Tasty Treats Night

On Friday, November 29th we held a Tasty Treats Night to do some holiday baking and help the girls earn their Tasty Treats badge. The night was a success and we will definitely do it again! 

We divided the girls into small groups and rotated the girls through baking in the kitchen and working on lap books in the main hall.

Our Recipes for the evening were:

• Toblerone  Fudge
• Rocky Road Squares
• Stained Glass Window Cookies
• Banana Bread
• Sugar Cookies (+ icing and decorations!)

The lap books covered the other parts of the Tasty Treats badge, including substitutions for different diets (i.e. gluten free, dairy free), a recipe booklet, measuring and baking utensils, food presentation, and kitchen safety.

Right to Play!

Our November 26th meeting started off with an enrolment ceremony for Hayley who had been away for our planned enrolment night. After this, our first activity was a brief discussion about what Right to Play is. Right to Play is a global organization that uses play, games and sports to educate and empower children. The organization was founded in 2000 by Johann Olav Koss, a 4-time Olympic gold medalist in Speed Skating. More information can be found on their website at http://www.righttoplay.com/. 
We then played two games from the Right to Play website - Run For Your Rights and Crossing the River, followed by an activity from the Equitas Play It Fair Toolkit, I Have the Right to... (#28).

• Run for Your Rights - The purpose of the game is to help girls become more familiar with some of their rights. Players stand in a circle. Each has a card with one of the Rights of the Child on it (3-5 girls have the same card). One player stands in the centre, she will try to 'steal' a place in the circle. The game leader calls out one of the Rights and everyone with that right runs to find a new place in the circle. The game leader can also call out 'Run for your Rights', which means all players move to find a new spot and "Learn your Rights", which means all players pass their Right card to the player on their right. 
• Crossing the River - The purpose of this game is to help girls recognize the challenges faced by children who have their rights violated. Divide girls into teams of 4-6 players and give each team a different number of sheets of paper. The teams then have to make their way from one end of the playing area to the other standing only on the paper. (Teams with fewer sheets will likely have more problems than those with more sheets)
• I Have the Right to... - The purpose of this game is practice teamwork and become acquainted with human rights and how we can ensure they are respected. The game is played similar to Romeo & Juliet. Girls are in pairs, one is the runner and one is the actor. Depending on what is called by the game leader, they act out 4 different human rights. The last pair to perform the action is out. Rights are the Right to Education, Right to Security, Right to Express Oneself, and Right to Rest.

Next, we had each Patrol make up their own game using a simple object - the Hollies created a tag game using two sticks as 'safe' bases, the Bluebells created a guessing game using an empty water bottle, and the Violet's created a catch game using a plastic bag.
Our last activity of the evening was the game "My Little Bird" from Tanzania. 

• My Lillte Bird - In this game, one player stands in front of the group and flaps her arms. She says "My little bird is lively, lively." Then quickly calls out the name of anything he wishes, for example, "Goats ... fly!" If the thing named can fly, the other players raise their arms in a flying motion. If the thing named cannot fly, the players remain still. Should a player's arms move at the wrong call, that player is out of the game.

Astronomy Badge & Planetarium Visit

On November 19th, a group of 34 including Guides, Pathfinders, Guiders, Rangers and family members visited the McMaster University Planetarium for a presentation on space. The Guides earned the Astronomy Badge and the Pathfinders completed the Galactic Adventures Module.

The presentation began with constellations in the sky at this time of year, including locating the Dippers and the North Star. We then explored the solar system and looked at objects in the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.

Church Bazaar

On Saturday, November 16th, 2 Rangers and 3 Guides volunteered to help with the Grace United Church House Tours & Bazaar. The Rangers came in the morning and helped to make sandwiches and serve soup and sandwiches to people returning from the House Tours for lunch.

The Guides came in the afternoon and helped to serve sandwiches and clear tables.

Everyone did a great job and the Guides especially are so proud that they can help with an event like this. Unfortunately, this will likely be the last year the girls help at the bazaar as it was indicated that only older girls are needed.

Guide Enrolment & Talent Show

We held our enrolment ceremony and talent show on November 12th. The first half of the meeting was spent setting up chairs and rehearsing the enrolment ceremony. Parents were invited to return at 7.30pm and each family was given a program created by our 'back stage crew' the week before.

