Getting to Know You

This week we spent some time getting to know each other, practicing the Guide Horseshoe and Marching Song, and wound up setting up our Patrols for the year!

As the girls arrived, everyone was given a cloth bag to decorate. We had lots of fabric markers and the girls got really creative. We hope the bags will be used to carry their things back and forth to meetings, so we don't wind up with a mess of ties, sashes, water bottles and miscellaneous items left behind at the end of the night.  

We then moved on to a trial run of the Guide Horseshoe. We split the girls up into three groups, with a Guide who remembered how to form the horseshoe as the Patrol Leader. We sang the Guide Marching Song as we marched - it was "80 years or more" when I was a Guide, and now we sing "100 years of more"!.

• Patrol Leaders fall in (Patrol Leaders line up single file facing the Guiders.)
• Patrols fall in (Patrol members line up beside their Patrol Leader, on their left-hand side. The Patrol Second is on the opposite end of the Patrol to the Patrol Leader.)
• Patrol Leaders forward (Patrol Leaders file up and stand in front of the Patrols. Each hands in their attendance/dues bag and tells us if anyone is away.)
• Patrol Leaders return to your Patrols (Patrol Leaders return to their Patrols.)
• Right Turn (Everyone turns to their right.)
• Horseshoe formation, forward march (First Patrol leads off, followed by the other Patrols. Guides make a larger U, then march back down the centre of the U, splitting at the bottom, and coming back up to the top. The first Patrol goes to the left, the second to the right, and so on. If there are an uneven number of Patrols, the last Patrol splits with girls alternating direction.)
• Company Halt (Guides stamp their feet 1, 2 and stop)
  

Next we got everyone to sit in a circle and introduce themselves, along with something they like starting with the same letter as their name. This evolved into something as a group effort as when anyone had difficulty coming up with something they like, there were lots of helpful suggestions!

Our next activity was a discussion about Patrols. We started out by asking what Patrols do, and got the basics of working together, taking attendance, recording dues, and participating. With some prompting, we added selling cookies, planning activities, choosing and leading games, picking and leading songs, and running a meeting to the list of things Patrols can do within the Unit. We asked the girls if they would rather have three smaller Patrols or two large ones (the vote was for smaller Patrols), and although we didn't intend to form Patrols tonight, that's what happened!

In our Unit, any enrolled Guide is eligible to run for election as a Patrol Leader. Nine girls decided they would like to run, and each stood up and gave a short speech about why she would make a good Patrol Leader. Each girl was then given a piece of paper and a pencil and asked to write down the names of the three girls they felt would make the best Patrol Leaders. The girls went off to continue working on their bags while the Guiders tallied the votes. Once we had determined the Patrol Leaders, those three girls were called over and asked to pick their Second (again, the requirement was that they be an enrolled Guide). Everyone else was then called over and the Patrol Leader/Second pairs announced. The other girls were then given slips of paper with the names of the pairs and asked to rank them in terms of preference. From these, we formed Patrols and, amazingly, every Guide was able to have her first choice of Patrol Leader/Second!

The first task for the newly formed Patrols was to choose a Patrol Emblem. Much thought went into this, but all three Patrols eventually chose flower emblems. We now have the Forget-Me-Not Patrol, the Daisy Patrol, and the Thistle Patrol.


Our final activity was a Patrol activity, with each group asked to make up a skit about good cookie selling practices. We then closed with reminders for next week (Caterpillars!) and Taps.

Links:

• Guide Horseshoe Video - This video is very similar to how we form the horseshoe. The main difference for us is that we collect the attendance/dues bags after the Patrols have fallen in, and the following command is 'Right Turn' rather than 'Left'.  

Girl Guides in the Great Outdoors

This weekend 10 Guides and 1 Guider took part in the Girl Guides in the Great Outdoors Event held at McMaster University in Hamilton, where our instructors for the day were the team from Altitude.

We started the day off with a whole group activity where everyone stands in a big circle and when something is called out, i.e. "I like Girl Guides', anyone who can also make that statement runs into the centre and cheers. All of the Units were then divided up between 6 groups, so girls weren't necessarily with any of their own Guiders. I was with Group #5, who chose the name "Mighty Blue Dragons". The first thing the girls did was to create a group cheer:

Here we come, see us soar,

Mighty Blue Dragons, hear us roar!

