09/10/15
Today was the first day of Pack Holiday! Our theme is Superheroes, and the sixes are called 'Bat Girl', 'Wonder Woman' and 'Hulk'. This year we took 17 girls and 11 leaders (5 Adults, 3 YLs, 2 Guides and an extra Leader's daughter), so we were full to capacity!
We arrived at about 4:30 to set up. We put up all the posters that the girls had made and sorted out all the food. A couple of us then did some school work before the girls arrived, to get some of it out of the way.
The girls arrived at 6pm. Unusually, most of the girls arrived just before then, as they had travelled in convoy as a large group of friends. We only had a couple who were later than that, and no-one got hopelessly lost, which is pretty easy to do since the house is in the middle of some woods!
We got the girls settled in their beds and then started hinting to the parents that now would be a good time to leave. We had one of our newer girls who, once her mum had walked out of the door, started crying. Her mum came back in to comfort her, which possibly wasn't the best idea in the world. It transpired that her torch didn't work and the one mum had offered her instead wasn't good enough for her. I went and got my torch, because I knew I was unlikely to need it, since I have one on my phone too. This made her happy and we could finally start the evening as planned.
We did the usual safety talk about wearing slippers indoors and not running etc, and then gave out the booklets to the girls with some activities that they could do if they were bored, including a colouring page, a wordsearch, a page for all the girls to sign, and a space to write a diary of the weekend, if they wish to do their Brownie Holiday badge, as this is the only part they won't cover just by staying for the whole weekend.
We had a dinner of hot dogs, and the girls made name labels to put on the table. We always make name labels and then, for each meal, we shuffle them up and put them out randomly so that girls are sat next to someone different each meal.
Finally, we let the girls get ready for bed and attempted to get them to go to sleep. They were all really excited though, as usual, so took a long time to settle down. We had a couple who came out of their room because they were feeling unwell (probably the amount of sweets they had eaten!) and the girl who has my torch got a little homesick at one point. When the majority of us leaders went to bed at about 10:30, the girls were still talking a bit, and Brown Owl had to go in and tell them that enough was enough and go to sleep. After that, they were significantly quieter, and went to sleep!
Monday 26 October 2015
Friday 23 October 2015
Button Sewing
08/10/15
This week we started doing things towards the Brownie Skills badge. We have decided that if we do something every now and again for a few weeks then the girls will be able to earn the badge without making them sit down and do it in one evening (which we tried once, to many complaints)!
This week, we did button sewing and knot tying. Most of the girls started off sewing on buttons. We gave them each a square of felt, a choice of buttons, a piece of thread, and a needle. We then had an adult sat on each table to assist the girls - my job mostly consisted of re-threading needles and tying knots in the end of the thread! A couple of the girls had no idea how to start but. once I had shown them with mine, they went off by themselves and were fine. Lots of them, once they had done one button, asked if they could do more which we were quite surprised by. One girl even came up to me at the next meeting and proudly showed me the badge that she had sewn onto her sash by herself, really neatly I must add!
We decided to leave the knots to a future week because they were enjoying themselves too much.
This week we started doing things towards the Brownie Skills badge. We have decided that if we do something every now and again for a few weeks then the girls will be able to earn the badge without making them sit down and do it in one evening (which we tried once, to many complaints)!
This week, we did button sewing and knot tying. Most of the girls started off sewing on buttons. We gave them each a square of felt, a choice of buttons, a piece of thread, and a needle. We then had an adult sat on each table to assist the girls - my job mostly consisted of re-threading needles and tying knots in the end of the thread! A couple of the girls had no idea how to start but. once I had shown them with mine, they went off by themselves and were fine. Lots of them, once they had done one button, asked if they could do more which we were quite surprised by. One girl even came up to me at the next meeting and proudly showed me the badge that she had sewn onto her sash by herself, really neatly I must add!
We decided to leave the knots to a future week because they were enjoying themselves too much.
Wednesday 21 October 2015
Senior Section Trip to London
03/10/15
As some of you may be aware, this year is the Senior Section Centenary. Across the country, lots of events aimed at the Senior Section are being organised. One of these was our region's recent trip to London for a wide game. We weren't given any details, except that it would involve being in a team of 4 and travelling across London completing a mission. As we have 4 Senior Section members helping at our unit, we decided to sign up for it.
A few days before we were due to go, we were given our mission - take photos with as many modes of transport as possible (along with at least one team member), over the course of 5 hours. There were also bonus points for various landmarks and guiding buildings.
We got to the train station at 8:45, ready to get on the train. We managed to get a table seat and pulled out or maps to get planning our route and making a list of all modes of transport we could think of. When we got to the next station, we bumped into several other Senior Section members heading to the same event, who had the same idea as us - plan the route on the way there.
We arrived at London Paddington and, when the clock hit 11am, we were given the signal - let the competition begin! Almost immediately we spotted a teen on a skateboard so we accosted him and took a photo - he seemed a bit confused... We ran around in the station for a while, getting as many obscure pictures as possible - including scissor lifts, piggy backs, and our own feet!
We then headed out into the streets of London. We took a fair few of the obvious photos - London cabs, buses, vans, and cars. A few of our photos took a little more work to get though - notably, the police van who asked the criminals in the back if they were OK with the photo, despite us not being able to see them; the people in the back of a cab who posed too; and the woman in the elephant onsie who was protesting about elephants not being used in circuses..!
We also went to the transport museum to see if we could get in. The answer was, yes, under 15s could go in for free, so the other 3 went to do some speed photos, while I waited in the shop and took a few photos of my own - a child's pram, a wheelbarrow (bizarrely full of plushie moles), and a ride-on suitcase! The others did the whole museum in 15 minutes flat - a pretty impressive feat!
We paused for lunch in a MacDonalds and then our quest continued. We focused on the landmarks more in the second half of the day - heading first for Trafalgar Square. There was a pretty large festival type thing going on so we stood on a wall to get proof we had been near, if not quite in, to it. We then rounded a corner and found an ambulance and proceeded to try and persuade the driver to let us through the barrier to take a photo with it. He said he couldn't do that but he was happy to pass a wheelchair through the barrier so we took a photo of that too!
We then headed down towards Downing Street to see if we could take a photo outside number 10. Unfortunately the answer was no as we hadn't pre-booked but we took a photo of the gate and a police officer and hoped that would count! We also went to Baden Powell House, Horse Guards Parade, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, before finally arriving at the Girlguiding HQ.
We sat down to work out how many point we had got (which took a long time) and came to 468! All the other teams were comparing obscure photos and looking round the shop before the winner was announced - it was us!
We were given a goodie bag which contained lots of sweets, a phone case and a Senior Section Spectacular badge for each of us. Everyone who attended was also given a LaSER London Challenge badge as we had completed it by taking part.
