Sunday, February 23, 2014

World Thinking Day 2014

So we had World Thinking Day yesterday, and the girls seemed to really enjoy it.  We had all the Sparks, Brownies and Guides from our town, and we invited a town that is just a half hour away as well, so we invited their Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers as well.

We started off by decorating paper bags with their names in both Roman characters and hieroglyphics. 

We made an awesome cut and paste project so that the girls could see all five regions of WAGGGS on the map, as well as the phrase "Education is in our hands."
 
We also made a Benin Flag hat craft with a pipe cleaner and some pony beads.  Some girls couldn't get all five rows (you have to start perfectly to get that to happen) but were more than happy to get four!

 
We also had the girls make a box of wonder.  They put their wonderings on strips of paper, so they don't forget their questions.  The boxes are white wedding favour boxes I found at the dollar store.  We had them colour them, then put the boxes together.
 
 
 
While we were getting our Mendhi done (we bought cones from Edmonton - we only needed three of their pre-prepared cones of henna), we had the other girls create fairies out of clothespins, felt and sequins.
 



 For the Mendhi we gave all the girls the WAGGGS logo on their hands.  More embellishment was given to leaders, Pathfinders and the Rangers.


Se we earned the WAGGGS badge while we were at Thinking day. 
For WAGGGS badge activities we:
 
1. Made our box of wonderings and talked about continuing learning.
2. Had a Nurse (female STEM worker) come in an talk to the girls about continuing with
math and science, as well as other Nursing careers.
3. Talked about the difference between formal and non-formal education.
For this we also had the girls make up a game to teach something they'd ordinarily learn in school.
4. We made up two posters - what they would see in a Good school and then for Bad school.




 
 
All in all, it was pretty fun and the girls seemed to learn a lot and have a good time.  I'm stopping by the church this morning to find my first aid kit (accidentally left it behind) as well as take some pictures of the posters I made for the event.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Lady Baden Powell

So this week we went for doing part of our Mouse Around the House Challenge, as well as part of the Brownies and Beyond Keeper and the Going Outside Keeper.  My coleader and I have promised ourselves to sort out which days get which keepers next year, but I've got to tell you, the hodge-podge is pretty darn fun!

We started off by having a kangaroo relay.  You make up some beanbags (I bought scrap fabric from my local shop - about a dollar, and the cheapest beans in the bulk section for the insides) and then separate teh girls into two groups.  They have to balance or clench the beanbag on themselves (between knees, on head) while they hop around obstacles and go back for the next girl to get a chance.  Since we have two Spark groups, the Glitterbugs raced on one side and the Sprinkles raced up the other.

I think we'll play some music for it next time, though.

Then we split off into two groups.

Sapphire took one group and started to make cute little rice hand warmers.  She made them up on her sewing machine and left one side open to add rice and for the girls to sew up.  She made sure that we pre-set the needles, with a knot in the bottom, so that they could start sewing after they got their rice in.

I took the other group and we made up a gluing project, with some of our Spark adventures.  We learned a little more about Lady Baden Powell as well.  Sapphire found a rhyme and had it printed out

Lady Baden Powell lived a long time ago
She was involved in Guiding as we all know.
She liked to help others, sing and play
Just as Sparks do today!

She also printed off a bunch of clipart Sparks (for those out-of-countryers, GGoC has clip art on our website that leaders can access) showing some of the awesome things we've done so far in Sparks.

Then we switched.

If girls had a little extra time we had them make some Valentines for Canadian troops abroad.

Here's the awesome LBP crest we gave the girls!




Here's the awesome project my coleader came up with:


We don't have Sparks next week because of Family Day (Alberta) - my next post should be just after Thinking Day - I'm planning a whole DAY of fun!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Africa Region WAGGGS Challenge

This week we decided to complete the Africa Region section of Alberta's 5 Region Challenge.  We've already completed Asia, Europe and Western Hemisphere at a camp last October.

We started off by looking at a map.  We identified for the girls where we were in Canada, then where Africa is, then I traced the outside of Africa Region.

Then we sang a song from Africa Region.  We sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  The girls really liked it.  They remember the song from The Lion King, which is kind of interesting.  To complete the challenge we also had to play a game from Africa Region.  We originally wanted to play the snake game, which we'd played already on another day and the girls enjoyed.  However, there was no outdoor recess today and the girls were... a little bit wild.  So we played a skit game and had them run around pretending to be different types of African animals.  Giraffe, elephant, lion, antelope, hyena, meercat, wild boar, hippopotamus and crocodile.

My coleader found a colouring page with a South African Teddy on it (their level of guiding in South Africa) which also has their motto and promise on it.

Then we completed a craft.  I cut the centres out of paper plates, and we showed then a few pictures of Maori warriors with their beautiful necklaces.  They then got to colour in their necklace.  I think they had a little bit of trouble really understanding what the necklaces represent, since my daughter decided to cover hers with heart stickers, but I think they had fun!

We capped off our evening by eating some snacks from Africa.  I made a chickpea rattle in the oven.  Chickpeas tossed with curry powder and baked for an hour.  Then I also cut up some fruit that is originally from Africa - one of the girls' favourites - watermelon!

My coleader gave out the badges.  The Going Camping Keeper (they finished water safety last week) and the WAGGGS Africa Region badge.

At the end of next month we're doing the Arab region.  Should be awesome!

Here's my daughter's attempt at the necklace -


Here are the badges they've been earning - all together they make a flower if you put them together in a circle.  Arab region is in purple!