Our first station of the day was Navigation. Here we learned how to use a compass and followed an orienteering course.  First we learned the parts of a compass, how to read one and then we practiced using the compass to find directions. The remainder of the session was spent using our new skills to navigate an orienteering course to find hidden letters. 

Next up was Teambuilding and Initiative Tasks. The girls worked in pairs to complete a trust walk along a series of logs. One partner was blindfolded and the other person had to stay in contact with them and verbally guide them along the course, including balancing, climbing over logs, and stepping on and off platforms. We finished up this station with a communication activity where the girls had to stand on a log and place themselves into birthdate order without talking - or stepping off the log!
After our snack break, we headed for Fires. We discussed fire safety, clearing a space for your fire, choosing tinder, kindling and wood, and how to put out a fire before breaking up into teams to building our own group fires. Each group was challenged to lay and light a fire that would burn through a piece of twine strung about 2 feet above the fire. The girls gathered their own supplies, chose either a teepee or log cabin style fire, and built and lit their fires.
After lunch it was time for a hike to learn about Edible Wild Plants - and also some poisonous ones! Our guide, Tag, took us along a short part of the Ravine Road Trail towards Cootes Paradise and showed us a variety of different plants and trees, including Garlic Mustard, Dandelions, Stinging Nettles, Burdock, Plantain, Mayapple, White Oak, Birch, Poison Ivy, Shagbark Hickory and Wild Roses. 

	Garlic Mustard   An invasive species found throughout Southern Ontario Has a garlic-y flavour  Whole plant is edible Can be used to make a good pesto in place of basil Flowers and seed pods give the best flavour
Dandelions Whole plant is edible Those growing in the shade have a better flavour than those in full sun, which are more bitter Leaves may be rounded or lobed, hollow stem contains a milky sap Good source of Vitamins K and B, and Iron Plant picks up toxins from surrounding air, so do not eat those found on roadsides or lawns	Stinging Nettles Leaves have needles that inject histamine into the skin causing irritation and inflammation (a defense against animals) Pick with gloves and put in warm water to wilt needles, making the leaves safe to eat Can be brewed to make tea, or leaves can be cooked similar to spinach Source of Vitamins K and B, and Iron
Burdock   Looks like rhubarb Sap found in the stems can be used as an astringent to treat bug bites, stings and irritations First year plant has wide leaves, second year plant grows burrs Roots of the first year plant can be cooked as a potato substitute	Plantain   Looks like spinach Whole plant is edible Juices from leaves and stems can be used to treat bug bites and irritations if crushed or chewed
Mayapple (American Mandrake) VERY POISONOUS The only part that can be eaten is the fruit when it turns yellow at the end of the summer, but the seeds are still poisonous Rare annual, reseeds each year Roots look like arms and legs.	White Oak Tree White Oak leaves have rounded lobes, Red Oak leaves are pointed Acorns can be eaten, but need a lot of preparation: put any water and throw out any that float (they are rotten), remove the outer shell and boil the insides until the water is black, change the water and reboil, repeat until the water is clean. The results can be eaten or ground into flour. Good source of protein and fats Tea can be made from the leaves and bark to treat toothaches and sore throats White mold from a dead tree can be used on cuts to prevent infection The black water from the acorns contains tannin and in the past would have been used to soak skins and hides for tanning.
Birch Trees   Sap can be made into syrup, but it takes 80 L of sap to make 1 L of birch syrup! Bark is full of oil and good for starting fires even when wet  Polyps (fungi) were used as fire extenders - can be used to carry a live ember for a long time.	Poison Ivy Can grow up trees as a vine or a ground cover, leaves are found at the end of the stem Vines look furry When oil gets onto the skin it causes an allergic reaction - if you come in contact with the plant, wash the area with soap and water before symptoms appear! Contact causes a sensitivity - future reactions will be worse DO NOT BURN - smoke still contains the oils and gets into the lungs causing serious damage
Shagbark Hickory Tree   Identifiable by its 'shaggy' bark Nuts are edible - similar to walnuts and very good tasting! Wood is durable and resistant to rot Good fire wood and for smoking meats	Wild Rose Bush  Rosehips (flowers) are high in Vitamin C and can be used to make a tea, but it should be taken in small doses as it is hard on the liver