It was a great day out, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to do something similar! There isn't much time to stop and see much, but you get a pretty good overview of London.
A selection of our photos:
As some of you may be aware, this year is the Senior Section Centenary. Across the country, lots of events aimed at the Senior Section are being organised. One of these was our region's recent trip to London for a wide game. We weren't given any details, except that it would involve being in a team of 4 and travelling across London completing a mission. As we have 4 Senior Section members helping at our unit, we decided to sign up for it.
We got to the train station at 8:45, ready to get on the train. We managed to get a table seat and pulled out or maps to get planning our route and making a list of all modes of transport we could think of. When we got to the next station, we bumped into several other Senior Section members heading to the same event, who had the same idea as us - plan the route on the way there.
We arrived at London Paddington and, when the clock hit 11am, we were given the signal - let the competition begin! Almost immediately we spotted a teen on a skateboard so we accosted him and took a photo - he seemed a bit confused... We ran around in the station for a while, getting as many obscure pictures as possible - including scissor lifts, piggy backs, and our own feet!
We then headed out into the streets of London. We took a fair few of the obvious photos - London cabs, buses, vans, and cars. A few of our photos took a little more work to get though - notably, the police van who asked the criminals in the back if they were OK with the photo, despite us not being able to see them; the people in the back of a cab who posed too; and the woman in the elephant onsie who was protesting about elephants not being used in circuses..!
We also went to the transport museum to see if we could get in. The answer was, yes, under 15s could go in for free, so the other 3 went to do some speed photos, while I waited in the shop and took a few photos of my own - a child's pram, a wheelbarrow (bizarrely full of plushie moles), and a ride-on suitcase! The others did the whole museum in 15 minutes flat - a pretty impressive feat!
We paused for lunch in a MacDonalds and then our quest continued. We focused on the landmarks more in the second half of the day - heading first for Trafalgar Square. There was a pretty large festival type thing going on so we stood on a wall to get proof we had been near, if not quite in, to it. We then rounded a corner and found an ambulance and proceeded to try and persuade the driver to let us through the barrier to take a photo with it. He said he couldn't do that but he was happy to pass a wheelchair through the barrier so we took a photo of that too!
We then headed down towards Downing Street to see if we could take a photo outside number 10. Unfortunately the answer was no as we hadn't pre-booked but we took a photo of the gate and a police officer and hoped that would count! We also went to Baden Powell House, Horse Guards Parade, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, before finally arriving at the Girlguiding HQ.
We sat down to work out how many point we had got (which took a long time) and came to 468! All the other teams were comparing obscure photos and looking round the shop before the winner was announced - it was us!
We were given a goodie bag which contained lots of sweets, a phone case and a Senior Section Spectacular badge for each of us. Everyone who attended was also given a LaSER London Challenge badge as we had completed it by taking part.
It was a great day out, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to do something similar! There isn't much time to stop and see much, but you get a pretty good overview of London.
A selection of our photos:
Monday 19 October 2015
Posters
Apologies for these being a bit behind - life has really got in the way these last few weeks. Stay tuned over the next short while though as I will be getting up-to-date which will involve Pack Holiday and another exciting adventure!
01/10/15
This week the girls coloured in posters for pack holiday. It was a fairly relaxed evening as all I needed to do was to sit with some of the girls and colour in my own picture.
When they were done, we played a quick game of 'Trains' and then sent them home - a nice easy meeting!
01/10/15
This week the girls coloured in posters for pack holiday. It was a fairly relaxed evening as all I needed to do was to sit with some of the girls and colour in my own picture.
When they were done, we played a quick game of 'Trains' and then sent them home - a nice easy meeting!
Monday 28 September 2015
Badges, Parent's Meeting, and PowWow
24/09/15
I was slightly late to the meeting today so I don't know what they were doing for the first 20 minutes or so but, once I had got there, we handed out their badges for Pack Holiday for them to colour in. I sat on a table with one of the sixes and coloured in my own badge. We then used a machine to turn them into 'proper' badges, which the girls as usual thought was absolutely amazing!
When they were done, we invited the parents in for the parent's meeting for Pack Holiday and we attempted to keep the girls occupied but quiet. One of our Young Leaders ran a PowWow for them, as it was the only thing she had left to complete for her YLQ. She asked them which badge they would like to do over the next term, and had them suggest and then vote on a few activities that they could do as part of it.
Finally, we handed out the teddies to go home with girls, gave a few seconders badges out, and sang Brownie Bells before sending the girls home. It was a fairly peaceful meeting today, which was nice.
I was slightly late to the meeting today so I don't know what they were doing for the first 20 minutes or so but, once I had got there, we handed out their badges for Pack Holiday for them to colour in. I sat on a table with one of the sixes and coloured in my own badge. We then used a machine to turn them into 'proper' badges, which the girls as usual thought was absolutely amazing!
When they were done, we invited the parents in for the parent's meeting for Pack Holiday and we attempted to keep the girls occupied but quiet. One of our Young Leaders ran a PowWow for them, as it was the only thing she had left to complete for her YLQ. She asked them which badge they would like to do over the next term, and had them suggest and then vote on a few activities that they could do as part of it.
Finally, we handed out the teddies to go home with girls, gave a few seconders badges out, and sang Brownie Bells before sending the girls home. It was a fairly peaceful meeting today, which was nice.
Wednesday 23 September 2015
Board Games and Chocolate
17/09/15
This week there was a picnic to celebrate the 50 birthday of the local primary school, which most of our girls attend. As such, we only had 10 girls. We had asked the girls the previous week who was going to the picnic so we already knew it was going to be a depleted meeting.
We bought 2 board games for the girls to play in groups of 2 or 3. The first was a version of snakes and ladders, called worms and fleas. You jumped up the fleas and slid down the worms. There was also the added complication of pills (don't slide down the next worm you land on) and flea drops (move forwards to the next flea and jump up it). The other was a Paddington Bear game. Each girl had 2 slices of bread and a jar of marmalade (as tokens) which they placed on any square on the track. Each time they rolled the dice they had the choice of going forwards hat many, or backwards (not both). By the end of the track, they had to have collected 2 slices of bread and a jar of marmalade each (not necessarily the ones they had put on the board), so that Paddington could make himself a marmalade sandwich!
At the same time, we decorated chocolate disks. Our Young Leaders melted some chocolate, and spread it in thin disks on greaseproof paper. They let it set a bit and then the girls came in to decorate them with all the left-over decorations we had from various other cooking evenings. We had white chocolate buttons, smarties, and various shaped sprinkles. All the girls were really good at only taking a few, and not just loading it up with as much sugary stuff as possible (as we've had in the past). Can't quite say the same for us Leaders after the girls had gone though, and we were left with some bars of chocolate and a tube of smarties!
