March & April with the Rangers

In March the Rangers continued to work on their toothbrush/toothpaste holders and on in the last week of the month we had a movie night to watch the movie Frozen and made our own pizza.

In April, we sold cookies at Sears with the Guides and Pathfinders.

March & April with the Pathfinders

March started off with a craft night to make no-sew felt purses and to play our Murder Mystery night for the 3rd Year Guides.
The felt purses were made by cutting a fringe around three sides of two pieces of felt and knotting the pieces together.

The following week was March Break, so we didn't have a meeting. After March Break, we had a a Survivor Night. The girls were divided into two teams and each team had to come up with a name and make a team flag.

Next, we had a quick quiz on the three elements necessary for survival (water, fire, shelter), and a challenge to guess the contents of a first aid kit. Each team was then given a bucket of supplies to build a shelter, lay a fire, and put together a water filter.

April began with a Murder Mystery Night with the 3rd Year Guides. Each person had a character to play -

We used activities from the Secret Agent 007 Module and the BC CSI Challenge to solve the 'crime'.

• Lifting fingerprints using talcum powder, black paper and tape
• Comparing handwriting samples and trying to find their matches
• Extracting DNA from strawberries

Our next meeting was a planning night where the girls came up with plans for a PJ Night and an Awards Show Night. PJ Night was scheduled for the next week, however, no one remembered so one of the girl's mom's brought over the movie 'Frozen' to watch.

The next meeting was devoted to science and the Everything Comes From STEM module. We looked at the scientific method and then did some chemistry and engineering activities.
The Chemistry activities were both magic tricks:

1. Coloured Water - This trick requires a little bit of set up. You will need: 4 glasses, 4 teaspoons, water, white vinegar, food colouring, and baking soda. To prepare, fill 3 glasses half full with water and 1 glass half full with white vinegar. Place one drop of food colouring on 3 of the spoons. Fill all 4 spoons with baking soda, making sure to cover the food colouring. Arrange a tray with the 4 glasses and a spoon in front of each glass (the spoon with just baking soda is placed in front of the glass of vinegar, the 4th glass). Ask girls to come up and stir the white powder into the glass. The first 3 glasses will change colour (which is pretty cool, especially if you use different colours of food colouring), but the fourth will bubble up and overflow the glass!
2. Put a Candle Out With Air - Mix a small amount of vinegar and baking soda together in a glass. Light a candle and then put it out by 'pouring' the air out of the glass. (The vinegar and baking soda have produced carbon monoxide, which is heavier than oxygen, so it stays in the glass until it is 'poured' out and suffocates the flame on the candle.)

Our engineering activity was building catapults using popsicle sticks, tape, elastic bands and spoons. The creations were all different and very effective!
April ended with an Art Meeting to work on the Rembrandt & Co Module. We started out by talking briefly about Andy Warhol and how his art focused on mass culture items, such as packaged goods and celebrities. Each girl then made a set of 25 coloured circles using 5 different colours and created a design or pattern. This activity was based on the lifesavers art activity.

Next, each girl created a Warhal-inspired drawing. Our last activity was to look at urban art and graffiti. Each girl designed her own piece of art based on the examples we looked at.

Earth Day

As our fourth meeting of April fell on April 22nd, we had a meeting to celebrate Earth Day - in the dark!

When the Guides arrived, their first task was to work in Patrols to create a list of ways they can be a conservationist at home. Ideas included turning off the tap while brushing their teeth, turning off lights when leaving a room, putting on a sweater instead of turning up the heat, and using fans instead of air conditioning.

After our opening, we went outside to participate in Pitch-In by cleaning up the parking lot and grassy areas around the church where we meet.

Once we had finished our clean-up, we came inside and turned on our flashlights. Our first activity was The Endangered Hoppit Game (follow the link for complete instructions). In this game, the girls take on the role of Hoppits, imaginary creatures that hop around gathering materials from the ground (food, water, items to build shelter). Through the course of the game, their survival becomes more difficult - Bad weather strikes and decreases their food supply (Hoppits can only hop on one leg) and humans build a shopping mall on their home (Hoppits no longer have a home where they can stop and rest). We then discussed how changes to an environment impacts the creatures that live there and what we can do to help.

The next part of the meeting was spent completing an Energy and Accessibility Audit as part of the Operation: Earth Action Challenge. The girls worked in patrols and went around the church using flashlights to checkout the various categories on the audit form. For the Energy Audit, they were asked to look at lighting, drafts around windows and doors, water flow, major appliances, and themostats. The Accessibility Audit asked the girls to describe the building itself, to look for entry ramps, designated parking spaces, buttons for opening doors, ways to move between the different levels of the building, features that could help people with different needs (i.e. wheelchair user, visually impaired, cane or walker user), and finally what accessibility features they would include if they were designing a building.