We then moved on to Knife and Axe Safety where we learned about the parts of a knife, how to use one safely, how to open and close a folding knife or multi-tool and how to pass knives from one person to another. For axes, we found out how dull blades are more dangerous than sharp blades and about the different types of axes - seeing a splitting maul (for splitting large logs), a regular axe (for chopping wood), and a hatchet (for making kindling, cutting small logs/branches). Our instructors demonstrated how to cut with the grain of the wood, how to safely use a hatchet by getting down on ones knees and placing a piece of wood in front of your knees so if the hatchet slips it will hit the ground of the wood and not your legs. Then it was the girls turn, they used plastic knives to try their hands at Soap Carving!
Following a snack it was time for our final session of the day - Shelter Building. Here we learned about the importance of shelter to protect you from the elements and keep you warm and dry. We found out that using a coniferous tree rather than a deciduous tree to build a shelter is better because the needles become part of your cover. When building a shelter, it should be just big enough and not lots of open space at the top in order to preserve heat. The girls worked together to make a teepee and then split up into groups to build A-Frame or Lean-To Shelters using tarps and rope. The groups were very creative and all managed to build a shelter in a short period of time.
We ended the day with a final group activity in the field before heading home. It was a very hot day and some of the activities were in the full sun, but everyone wore their hats and kept drinking water. It was a great day and we loved it!

Teamwork & Communication Skills

As our Unit has ongoing challenges with listening - to Guiders and to each other - we decided to spend another night working on teamwork and communications skills.

As the girls arrived, they collected dues and marked their attendance books. We had our usual opening and then moved into our first activity, adapted from "Take A Vote" (in Right Now!, Girlguiding UK, 2007). 

We asked a few girls for suggestions of games we could play, and then had everyone vote for the one they wanted. Instead of playing the chosen game, we announced that we were going to play 'Duck, Duck, Goose' and had everyone sit down in a circle. We fussed over making the circle perfect and how everyone was to be careful and gentle while playing (playing up a bit as if we were talking to much younger girls). Once the girls were thoroughly bewildered, instead of starting the game we asked how they felt. It took a few minutes, but soon the girls were expressing their thoughts - they were confused, upset, angry and wanted to know why we bothered to have them vote if we weren't going to play the game they picked. We explained that was the point of the activity, and emphasized that when we make a decision as a group, it's important to respect that decision - even if it's not what you wanted. We then played their chosen game - Wax Museum.

Our next activity was adapted from "Gagged" (in Right Now!, Girlguiding UK, 2007). Each girl was given a number - 1 or 2. Those with a 2 were not allowed to speak as we had a discussion about ideas for activities to do with World Guiding for an upcoming meeting. After finishing the discussion with the #1s, we asked everyone how they felt - we got a variety of responses, frustration and anger from the 2s, and a bit of superiority but also feeling bad from the 1s. We talked about how this is something we see happening, when people aren't always being given a chance to give their input to group and Patrol discussions, and the importance of giving everyone a chance to share. Of course, we then asked the 2s for their input so everyone got to participate.

Next up was a fun activity called "Play Your Part" (in Right Now!, Girlguiding UK, 2007), where each Patrol has to invent a new machine. The machine is then made up of the bodies of the Patrol members - each person needing to have an action and a sound as part of the machine.

We the moved onto a planning activity, adapting "Token to Talk" (in Right Now!, Girlguiding UK, 2007), by asking each Patrol to come up with themes and then choose one to plan activities for a meeting. Each Patrol was given a dish with 3 beads for each person. Each girl took her beads and every time she spoke, she had to put a bead into the dish. Once everyone was out of beads, they could be redistributed. The point of the activity was to ensure that everyone had an equal chance to speak and be heard. It worked quite well and as the activity progressed, the girls stopped using the beads but continued giving everyone a turn.

The last activity for the evening was Girl Guide Taboo (adapted from "Stop! You Can't Say That!" (in Right Now!, Girlguiding UK, 2007)). The cards had Guiding-themed words and girls played the game in small groups, with players helping the asker when needed. To play, one person draws a card and tries to get the player on her right to guess the word without saying any of the 'do not say' words. We did not use a timer and used teamwork to help players guess the word or phrase they were being given hints about.

