Outdoor Skills

Our second meeting of September was spent outside working on outdoor skills, including compass work, trail signs, map reading, knots and observation.

As the girls arrived, they played tag and worked on the Unit Banner. Following a brief opening, the girls chose an active game to play while the Guiders finished gathering the materials for the evening's activities.

Once we were outside, the girls split up into 4 groups. Each group choose the activity they would start with by picking a number between 1 and 8. As they finished an activity, they returned the card and supplies and received a new one. Some groups spent considerable time on one or two activities, while others moved quickly through all of the options.

Card #1 - What Lives Here?
Choose a tree and with your group look for as many signs of life as you can find. Do you know what kind of tree it is? What plant life is growing around it? Are there signs of bird of animal life? Which birds and animals do you think live here? Is there any moss or lichen? Are there signs of insect activity? Which insects do you think live here?

Card #2 - Compass Directions
Use the compasses provided to follow these directions. Give the compass to one person. She should use the compass to find North and leads the group 5 paces in that direction. The next person finds West and goes 5 paces that way, repeat for South and then East. Where do you end up?

Card #3 - I'm Lost!
With your group make up a short skit showing what you should do if you get lost while hiking or camping.

Card #4 - Maps
Do you know what these symbols mean? (pictures of symbols for Fire Station, Information, Library, Pool, Elementary School, High School, Arena) Find out and then see if you can find them on the map. Find your house and the church on the map. Give directions to another member of your group from your house to the church.

Card #5 - Trail Signs
Look at the trail signs on the card. What do you think they would be made of outdoors? What do they mean? Find materials around the church to make trail signs. Split into two groups and lay short trails for each other to follow.

Card #6 - Triangles
Find 9 sticks on the ground. Lay them all down and see how many triangles you can make at once.

Card #7 - Scavenger Hunt
Can you find everything on the list? Remember not to move natural items. You just need to see the items, not bring them back.

Card #8 - Knots
Using the rope provided, or your scarf, tie a reef knot. If you already know how to tie a reef knot, help other members of your group to learn to tie one.

At the end of the evening we went back inside where each group presented their skit on what to do if they became lost, talked about what they needed to bring for the hike next week, how to stay safe while hiking, and how to behave on public and private property. We ended by learning the song "Pizzaman" and closed with Taps. 

Welcome to Guides & Pathfinders!

GUIDES
Our first Guide meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, September 8th. Girls were invitedto bring a friend and we had 16 girls join us for the evening, despite it being the first day of school. We try to cover a variety of different program areas and activities at our first meeting to give everyone an idea of what we do at Guides. The weather did not cooperate and we had to forgo some of our active games due to the heat and humidity.

As girls arrived they made a name tag and started working on the Unit Banner, which we are making as part of the One by One by One Challenge from BC (Arts). We had a brief opening, where everyone introduced themselves, followed by a Ball Toss game to help the girls learn each others names (Ice Breaker).

Next up was an active game, Blog Tag, which we knew to be a favourite from last year (Active Living). (Basically, one player is It and chases the others around the playing area. When she tags someone they join hands with her and become part of the 'blob'. Play continues until only one player is left. The blob can be left as one big group - having to stop anytime it breaks - or can be split each time it becomes larger than say 6 or 8 players.)

As it was a very hot and humid evening, after the game we stopped for a breather and talked about some of the girls' favourite activities from last year and what they would like to do this year.

We then moved on to a Math game called Nim from Germany (STEM). To play, the girls split up into pairs and each pair was given 9 beads. The beads are arranged in three rows like this:       x x
            x x x
           x x x x
Players take turns removing beads. They may take as many as they like, but they can only be from one row. So during a turn, they can take one or two from the first row OR one, two, or three from the second row OR one, two, three or four from the third row. The person who is left with the last bead loses. This game requires strategy and creative thinking in order to avoid being left with the last bead.

After cleaning up, we played Kim's Game (Outdoor Skills) with objects found around the hall. Some groups were more successful than others, but everyone did well as it was the first time playing for many girls.

Our final planned activities was to make the Fortune Tellers that are found in the Free Being Me activity packet (Personal Growth). Girls fold and decorate the fortune tellers, and under each flap finish the statement "I like my...". By playing the game with others, they learn more about each other.

We had planned to play a game from Ireland as this is the country we are linked with as part of the Badges for Thinking Day program, however we omitted the game due to the heat and humidity in the hall. We did talk briefly about how we will be learning more about Ireland and earning a badge from there later in the year.

We ended the meeting by talking about the activities that are planned for the next few weeks and by singing some favourite songs.

PATHFINDERS
The Pathfinders & Rangers had a 'welcome back' pizza and planning night on Friday, September 11th. Time was spent socializing and catching up as well as starting to make plans for the year.

Tekarama 8: A Nature-ly Fun Camp!

From June 12th to 14th, 12 Guides, 1 Ranger and 1 Guider, joined by 2 Guides from the 2nd Ontario Lone Guide Unit, attended Tekarama 8 at Camp Teka in Paris, Ontario. The camp was for Guides, and had 110 enthusiastic participants. All Guides attending earned the Naturalist badge.

