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.
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.
