Arts & Crafts

Our final meeting of March was devoted to Arts and Crafts as requested by the girls.

We began with our usual opening and an active game, then moved right into crafting for the rest of the evening. The girls had the choice of 3 different craft activities, and could choose to do as few or as many as they wished.

(a) Floral Baskets - Girls were provided with a wicker basket and flowers and ribbon to decorate it.

(b) Painting - Girls were given a 4" x 6" stretched canvas on wood to paint in any way they wished.

(c) SWAPS - A variety of craft supplies were made available and the girls could create their own small crafts. Girls attending Tekarama 8 in June were encouraged to start making SWAPS.

We ended with a thorough clean-up of the room and Taps.

Aeronautics Badge

As we were unable to get into the annual Guide Engineering Day at McMaster University, we decided to hold our own engineering night and earn the Aeronautics Badge during the first week back to Guides following March Break.

As the girls arrived, they were provided with paper and markers and asked to make paper airplanes. We started the meeting with our usual opening and an active game.

We then began with a discussion about engineering, aviation and space. Our first activity was to identify the different parts of an aircraft and their role in flight. We did this with a large picture of an airplane and label cards that could be stuck to the picture as each part was identified.

(A) Ailerons - moving parts, attached to the rear edge of an airplane's wings, that help the airplane to roll (or bank) left or right.
(B) Cockpit - the place where the pilot sits to fly the airplane. It contains the instruments and controls.
(C) Elevators - the moving horizontal parts of the tail on an airplane that move up and down to make the airplane climb or descend, or pitch.
(D) Flaps - the moving parts attached to the rear edge of an airplane's wings that are used to increase lift and drag at reduced airspeeds (take-off and landing).
(E) Fuselage - the streamlined body of an airplane to which are fastened the wings and tail.
(F) Landing Gear - the under structure (wheels, skis or pontoons) of an airplane which supports it on land or water. Retractable gear folds up into the airplane in flight. A fixed gear does not retract or fold up.
(G) Propeller - two or more twisted blades which an engine turns which pull an airplane forward as they turn.
(H) Rudder - the moving vertical part of the tail that controls the left to right, or yaw, movement of an airplane's nose.
(I) Wings - the part of an airplane shaped like an airfoil and designed in such a way as to provide lift when air flows around it.

Next, we made gliders out of styrofoam plates and tried flying them. When a paperclip or other weight was added to the nose, they were able to go much further!

We then played an Aircraft Matching Game to help the girls learn about different types of aircraft. The cards were cut apart and each Patrol used the cards to play Memory.

The Guides who attended Winter Camp learned about the Phonetic Alphabet, so we had a quick review and then had the girls try to read different messages using the alphabet.

     A - Alfa                                N - November

     B - Bravo                             O - Oscar

     C - Charlie                           P - Papa

     D - Delta                              Q - Quebec

     E - Echo                              R - Romeo

     F - Foxtrot                           S - Sierra

     G - Golf                               T - Tango

     H - Hotel                             U - Uniform

     I - India                               V - Victor

     J - Juliet                              W - Whiskey

     K - Kilo                                X - X-Ray

     L - Lima                               Y - Yankee

     M - Mike                              Z - Zulu

(1) (Foxtrot Lima Yankee India November Golf) (India Sierra) (Foxtrot Uniform November).  
FLYING IS FUN

(2) (Bravo India Romeo Delta Sierra) (Golf Alfa Victor Echo) (Papa Echo Oscar Papa Lima Echo) (Tango Hotel Echo) (India Delta Echo Alfa) (Tango Oscar) (Foxtrot Lima Yankee)  
BIRDS GAVE PEOPLE THE IDEA TO FLY

(3) (Alfa India Romeo Papa Lima November Echo Sierra) (Hotel Echo Lima Papa) (Papa Echo Oscar Papa Lima Echo)  
AIRPLANES HELP PEOPLE

Our final activity was split between making and flying paper airplanes and designing kits (which unfortunately we couldn't try to fly in our meeting place!).

We ended the evening with a fun song and Taps.

Winter Wonderland

We spent the first two weeks of March working on a combination of winter-themed activities, activities to complete the Alberta Polar Challenge, and planning for the remainder of the Guiding year.

Week 1 as the girls arrived, we asked each Patrol to brainstorm a list of activities we could do, theme ideas for meetings, badges they were interested in working on, etc. We then had our usual opening followed by an active game.

Our first activity was Countries of the Arctic. We spread out a world map on the floor and had the girls find the Arctic Circle and then find the countries that are located within the Arctic (Canada, USA, Greenland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland (border)). We also talked about Antarctica and how it is not owned by any country, but that a number of countries claim parts of it and there are many research teams that visit there.

Next we had an active game - Dog Sled Races. In this game, the girls line up in teams at one end of the room. The first girl in the team runs the length of the room and back to her team. When she reached her team, she picks up the second girl on the team (second girl holds onto the waist or shoulders of the first girl) and they both run to the end of the room and back. They then pick up the third girl, and continue until the whole team runs the length of the room and back together.

We then moved on the Animals of the Poles, where we identified some animals that live in the Arctic and/or in Antarctica and made two 'critters' - a Snowy Owl and a Penguin.

This took up most of the remainder of the meeting, and we ended with an action song and Taps. Each girl was then given a "take-home" craft - Crystal Snowflakes. They were given all of the supplies needed except for a glass container and hot water.

 

Week 2 started out with each girl indicating her preferences on a "I Want To Do..." list of activity suggestions based on the ideas the patrols had come up with last week. The ideas were: (1) Vet visit and learn about pet care; (2) Build birdhouses; (3) Visit The Aviary to see exotic birds and go on a hike; (4) Have a Chilean meeting; (5) Baking night; (6) Dress-up night and learn about real princesses. We then had our usual opening and played an active game - Unicorn Tag.

We then had a discussion about life in polar regions and how different animals have adapted to life there - i.e. the larger paws on a lynx or arctic hare that allows them to walk on top of the snow like they are wearing snowshoes, and how certain animals coats change to white so that they blend in with the snow. We also talked about the challenges that animals in the polar regions face, with the lack of vegetation, melting ice packs, and human encroachment.

Next we played a Polar Game called Owl Hop. The goal of this game is to hop as long as possible on one foot. All the players choose a foot to hop on and place their other foot behind the knee of the hopping leg. Players cannot change legs and must hop completely clear of the floor.

A planning session was next, and we split up into groups for this. The 3rd Years made plans for a meeting they will run for the rest of the unit (Sweets Night), and the 1st and 2nd Years brainstormed ideas on different themes - Animals, Oceans-Waves-Sand, Body, and Other People. Lots of good ideas were generated and we have lots of material to work with to plan the next two-and-a-half months of meetings.

We moved onto an Arts activity next, where the girls worked in small groups to create a dance to celebrate the return of the sun after a long, dark winter.

Our final activity of the evening was to learn the song "40 Years on an Iceberg". We then ended with Taps.