6th Annual Caledonia Community Easter Egg Hunt

Today a small group of us braved the cold, wind and mud to volunteer at the 6th Annual Caledonia Community Easter Egg Hunt! The Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers were kept busy face painting, while the Guiders oversaw the free coffee, juice and water station. Great job girls and congratulations to Sophie on completing her Pathfinder Community Service Award!

Links: 

• Caledonia Easter Egg Hunt 

Pirate Night & Brownie Visit

This week we were joined by two 2nd Year Brownies and one Guider for a Pirate-themed evening.

As the girls arrived, they filled out their dues books and organized a loud game of 'Everybody's It Tag'. We had our usual opening, followed by an active game - Starburst Tag.

We started off by giving everyone their Pirate Names and red bandanas to transform themselves into pirates for the night. Newly named pirates included Captain Scally Hook, Ghost Pirate Jim, Purple Scruffy Sparrow, Mad Dog Bobby Scurvy, and Pirate Rusty Buckle.

Our first game was Port and Starboard. One player is chosen as the Captain and stands at one end of the playing area. All other players face the Captain. The Captain calls out various commands and players race to follow them, the last person to do the action or those who do the wrong action are out. The last player remaining becomes the new Captain.

• "Port" - run to the left side of the room
• "Starboard" - run to the right side of the room
• "Captain's Coming" - stand at a attention and salute
• "Sharks" - lie on the floor with one leg in the air
• "Climb the rigging" - pretend to climb
• "Mess Deck" - sit cross-legged on the floor

Every good pirate needs a parrot, so we moved on to making Perching Parrots.To make the parrots, each girl needs a copy of the two templates (see link at bottom). We printed the templates on cardstock, and after they were coloured, the girls cut them out and glued them back to back. The parrot will  balance on the ring and also on the tip of a finger or a toe!

Crafting was followed by a Pirate Obstacle Course that we ran that was fun. Each patrol lined up at one end of the room and raced through the obstacles one at a time - and coming back the same way! We had three obstacles arranged along the room:

• "Walk the Plank" - walk along a skipping rope stretched out and taped to the floor
• "Climb the Rigging" - climb onto and over a chair
• "Fire the Cannons" - throw a bean bag through a target

The target was a frame made from a half-sheet of bristol board and girls had to continue tossing beanbags until they got one through before returning to their patrol.
Before heading out on their Treasure Hunt, the girls received and put on felt eye patches (to complete their pirate look!). Clues were placed around our meeting space, kitchen and hallways that led the girls back to a 'treasure chest' of gems and chocolate coins. I didn't manage to grab all the clues, but here are some of them:

• If treasure ye seek, be sure not to gloat, the first clue ye seek is where ye hang ye coat
• Avast ye harties clever ye be, to find ye treasure ye must visit places three. The galley is next ye be
• As ye have sought ye riches old, ye must first search beyond the gold. The next clue ye seek is where stairs be scarlet.
• Avast ye mates closer ye get, beyond the treasure ye must see where small sparks of girls gather ye see
• Huzzah, Huzzah, the treasure is nigh, go back to where your crew first set sail

We ended the evening by eating the treasure and reminders for next week, and closed with Taps.
Downloads & Links:

• What's Your Pirate Name?
• Perching Parrot Template (external link) 

CSI Challenge/Guiding Gumshoes

We had already planned to work on the Alberta CSI Challenge when we received the latest Girls First testing activities - "Guiding Gumshoes", so we combined the two and had a great meeting. 

We started out with our usual opening, Horseshoe, Promise, and an active game - Squirt. Before getting started on our activities, we talked a little bit about what we were going to be doing and how the activities related to forensic science.

Our first activity was called Magnify My World. Here we downloaded a Powerpoint presentation (see links below) showing magnified images of a variety of different things. We showed the presentation on a tablet and had the girls try to guess what each image was before sharing the answer (if necessary). Images included toilet paper, a grain of salt, the head of a pin, a staple in paper, the claw of a black widow spider, and the bacteria found on the head of a pin.

