International Day of the Girl 2015

October started off with the annual celebration of the International Day of the Girl (October 11th).

As the girls arrived, they were asked to write down jobs or careers they would like to have when they grow up and each Patrol made a list of activity ideas for our Halloween party. We then had our usual opening and the 'Active Living'* Patrol led a game of Wax Museum.

We talked a bit about what the International Day of the Girl represents and why it is important, then moved into our first IDG activity - making Wordles. Each girl wrote her name on a piece of paper and then added words starting with each letter that described themselves. The results were colourful and interesting to read. Below is a Guiding Wordle I made online at tagxedo.com using words from this blog!

Our next activity was a game of charades using the careers and jobs the girls had written down at the beginning of the meeting - along with a few additions by the Guiders of non-traditional jobs (i.e. firefighter, scientist, engineer, computer programmer). We then had a discussion about STEM and why the girls enjoyed Math and Science or why they didn't like them, followed by a memory game using cards with information about Canadian women who excelled in non-traditional fields.

For our final activity of the evening, we did a practical science activity to show the girls that STEM can be fun. We made, as requested by a number of girls, armpit fudge! The fudge is made via a chemical reaction using heat to combine the ingredients. The recipe we used was:
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
2 tsp Cream Cheese
2 tsp Cocoa Powder
1 tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Put all of the ingredients into a Ziplock Bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal. Smoosh all of the ingredients together until they are blended and the mixture is coming away from the bag (it will be more like thick frosting than fudge). Use the heat from your hands, or armpit, to help mix the ingredients.

We ended the meeting with reminders about next week and Taps.

*In our unit, the Patrols are assigned a job at each meeting. This year we have three Patrols, so the jobs are Active Living (plan and lead an active game, have a second game ready if needed), Ceremonies (lead the Promise and Taps, plan songs for campfire), and Be Prepared (help get out and put away supplies, sweep floor, hand out supplies, any other job requested by the Guiders). Everyone is still expected to help with clean up!