On Friday night, we all arrived and set up the tents for the weekend. The girls then spent some time setting up their sleeping areas and chatting. Our first activity was hat crafts - the girls were able to make a number of different crafts including a sleeping camper, make new friends, Teka tree, and a pie iron. We then had a campfire, played a Night Eyes game to help the girls get to know the others who would be in their patrol for the weekend (the girls were all split up and each Guider accompanied a group of 7-8 girls, none from her own unit) and had a snack of spider dogs and hot chocolate before heading to bed. One tent decided to have an argument at 1.30am (I was NOT amused), but everyone still managed to be up bright and early - about 6am!

Saturday started with Colours and breakfast. After eating, each Patrol had a duty to perform
(i.e. cleaning the lats, planning Guides Own/Campfire/Sunday Colours, emptying dish basins, picking up trash). Activities for the day were planned in a round-robin fashion, with two stations in the morning and two in the afternoon. One station was to build a terrarium in a jar, using large empty jars, soil, plants and natural materials. A second was playing Kim's games - smell, sight, and touch, The third was learning about camouflage, cover and wind direction, then playing Predator-Prey, an Animal Sounds game, and Clothespin Tag. The final station was Pond Study with Sarah from the GRCA.

After we had finished our sessions, everyone had some free time where they could rest, play games, swap, work on puzzle booklets, or just socialize. After dinner, we played wide games, including Deer (an ecology/ecosystem game), followed by a Campfire and a snack before bed.

Unfortunately, Sunday morning started with rain, so we were unable to get the tents down dry, but it did let up enough for us to enjoy Colours, followed by Breakfast and Duties, then Guides Own. The rain returned in full force as we were striking camp, so, sadly, we went home rather wet, but having enjoyed the weekend.

 

Guide Advancement 2015

Our Guide Advancement Ceremony was celebrated in the last week of May. The girls came for 6.30pm as usually and the parents returned at 7.15pm for our ceremony at 7.30.

We began our ceremony by forming a horseshoe and then welcomed all of the parents and guests. Each girl then shared something that she really enjoyed about Guides this year.

Next, we called each girl up to receive her badges and Cookie All Stars Certificates. The badges were in cookie envelopes with a sheet attached listing what was inside (everyone receives lots of badges and challenge crests).

Once all the 1st and 2nd year Guides had received their awards, we called up the 3rd year girls individually. All girls received the Guide Challenge Pin and 3 received the Lady Baden-Powell Challenge (a 4th girl earned this Challenge, but was not present). The girls were called up, received their badges, pins, certificates, and a green gift bag. They then had to remain standing in a line while each of the other Guides came up one at a time and added an item to their bag, explaining what it was for (the bags became a "Guiding Survival Kit" to prepare them for Pathfinders). After all the items had been placed in the bags, our Junior Leader presented each girl with a blue flower and a green flower, and the girls then rejoined the horseshoe.

At the end of the ceremony, we called up our Junior Leader and presented her with the Girl Assistant Certificate for all of her help this year. Parents and guests were then thanked for coming and cupcakes and juice were served.

Hola Amiga! Welcome to Chile!

For 2015 and 2016 Ontario is twinned with Chile, so we had a meeting to celebrate this link and learn a bit more about our Chilean sisters as our final regular meeting!

As the girls arrived, they finished up their Forests illustrations, stories and skits from last week. We then had our usual opening followed by an active game led by one of the Patrols.

We started the program by learning a little bit about Chile and locating the country on a world map. The girls learned how to count to 10 in Spanish (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez) and a bit about Guiding in Chile.

Next we learned a bit about the traditional art of Crin Weaving, which uses horsehair to make delicate and intricate patterns. More information can be found here - http://www.participationandexchange.com/working-with-crin-a-chilean-horse-hair-weaving-technique-with-paola-raggo.html. We made a star craft using basic weaving techniques, similar to those used to make a God's Eye. We used white pipecleaners cut into thirds and multi-coloured yarn. If the pipecleaners were gradually folded upwards while weaving, it was possible to make a tiny basket (right).

We then played "Atrapar la Cola", or Catch the Tail. In this game, players are divided into two teams. Each team make a chain, linked by players holding onto the hips or shoulders of the player in front of them. The goal is to keep your chain from falling apart while trying to link up to the end of the opposing team before they link up to you!

Before the meeting, I had made a batch of Cocadas, which are basically a sweet, coconut ball that is baked in the oven. Recipes can be found in various places online. While we had our snack, we read a Chilean Folk Tale aloud - "The Magic of This World" (found at
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20101129/life/11290306)

Then we played another game "Cielo, Luna, Mar", or Sky, Moon, Sea. This game is usually played on a set of stairs, but we taped 3 lines on the floor so the whole unit could play (and it was much safer!). The lines were labeled "Sky", "Moon" and "Sea". A Guider would call out one of these and all the girls had to hop on both feet onto that line. When the next step was called, they had to jump to it (forwards or backwards) with their feet together. Girls were out if they jumped to the wrong line, took an extra step or didn't jump with the rest of the group (we got pretty strict towards the end as all of the girls were really good jumpers!).