We closed with reminders for next week and Taps.

Links & Downloads:

• Girl Guide Taboo Cards 

Update on the Pathfinders & Rangers

Although they haven't featured much this year, we do have an active Pathfinder/Ranger Unit of 7 girls! Our Unit is unique in that their meetings are held without a Guider in constant attendance. The girls head off to a separate room from the Guides and run their own meetings with a Guider popping in occasionally to see that there are no problems. Meetings are planned by Guiders and girls, but are run by the girls themselves. Our Ranger makes sure things go smoothly and takes on a key leadership role. Although this arrangement was born of necessity due to a lack of Guiders, turning things over to the girls has been mostly successful!

September

Friday, September 8th - Welcome Back BBQ
To celebrate the start of a new Guiding year, we had a BBQ (unfortunately it rained, so we were indoors!) and started doing a bit of planning.


Tuesday, September 12th - Welcome Back Meeting
For our first meeting of the year, everyone took part in a scavenger hunt where girls had to get others to sign their cards if they could say 'yes' to a question on it and the goal was to fill your entire card (i.e. someone who likes pizza, someone who has a brother). The Pathfinders then led a game of Everybody's It Tag for the whole group. Afterwards, the Pathfinders and Rangers worked on planning and identifying activities that they would like to do this year.

Tuesday, September 19th - Mini Messy Night and SWAP Making 
The Pathfinders & Rangers joined the Guides for an evening of messy fun and swap-making for the upcoming Campfire at Hamilton City Hall. Read about the meeting here - Mini Messy Night & SWAP Making

Tuesday, September 26th - Scavenger Hunt
This year's annual scavenger hunt was "The Selfie/Photo Team Scavenger Hunt". The girls are sent out around town to find - and photograph - as many of the items on the list as they can, including their team members!

Downloads:

• The Selfie/Photo Team Scavenger Hunt
  

 

Thursday, September 28th - WE Day Toronto 2017
WE Day was AWESOME! This was the first time we attended, and though we were small in numbers we had a great time. Read all about the event here - WE Day Toronto 2017

October

Tuesday, October 3rd - Campfire Sing-Along at Hamilton City Hall
Unfortunately, none of the Pathfinders or Rangers could join us for this event, but the Guides had a great time!


Saturday, October 7th - Cookie Selling at Zehrs
The Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers all sold Cookies at our local Zehrs store.

Tuesday, October 10th - International Day of the Girl
For the International Day of the Girl we worked on the WAGGGS #TeamGirl 2017 Challenge. We learned about rights vs needs, barriers girls face in accessing education, and explored human rights and the rights of the child. The girls talked about issues they care about and did some brainstorming around possible service projects for this year.
Read all about our meeting here - International Day of the Girl 2017

Friday, October 13th to Sunday October 15th - Nighthawk Goes to Platform 9 3/4 
The latest Nighthawk Camp was all about Harry Potter! At this camp, the activities take place through Friday night until 6am Saturday morning, and start again Saturday afternoon. Despite the rain and mud, we had a great time.
Read all about the camp here - Nighthawk Goes to Platform 9 3/4

Tuesday, October 17th - Leadership Skills
Our Ranger, a graduate of the LDP 4 program at Camp Woolsey, shared some of the skills she has learned by leading the Pathfinders through different activities to complete the Find Your Inner Leader Module. Lynsey planned an led activities about leadership styles, teamwork, problem solving and planning, which included role play, skits, and challenges.


Tuesday, October 24th - Pumpkins Galore
As Halloween fell on a Tuesday this year, the Pathfinders had a pumpkin-themed meeting the week before. They planned the activities and our Ranger did the shopping. They baked pumpkin muffins, spray painted pumpkins, snacked on muffins and chocolate, and played a huge game of hide-and-seek around our meeting space.

November

Tuesday, November 7th - Enrolment
Although it wasn't planned, our new Pathfinders were enrolled with the Guides. We also took part in our first Girls First! activity about badges shapes and designs and the importance of interest badges in the program.
Read about our ceremony here - Enrolment 2017

Saturday, November 11th - Remembrance Day
Unfortunately I have no photos, but as Remembrance Day fell on a weekend this year, 1 Ranger, 3 Pathfinders and 2 Guides were able to be at our local Cenotaph to lay a wreath on behalf of Guiding.


