Break and a Guide outing.

At our first meeting in March, two girls planned and ran an evening to complete the Safe at Home or Out and About Module. Their chosen activities included brainstorming a list of ways to show your parents that you are responsible, taking an Internet Safety Quiz, playing charades about household hazards, and making skits about how to handle uncomfortable situations.

Our second meeting was held in the last week of March and was devoted to planning meetings for the rest of the year, discussing cookie sales, and choosing options for a year-end trip.

To make up for the cancelled meetings, each girl was given a take-home module to work on with the help of their families. The module was Skills for Around the Home and the girls were asked to complete 4 activities from 4 different areas. The idea was to get them to try doing things around the house that they hadn't done before.

Section 1 - Feeding a Family

Girls had a choice between planning, shopping for and preparing a 3-course dinner for their family or making a weekly shopping list and going shopping, then reviewing shopping habits and costs.
Section 2 - Clothing

The girls were asked to look at the laundry symbols on their clothing and find out about special washing instructions. They then had the option of helping to sort, wash, dry, and fold a week's laundry for their family or learning how to make minor clothing repairs and adjustments (i.e. hemming, sewing on a button).

Section 3 - Indoors

Everyone was asked to brainstorm a list of clean chores in their home and make a list of all the things that need to be done for each room. They also had to consider who does each chore in their family and their personal responsibilities. They then had the option of either learning how to do a chore that they don't usually do or learning how to make a simple change or repair around the house (i.e. changing a washer on a faucet, caulking a bathtub, painting a wall)

Section 4 - Outdoors

The girls had the option of making a list of outdoor chores and activities in their own home, finding out how outdoor equipment is stored during the winter and how to get it ready for use in the spring, and doing some form or outdoor yardwork, or learning about car care by having their parents show them how to check fluid levels on the family car and finding out how to top up the different fluids.

April started off with a meeting about Citizenship and Multiculturalism to help our 3rd Year Pathfinder complete the requirements for the Citizenship Certificate.
Our first activity was sharing about different Historic Landmarks that each member has visited. Some of the places included Cottonwood Mansion, Edinburgh Square, Dundurn Castle, Westfield Pioneer Village, Casa Loma, the Henry Ford Museum, and Ruthven Castle.
Next we talked about culture at home and noted places on a town map that have been influenced by different cultures. We then played The Culture Game from the Equitas Play It Fair Toolkit, with each girl taking on the characteristics of one of the imaginary cultures.

We rounded out the evening by discussing customs and cultural traditions and common assumptions and stereotypes. Did you know that it's considered good manners to slurp your soup in Japan - it means you're enjoying your meal!!

Our April 10th meeting was run by two girls on the theme of Books & Reading. We began
the meeting at the public library where the girls looked for and checked out books that interested them.
When we got back to the Hall, each girl shared the title and plot of the book she chose and why they picked that particular book. This was followed by a discussion about different genres and why people liked different types of books.
Each girl then had to come up with a title for their personal autobiography and then create a fictional character for a book and come up with a title for their novel.

On April 17th we planned to spend the evening outside playing games in the park beside the Hall. With only a few girls in attendance, the 1st Year Pathfinders went outside to play in the park while I worked with our 3rd Year Pathfinder to plan her meeting for Guides (the Feeling Good Badge). Later in the evening, All of the girls talked about their favourite songs, what they listen to when they are happy or sad, and how music affects mood. As most of the girls had either an iPod or a phone with them, we were able to listen to their favourite songs as well.

The last meeting of the month was held on April 24th and was intended to be a Service Project Night. Unfortunately, we had very low attendance - only 3 Pathfinders and 2 3rd Year Guides.
Two of our service activities were cancelled - one due to the weather and the other due to the supplies not being delivered. We were able to make catnip toys to be donated to the SPCA.

After we finished these, we talked about different types of service projects and planned ideas for next year. The most popular ideas were:

Community - knitting/crocheting squares and making blanktes to donate to Good Shepherd

Outdoors - creating a PSA for the World Wildlife Fund

Feeling Good Badge

For our April 30th meeting we were visited by Ocean-Lee, our 3rd Year Pathfinder. She had planned the meeting as part of the requirements for her Canada Cord. 

We made Stress Relief Boxes filled with a notebook, pencil, lip balm, heart eraser and a sucker. The girls used stickers and markers to decorate their boxes.

The girls then discussed what they do when they feel stressed and Ocean-Lee shared some of her own tips. After the discussion, each girl made her own stress ball using balloons and rice. 

The final activity of the evening was to try some basic yoga and an activity to focus on breathing sounds.

The Guides had a lot of fun with this evening!

Fun in the Outdoors!

For our April 23rd meeting we spent the evening outside and we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather!

