Time Capsules & Scrapbooking

Tonight we finished up the Art Production Badge by making Paper Bag Scrapbooks and Time Capsules! We started out with our usual opening, followed by Four Corners. 

The first activity was to assemble the scrapbooks (see the link at the bottom for complete instructions). Each girl had 3 paper bags and we trimmed the bases off before stapling them into booklets. The open ends of the bags form pockets where the girls can put more pictures. We had prepared a 4-page file for each girl - 1 page of GGC clip art, 1 page with the new GGC logo, her Patrol Emblem and images of badges she had earned this year, and 2 pages of photographs. The contents of our cupboard also came out for decorating purposes - stickers, construction paper, markers, ribbon, etc.


We had also printed out an "All About Me" sheet for each girl to fill out about her favourites right now as it will be interesting to see how things change when they reopen their time capsules! The time capsules themselves were simply large coffee cans - 1 per girl. Some girls had also brought items to put in their time capsules as we had talked about making them at a previous meeting.

Links and Downloads:

• All About Me Sheet (external link) 
• Paper Bag Scrapbook Instructions from Owl and Toadstool (external link)

Girl Guide Day 2017!

Friday, April 28th was a PA day for area schools, so we held a Girl Guide Day! 6 Guides took part in the program day, and later on 5 3rd Year Guides and 1 Ranger had a bridging sleepover.

Our morning started off with sanding and painting wooden plaques for making string art later, and then moved on to perler bead creations.


We then had a snack (popcorn) and talked about some of the items in the Hiking and Outdoor Adventures Badges:

• How to behave on public and private property
• What information should be left with someone when you set out on an outdoor adventure
• What you should take with your on an outdoor adventure (and why)
• Minimum impact/leave no trace hiking and outdoor adventures

After drawing templates for our string art, we headed outside. We decided to have lunch right away, and ate on the front steps of the church, watching the people arriving at the fairgrounds for the dog show on the weekend. Once we had all eaten and cleaned up, we played a massive game of hide and seek, followed by Crows and Cranes. In Crows and Cranes, there are two teams - one is crows, the other cranes. The game leader calls out one team, dragging out the crrrr... part. The team that is called, chases the other team to the end of the playing area. Anyone tagged joins the other team.

We had a bit of a STEM experiment afterwards, seeing if plastic eggs can really be used in place of film canisters for rockets. While the rocket part was unsuccessful, we had lots of fun making the chemical reactions with baking soda and vinegar!


Going back inside, we finished up our string art projects by hammering in nails using the templates made earlier, and using embroidery floss to create the designs.


Clean-up followed, and then we headed into the kitchen to make a fruit salad for snack - apples, oranges, plums, grapes, pears, pineapple and berries. We then headed back outside. While we ate, we learned a bit about Guide History and looked at some artefacts from Guiding history, including Michelle's youth awards and camp blanket, a 1970s uniform, program books, brochures, cookie cutters and pins. As we were already sitting in a circle, we also learned how to make a braided blanket and completed a blanket to be donated to a women's shelter as part of the Action on Poverty National Service Project. The day ended with final perler bead projects and a game of Everybody's It tag.

Happy Holidays!

Tonight was our final meeting of 2016 and we celebrated with a holiday party. The hall was decorated for Christmas, we had carols playing, and some of the girls even dressed up in holiday-themed attire or pyjamas.

Our first activity was decorating homemade gingerbread.We provided white icing and lots of toppings - then let the girls decorate to their hearts content!

Everyone then had an opportunity to work on three different crafts - some girls did them all, while others spent the entire evening on a single item. We had fimo ornaments, shink art pictures, and a 'free crafting' table for the girls to explore their creativity.

At the end of the night, everyone received crests and challenge crests, as well as a special Christmas crest. We closed with reminders that tonight was our last meeting of 2016 and Taps.

Holiday Craft Night

Our final meeting for 2015 was our annual craft night. As the girls arrived, they played a game and we then began with our usual opening, followed by an active game led by the Active Living Patrol.

The first craft was a snowman made from a glass vinegar bottle. The girls used sponges to paint the bottles white and then painted faces with orange and black paint. The hats are made from a piece of felt hot glued into a tube and then tied with a piece of elastic cord. The tops of the hats were cut into a fringe.

Our second craft was a candy cane mouse made from felt and ribbon. The girls cut out an oval from light coloured felt and ears from some wide ribbon. The ears were inserted through slits in the felt, tiny pompom eyes and nose glued on, and a candy cane inserted through two slits to form the tail.

Last of all, we made tealight snowmen. The girls glued a piece of Christmas ribbon around the outside of the battery-operated tealight, then glued on a piece of pipecleaner and pompoms to form earmuffs. Googly eyes were added and black paint used to add the mouth.

As we had some time left at the end of the meeting, the girls made Christmas cards and we sang some Christmas carols before closing with Taps.

Heritage Home Skills Night

On November 27th we had a special evening event to earn the Heritage Home Skills Badge. Participating were 10 Guides and 1 Pathfinders, along with 2 Guiders and 4 Helpers. Lots of hands were needed to help with the games, crafts, and cooking activities we had planned!

As the girls arrived, they decorated a paper bag to hold their finished crafts and baked goods, then we headed into the kitchen to start making bread. The girls worked in groups of 2-3 to prepare the starter mixture by placing 1/2 cup white flour, 1 package of dry yeast, 1 tbsp white sugar and 1/2 cup warm water in a large ziplock back and mixing it together by squishing the bag. The starter then needed to sit for 15 minutes before continuing.

