Tonight we explored the Philippines by learning a bit about Girl Scouting, practicing tinikling, playing traditional games, and eating yummy food as we earned the Junior Girl Scout Filipino Heritage Badge!The meeting started out with 30 minutes of Patrol Time. This week was time to plan a new set of activities! Each Patrol was given a sheet of Canada 150 Patrol Activities and asked to make plans for 3 sessions of Patrol Time. The girls were encouraged to choose both a main activity and a back-up activity, in case they finish their planned activity early. We have a few outings planned over the coming weeks, so there are only 3 more Patrol Times remaining before we finish at the end of May.
We then had our usual opening ceremony, followed by an active game - Everybody's It Tag.
Our program started out with learning Tinikling, a traditional folk dance from the Philippines. We have lots of bamboo poles for gadget making, so were able to split up into groups of 3-4 Guides with a Ranger or Guider. Two people kept the rhythm with the poles, going slowly, and the remaining girls learned to dance in and out of the poles without getting their feet caught! Download the instructions and watch a video under "Downloads" at the bottom of this post.We then had a break and learn a bit about Girl Scouting in the Philippines. We looked at pictures of badges and uniforms, read the Girl Scout Promise, and found out that Guides would be Junior Girl Scouts in the Philippines!
Moving on, we played three different traditional Filipino games. Kapitang Bakod is a tag game for 3 of more players. One player is chosen as the Tagger and other players try to elude her, or hold onto an object made of wood or bamboo to avoid being tagged. We have a lot of wood in our meeting place, so had to adapt by setting ground rules that only certain spots could be used. Luksong Tinik is a jumping game for two teams. Two players sit facing each other with their right feet’s soles touching one another, forming the base. Each team should have a designated “mother” or leader, who should be the highest jumper. Players must jump over the base without touching it as each round becomes more difficult with hands serving as an extension to the base’s height. If a player touches the hand, the mother must successfully jump to save the player. If she fails, the teams switch places and the game starts anew. Patintero is a running game for two teams similar to 'Octopus'. A rectangular playing area is marked out, divided by a horizontal line and a vertical line. One team guards the playing area, remaining on the horizontal and vertical lines. The other team tries to cross all the lines to the other side of the playing area without being tagged. When someone is tagged, they trade places with the person who tagged them.
Our final activity was food! We had cups of Mango, the Philippines National Fruit, and Pineapple, and Maruya, which are basically Banana Fritters.
Maruya Recipe
In a bowl, sift together 1 cup Flour, 1/4 cup Sugar, 1 tsp Baking Powder and 1/4 tsp Salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat 1 Egg. Melt 2 tbsp Butter. Add 1 cup Milk and melted butter to the egg and whisk together until blended. Add flour mixture to milk mixture and stir until just moistened. Do not overmix. In a pan over medium heat, heat 1 cup oil. Slice 5-6 firm bananas in half and then lengthwise, about 1/4 inch thick. Dip banana slices into batter to fully coat and then slide into hot oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until golden and crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Using a sieve, dust Maruya with sugar. Serve warm.
We closed our meeting with reminders for next week and Taps.
Downloads:
