Climb or Shoot at Camp Orenda 2018

This weekend, 2 Pathfinders and 1 Guider joined up with the 5th St Thomas Pathfinders and Rangers at Climb or Shoot Camp, held at Camp Orenda near London. There were about 80 girls and a total of 105 participants for the weekend. The forecast: Rain.

The girls hit it off and all went to do crafts in Chapandale before joining the Guiders in Toadstool (where we were supposedly singing, but rather just enjoying being warm and dry!). The girls did sing a couple of songs and played quiet games before going to find an evening snack. Due to the rain, everyone drifted off to their tents early - although not necessarily to sleep. The rain continued throughout the night - letting up at times, but always returning. 

We woke up to more rain on Saturday morning, but we were hopeful as the forecast was for it to end mid-way through the morning and for sunshine in the afternoon. The picnic shelter was a great, dry space for breakfast and we stayed mostly dry through camp duties (we were on garbage patrol) and opening. At 9.30am the rock climbers boarded the bus for East Park (archery participants would leave at 10am for the Archery Hood). By the time we reached East Park it seemed like the rain had finally let up. The areas of the park we were using didn't open to the public until 11am which was nice as the girls were able to access all of the activities without long waits. We headed inside before splitting up into two groups. We were doing rock climbing first and learned all about the proper knots, ropes, safety rules, climbing techniques and belaying before actually going up the ropes. The girls each had 2-3 goes at climbing different sections of the wall before their session ended. 

The groups switched, and we moved on to the other activities until lunch time. Their first choice of activities was the Jungle Gym - a large indoor structure with tunnels, slides, bridges and a ball pit - and they said that it brought back some fond "childhood memories". Each girl was also given tokens for the arcade games and tickets for a round of mini golf, 3 rounds of bumper cards, and a go-kart session. The go-karts were originally closed due to the weather, but we were lucky to be able to get in just before lunch. 

Lunch was an outdoor barbeque, followed by drop-in activities including finishing up activities from the morning, crafts and games. Crafts were a choice of fabric string bags, bandanas, small tote bags or pencil cases to colour with fabric markers. Games were human bridge (girls hold thick dowels while one person crosses the bridge) and the game where people try to move an object using rope only. But the best part - THE SUN CAME OUT!! We left East Park about 4pm and had free time back at camp. The girls dried up any remaining puddles or wet spots in the tents and then sat in the sun until supper. 

Supper was roast pork with apple sauce, mashed potatoes, corn and salad with brownies and ice cream for dessert - very tasty! Afterwards the girls all went to the lower camp to play a whole-camp game of Capture the Flag. We ended the day with a campfire led by Kris McGee. Songs included Tall Trees, Land of the Silver Birch/My Paddle, Listen to the Earth, Here the Lively Song, Whooping Cough, Flee Fly Flo, Ach Ven de Musica (in German) and Hey Hey Superman (in Spanish). We closed with Say Why and Taps. 

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, but with some threatening clouds - though thankfully theses cleared quickly. We had everyone dressed, breakfasted, packed and the tents put away by 9.30am when the St. Thomas girls were being picked up. One of our girls left a short while later, while the two of us remaining settled in to wait for our pick-up at 11am. I think everyone enjoyed camp - we certainly made some new friends, survived the rain, and enjoyed some very tasty food. 

Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up 2018

This week, the Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers took part in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. We cleaned up about 10kg of garbage from a 1km stretch along the Grand River by the Caledonia Dam. Our biggest find? Cigarette butts (135 with many more uncounted). Oddest finds? A deflated soccer ball, a golf ball, and the blade from a hockey stick.


After we finished our cleanup, we had played a wide game adapted from the "Together We Can Wide Game" from Girl Guides Victoria (Australia). The scenario goes :

You and a few friends took the wrong turn in the path. Your small but brave group now finds itself in a most dangerous country!

Mammoth plants block the path. Occasionally you see the flashing eyes of fierce animals peering at you from the tree tops. Strange, eerie noises echo around you.

It will take the courage of ALL of you to reach safety. You must guide your friends through this dark, frightening land. They cannot make it without your help. You cannot make it alone - you need your friends! Only together can you escape!

Each Patrol then had to work through 4 stations and the final Escape activity:

• Seek and Ye Shall Find - Scavenger Hunt to find seemingly random items
• The Silent Forest - Relay a message without writing or words
• The Hungry Mud - Guide a blindfolded partner along a path
• The Stone Tablet - Decipher a secret message

We ran out of time, but the final activity to escape was to use the items from the scavenger hunt to build a contraption that would allow the Patrol to escape and return home (creativity is a must!).

We closed with reminders for next week and Taps.


Links and Downloads:

• Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up (external link) 
• Wide Game Instructions
• Wide Game - Braille Messages
• Together We Can Wide Game (original game from GGA Victoria) 

Fun With Gardening!

This week we explored gardening and made our own Zen Gardens! If the girls want to earn the Gardening Badge, they will just need to take care of their own garden of plants and/or vegetables for a season. 

As the girls arrived, they started decorating their Zen Garden containers. We had our usual opening ceremony, and talked about the plan for the evening. We started out with an explanation about Zen Gardens and how some people find making patterns in them to be relaxing. Once they had finished their decorating, we helped the girls to fill their container half-way with salt and added a toothpick as the 'rake'. The girls then chose pebbles to add to their gardens. These gardens were very popular and the girls were excited to take them home and show them to their families.


Our second activity was to Design A Garden. Each girl had a sheet of paper and had to decide what she wanted to grow, and where to plant each item. Some girls got very creative, adding topiaries, ponds, paths and other decorative features. 

One of our Guiders is an active gardener, so she talked to the girls about Sites, Soils and Plant Protection. We learned about choosing where to place our plants based on how much sun or shade they need and the different soil types in our area. We had brought in soil samples from our garden and the girls were able to touch and feel clay soil, loamy soil that has been enriched over several years, peat with seaweed from the garden centre, compost from our backyard composter, and horse manure! The girls found out how to protect their plants, the importance of watering early in the morning or in the evening so the water has a chance to be absorbed into the soil rather than evaporating, and the need to cover plants when nights are cool in case of frost and providing shade on very hot days.

We broke for an active game at this point - Squirt - before moving on to our final activity.

The last activity of the evening was to make Reflective Garden Ornaments from old CDs. We provided glue, sequins and gems and let the girls be as creative as they wished! Wire was added so that the CDs can be hung up in a garden or window.


We finished with reminders for next week (Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up) and closed with Taps.

Bridging: Outdoor Games and Activities

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.

By Guides, For Guides: Leading Ladies & Dark Night

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.

Law Awareness & Bicycle Safety

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:

• Ontario Provincial Police (external link)
• Quick Facts for Parents - Learning About Online Safety (external PDF)
  
• Young Cyclist's Guide (MTO) (external PDF) 

By Guides, For Guides: Unicorns & Starburst

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:

• Accessibility Audit Form