Tuesday, November 14th - Initiation With Lynsey
The girls earned the We're A Team Module while taking part in a series of silly and teambuilding activities with Lynsey, our Ranger, to welcome our new Pathfinders into the Unit.
 
Tuesday, November 21st - Introducing the Canada Cord
Tonight the girls were joined by a Guider for the first half of their meeting to talk about the Canada Cord. We did an overview of what is involved in earning the Canada Cord, the different modules and projects that need to be undertaken, and determined that the girls are interested in working towards this award! We reviewed what Modules they have already completed (Choosing Your Own Direction, Find Your Inner Leader, and We're A Team!), looked at what we need to cover for our 3rd Year Pathfinder (Cookies Rising, First Aid, Outdoor Bridging Activities, 4 hours of Service and her leadership camp or event) and a few modules that interest the group as a whole (Survivor Girl; Knots, Knives and Outdoor Lore; and Now You're Cooking). The second part of the meeting was spent taking part in a series of challenges - Role Play Activities on problem solving and behaviours; Game Inventors to create new games; and Energizers - 60-second active living activities.

Downloads:

• Canada Cord Overview
• Challenge Activities  

Tuesday, November 28th - Girls Count!
Financial Literacy is an important skill to learn, so since November is Financial Literacy Month, we all took on the Girls Count Challenge. To earn this challenge, girls take part in activities about Currency Awareness, Purchasing Power and Money Management. As an added bonus, the Pathfinders also earned their Moneywise Module!
Read all about our meeting here - Girls Count!

December

Tuesday, December 5th - By Girls, For Girls
This week each girl was asked to bring a 10-15 minute activity to lead for the rest of the group. Some girls worked together and led more than one activity, while others worked on their own.


Friday, December 8th to Saturday, December 9th - Sleepover
For our annual December sleepover, we had crafts, a service project, games and baking on the agenda. For our main craft, we glued yarn onto canvases in different patterns the covered everything with tinfoil. The tinfoil was pressed firmly over the yarn so that it made raised lines. The areas between the yarn lines were then coloured with Sharpies. The effect is like stained glass! We then moved onto our service project - making hygiene kits. We made 20 packages that consisted of a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, kleenex and moist wipes wrapped in washcloth and secured with hair elastics. After that, it was time for some baking, we made chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip oatmeal muffins (breakfast!). We ordered pizza and continued crafting for awhile. The girls played games and stayed up into the early hours of the morning, long after their tired Guider had fallen asleep!

Useful Links:

•  Tin Foil Line Relief Art by Becker Middle School

Tuesday, December 12th - Elftastic Challenge
The Elftastic Challenge makes a perfect theme for a combined Guide/Pathfinder/Ranger holiday party. The girls made crafts, decorated (and ate) cookies, and played games. 
Read about the Elftastic Challenge here - Holiday Party


Tuesday, December 19th - Holiday Party
Tonight was our final activity of 2017. We ate pizza and veggies, baked cookies, had a gift stealing exchange and played Twister. The cookies are our favourite Chocolatey-Mint Chip Cookies, made by breaking up a row of mint Girl Guide cookies to use instead of regular chocolate chips. The gift exchange spending limit was $5 (but regifting and handmade were encouraged!) and we had a good time rolling a large die and passing or 'stealing' gifts around the circle. It has been a busy four months and it will be nice to have a bit of a break and come back refreshed and ready for more fun in January!.

Teamwork & Active Games

As some of the girls have been having difficulty working in small groups, we decided to spend the evening practicing our teamwork skills along with some active games!

As the girls arrived, the Patrol Leaders took attendance and collected dues. We started with a Horseshoe and the Guide Promise, followed by a game called "Germinator Tag" led by one of the Guides.

Our three Patrols then moved through four activities that challenged them to work together as a team.

(1) Trust Walk - Guides work in partners. One girl is blindfolded and her partner has to direct her around the room and different obstacles. The partner giving directions can only use her voice!

(2) Tarp Games - In the first tarp activity, the Patrol stands on the tarp then gets off and folds it half. They keep repeating this activity, making the tarp as small as they possibly can while still getting every one on it. In the second tarp activity, the Patrol stands on the tarp and then has to turn the tarp over without getting off.