When they were all done we played a game of Chinese Charades. We found that it was a good game with fairly short lines of girls; we added in a few leaders and had 2 lines of 6 girls. The girls seemed to enjoy it too. We also sang a couple of songs: 'There Was an Old Man', and 'Cookie Jar'.
Finally we let the girls go home, which was far less complicated with a small number! Sometimes it is nice to have a meeting with a few girls as you get to spend some time with them more one-on-one, however I wouldn't want to do it every week - there are some things that are designed for more people.
This week there was a picnic to celebrate the 50 birthday of the local primary school, which most of our girls attend. As such, we only had 10 girls. We had asked the girls the previous week who was going to the picnic so we already knew it was going to be a depleted meeting.
We bought 2 board games for the girls to play in groups of 2 or 3. The first was a version of snakes and ladders, called worms and fleas. You jumped up the fleas and slid down the worms. There was also the added complication of pills (don't slide down the next worm you land on) and flea drops (move forwards to the next flea and jump up it). The other was a Paddington Bear game. Each girl had 2 slices of bread and a jar of marmalade (as tokens) which they placed on any square on the track. Each time they rolled the dice they had the choice of going forwards hat many, or backwards (not both). By the end of the track, they had to have collected 2 slices of bread and a jar of marmalade each (not necessarily the ones they had put on the board), so that Paddington could make himself a marmalade sandwich!
At the same time, we decorated chocolate disks. Our Young Leaders melted some chocolate, and spread it in thin disks on greaseproof paper. They let it set a bit and then the girls came in to decorate them with all the left-over decorations we had from various other cooking evenings. We had white chocolate buttons, smarties, and various shaped sprinkles. All the girls were really good at only taking a few, and not just loading it up with as much sugary stuff as possible (as we've had in the past). Can't quite say the same for us Leaders after the girls had gone though, and we were left with some bars of chocolate and a tube of smarties!
When they were all done we played a game of Chinese Charades. We found that it was a good game with fairly short lines of girls; we added in a few leaders and had 2 lines of 6 girls. The girls seemed to enjoy it too. We also sang a couple of songs: 'There Was an Old Man', and 'Cookie Jar'.
Finally we let the girls go home, which was far less complicated with a small number! Sometimes it is nice to have a meeting with a few girls as you get to spend some time with them more one-on-one, however I wouldn't want to do it every week - there are some things that are designed for more people.
Monday 14 September 2015
Friendship Bookmarks
10/09/15
This week we did a craft which was suggested to us by Brown Owl's sister, who did it at a District event with her Brownies.
Each girl was given a printout of her name in bubble writing. They coloured in the letters and decorated round the outside. Then they cut it up so all the letters were separate. We then tasked them with finding people to swap all of their letters with, so they could still spell their own name but with letters that someone else had coloured it. Most of them managed it, we had a 'u', 'z', and 'j' left that we couldn't swap anywhere! We then gave them a piece of coloured card that they could stick their letters to, to make it into a bookmark.
When they were done, we tidied up (which took ages) and then we sang a few songs. We sang 'Oh You'll Never Get To Heaven' and 'Cecil is my Caterpillar'. The District Commissioner also made an appearance at the end of the meeting, to present one of our Young Leaders with her badge and certificate. She then told us about a trip for Senior Section members to London which the group of us who help out at Brownies are going to go on in October (so look out for that post!).
During the circle at the end, I was tasked with handing out receipts to the vast majority of the girls, which was a real test of my knowledge of their names (I only mixed up 2 in the end)!
This week we did a craft which was suggested to us by Brown Owl's sister, who did it at a District event with her Brownies.
Each girl was given a printout of her name in bubble writing. They coloured in the letters and decorated round the outside. Then they cut it up so all the letters were separate. We then tasked them with finding people to swap all of their letters with, so they could still spell their own name but with letters that someone else had coloured it. Most of them managed it, we had a 'u', 'z', and 'j' left that we couldn't swap anywhere! We then gave them a piece of coloured card that they could stick their letters to, to make it into a bookmark.
When they were done, we tidied up (which took ages) and then we sang a few songs. We sang 'Oh You'll Never Get To Heaven' and 'Cecil is my Caterpillar'. The District Commissioner also made an appearance at the end of the meeting, to present one of our Young Leaders with her badge and certificate. She then told us about a trip for Senior Section members to London which the group of us who help out at Brownies are going to go on in October (so look out for that post!).
During the circle at the end, I was tasked with handing out receipts to the vast majority of the girls, which was a real test of my knowledge of their names (I only mixed up 2 in the end)!
Tuesday 8 September 2015
First meeting, third year!
03/09/15
Apologies that this was a bit late, completely forgot I needed to write it..!
This week was our first meeting back for the new school year. As always, the girls were slightly hyper so we didn't plan on doing anything particularly strenuous! We let them all have a turn for show-and-tell this week (usually we do one six a week) and told them they had to be quick or we'd miss them out.
We started off by playing a game to try and get rid of some of their energy (and to give the Adults and Young Leaders a chance to catch up themselves!). We played the game where you sit in a circle, with one girl in the middle and you call out something such as 'who has a brother' or 'who's wearing blue shoes' and anyone who fits that description has to swap chairs with someone else, and the girl in the middle has to sit down somewhere.
We then split the girls into those who are going on Pack Holiday in October, and those who aren't. The ones who aren't were given some wordsearches and puzzles to do together. We took the ones who are going and split them into sixes. We chose three girls who had been before to be the sixers and then spread out the other girls so they were with friends but we also had a fairly even mix of girls who had and hadn't in each six. They were then tasked with choosing a name for themselves, around our theme of superheroes. Once they had done that, we got them to sit in their sixes and asked the older ones to tell the younger ones what Pack Holiday is like and what things we do, as we have a lot of younger girls who've never been before. The girls got bored discussing that though, and started having their own conversations. I joined in one with a few of the newer girls, which resulted in two of them tying my shoe laces to prove that they could (it took me a while to undo them again later on!).
To end the meeting, we sang a few songs because we realised that we haven't done that in a while and we have a lot of new girls who don't know the songs that we will be singing on Pack Holiday around our campfire. We sang 'Cecil is my Caterpillar', 'Cookie Jar', and 'Three Little Angels' before letting the girls go home.
It was a chaotic meeting, as is usually the case with the first meeting back, but I enjoy those kind of meetings because the girls seem a lot chattier than at the end of a term which is the part I enjoy about Brownies.
Apologies that this was a bit late, completely forgot I needed to write it..!
This week was our first meeting back for the new school year. As always, the girls were slightly hyper so we didn't plan on doing anything particularly strenuous! We let them all have a turn for show-and-tell this week (usually we do one six a week) and told them they had to be quick or we'd miss them out.
