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.