(3) Pick Up and Carry -  The girls have to use an elastic band and some string to move and stack 6 cups in a pyramid.

We then tried two group teamwork activities. The first was a Beach Ball Pass. The girls lay on their backs in a circle and has to pass a beach ball around the circle using only their feet. The second activity was a game called Islands where there are islands (mats) spread around the playing area. Everyone moves around and at a signal has to find an island. Each round, an island is removed and the girls have to share until everyone is standing on a single island!

After spending several weeks playing Everybody's It Tag, we've decided that we need to teach the Guides some new active games!

Our first game was "Captain's Coming". To play, everyone starts in the middle of the playing area and practices the commands (see below). Once everyone has an idea of what to do, the game leader calls out commands and everyone follows them. The Guiders prefer to play this just as a fun game, but the majority of the Guides wanted to play it as an elimination game. For eliminations, it is the last person to reach a spot or perform an action (often it is too close to tell, so there isn't someone out after every command).

• Captain's Coming - everyone lines up, stands at attention and salutes
• Bow - players run to the front of the room
• Stern - players run to the back of the room
• Port - players run to the left side of the room (left when facing the front of the room) 
• Starboard - players run to the right side of the room (right when facing the front of the room)
• Man Overboard - players lie on their backs and 'swim'
• Submarines - players lie on their backs with one leg in the air like a periscope
• Man the Lifeboats - players find a partner and join hands
• Torpedoes - players lie on their stomachs with their hands clapped together above their heads

Our second game was suggested by one of the Guides - Blog Tag - however it seems there are a lot of different versions of this game! The one we settled on is that when 'It' tags someone, they link arms and keep adding people as more players are tagged. The blob has to stay together and if they break apart, they have stop and reform before catching anyone else.

Our final activity was to design Be Prepared Kits. Each Patrol had to choose a theme (we had Camping by two Patrols and a trip to Canada's Wonderland by the third) and then decide what would be in their kit. They also had to create a short skit or commercial to advertise their kit to the rest of the Unit. After clean up, we closed with reminders for next week and Taps.

Go For It! Be A Good Sport

Tonight we shifted our focus to Active Living and worked on the UK's Guide Go For It! Be A Good Sport. Activities helped the Guides to work on the "Stay Fit & Healthy" section of the program and our Pathfinder to work on the "Beyond Baseball" Module.

After our opening ceremony and an active games, the girls made up small groups and were able to choose from 8 different activities.

How Do You Play?
Supplies: Paper, Pencils
Look around your meeting place and think about the games you play.
What do people need to do to stay safe while playing games?

Sport in the Community
Supplies: Paper, Pencils, Pencil Crayons
A new sports team is being set up in your area. What sport do they play?
Design a uniform for the new team!

Up, Up and Away
Supplies: Balloons, Newspaper, Tape
How about balloon volleyball, passing a balloon between your knees or balloon hockey using rolled up newspapers as hockey sticks?
Improvise a range of sports that you can play with balloons.

Sports From A to Z
Supplies: Paper, Pencils
Can your group come up with a sport for every letter of the alphabet?

A is for Acro, Acrobats
B is for Baseball, Basketball, Bocci Ball, Ballet
C is for Curling, Canoeing, Cricket
D is for Dancing
E is for Eating Corn, Egg Race
F is for Football, Fan Dancing
G is for Guitar, Gymnastics, Golf
H is for Horseback Riding, Hockey
I is for Ice Skating, Ice Hockey
J is for Juggling, Jazz, Jogging
K is for Kite Flying
L is for Lacrosse
M is for Minor Hockey League, Mat Boxing
N is for NHL, Net Fishing
O is for Octopus, Organized Baseball
P is for Polo, Pilates
Q is for Quarter Finals, Quail Hunting
R is for Ringette
S is for Singing, Swimming, Soccer
T is for Tennis
U is for Underwater Race
V is for Volleyball
W is for Water Skiing, Water Polo
X is for Xylophone Playing
Y is for Yak Riding, Yoga
Z is for Zebra Riding, Zumba

Getting Ready
Supplies: None
Before any physical activity, make sure you warm up to prevent muscle pulls and strains.
Create a warm up routine to stretch your muscles before your favourite activity.