As an arrival activity, each Patrol was asked to make a list of all the ways they use water in a day. After opening, we went through the lists and talked about the importance of water for life and the challenges faced be people in countries where the water supply is limited or unsafe.

We then went outside for our patrol-led game (tag) while one Guider set up for the Treasure Hunt that had been requested. Coloured cue cards were cut into quarters and each piece had a letter written on it. The cards were placed all over the church grounds (always in plain sight, but not always obvious). Each patrol had to find all of the cards in their colour and then come back and sort them out to spell the phrase - "FUN & FRIENDSHIP".

Next we had a nature exploration activity. The girls were split into pairs and each pair given a ruler, a pencil and a piece of paper. They then had to find a plot of ground 12" x 12" (or one ruler length each way) and discover what was there. The plots had to be on the grass/garden/treed area of the property and the girls were challenged to list everything they found. At the end of the activity, we discussed what the girls had found and talked about being observant.

Our last outdoor activity was 3-on-3 Soccer. Basically, the unit was split into 2 groups and each girl given a number within her group (i.e. 1-7 on each team). We then called out 3 numbers (i.e. 1, 2, 3) and those players had to try to get past the other team's players and score a goal. When a goal was scored, or after about 30 seconds to 1 minute, we changed players. This was fun and no one kept score.

We ended our evening by making bug houses - described in the Operation: Earth Action post.

Discovering Our Community

The theme for our April 16th meeting was Discovering Our Community, which we did with a heritage walk scavenger hunt!

The weekend before, the Guiders went on a walk around the downtown area of Caledonia and came up with a series of questions for the girls to find the answers to. The final walk had information that was read out (so the girls had to listen to get the answers) and also questions that asked them to look for information that was visible from the sidewalk.

We started and ended at Grace United Church, and of the sites we stopped at were:

• The house built by Neil McKinnon, nephew of the town founder
• Caledonia Fairgrounds
• Edinburgh Square, the War Memorial and the Lawn Bowling Club
• Home built by Dr. William McPherson and its barn (now apartments)
• Caledonia Legion
• Site of the Diamond Hotel (now the Hald-Nor Credit Union)
• Businesses on Argyle Street
• Caledonia Bridge & Toll House
• Jones Bakery
• Site of Bryant's Tavern and the Caledonia Opera House (now the Cornerstone Restaurant)
• Union & Exchange Hotels (now Wiggie's and an abandoned buildling)
• Sachem Office
• Home of John Avery, town clerk (now a private home)
• Manse House of the Sutherland Street Kirk (now a private home)

Operation: Earth Action

The 2012-2013 National Service Project is Operation: Earth Action, which looks at different environmental issues and how girls can help. We worked on the challenge over three weeks, including both activities listed in the challenge and related activities of our own.

On April 9th our arrival activity was called "What Do You Think?" We posted sheets of paper around the room with different questions or statements and asked each girl to write on each page what she thought about it. The questions and statements were:

1. What interests you about the environment?
2. What would you like to change or improve in our local environment?
3. We can help the environment by using reusable water bottles whenever possible.
4. We can help the environment by using reusable shopping bags whenever possible.

After our opening and patrol-led game, we discussed the girls responses to these questions and statements.

As our craft, we recycled bottle cap into critters using water and pop bottle lids, fun foam, goggly eyes and other left over craft supplies. While this was happening, the girls were taken into the kitchen one patrol at a time to make Natural Lip Balm (1tsp Petroleum Jelly, 1tsp Aloe Vera Gel and 1/2tsp Coconut Oil) which was then poured into individual containers to set and each girl was able to take home her own container of lip balm.

Next, we worked on the Map Your Meal portion of the challenge, which was finished up at our April 16th meeting. We asked each patrol to come up with a dinner of their favourite foods using pictures from grocery store flyers. They then had to figure out where each item came from and how far it travelled to get to their table. We then had a discussion about local foods and found substitutes for the items they had chosen that would still be tasty but can be found much closer to home.

Our final follow-up activity was done on April 23rd, when we made bug houses out of empty water bottles, corrugated cardboard (cookie cases!), paper clips and yarn. The full instructions can be found on the EcoKids website.

Reporting & Business Communications Badges

At our meeting on April 2nd the Guides worked on completing their Reporting and Business Communications Badges.

As the girls arrived they were asked to decorate a postcard, leaving the back blank. Later in the evening we asked them to write a message to a Lone Guide on the back of the card. These cards will be sent to the Lone Guides in Ontario as friendship cards.

To finish up the Business Communications Badge, we used a white board to write a business letter as a group. The example we used was asking someone from the fire department to come to a meeting and do a presentation on fire safety to help the girls earn their Fire Safety Badge.

We also talked about Braille communication and where you can find examples in everyday life. Each patrol then had to solve a message written in Braille.

To complete the Reporting Badge each girl created a newspaper front page, complete with newspaper name, picture, and article.