Tonight we turned the meeting over to the Pathfinders to complete the Outdoor Activities Bridging section of their program. We started with out usual opening, then the Pathfinders took charge!
We headed outside for a bit, although it was raining lightly. Everyone started off with a Scavenger Hunt, designed by our Ranger, around the property in partners, followed by a round of the ever-popular, Everybody's It Tag
- when one girl tags another, they play 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' and the
loser sits down until she is tapped by another player to rejoin the
game.
Two of the Pathfinders then explained Fox and Rabbit - essentially link tag, where the person who is It is the fox and the runner(s) is the rabbit. The rabbit can link onto a pair at anytime, causing the person on the free end to become the new rabbit. This was followed by a round of Four Corners - where girls
choose a corner to run to and the person in the center closes her eyes,
spins around and points at a corner. Anyone in the corner that is
pointed to is out.
As the rain was getting heavier, and not everyone had proper rain coats, we relocated back into the hall. After removing wet shoes and socks, two Pathfinders explained and led a game of Ladders - girls sit in pairs with their legs outstretched to form the rungs of a ladder. Each pair is numbered, when their number is called their race along, jumping over each pair of legs, along the outside and then over the remaining 'rungs' until they get back to their spot. (**Safety Note: This game has a high risk of slipping, tripping, and being stepped on. Girls must listen to instructions, follow the rules and play properly; wear non-slip shoes or bare feet; and keep their legs flat and hands tucked in while they are sitting down.)
Our final game of the evening was Streets and Alleys (which apparently was a new one to many of the Guides!) - Girls stand in a grid formation (i.e. 4 parallel rows of 4 girls) with their arms outstretched to the sides. Everyone faces the same direction - in our case Streets was facing the windows, and Alleys was a 90 degree turn to face the stairs. The caller calls 'Streets' or 'Alleys' frequently changing the space the cat (chaser) and mouse (runner) have to run. The cat and mouse cannot go through walls (arms) and can only run along the open rows and around the outside.
The evening finished up with a long sing-song with lots of action songs! We enjoyed My Paddle, My Aunt Hoover, Fried Ham, I'm Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor, My Name is Joe, Pizza, Pizza Hut, Zulu Warrior, Swimming Pool, Bananas in the Sky, Baby Bumble Bee, Herman the Worm, and Purple Light. We closed with reminders for next week and Taps.
This week we turned the Unit over to our third Patrol for the second half of the meeting for their planned activities, the theme? Dark!
As the girls arrived, they played an impromptu game of tag, checked their attendance books and collected dues. We started with our usual opening and then moved onto two activities from the Leading Ladies Challenge while we waited for it to get a bit darker outside.
For the first activity, we talked briefly about the first Guide Handbook, How Girls Can Help to Build Up the Empire (1912) by Agnes and Robert Baden-Powell and the upcoming changes for Guiding with the new Girls First program. One of the changes is that the program will be online rather than paper-based. Each Patrol was asked to Design a New Handbook and let us know what they think should be included in a Guide Handbook for 2018. Ideas ranged from links to Instagram and Snapchat, to details instructions for camp skills, to more information about WAGGGS.
Our next activity was inspired by an article in the most recent Canadian Guider about Summertime Unit Activities. We asked each Patrol to make a list of things they would like to do if Guides ran during the summer. While we haven't decided if this is something we'll try, we did get a great list of ideas for activities!
At this point, we turned the meeting over to the Daffodil Patrol for their "Dark Night"! Everyone had been asked to wear dark clothing and to bring a flashlight, so we turned out the lights and got started! The first game was Everybody's It Tag - when one girl tags another, they play 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' and the loser sits down until she is tapped by another player to rejoin the game. We then moved on to Graveyard - everyone finds a spot in the room and freezes in position while the person who is 'It' walks around. If she sees someone moving, she calls their name and they are our of the game. While her back is turned, the other players are expected to move and change positions. Our next game was Flashlight Tag - the person who is It tags other players by shining her flashlight on them and calling out their name. Next up was Flashlight Freeze Dance - with music provided by the voices of the Patrol themselves! Our final activity was Four Corners - a flashlight was placed in each corner, girls choose a corner to run to and the person in the center closes her eyes, spins around and points at a corner. Anyone in the corner that is pointed to is out.
To end, we turned the lights back out, handed out badges, talked about next week and closed with Taps.
This week's meeting was all about staying safe in our community, and we were visited by Constable Rod LeClair of the OPP who helped us earn our Law Awareness Badge and work towards our Cycling Badge.