The ceremony began with a short "Key" ceremony. Each enrolled Guide came up, one at a time, and placed a key on a coloured board (the girls opened a door made of a folded piece of paper and placed their key inside the open doorway) and read out a short piece about one of the program areas in Guiding.
The Guiding program is based on 6 key areas. Girls in all branches of the program have the opportunity to explore, experiment, and learn through activities based on these keys.
Arts - I use my key to ope the door to the Arts. As a Guide I can explore my creativity through drama, drawing, games, crafts, dance and music.
STEM - I use my key to open the door to STEM. As a Guide I can experiment with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Camping & Outdoors - I use my key to open the door to Camping and the Outdoors. As a Guide I can go on overnight adventures, take part in outdoor activities, and explore the natural environment.
Service & Community - I use my key to open the door to Service and My Community. As a Guide I can give back to my community and make a difference in the world.
World Guiding - I use my key to open the door to World Guiding. As a Guide I have 10 million sisters in 145 different countries and I can learn about cultures, the lives of girls, and Guiding around the world.
Personal Growth - I use my key to open the door to Personal Growth. As a Guide I can practice skills I'll need in the future like communication, leadership, problem solving and teamwork.

 We then proceeded with the enrolment ceremony and welcomed 10 new Guides to our Guiding family.

 

Following the enrolment ceremony, we began our Talent Show. Our performances were:

• Dance Routine by McKenzie
• Gymnastics by Grace
• Abstract Drawings by Sophie
• Hula Hooping by Olivia, assisted by Olivia
• Magic Tricks by Megan, assisted by Ally

 Everyone did a great job and the show was a success!

Performing Arts

Our work on the Performing Arts Badge spanned 3 meetings plus our Talent Show at Enrolment. 

Week 1 - October 15th
Our first Performing Arts meeting started with Patrol Leader Elections. Each girl had the opportunity to vote for 3 new Patrol Leaders and also to request who they would like to be in a patrol with. Our patrols this year are Holly, Bluebell and Violet. 
Our activities for the evening were intended to get everyone warmed up and using their imaginations:

• Go Loosey-Goosey - Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Shake your arms, legs, hips and head up and down. Roar like a lion, whinny like a horse and make other animal sounds. Stop and breathe in and out, slowly and calmly.
• Emotion Actions - Charades using emotions such as Happy, Sad, Confused, Shy, Tired, Sorry
• Take the Stage! - Players take turns acting out various jobs - they can speak, but not name the job - i.e. Ballerina, Detective, Painter, Dog Walker
• Imagination Walks - Have girls spread out. Call out different ways of moving and the girls then walk around the room following your instructions - i.e. As if you are an astronaut on the moon, As if you are a baby walking for the first time, as if you are walking through a room filled with Jello, As if your pinky finger weights 100 pounds.
• Rainstorm - Girls sit in a circle. A leader walks around the inside of the circle facing the girls and slowly starts one girl at a time on an action. Girls continue with their action until the leader starts them on the next action. Actions - Rub finger and thumb together, Rub palms together, Snap fingers, Clap hands, Stomp feet, Clap hands, Snap fingers, Rub palms together, Rub finger and thumb together, Stop. (The effect sounds like a rainstorm)

Week 2 - October 22nd
Week 2 was all about puppets! As the girls arrived, they made invitations for our up-coming enrolment and talent show. After our opening and an active game, we went right into creating puppets using paint stirrers and craft supplies.

Once the puppets were finished, the girls were divided into groups of 3 and each group made up a puppet play showing what happened when their characters visited an amusement park. The plays were entertaining with a wide variety of characters as the girls didn't know they were making a play together when they made their puppets.


After the puppet plays were finished and we had cleaned up, we talked about the talent show and what each girl would like to do. The meeting ended with a couple of favourite songs and taps.

Week 3 - November 5th
Our final week of Performing Arts was all about preparing for the talent show. As the girls arrived, they went into their patrols to practice the promise for enrolment next week. After opening and an active game, we divided into groups, with performers practicing their acts and our 'back stage crew' preparing programs and a welcome sign for the door.
We then did two relaxation exercises that can help our performers calm their nerves before going on stage:

• Funny Faces - Begin by opening your mouth as wide as you can to form a big "O". Then cover your teeth with your lips and make a smaller "O". Next, scrunch up your face, shut your eyes tight, purse your lips together and furrow your brow. Hold for a few seconds, then relax. Repeat.
• Breathe - Stand or sit up straight and relax your shoulders. Breathe in a full, deep breathe through your nose, feel the air fill your chest. Hold that breathe for a moment, then slowly exhale through your mouth. Repeat.

Next, we did a full run-through of all our performances to make sure everyone was ready to go for next week. Our final activity was mime skits. The girls split up into small groups and each girl had to create a mimed skit showing what happened when they visited the zoo.