We started off by playing a game to try and get rid of some of their energy (and to give the Adults and Young Leaders a chance to catch up themselves!). We played the game where you sit in a circle, with one girl in the middle and you call out something such as 'who has a brother' or 'who's wearing blue shoes' and anyone who fits that description has to swap chairs with someone else, and the girl in the middle has to sit down somewhere.
We then split the girls into those who are going on Pack Holiday in October, and those who aren't. The ones who aren't were given some wordsearches and puzzles to do together. We took the ones who are going and split them into sixes. We chose three girls who had been before to be the sixers and then spread out the other girls so they were with friends but we also had a fairly even mix of girls who had and hadn't in each six. They were then tasked with choosing a name for themselves, around our theme of superheroes. Once they had done that, we got them to sit in their sixes and asked the older ones to tell the younger ones what Pack Holiday is like and what things we do, as we have a lot of younger girls who've never been before. The girls got bored discussing that though, and started having their own conversations. I joined in one with a few of the newer girls, which resulted in two of them tying my shoe laces to prove that they could (it took me a while to undo them again later on!).
To end the meeting, we sang a few songs because we realised that we haven't done that in a while and we have a lot of new girls who don't know the songs that we will be singing on Pack Holiday around our campfire. We sang 'Cecil is my Caterpillar', 'Cookie Jar', and 'Three Little Angels' before letting the girls go home.
It was a chaotic meeting, as is usually the case with the first meeting back, but I enjoy those kind of meetings because the girls seem a lot chattier than at the end of a term which is the part I enjoy about Brownies.
Monday 27 July 2015
End of second year party!
16/07/15
This week was the last meeting of the year. We go back at the beginning of September.
This party was organised by two girls who went up to Guides a few weeks back. All the girls came in their pyjamas with a teddy and a pillow. We shut all the curtains and turned out the lights to make it slightly darker (the curtains are pretty thin so it wasn't dangerously dark).
The girls started off by playing some games and the adults spent most of the time making sure they weren't anywhere near the tables of food we had set out. We only had one minor incident when they had a pillow fight and one girl got a bit close to the table and took out a few crisps! They also had a teddy competition where they lined up all the teddies and had a few leaders choose their favourite to win a prize.
When they were done playing the games, we let them loose on the food. I was quite surprised how many girls took fruit (we always make sure we have some but we don't force it on them). We managed to survive this party without having any spillages either, which might be a first!
Once they were done eating, it was time to hand out some badges and the shield (girls gain points for attending meetings and doing badges, then the one with the most keeps the shield for a term) before wishing them a good summer and sending them home.
This year has been quite bitty for me but it's been nice to see the girls when I've had the chance. I have my fingers crossed that next year my timetable will slightly nicer and I'll be able to help at a unit while I'm at university too - I've definitely been missing it!
This week was the last meeting of the year. We go back at the beginning of September.
This party was organised by two girls who went up to Guides a few weeks back. All the girls came in their pyjamas with a teddy and a pillow. We shut all the curtains and turned out the lights to make it slightly darker (the curtains are pretty thin so it wasn't dangerously dark).
The girls started off by playing some games and the adults spent most of the time making sure they weren't anywhere near the tables of food we had set out. We only had one minor incident when they had a pillow fight and one girl got a bit close to the table and took out a few crisps! They also had a teddy competition where they lined up all the teddies and had a few leaders choose their favourite to win a prize.
When they were done playing the games, we let them loose on the food. I was quite surprised how many girls took fruit (we always make sure we have some but we don't force it on them). We managed to survive this party without having any spillages either, which might be a first!
Once they were done eating, it was time to hand out some badges and the shield (girls gain points for attending meetings and doing badges, then the one with the most keeps the shield for a term) before wishing them a good summer and sending them home.
This year has been quite bitty for me but it's been nice to see the girls when I've had the chance. I have my fingers crossed that next year my timetable will slightly nicer and I'll be able to help at a unit while I'm at university too - I've definitely been missing it!
Monday 20 July 2015
Team evening in a park
09/07/15
[First off, apologies for this being late; what with visiting the boyfriend and starting a new job, I completely forgot I hadn't written last week's meeting up!]
This week was organised by our YL as part of her YLQ. We joined forces with another unit who meet in a different hall on the same night and did several team-building games in a local field.
First then girls stood in a circle. A ball was given to one girl who had to say a girl's name, throw the ball to that girl and sit down. This continued until all the girls were sat down. We didn't think it would work too well as none of our girls knew any of the other unit's girls but we did eventually get all of them sat down by getting them to ask a girl's name and then throw her the ball. They then all stood back up and were tasked with remembering who they threw the ball to last time and doing it again without having to ask the girl what her name was first. It went relatively well considering it was the first time any of them had met each other. If you are doing this in your unit where everyone knows everyone else, then you can give the ball to the last girl standing and task them with throwing it back to the girl who threw it to them.
The girls were then separated into 3 groups with an even mix of each unit for some other games. One of the games was a blindfolded obstacle course. The girls were split again into 2 teams, with an even number from each unit. One girl (usually a sixer) was in charge of navigation and the rest of her team took it in turn to be blindfolded and guided around the obstacle course (round some cones, stepping over some ropes, through a zigzag) while carrying a cupful of water. When all the girls had been down the course, the amount of water left in each team's cup was measured and a winner declared. The next was a game of charades in their two teams. The final game was a 'how well you know people' type quiz. Each girl had to write a given fact about her (something she likes, something she dislikes, an obscure fact etc.) on a piece of paper and put it in a hat. Each team then took it in turns to pull a piece of paper out the hat and guess which girl had out it in. If they got it right, they got a point for their team, otherwise it was passed over to the other team to have a guess.
Finally, the girls, in their 3 groups, played a game with a ball. All the girls stood in a line, with the one at the front holding the ball. It was then passed over her head to the girl behind, then between her legs to the next girl and so on until it reached the back. The last girl then ran to the front of the line and started again. The winner was the first team to cross a ''finish line' with their whole team. We found it quite hard to stop the girls drifting forwards while the ball was being passed down the line but they were having fun so we didn't mind too much!
Overall, this went relatively smoothly for it being the YLs first taste of planning and running a meeting by herself. We had to give her a few pointers when she'd forgotten something (like a rainy-day plan) but all-in-all she did a great job of organising it. And it was all the better for me as I didn't have to do much and could catch up with a friend who helps at the other unit who I haven't seen for almost a year!
[First off, apologies for this being late; what with visiting the boyfriend and starting a new job, I completely forgot I hadn't written last week's meeting up!]
This week was organised by our YL as part of her YLQ. We joined forces with another unit who meet in a different hall on the same night and did several team-building games in a local field.
