Fall Frolic 2016: Healthy Harvest

On Saturday, October 1st, 3 Guides and 2 Guiders joined 250 other Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Guiders at Camp Teka in Paris, Ontario for the annual Fall Frolic Event. This year's theme was Healthy Harvest, and the Guides completed the requirements for the Farming Badge.

Although we had heavy rain early in the morning, and it was overcast, there was only a bit of light rain during the day - something we were very happy about! We met at the High School and walked into camp. The participants were divided up into branch groups and then into smaller groups - we were with 2 other Guide Units and had a group of 28 girls. The day was arranged as a rotation of 6 different activity stations.

Everyone also received a bag full of 'freebies', including a pen, key chain, sling bag, activity sheets, information sheets, wipe-off menu planners, and recipes. These items were provided courtesy of Zehrs' Markets, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Berry Growers Association, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Ontario Pork, Beef Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Cattlemen's Association, and Farm & Food Care Ontario.



Zehrs' 3 Stars
At our first station, Elyse, a Dietician from Zehrs', talked to the girls about healthy foods, eating the rainbow, and played a game. In the game, the girls were divided up into smaller groups, and a large coloured die was rolled. The groups then had to come up with as many fruits and vegetables as they could that matched the colour (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple).

Agri-Fun
Next up, we learned all about farming and cattle from Sandy, who raises beef cows. The girls learned about the differences between different cattle breeds and the care of cattle, worked on a giant puzzle about local crops, explored different products that are made from different parts of a cow, and tried different puzzles.

Crafts
We were able to warm up a bit while we did crafts inside the Longhouse. We made shrink art tags and beaded corn. After this session, we had a break for lunch.

Games
After lunch, it was of to Games (my favourite session!). Our group was divided into three smaller groups to tackle the different games:

• Hoops - Each girl had a small hoola hoop. They had to roll the hoop using only one hand from the starting point, around a pylon, and back to the start. They had to let go of the hoop (not hold onto it the whole time) and get it to roll along. If the hoop fell over, they had to start again.
• Sack Race - A traditional sack race using soya bean sacks!
• Rubber Chicken Games - One game was like Over-Under, where the girls had to squeeze the chicken twice before passing it to the next player; another was a relay where the chicken started at the back of the line, each person had to squeeze it twice before passing it forward, and then the person at the front had to run to the end of the playing area and back - squeezing the chicken the whole time!
• Ball Passing - This was my favourite game - it was also the most challenging - and it would be a great teambuilding activity. Each girl had a foot-long piece of PVC pipe (the pipe had been cut in half length-wise, so each piece was a trough). They stood in a line, with their pieces of pipe touching. A small ball was placed in the first girl's pipe, and it rolled along - once the ball left the first girl's pipe, she had to run to the end of the line and place her pipe beside the last person's (the idea was to create a continuous trough for the ball to roll along). Ideally, the group would make their way to a metal pail, and the ball would drop into the pail. Both groups made it to the pail, but didn't quite get the ball into it.

Drama
For our Drama session, the Guiders had to get involved as living scarecrows. Yes, the girls were split into teams and had to dress a Guider (there are no photos of this...). They also did other activities, including acting out a day on a farm.

Music
Our final session of the day was Music. Here, we sang some old favourites and learned some new songs - all with the common theme of food!

• Pizza Hut Song
• Knife, Fork, Spoon, Spatula
• Lu La
• All I Want for Breakfast
• One Bottle of Pop/Fish and Chips and Vinegar/Don't Throw Your Trash in My Backyard
• International Grace

The day ended with everyone singing Lu La and Daylight Taps. We then walked out of camp and back to the High School to meet parents.

Healthy Eating at Zehrs

For the second week of January we were unable to use our regular meeting location, so we booked a store tour and session and Zehrs. The Guides worked on the Healthy Eating Badge and the Pathfinders worked on the We Are What We Eat Module.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by the in-store Dietitian, Jamie, and went upstairs to the Community Room. We learned about the vitamins and nutrients in foods and what they do for our bodies, macro- and micro-nutrients, how to read a nutrition facts panel, and what the daily percentages mean.

We then went out into the store and visited the various departments. We learned about serving sizes, making healthier choices, and the nutrients and vitamins contains in different food groups. We also compared products to find the difference between different brands and types of food within the same food group.

The meeting ended with a taste-test of Vanilla Greek Yogurt and reminders for camp on the weekend!

Pathfinder Day!

Friday, November 13th was a PA day for all of the girls so we held a 'Pathfinder Day' to work on a variety of projects and activities.

We started the day by working on the Web Surfin' Module and WAGGGS Surf Smart Challenge.
Activity #1 Your Online Footprint - We made a list all the different ways the internet has a positive affect on our lives (including favourite websites/apps) and a second about ways that the internet can have a negative impact on our lives. This led into a discussion about social networks/media, online privacy, how once a picture is posted it's out there permanently, and cyberbullying. (Connect #1, Respect #1 & 11)

Activity #2 Tweeting - We chose 3 objects (an IPhone, Tablet and Laptop) and each girl hadto write a story including all 3 items in 140 characters or less. We talked about how social media that limits the number of characters may not always give you all the information you need about an event, issue or situation. (Connect #2)
Activity #3 - Online Safety Top-Tips - As a group we game up with a list of top tips for staying safe online and then created a commercial (Protect #1)
Activity #4 - Avatars - As we all spend time online, the girls designed their own avatars. (Protect #6)
Activity #5 - Safety Pledge - Finally, we wrote our own safety pledge.

I pledge to make sure that my Guardians know about any site that I go on. I will make responsible choices and go on sites that I know are safe/appropriate. I will not speak to anyone on a site that I don't know and I will do my best to help others stay safe.

We then moved on to a snack. We baked cookies and had fruit and yogurt dip.

Our service projects for the day were filling Birthday Bags and making Super Hero Capes for a women's shelter. We filled 10 bags with cake mixes, frosting, balloons, streamers, napkins, and a small gift. We made 10 capes that double as fleece blankets, but can be worn like a superhero cape.

Lunch was perogies with bacon, cheese and sour cream. The girls explored plate presentation before eating.

After lunch, the girls then planned out activities they could do to help younger girls learn about Healthy Eating (We Are What We Eat #6). The came up with a game about different serving sizes, an activity to make meal plates using pictures from flyers, and a classification game to help girls learn what foods are in which food groups.

The day ended with finishing up work on the blankets and cleaning up before everyone headed home.