Our last activity was another craft. In honour of Senorita Kot we made a beaver (pompom and fun foam) and a flag to go on our camp hats.

The meeting closed with Taps.

UN Forests Challenge Badge

Our second meeting in May was intended to be spend outside taking part in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, but rainy weather and overcast skies moved the meeting indoors (our cleanup location had no washrooms or shelter). We did not have our regular meeting space, but had access to two smaller rooms upstairs in the church.

We split the units up into two groups for the evening. The 3rd year Guides went with our Junior Leader to create records of the service projects they have taken part in, learn about Pathfinders, and practice a story presentation for later in the meeting. The 1st and 2nd year Guides worked together on the UN Forests Challenge Badge that we had started earlier in the year.

As the girls arrived, they were asked to write different ways that water can be used on slips of paper (i.e. by people, businesses, plants, animals).

We had a quieter version of our usual opening, followed by a quiet game led by one of the Patrols. Once we were ready to begin our program, the 3rd year Guides and our Junior Leader went off to another room. We began with Water Charades, using the ideas that the girls had written down at the beginning of the meeting.

Next, we had a drama activity based on the Canadian Forestry Association's Teaching Kit - Canada's Forests - A Fine Balance - Vol. 5: Species at Risk (2004). The activity we used was adapted from Lesson 3: Shrinking Habitat - Share the Space. Before starting, each girl was asked to take on the role of something that lives in the forest (i.e. bird, animal) and to think about how their creature would react. We used the story in the lesson plan, changing the last sentence to read "But what do the woodland creatures think?". After reading the story, each girl responded in words and/or actions how she thought her chosen creature would feel and what they would think about what was happening.

The girls then divided up into groups to play "The Green Zone" board game. This game is based on the online game available on the Canadian Forestry Association's website. As the players move around the board, they move forwards or backwards, lose or gain turns, and lose or gain tokens, depending on the scenarios written in the squares. Examples of scenarios are:

• Play outside or go for a bike ride instead of watching TV - +1
• Watch TV instead of helping plant trees - -3
• Community Park is closed to make room for a new building - -10 for everyone

The next 20 minutes or so were spent creatively describing the interactions between people and forests. Some girls wrote stories or poems, others drew pictures or made up a skit.

Our final activity of the meeting was a story reading by the 3rd year Guides. Each girl took on different parts and read out the story "Trees, Fish and Orang-utans" (Indonesia) found in The Right to Food: A Window on the World. (This book can be downloaded from the WAGGGS website at http://www.wagggs.org/en/resources/document/view/909.

We ended the meeting with Taps and had everyone ready for pick-up and downstairs in time for parents arriving.


(Resources on the Canadian Forestry Association's website can be found here - http://www.canadianforestry.com/kits/english/index.html)

Introduction to Guiding

The month of May started off with an Introduction to Guiding Event. We had two adults and 1 girl pre-register for the event, unfortunately none attended. We did end up recruiting two potential Guiders and hopefully they will complete the paperwork soon and we will be able to start planning for the new year!

Despite not having any visiting girls, the Sparks and the Guides still had a fun evening. As the girls arrived, they worked on bookmarks for the Students Rebuild Literacy Campaign. We then had the Sparks opening, followed by the Guides opening. One Patrol led an active game - Romeo and Juliet - and then the Sparks were divided amongst the Guide Patrols for the evening.

Our first activity had 3 parts. 3 Patrols started working on a collage, drawing pictures or using words to describe things they like about Guiding or they would like to do in Guiding. The fourth Patrol set out to follow a trail around the inside of the church (trail signs were drawn on cards and placed on the floor). While on the trail, they had to collect 3 pieces for a craft - a felt flower, felt center, and felt bracelet band. When the first Patrol arrived back in the main room, they started gluing their bracelets together and a second Patrol was sent out to follow the trail. As Patrols returned, they would make their bracelets and then return to working on the collage.

Next, we moved into the kitchen for a quick science experiment. We decided to do Magic Milk as it is fun, colourful and can have lots of girls do pieces. Basically, a thin layer of milk is poured onto a plate, then drops of food colouring are added. Drops of dish detergent are added, causing the colours to flow and swirl (the detergent reacts with the milk proteins and lowers the surface tension of the milk, so the food colouring can move freely.)

After cleaning up, we moved on to the international portion of our evening. As it was May 5th, we learned a little bit about Cinco de Mayo and Guiding in Mexico. We played :a Gallinita Ciega (The Blind Hen). In this game, one player is chosen to the the blind hen. She is blindfolded and all the other players scatter around the playing area. The hen has to try to tag the other players, who make noises and call out things like 'Here I am', while trying to eade the hen. When the hen tags another player, she gives them the blindfold and they become the blind hen.

We then had a piñata (made from a gift bag and strung onto a broomstick. Inside, were baggies with PR materials (bookmark, tattoo, postcard) and a mini-sticky notepad with 'Guiding is FUN-tastic! written on it and a roll of rocket candies (each girl received 1 baggie).

We ended the meeting with a participation - Mosquito Hunt (in Campfire Activities, page 86) and a short campfire, followed by Spark Closing and Taps.