We got started right away once the girls had filled out their dues books, beginning with our horseshoe and the promise.
The first part of the meeting was spent covering the Law Awareness Badge. We learned all about the training needed to apply to become a police officer, and also the OPP-specific training. One of the questions the girls asked was about the different ranks, and we found out that in the OPP, officers can progress from Recruit to Constable (5th through 1st Class), then Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Inspector, Superintendent and finally, Commissioner. Constable LeClair then went through all of the equipment a police officer carries, showing the girls how the different items work (where appropriate) and explaining what they are used for.The girls asked lots of questions about what pepper spray did and how it felt, and thought it was cool to see how a tazer (electrodes removed) works. How to contact the police in an emergency (call 911) was covered, as well as what constitutes an emergency, and when the regular police department phone number should be used. We reviewed local laws in our community and how to respond to different situations, including someone coming to the door when you're home alone, a stranger offering you a ride, witnessing an accident, and finding the aftermath of a crime. Some time was spent covering internet safety and the importance of keeping your personal information private and keeping your parents informed about what you are doing online. The final piece for this section was how things you do when you are young can have an impact later in life - specifically, how having a criminal record can impact where you can go to school, the jobs you can get, and even where you can live. The girls were surprised that as Girl Guide leaders we have to have a police records check every three years!
We took a break for an active game (Everybody's It Tag) as everyone was getting a bit restless before moving on to the second part of our meeting.
During the second part of our meeting we learned about bicycle safety in preparation for warmer weather. We found out about the importance of wearing a helmet (other than the fact that it's the law!) and what a properly equipped bicycle should have - reflectors, bell or horn, reflective tape. As a group we practice the different hand signals that cyclists use to let drivers know the direction they are intending to go and if they are planning to stop, and reviewed the different traffic signals in our community. The girls were surprised that they are supposed to obey traffic signs, such as stop signs, in the same way cars do. The final piece was learning about cycling etiquette and how to stay safe in different places, situations and weather conditions. To complete this badge, Guides will need to go for a bicycle ride and practice safe riding, signalling and cycling etiquette.
We ended with an active game and final questions before thanking Constable LeClair for coming. The evening closed with reminders for next week, handing out booklets and newsletters, and Taps.
Links and Downloads:
About a month ago we asked each Patrol to pick a theme and plan activities for a meeting. This week, we turned the Unit over to the first two Patrols and had an evening of unicorn and starburst themed activities.
The first Patrol had picked a Unicorn theme and planned two activities. The first was Pin the Horn on the Unicorn. One girl had made a picture of a unicorn, a paper blindfold and a set of horns. She also brought the tape needed to hang the picture up and stick the horns on. Their second activity was Unicorn Musical Chairs - though I think it wound up being more of an action chairs game as there was no music and the chairs were scattered around the room (the girls had fun though!).
The second Patrol decided to plan activities around Starburst Candies and planned four activities. The first was to find out a bit about the History of Starburst Candies, researched by one girl in the Patrol and shared with the rest of the group. It turns out that Starburst were invented by the Mars Company in the UK, and were originally called Opal Fruits when they were first introduced in 1960. The original flavours were strawberry, lemon, orange and lime. For the next activity, they asked everyone to Design New Starburst by coming up with at least one new Starburst flavour and also designing a wrapper for their new flavour(s). Next up was Starburst Tag, a game invented by the Patrol where the two players who are 'It' have small soft balls (Starbursts) and they have to use them to tag other players by throwing them at their legs (some girls are very adept at jumping out of the way!). When a player is tagged, she sits down and has to be tagged by another player in order to rejoin the game. The final activity of this group was, of course, Eating Starburst!
We talked a bit about the activities, which most of the girls enjoyed, and about the planning process. There wasn't too much feedback about planning and leading, but the girls did realize just how much work goes into planning enough activities to fill a meeting!
As we had some time left at the end of the meeting, we split the girls up into their Patrols and had them do an Accessibility Audit of our meeting place. The Guides had to look for accessibility features in the parking lot, entrance, washrooms and overall building design. They were also challenged to find other features and suggest new features that would make a building more accessible to all. The girls were surprised to discover that the church we meet in had an elevator - in fact not everyone recognized it as one! They decided that while there were some additional accessibility features that could be added, overall the church is accessible, especially considering that the building is about 100 years old.
We closed our meeting with reminders for next week and Taps.
Downloads:
Tonight we turned the meeting over to the Pathfinders to complete the Outdoor Activities Bridging section of their program. We started with out usual opening, then the Pathfinders took charge!
