The arrival activity was to make lists of activities that they would like to do this year. Four sheets of paper with topics and some suggested activities were placed around the room and each girl took a marker and initialed beside any idea she liked and also added any additional ideas she had. The top ideas: Visit from the Vet for the Pet Lover Badge, Baking and Cooking Night, Cookie Selling, Wall Climbing, Arts & Crafts, Talent Show, and Playing Games.
We had our usual opening and attempted to march into a horseshoe. This was followed by a Game led by our Junior Leader, Ocean-Lee.
We spent the next hour outside exploring the environment around the church with 3 outdoor activities:
1. Trail Signs - I made cards with trail signs and laid a trail with them around the church, including a 'treasure' to be found (dish of Werther's Original candies). One patrol at a time set out to follow the trail using cards with a chart of trail signs.2. Nature Scavenger Hunt - While one patrol was following the trail, the other two patrols solved clues to make a list of scavenger hunt items. They then had to find these items on the church property.
3. Listening Post - For this game, two girls were blindfolded and stood at one end of the playing area. The other girls had to try to creep up to them without being heard and caught. If one of the blindfolded girls heard movement, she pointed in its direction and shouted 'freeze!'. At this signal, everyone had to freeze in place and if the blindfolded player was pointing at someone, that player (or players) had to go back to the start. This game is usually played with flashlights instead of pointing, and anyone caught in the flashlight's beam has to go back to the start. I think we'll try this again when there are more leaves on the ground to make a noise!
After the games, we went inside for a snack. Since we can't make a fire at the church, we made S'mores in the oven - a hit as usual! While the girls were eating, they each told the rest of the group about a hike they have taken.
We ended the evening with a sing-song and Taps.