First then girls stood in a circle. A ball was given to one girl who had to say a girl's name, throw the ball to that girl and sit down. This continued until all the girls were sat down. We didn't think it would work too well as none of our girls knew any of the other unit's girls but we did eventually get all of them sat down by getting them to ask a girl's name and then throw her the ball. They then all stood back up and were tasked with remembering who they threw the ball to last time and doing it again without having to ask the girl what her name was first. It went relatively well considering it was the first time any of them had met each other. If you are doing this in your unit where everyone knows everyone else, then you can give the ball to the last girl standing and task them with throwing it back to the girl who threw it to them.
The girls were then separated into 3 groups with an even mix of each unit for some other games. One of the games was a blindfolded obstacle course. The girls were split again into 2 teams, with an even number from each unit. One girl (usually a sixer) was in charge of navigation and the rest of her team took it in turn to be blindfolded and guided around the obstacle course (round some cones, stepping over some ropes, through a zigzag) while carrying a cupful of water. When all the girls had been down the course, the amount of water left in each team's cup was measured and a winner declared. The next was a game of charades in their two teams. The final game was a 'how well you know people' type quiz. Each girl had to write a given fact about her (something she likes, something she dislikes, an obscure fact etc.) on a piece of paper and put it in a hat. Each team then took it in turns to pull a piece of paper out the hat and guess which girl had out it in. If they got it right, they got a point for their team, otherwise it was passed over to the other team to have a guess.
Finally, the girls, in their 3 groups, played a game with a ball. All the girls stood in a line, with the one at the front holding the ball. It was then passed over her head to the girl behind, then between her legs to the next girl and so on until it reached the back. The last girl then ran to the front of the line and started again. The winner was the first team to cross a ''finish line' with their whole team. We found it quite hard to stop the girls drifting forwards while the ball was being passed down the line but they were having fun so we didn't mind too much!
Overall, this went relatively smoothly for it being the YLs first taste of planning and running a meeting by herself. We had to give her a few pointers when she'd forgotten something (like a rainy-day plan) but all-in-all she did a great job of organising it. And it was all the better for me as I didn't have to do much and could catch up with a friend who helps at the other unit who I haven't seen for almost a year!
Tuesday 7 July 2015
Sale for Vale Wildlife
02/07/15
First off, apologies for this being late!
This week was our sale to raise money for Vale Wildlife who came and visited us a few weeks back. The girls had all planned a stall in small groups and they all arrived and set up their stalls on the tables we had laid out round the hall. We had a large variety of stalls, including a tombola, face painting, drawing competition, hook-a-duck, darts, and much more. I was impressed at the range of ideas the girls had come up with, particularly considering we have a large number of new girls who haven't been at one of our sales before.
Once the girls had all set up, Brown Owl declared the sale open for business and all the parents, grandparents, and friends started spending their money. I was on the refreshments stall, as usual, which meant I could spend a fair amount of time just watching the girls running their stalls. They were all doing a very good job, although I did have to help one group work out how much change they needed to give (they didn't know £1 was 100p so were confused). I was particularly impressed by the group doing hook-a-duck. They were all new girls and we were a bit concerned because the last time we had a stall outside (can't get the hall floor wet) they didn't raise much money as no-one knew they were out there. However, this time the girls took it in turns to walk round the hall holding a poster and shouting about their stall so more people would know they were out there.
As we were drawing close to the end of the meeting, Brown Owl stopped the sale and got the girls to count up how much money they had made and write it on the piece of paper they had been given so we could do a rough count of the money to tell them before they left. Once we got home, we counted it all up accurately and removed the float.
In total, we raised £151.30 for Vale Wildlife!
First off, apologies for this being late!
This week was our sale to raise money for Vale Wildlife who came and visited us a few weeks back. The girls had all planned a stall in small groups and they all arrived and set up their stalls on the tables we had laid out round the hall. We had a large variety of stalls, including a tombola, face painting, drawing competition, hook-a-duck, darts, and much more. I was impressed at the range of ideas the girls had come up with, particularly considering we have a large number of new girls who haven't been at one of our sales before.
Once the girls had all set up, Brown Owl declared the sale open for business and all the parents, grandparents, and friends started spending their money. I was on the refreshments stall, as usual, which meant I could spend a fair amount of time just watching the girls running their stalls. They were all doing a very good job, although I did have to help one group work out how much change they needed to give (they didn't know £1 was 100p so were confused). I was particularly impressed by the group doing hook-a-duck. They were all new girls and we were a bit concerned because the last time we had a stall outside (can't get the hall floor wet) they didn't raise much money as no-one knew they were out there. However, this time the girls took it in turns to walk round the hall holding a poster and shouting about their stall so more people would know they were out there.
As we were drawing close to the end of the meeting, Brown Owl stopped the sale and got the girls to count up how much money they had made and write it on the piece of paper they had been given so we could do a rough count of the money to tell them before they left. Once we got home, we counted it all up accurately and removed the float.
In total, we raised £151.30 for Vale Wildlife!
Monday 29 June 2015
Fayre Planning, Banana Animals, and Promises
25/06/15
This week we had two activities for the girls to do. The first was to draw the posters for their stalls at our fayre next week. The other was to make banana penguins. Our two Young Leaders, and an Adult helped with that, by melting the chocolate in the microwave and allowing girls in a few at a time as we only have a small kitchen to do it in. I helped in the main hall by supervising the girls doing their posters.
We also had 2 more girls make their promises, and I helped the hostess again. This time we only had to make 2 black teas, which made my life slightly easier! Our only issue was that the girl doing her badge wasn't strong enough to lift the kettle so I had to pour the water for her. Other than that, she was one of the better ones I've helped, and was particularly thorough when it came to washing and drying up!
It was a fairly relaxed evening, the last of those we're going to have this term..!
In other news, I have been going through some more of my Look Wider Qualification and typing up parts I've done. I'm getting close to finishing a few more Octants, I think, and have plans for how to complete a few more Phases so keep an eye out for that! I have updated the Look Wider page so you can see how close I am to completing each Octant.
This week we had two activities for the girls to do. The first was to draw the posters for their stalls at our fayre next week. The other was to make banana penguins. Our two Young Leaders, and an Adult helped with that, by melting the chocolate in the microwave and allowing girls in a few at a time as we only have a small kitchen to do it in. I helped in the main hall by supervising the girls doing their posters.
We also had 2 more girls make their promises, and I helped the hostess again. This time we only had to make 2 black teas, which made my life slightly easier! Our only issue was that the girl doing her badge wasn't strong enough to lift the kettle so I had to pour the water for her. Other than that, she was one of the better ones I've helped, and was particularly thorough when it came to washing and drying up!
It was a fairly relaxed evening, the last of those we're going to have this term..!
In other news, I have been going through some more of my Look Wider Qualification and typing up parts I've done. I'm getting close to finishing a few more Octants, I think, and have plans for how to complete a few more Phases so keep an eye out for that! I have updated the Look Wider page so you can see how close I am to completing each Octant.
