Month: January 2017

January 31, 2017

Review: Rocks and Rings

What: An introduction to the sport of curling.  They played several active games with our girls to teach them the rules to curling and then they let the girls try the game using rocks with wheels on the bottom to give them the idea of the sport without the ice (brooms optional).

How many:  They handled our group of 30 girls.  They said that if we had more they could split the unit into two groups.

Where: They come to you.  You have to have a gym available.

How Much: They charge our unit about $140

More information: http://rocksandrings.com/

Rocks and Rings was great.  The communication before the evening was really great.  Their staff member was fantastic with the girls.  The girls were all really engaged with the program and they all got to try a sport they hadn’t tried before.

January 30, 2017

Accessible Buildings

Discover Your Community #4 asks girls to evaluate the accessibility of a public building or your meeting place.  I tried to find a good check list on line but I found the ones available were far too detailed and used a lot of language I’m sure most Guide age girls would struggle with.  So I made my own list.  If you’d like a copy you can get it from my Drop Box.  I created this for girls in my unit to do it on their own but it would also be fun to split up in patrols and have each patrol look at a different building.

January 27, 2017

New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Heritage Challenge

New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are beautiful and exciting provinces. By completing this challenge you will learn about your province, your community and your family and provincial heritage. You will also be able to share your personal Heritage with others.

The New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Heritage Challenge is divided into four sections:

  • Community
  • Family
  • Province
  • Social

The challenge is pretty specific to the two Provinces sponsoring it, but many of the activities would be worth while no matter where you live.

January 24, 2017

Valentines for Vets

Valentines for Vets is a service project to make valentines for Veterans.  Like Postcards for Peace this is run though Veterans Affairs Canada.

This is a great excuse to clean out the craft cupboard.  Let the girls show their creativity. Veterans Affairs Canada provides some good tips for writing appropriate messages in the valentines. After your valentines are complete you mail them in one envelope to Veterans Affairs Canada for distribution at:

Valentines for Vets
Veterans Affairs Canada
Commemoration, Distribution Unit
125 Maple Hills Ave.
Charlottetown, PE C1C 0B6

January 23, 2017

Constellation Stories

Part 5 of the astronomy badge requires the girls to learn the stories of some of the constellations.  Constellation Legends has a nice selection of the Greek mythology constellations.  The stories are not too long and they are each illustrated with a image showing both the Greek mythology character and the stars.

I printed some out so my girls could make up skits based on the stories.

I would love a good source for constellations stories from other cultures.  Anyone know one?

January 21, 2017

Empowering girls – today and always

It seems like a good day to revisit these words, first posted last November

GirlGuidesCANBlog

Over the past two days, there has been an incredible shift in the conversation about female role models and females in the lead – a conversation that has shifted from one of hope to one of despair.

As the CEO of Girl Guides of Canada–Guides du Canada (GGC), I want to bring our members – our Guiders, our parents, and most importantly our girls – a message of positivity and confidence in the future.  I am incredibly proud to belong to an organization that has withstood the test of time in putting girls first.

Today I want to encourage all of you to be more resilient than ever –  and more determined to make a difference in the lives of young girls and women. It is even more important today than it was yesterday to create opportunities for young girls and women to be empowered. Whether you are aspiring to the…

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January 20, 2017

Mighty Minds

Mighty Minds is Girl Guides of Canada’s new challenge on Mental Health.  The challenge was jointly developed by Girl Guides,  Kids Help Phone and The Psychology Foundation of Canada.  The package includes background information for Guiders and a different activity pack for each branch Sparks though Rangers.  While you might be able to do the challenge in one meeting, there is a lot in each pack and you could easily spend 2 or 3 meetings discussing this important topic.

If you are in Toronto this weekend Girl Guides is hosting a launch event Nathan Philip Square at 5:30 on Saturday January 21st.  There are other launch events being held in other communities in the weeks to come so if you live elsewhere in the country you may want to keep an eye out for it.

January 19, 2017

Silent Orders

Patrols in their corners.  A girl from each patrol is called to the game leader and told to get her patrol into some given position without speaking to the girls.  Fore example: sitting cross-legged in a line facing a certain direction; facing the door with hands on hips; standing in a row facing one way with legs apart and arms over head; etc.  Points are given to the quickest.  When Patrols become more experienced , they may be given several positions so they will have to carry out a series of positions (first position, second position, etc.) without spoken orders.

January 17, 2017

2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development

2017 has been declared by the UN to be the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development

While tourism often brings needed money to regions the needs of the tourists are not always aligned with the needs of local people.

There are five key areas they are hoping to draw focus too:

  1. Inclusive and sustainable economic growth
  2. Social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction
  3. Resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change
  4. Cultural values, diversity and heritage
  5. Mutual understanding, peace and security

We often talk to our girls about travel and life in other countries.  Why not ask the girls what they think it would be like to have lots of tourists coming to their town, taking photos of their homes etc?  What can we do when we travel to ensure that the next generation of travelers can also see what we get to see today?