We then played a few rounds of Handshake Murderer. One girl is chosen to be the detective and leaves the room. Everyone else closes their eyes and a leader taps one girl on the shoulder to be the murderer. Everyone opens their eyes and the detective comes back into the room. Players move around, shaking hands with each other. If some feels the other person scratch the palm of their hand, they have to take three steps then perform an elaborate death scene as they have been murdered! The detective tries to figure out who the murderer is before everyone dies. 

Next up was Fingerprinting. Everyone tried two different methods of making fingerprints - using graphite from a pencil and using washable markers. They decided that the washable markers made better prints - and they were much more colourful! Each girl made a pair of thumb prints to be used in a matching game later on.

Continuing with the markers, we tried a bit of Chromatography. Each girl used colours of her choice to make a design on a coffee filter. They were then folded into a wedge and the tip dipped in water. We left them on newspaper to allow the water to wick up the filter and then shared the results at the end of the meeting.

Our final activity was Extracting DNA From Kiwi Fruit. This is a fun - but messy - activity! Each group mixed up an extraction solution of 1/2 tsp salt, 4 tsp water and 2 tsp dish soap. They then smushed up a kiwi fruit in a ziplock bag until it was all pulpy. The extraction solution was added to the kiwi pulp and squished together. Coffee filters were placed over a glass, and the pulpy mixture poured in. The girls worked together to carefully hold the filters while one girl gently squeezed the bottom to help the liquid come through. While tilting the glass with the kiwi liquid, 4 tsp of isopropyl alcohol is poured down the side of the glass, forming a layer on top of the kiwi liquid. Between the two layers there should be a whitish blob that can be fished out with a skewer. One of our groups was successful in pulling out the kiwi DNA, while the other two groups could see the whitish particles, but were unable to remove them from the liquid. We have done this successfully in the past with strawberries and would recommend that fruit for future efforts. 


We ended the meeting with a couple of songs, reminders for next week, and Taps.


Links:

• Alberta CSI Challenge and Challenge Supplement  
• BC CSI Challenge
• Powerpoint presentation for the "Magnify My World" activity 

International Women's Day 2018

In honour of International Women's Day, we worked on the Leading Ladies Challenge by the Costessey and Bowthorpe District Rangers in the UK.

To earn this challenge, we need to take part in a variety of activities inspired by notable women from around the world. Tonight, we used a set of cards so that girls could choose the women they learned more about and the activities they tried. Our inspiring women were:

• Julie Payette - Canada's second woman in space, first Canadian onboard the International Space Station, and 29th Governor General
• Katie Sarah - First woman to climb the highest mountain and volcano on all seven continents
• Hedy Lamarr -  Co-creator of an encryption device using frequency hopping that is the basis of today's GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies
• Elsie MacGill - First Canadian woman to receive a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, first woman in North America to receive an Masters degree in the same subject, oversaw the production of Hurricane aircraft during World War II
• Agnes Baden-Powell - First President of the Girl Guides Association, organizers of the movement in its early days, co-author of the first Guide handbook
• The Famous Five - Successfully changed the law to recognize women as persons
• Carmen Cruz Soto - Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico and advocate for aid and support following Hurricane Maria
• Roberta Jamieson - First indigenous woman to earn a law degree in Canada, first female ombudsman in Ontario, first female Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River
• Clara Hughes - 6-time Olympic Medalist, first (and only) person to win multiple medals at both the Winter and Summer Games, Mental Health advocate
• Man Kaur - Took up running at age 93, holds 17 Gold Medals
• Augusta Fells Savage - Sculptor and equal rights activist, first African-American elected to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors
• Pauline Johnson - Poet and Author, celebrated her Mohawk heritage through her writing and public performances

Each card had two activities to choose from, and included creating a piece of wearable art, making up new ways to play well-known games, designing a Mars colony, promoting Girls Can Do Anything, coming up with a secret language or code, building paper airplanes or parachutes, and designing a Guide uniform for the future.

Downloads:

• Inspiring Women Activity Cards