Monday 22 June 2015
Mosaic Coasters
18/06/15
This week we did the craft that we were supposed to do last week, mosaic coasters.
Each girl had been given the choice of blue or pink and then Brown Owl had attempted to order the right numbers of each (however they didn't have enough in stock for last week). We then gave the girls the one they had asked for, but told them they could swap with someone if they both wanted to. Each kit came with the board to put the tiles on, which had a piece of paper to peel off and reveal the sticky side. However, several of the girls managed to peel off the sticky and the backing too so we ended up going round and fixing a lot of them!
Finally, they settled down and started making them. Each pack comes with a suggested pattern to follow, and a few girls followed that, while others made up their own designs. We spent the whole meeting doing these because the girls didn't want to stop! For those who still hadn't finished when the meeting ended, we put the spare tiles back in the bag and covered over the remaining sticky so they could finish it off at home.
This was a nice quiet meeting, and I ended up sat at a table with a handful of girls, just talking to them which was nice.
This week we did the craft that we were supposed to do last week, mosaic coasters.
Each girl had been given the choice of blue or pink and then Brown Owl had attempted to order the right numbers of each (however they didn't have enough in stock for last week). We then gave the girls the one they had asked for, but told them they could swap with someone if they both wanted to. Each kit came with the board to put the tiles on, which had a piece of paper to peel off and reveal the sticky side. However, several of the girls managed to peel off the sticky and the backing too so we ended up going round and fixing a lot of them!
Finally, they settled down and started making them. Each pack comes with a suggested pattern to follow, and a few girls followed that, while others made up their own designs. We spent the whole meeting doing these because the girls didn't want to stop! For those who still hadn't finished when the meeting ended, we put the spare tiles back in the bag and covered over the remaining sticky so they could finish it off at home.
This was a nice quiet meeting, and I ended up sat at a table with a handful of girls, just talking to them which was nice.
Sunday 14 June 2015
Father's Day and Promise Ceremony
11/06/15
This week, although Father's Day isn't until June 21st, we did our Father's Day crafts as the craft for this week didn't arrive in time (we're doing it next week instead).
The girls coloured glass jars and made cards. We bought some pens that would draw on glass and some small jars and then the girls were given free rein on what they wanted to draw on them. Here is mine:
The girls then filled them with mint imperials, and took them home to give to their Dads (or any other man in their life).
We also bought some white card and some stickers of cars. Each girl was allowed 3 vehicle stickers and 2 wordy stickers which they could stick on the card and then draw/write anything else they wanted around it. I spent a lot of time sat on a table with some of the younger girls, peeling stickers off their backing as the stickers were quite hard to get off!
We had 6 girls making their promise tonight, and two girls doing their hostess badge so it was a little crazy for the second part of the meeting. While most of the pack were tidying up, a YL and I helped the hostesses set up their decorations and cakes on some tables. The rest of the pack then sang a few songs to entertain the parents while I supervised the hostesses to make tea and coffee for the parents. It went relatively smoothly and then the 6 girls made their promise.
To end the meeting, the District Commissioner also came to visit, to present me with my Independent Living badge and certificate! We had a chat afterwards about how much I've done for the other Octants and it's inspired me to knuckle down and type up some more sections I've done to see if I can get any more badges before I go back to uni.
All in all, this was a pretty successful meeting, if a little chaotic - but who wants a boring meeting!?
This week, although Father's Day isn't until June 21st, we did our Father's Day crafts as the craft for this week didn't arrive in time (we're doing it next week instead).
The girls coloured glass jars and made cards. We bought some pens that would draw on glass and some small jars and then the girls were given free rein on what they wanted to draw on them. Here is mine:
The girls then filled them with mint imperials, and took them home to give to their Dads (or any other man in their life).
We also bought some white card and some stickers of cars. Each girl was allowed 3 vehicle stickers and 2 wordy stickers which they could stick on the card and then draw/write anything else they wanted around it. I spent a lot of time sat on a table with some of the younger girls, peeling stickers off their backing as the stickers were quite hard to get off!
We had 6 girls making their promise tonight, and two girls doing their hostess badge so it was a little crazy for the second part of the meeting. While most of the pack were tidying up, a YL and I helped the hostesses set up their decorations and cakes on some tables. The rest of the pack then sang a few songs to entertain the parents while I supervised the hostesses to make tea and coffee for the parents. It went relatively smoothly and then the 6 girls made their promise.
To end the meeting, the District Commissioner also came to visit, to present me with my Independent Living badge and certificate! We had a chat afterwards about how much I've done for the other Octants and it's inspired me to knuckle down and type up some more sections I've done to see if I can get any more badges before I go back to uni.
All in all, this was a pretty successful meeting, if a little chaotic - but who wants a boring meeting!?
Monday 8 June 2015
Visitor from Wildlife Hospital
04/06/15
I am finally home from university so I can go to Brownies again!
This week we had a visitor from Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre come and speak to the girls as part of the Friends to Animals badge which they started before half term. I was 15 minutes late as I got stuck in traffic on the way home from work and when I got there, the girls were all sat around the woman, who was talking through the different animals they see come through the hospital at this time of year and what is usually wrong with them. She was very good at engaging the girls by asking them little questions as she went, such as 'what kind of bird is this a picture of' (owl), 'what do you think happens to deer if they walk on a road' (they get run over), and 'what animal do you think laid this egg' (one girl answered dragon!).
When she was done talking about the animals, she got them to sit in a circle and then brought out a hedgehog that they've been looking after. He has just reached what they call release weight which means they are going to release him back into the wild in the next few days so he was a pretty chunky fellow! She carried him round the circle while he was curled up and let all the girls get a glimpse of his little nose poking out and then she put him down in the middle of the circle to let him run around a bit. He spent a bit of time sniffing the air to make sure it was safe and then walked towards one of the girls (coincidentally a girl who is leaving tonight!). Our visitor scooped him back up before he reached her and put him back in the box before letting the girls have a look at her table of things which included some skulls, a snake skin, a dissected owl pellet, and a tarantula skin.
She then packed up and left and we played a game of Fishes before finishing the meeting and sending the girls home.
It was a good meeting to come back to, but it feels odd to be back as there's a lot of new girls who I don't recognise. It's going to take some time for me to get my head round all their names!
I am finally home from university so I can go to Brownies again!
This week we had a visitor from Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre come and speak to the girls as part of the Friends to Animals badge which they started before half term. I was 15 minutes late as I got stuck in traffic on the way home from work and when I got there, the girls were all sat around the woman, who was talking through the different animals they see come through the hospital at this time of year and what is usually wrong with them. She was very good at engaging the girls by asking them little questions as she went, such as 'what kind of bird is this a picture of' (owl), 'what do you think happens to deer if they walk on a road' (they get run over), and 'what animal do you think laid this egg' (one girl answered dragon!).