While the starter was sitting, we played a game called Bear in the Pit. To play this game, players in a circle holding hands and with their eyes closed. One player is in the middle - she is the Bear. The bear tried to get out of the circle (the pit) by going under or over the arms of the other players. If she is able to escape from the pit, all of the other players chase her and the girl who catches her becomes the bear for the next round.

Back in the kitchen, the girls added 1 tbsp white sugar, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 2 tsp salt to their bags and then sealed them up to mix until the dough started to pull away from the sides and form a ball. Once the dough was removed from the bags it was kneaded for 5-6 minutes and then divided into three mini-loaf pans. The pans were left to rise for a hour.

We then divided the girls into 3 groups - one would go into the kitchen to bake while the other two worked on crafts. Our baking groups each made a different treat:

Group 1 - Ginger Cookies
Mix together 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1/3 cup water. Beat in 1 egg. Combine 3 1/2 cups white flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger. Add to wet mixture, stirring well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.
 
Group 2 - Applesauce Bars
Cream 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup white sugar. Add 1 egg and 1 cup applesauce. Add 1 1/2 cups white flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, dash of cloves, and 1/2 cup raisins. Spread in a 9x13x2 pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm.
 
Group 3 - Oatmeal Cookies
Cream 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 cup milk. Add 2 cups white flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 cups rolled oats, and 1 cup raisins. Drop by teaspoonful on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

Our crafters were kept busy with 3 different crafts:

Quilt Block Design Notebook Covers - made by covering a small notebook with plain paper and then arranging squares and triangles of scrapbooking paper to make a 9-square quilt pattern.

Woven Bookmarks - made using a straw loom and multi-coloured yarn. Warps are placed through the straws and then the girls weave the yarn around the straws to form the bookmark (or bracelet), and finally the woven yarn is pushed off the straws onto the warps (the hardest part!)

Whirly Gigs - this classic children's toy was made using circles of cardstock that the girls decorated and string.

Towards the end of the evening, we put some whipping cream into 4 small jars and everyone took turns shaking the jars to form fresh butter. The girls received a loaf of bread, some butter, cookies, squares, and their crafts to take home at the end of the night.

Discover Your Creativity

Our first meeting in February was devoted to creativity and creative expression. The girls
were allowed to choose from a variety of activities and to do as few or as many different activities as they wished.

Each activity area had a theme and some activity suggestions (with badge connections) to help the girls create their own activity options. We provided a CD player, paper, markers, and assorted craft supplies.

Dance

• Create a dance that expresses a mood. Think about how people act and move when they feel a certain way. (Dancing #8)
• Make up your own dance routine. (Dancing #5)
• Chose a piece of music that you like and make up a dance to go with it. Explain why you chose that particular song. (Music Fan #2)

 Storytelling

• Tell a scary story. (Make sure your audience knows this before you start!) (Folklore #8)
• With a group of people, take turns having each person make up part of a whole story. (Folklore #6)
• With a group of friends, write a fun story. The first person writes down one sentence and shows it to the second person. That person writes down one sentence and shares only that sentence with a third person. When everyone had had a turn, read the whole story aloud. (Writing #8)
• Think about something funny that has happened to you. Make up a story about it and tell it to others. (Folklore #7)

Arts & Crafts

• Create a work of art based on a dream or fantasy that you have had. Create a picture of collage that relates to your dream. (Art Production #1)
• Design a package for a product such as a breakfast cereal, a CD, DVD or a product you invent. (Art Production #5)
• Experiment with colour by learning about primary and secondary colours. Practice mixing colours to develop new colours. Make a picture that uses what you have created. (Art Production #3)
• Create a piece of art in 3-D that represents your heritage. (Creative Crafts #3)
• Make a craft that you would be able to display in a room in your house. (Creative Crafts #8)
• Create a poster for a movie, play or other performance (Performing Arts #4E)
• Make a piece of jewelry using materials that are not precious metals or gems. You might make a pin, necklace, bracelet or hair ornament. (Creative Crafts #4)

Music & Drama

• Write and produce a skit or puppet show demonstrating at least two emotions. (Performing Arts #1)
• Perform a solo poem, monologue or public speech for an audience. (Performing Arts #4F)
• Create a unique character, such as an actor from the movies or TV, an animal, a clown, or a rock star and tell a story or act out a scene from their live and have others guess who or what it is. (Performing Arts #8)
• With a group or on your own, perform a song for an audience. (Performing Arts #6)
• Make a puppet and use it for a performance. (Performing Arts #7)

 Creative Writing

• Create a cartoon based on a funny incident from your life. (Reporting #7)
• Write a 250 to 500 word story on any subject. (Writing #1)
• Write an imaginary interview between you and a famous character in a book. (Writing #2)
• Choose a well-known story and write a different ending for it. (Writing #5)
• Write an account of an event you have attended and report all the details. Use the five W's: who, what, when, where and why to describe the event. (Reporting #3)
• Write a verse, rhyme or poem. (Writing #4)
• Create three different story starters such as - opening lines of a story, play or poem. (Writing #6)
• Write an exaggerated story that would be fun to tell at campfire. (Writing #2)
• Write a letter of not less than 100 words describing a humorous incident or exciting event that happened to you. (Writing #3)
• Write a brief announcement for a future Guide event, such as Guide-Scout Week, camp, registration, enrolment, advancement, etc. It should be either suitable for publication in a newspaper or to be read on radio or television (100 words of less). (Reporting #2)