The last activity of the evening was about water conservation. We did two active quizzes about water facts and water conservation - the walls of the room were labeled A-D and True/False, girls ran to the one they thought was the correct answer. There were then two puzzle pages, one involved coded messages about surface water and groundwater, and the other involved a word wheel and tips about using water wisely.

Zentangles

Our next April meeting was spent learning about Zentangles and creating Girl Guide Zentangle Art! The grandmother of one of our Guides teaches Zentangle to classes and came to teach the Guides.

As the girls arrived they completed their physical activity logs for the week. We then had our usual opening and an active game. 

The girls then settled down at the tables to create their own Zentangle works of art. Each was as unique as the girl creating it. I would recommend this activity to any unit. Our girls are usually very active and they sat and worked on their Zentangles for at least an hour without getting restless.

To learn more about Zentangles, try these websites:
http://www.zentangle.com/
http://tanglepatterns.com/
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Zentangle
or just type 'zentangle' into your web browser.

 

Going Global - Service & Awareness

Our second meeting in April was spent earning the Going Global Service Bar and learning more about education and Fair Trade. We started the meeting off by filling in physical fitness logs for the week, followed by our usual opening and an active game.

The first activity was called Picture Your World and comes from the Right Now! resource book from Girlguiding UK. The Guides were divided into 3 uneven groups and given supplies to draw pictures of their favourite parts of Guiding. Group A had 2 girls, 2 sheets of paper and a box of new markers. Group B had 4 girls, 2 sheets of paper, and a mixture of markers and pencil crayons (some not working well). Group C had 10 girls, 1 small sheet of paper, and a mixture of markers and pencil crayons (most not working well). The groups could look at what the others had, but couldn't borrow items or get supplies that they weren't given. We ended the activity with a discussion where the girls shared how they felt with the supplies they received and what they observed about the other groups. We also discussed the differences in education around the world.

Our next activity was to Assemble School Kits from the supplies that were collected at Thinking Day. Supplies, including notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers and pencil crayons will be sent to the Mennonite Central Committee for distribution around the world.  

The rest of the meeting was spent on an activity called The Trading Game, also from the Right Now! resource. In this activity, the Guides were divided up into 6 groups representing 2 wealthy countries, 2 middle countries, and 2 poor countries. Each country was given supplies to make bracelets. The wealthy countries received 3 colours of beads, string to make one bracelet, tape, ruler, scissors, and 6 bank notes; the middle countries received 1 colour of bead, a different type of bead, string to make two bracelets, tape and 4 bank notes; the poor countries received 1 colour of bead, string to make many bracelets and 2 bank notes. The countries then had to start making bracelets that met the game requirements (25cm in length, 3 different colours of beads). The Guides soon realized that they would need to trade and/or purchase supplies from each other in order to complete their bracelets and began coming up with strategies to get the supplies they needed. We ended the activity with a brief discussion about Fair Trade and how the bracelets they had made will be donated to Sangam, where they are sold for $0.20 to $0.25 in the shop to raise money to support community programs.

Cookie Capers

 

April is cookies season, so we decided to start the month off with a meeting to complete our annual Cookies Rising badge and take part in cookie-themed activities.

As the girls arrived they completed their physical fitness logs for the week. We then had our usual opening and an active game. 

Our first activity was to design cookie costumes. Each girl had paper and markers to create a costume, clothing, or wearable display board for selling cookies. 

Next, we played a 'fruit salad' game using cookie flavours - chocolate, vanilla and mint. Each girl is given the name of a type of cookies. One player stands in the centre and the others stand on mats or sit on chairs in a circle.  The game leader calls out one or more types of cookies and those players have to change places. The girl in the centre tries to get a chair regardless of what type of cookie is called. When 'Cookie Box' is called, all players get up and try to find a new seat.

The rest of the meeting was spent creating cookie marketing campaigns. Some girls worked alone, others in pairs or small groups. Each girl or group had a series of questions to guide them and help them become more knowledgeable about Girl Guide Cookies. The end results included posters, songs, commercials, and skits.

We ended the meeting with a new game - Romeo & Juliet. For this game, players stand in two lines, on opposite sides of the playing area, facing their partner. The game leader calls out the actions and the last pair to perform the action is out. Play until only one couple is left. The actions are: Romeo & Juliet (One partner sits on the others knee), Wheelbarrow (Players form a wheelbarrow with one player holding the other players legs), and Siamese Twins (Players stand back to back and bend over to clasp hands between their legs).