When she was done talking about the animals, she got them to sit in a circle and then brought out a hedgehog that they've been looking after. He has just reached what they call release weight which means they are going to release him back into the wild in the next few days so he was a pretty chunky fellow! She carried him round the circle while he was curled up and let all the girls get a glimpse of his little nose poking out and then she put him down in the middle of the circle to let him run around a bit. He spent a bit of time sniffing the air to make sure it was safe and then walked towards one of the girls (coincidentally a girl who is leaving tonight!). Our visitor scooped him back up before he reached her and put him back in the box before letting the girls have a look at her table of things which included some skulls, a snake skin, a dissected owl pellet, and a tarantula skin.
She then packed up and left and we played a game of Fishes before finishing the meeting and sending the girls home.
It was a good meeting to come back to, but it feels odd to be back as there's a lot of new girls who I don't recognise. It's going to take some time for me to get my head round all their names!
Monday 11 May 2015
A Walk in the Park (or not)
07/05/15
This week is revision week at university so I decided to come home for a couple of days for the peace and quiet, cheaper printing and, of course, Brownies! As it was also election day, we couldn't use our usual hall so we went to a local park instead.
The girls were split into their sixes and given a quiz to do as they walked around. Each six took 1 or 2 leaders with them. I was quickly snapped up by one of our older girls to go with her six, much to the dismay of her sixer who wanted one of the Young Leaders instead. As we have 5 sixes (we've added Gnomes since I left) and 7 Leaders, I ended up on my own with this six of 2 older girls and 3 new girls who I hadn't met before. Before we'd even left, the Sixer and Seconder were arguing because the Seconder had organised the 3 younger ones while waiting for the Sixer to stop messing with her friends. I smoothed that one out quite quickly by saying that the Seconder was in the right and if the Sixer wanted to be in charge she needed to do what she was told by Brown Owl and not mess around. However, this set the tone for the rest of the evening.
While answering the first question, which involved the girls counting pillars around a building, the arguments started again because they couldn't decide on an answer. This carried on for several questions, to the point where the six had basically split in two with the Sixer and 2 younger girls in one 'half' and the Seconder and another girl in the other and they weren't telling each other the answers. This may have been partly my fault as at one point the Sixer and her group were refusing to answer the questions and so I told the Seconder that she could still answer them, even if her Sixer didn't want to. She apparently took this to mean that if she'd gone to the trouble of answering a question that her Sixer hadn't then she didn't need to tell her the answer. I tried to explain that that wasn't a nice way to behave and that she should at least help the rest of her six work out the answer even if she didn't want to tell them straight off but she was having none of it.
In all this commotion, we also managed to take a wrong turn as I was preoccupied mediating arguments and didn't check my own set of directions. This meant that we missed out a couple of questions and, instead of leaving them and continuing on, the six decided to loop back and do it 'properly'. When we got back to where we were supposed to have gone, they decided that their feet hurt and they needed to stop and watch the pond skaters for a while. Eventually I convinced them to keep going and we made it through a few more questions before things kicked off again, this time in the form of the group of 3 heading off on their own ahead of us or lagging behind, so I had to keep asking them to stick together. We then came across a squirrel, which caused even more delays as the girls wanted to stop and watch it. I had to cut it short when they tried to see who could get closest to it though.
Eventually we got back on track and moved onto the next two questions which involved them reading an information board to find out when the park had been opened and how much the boathouse cost to build. The Seconder took one look at the board, announced that she knew the answer and started to walk off. I asked her to stop and wait for the rest of her six to work out the answer, to which the Sixer said 'what's the point, the Seconder knows, she can just tell us all'. I could see that the Seconder hadn't actually written anything down and so I asked her to share her answer with the rest of her six. When she couldn't produce an answer, I asked of we needed to go back and have another look and she said yes. The rest of the six were too busy arguing about who was going to read the board to cotton on to the fact that she'd lied so I let it be. The girls were all getting more frustrated because they couldn't find the answer that I pointed out the paragraphs that had the answers in and we finally moved on.
We eventually made it into the second half of the park which contained a natural playground which was a trail of stones and logs that the girls could climb over. At this point, I had given up trying to persuade them to answer the questions and just let them go and play. To start with, they were all fairly close together but the group of 3 girls were going faster and slowly got further and further from me. As I could still see them and my voice was starting to go, I didn't bother shouting at them to stay closer. However, this decision came back to bite me when the shout went up, 'Flossie's fallen over and she's crying'. I left the two slower girls where they were, making their way across some logs, and ran down to the injured girl. She'd slipped when climbing onto a net and hit her shin on the metal supporting bar. She had quite an impressive bruise there already and I suspected that there was no damage, just pain from hitting the bruise so I did the usual 'can you move your toes? Can you stand on it?' to which the answers were yes to both.
Me: Well there's nothing else I can do about it then
Her: That's what the teachers always say
Me: But the only thing I have on me is a phone
Her: Hmmph
Me: I can call an ambulance if you want me to...
Her: Nope, I'm fine!
She then ran off again and carried on playing with her friends so I left her to it.
When the faster group finished, they ended up in a playground at the end and we eventually caught up with them. When we did, I realised that it was 7:20 and the parents were picking up at 7:30 so I started heading back with the girls, trying to make them walk as fast as possible so we wouldn't be too late but the more I tried, the slower they were walking, complaining of sore feet and thirst. None of my tactics were working, including telling them that I would have to leave them behind for their parents to find (they were perfectly happy for this to happen)!
Half way back, we were met by Brown Owl who'd come looking for us when they realised they were a couple of girls short. Apparently she'd seen what she thought was a Brownie on the opposite side of the lake but had assumed it wasn't one of ours because her group should have been the last group. But what she didn't know was that our loop back meant we had ended up being the last group. When she got to the playground at the end, she did a quick scan and couldn't see me with the other leaders so she asked if any of them had seen me, to which the answer was no. On her way back out of the playground to find us, she made a comment to the Mum of one of the girls in my group about how we'd lost a few girls. It then dawned on her, looking at the confusion on the Mum's face, that this Mum had never met me and must have thought the girls were on their own in the park as she could see all the leaders in the playground. She reassured her that they were with a suitable adult and then came to find us. When we eventually made it back, she made a point of introducing me to this Mum so she knew that her daughter had been in safe hands. As it turned out, this was the Mum of the girl who'd fallen over so I think I put myself in her good books by telling her exactly what had happened and what I'd done about it.