Cheer Them On
Supplies: None
Cheerleading is both a recreational activity and a competitive sport involving organized routines, dance steps and gymnastics.
Make up a song, chant or dance to support your favourite team or sport.

Invent a New Game
Supplies: Paper, Pencils, Equipment
With your group, invent a new game. You may want to adapt an existing game or create something completely original. Don't forget to give it a name!
Create a set of rules for your game and don't forget to think about the safety aspects.

Poster Persuasion
Supplies: Paper, Markers
Design a poster to encourage others to be more active, eat healthy, or try a new sport.


Our meeting ended with a campfire and Taps.

International Day of the Girl 2016

Tonight we celebrated the 5th Annual International Day of the Girl!

In honour of this special day, Girl Guides of Canada produced an Instant Meeting focusing on Girls and Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that had lots of interesting activities. As our unit regularly runs STEM-related activities, we decided to work on the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge instead.

Download the GGC Instant Meeting
Download the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge

As the girls arrived, they played a tag game, after which we practiced forming a Horseshoe. One of the Guides led a game of Hot Dog Tag before we started our evening's program.

The #TeamGirl Challenge is divided into three parts: Team Discover, Team Build and Team Action. We completed Team Discover and Team Build, and began work on the Team Action section.

Team Discover
To begin our program, we talked briefly about the 17 Global Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, fight climate change and tackle all forms of inequality by 2030. We explained how Guiding members around the world were taking part in the #TeamGirl Challenge to learn more about these issues and make a difference in their own communities. We then introduced the NSP: Action on Poverty and talked about how through this project, Canadian Guiding members are addressing Goal #1 No Poverty.

Our first activity was Factors Leading to Poverty from the GGC NSP Instant Meeting.  We divided the girls into 3 colour groups - 70% yellow, 20$ red and 10% blue. Everyone then lined up across the centre of the room and we read out a series of statements from the meeting plan. For each statement, the girls had to take a certain number of steps forwards or backwards, depending on the colour of their card. Once we had finished, we had a reflection discussion about what the girls thought and felt during the activity and what statements stood out the most to them.

Our second activity was What Is Poverty Like? from Together We Can (Girlguiding UK, 2011). For this activity, the girls were divided up into groups of four and asked to describe poverty using their senses.

• Sight - How do others see you? What are your surroundings?
• Sound - What do others say to you? What background noises surround you?
• Smell - What kind of food is cooked around you? What is happening around you?
• Taste - What kinds of food do you eat?
• Feel - Where do you live? What is it like there? What emotions do you feel?

Although not an entirely successful activity, it did get everyone thinking about how poverty could affect a person's environment and living situation.

Team Build
For the Team Build section, we tried three of the activities from the #TeamGirl Challenge Pack. First up was Crocodile River. In this activity, girls are divided into teams and provided with newspaper. Their challenge is to get their whole team across a river full of crocodiles! The only way to get across the river is by stepping on floating logs or stones (the newspaper). Only one person may stand on a log or stone at a time. The logs and stones can be picked up and moved, but not thrown. The instructions said to provide each team with a number of pieces of newspaper equal to 1/3 the size of the group - i.e. 3 squares for 9 people, however, in order for this activity to work, the group needs a minimum of 3 squares regardless of the group size. We had four groups of four so that the activity wouldn't take too long (where girls might get bored).

The second activity was In Balance, where everyone stands in a circle and holds hands. The idea is that they can then lean backwards and the circle will help everyone stay upright. The second part is to have alternate girls lean inwards and outwards, and, again, the circle will help everyone stay upright. I have to label this activity as USE WITH CAUTION. If your girls are different sizes and strengths, they may hurt each other as the strain placed on hands and arms can be too much. It may work better if the girls linked arms rather than holding hands - but we didn't try this.

The final activity was the most popular - Tallest Tower. Each team was provided with straws and tape and given the goal of creating the tallest possible free-standing structure in the allowed time.


Team Action
To end our program, each group of girls was asked to use the last five minutes in order to come up with a list of ideas of how we could take action on poverty. The ideas were varied and we will use them going forward to complete both the #TeamGirl Challenge and the NSP: Action on Poverty.

The meeting ended with reminders for next week, distributing forms for the Planetarium trip on November 1st, and we closed with Taps.