Overall, this was an interesting meeting to come back to, and definitely tested my ability to control a group of girls by myself but I would happily do it again, purely because I miss Brownies so much while at uni that any time I get to come home and help is a blessing. And, in between the arguments, I did manage to get to know one of the newer girls relatively well. Only 3 more weeks of university though and I will be home for the final term of Brownies!
I just want to add, I am in no way complaining about these girls and I don't want this to come across as a rant; I thoroughly enjoy everything that happens at Brownies. If anything, it has helped me develop my skills in smoothing out arguments without taking sides and I am now a lot more confident in my ability to control a group of girls by myself. I also hope that this post will help show other Leaders that they're not alone when it comes to tricky groups of girls. Feel free to share any experiences you've had below.
This week is revision week at university so I decided to come home for a couple of days for the peace and quiet, cheaper printing and, of course, Brownies! As it was also election day, we couldn't use our usual hall so we went to a local park instead.
The girls were split into their sixes and given a quiz to do as they walked around. Each six took 1 or 2 leaders with them. I was quickly snapped up by one of our older girls to go with her six, much to the dismay of her sixer who wanted one of the Young Leaders instead. As we have 5 sixes (we've added Gnomes since I left) and 7 Leaders, I ended up on my own with this six of 2 older girls and 3 new girls who I hadn't met before. Before we'd even left, the Sixer and Seconder were arguing because the Seconder had organised the 3 younger ones while waiting for the Sixer to stop messing with her friends. I smoothed that one out quite quickly by saying that the Seconder was in the right and if the Sixer wanted to be in charge she needed to do what she was told by Brown Owl and not mess around. However, this set the tone for the rest of the evening.
While answering the first question, which involved the girls counting pillars around a building, the arguments started again because they couldn't decide on an answer. This carried on for several questions, to the point where the six had basically split in two with the Sixer and 2 younger girls in one 'half' and the Seconder and another girl in the other and they weren't telling each other the answers. This may have been partly my fault as at one point the Sixer and her group were refusing to answer the questions and so I told the Seconder that she could still answer them, even if her Sixer didn't want to. She apparently took this to mean that if she'd gone to the trouble of answering a question that her Sixer hadn't then she didn't need to tell her the answer. I tried to explain that that wasn't a nice way to behave and that she should at least help the rest of her six work out the answer even if she didn't want to tell them straight off but she was having none of it.
In all this commotion, we also managed to take a wrong turn as I was preoccupied mediating arguments and didn't check my own set of directions. This meant that we missed out a couple of questions and, instead of leaving them and continuing on, the six decided to loop back and do it 'properly'. When we got back to where we were supposed to have gone, they decided that their feet hurt and they needed to stop and watch the pond skaters for a while. Eventually I convinced them to keep going and we made it through a few more questions before things kicked off again, this time in the form of the group of 3 heading off on their own ahead of us or lagging behind, so I had to keep asking them to stick together. We then came across a squirrel, which caused even more delays as the girls wanted to stop and watch it. I had to cut it short when they tried to see who could get closest to it though.
Eventually we got back on track and moved onto the next two questions which involved them reading an information board to find out when the park had been opened and how much the boathouse cost to build. The Seconder took one look at the board, announced that she knew the answer and started to walk off. I asked her to stop and wait for the rest of her six to work out the answer, to which the Sixer said 'what's the point, the Seconder knows, she can just tell us all'. I could see that the Seconder hadn't actually written anything down and so I asked her to share her answer with the rest of her six. When she couldn't produce an answer, I asked of we needed to go back and have another look and she said yes. The rest of the six were too busy arguing about who was going to read the board to cotton on to the fact that she'd lied so I let it be. The girls were all getting more frustrated because they couldn't find the answer that I pointed out the paragraphs that had the answers in and we finally moved on.
We eventually made it into the second half of the park which contained a natural playground which was a trail of stones and logs that the girls could climb over. At this point, I had given up trying to persuade them to answer the questions and just let them go and play. To start with, they were all fairly close together but the group of 3 girls were going faster and slowly got further and further from me. As I could still see them and my voice was starting to go, I didn't bother shouting at them to stay closer. However, this decision came back to bite me when the shout went up, 'Flossie's fallen over and she's crying'. I left the two slower girls where they were, making their way across some logs, and ran down to the injured girl. She'd slipped when climbing onto a net and hit her shin on the metal supporting bar. She had quite an impressive bruise there already and I suspected that there was no damage, just pain from hitting the bruise so I did the usual 'can you move your toes? Can you stand on it?' to which the answers were yes to both.
Me: Well there's nothing else I can do about it then
Her: That's what the teachers always say
Me: But the only thing I have on me is a phone
Her: Hmmph
Me: I can call an ambulance if you want me to...
Her: Nope, I'm fine!
She then ran off again and carried on playing with her friends so I left her to it.
When the faster group finished, they ended up in a playground at the end and we eventually caught up with them. When we did, I realised that it was 7:20 and the parents were picking up at 7:30 so I started heading back with the girls, trying to make them walk as fast as possible so we wouldn't be too late but the more I tried, the slower they were walking, complaining of sore feet and thirst. None of my tactics were working, including telling them that I would have to leave them behind for their parents to find (they were perfectly happy for this to happen)!
Half way back, we were met by Brown Owl who'd come looking for us when they realised they were a couple of girls short. Apparently she'd seen what she thought was a Brownie on the opposite side of the lake but had assumed it wasn't one of ours because her group should have been the last group. But what she didn't know was that our loop back meant we had ended up being the last group. When she got to the playground at the end, she did a quick scan and couldn't see me with the other leaders so she asked if any of them had seen me, to which the answer was no. On her way back out of the playground to find us, she made a comment to the Mum of one of the girls in my group about how we'd lost a few girls. It then dawned on her, looking at the confusion on the Mum's face, that this Mum had never met me and must have thought the girls were on their own in the park as she could see all the leaders in the playground. She reassured her that they were with a suitable adult and then came to find us. When we eventually made it back, she made a point of introducing me to this Mum so she knew that her daughter had been in safe hands. As it turned out, this was the Mum of the girl who'd fallen over so I think I put myself in her good books by telling her exactly what had happened and what I'd done about it.
Overall, this was an interesting meeting to come back to, and definitely tested my ability to control a group of girls by myself but I would happily do it again, purely because I miss Brownies so much while at uni that any time I get to come home and help is a blessing. And, in between the arguments, I did manage to get to know one of the newer girls relatively well. Only 3 more weeks of university though and I will be home for the final term of Brownies!
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I just want to add, I am in no way complaining about these girls and I don't want this to come across as a rant; I thoroughly enjoy everything that happens at Brownies. If anything, it has helped me develop my skills in smoothing out arguments without taking sides and I am now a lot more confident in my ability to control a group of girls by myself. I also hope that this post will help show other Leaders that they're not alone when it comes to tricky groups of girls. Feel free to share any experiences you've had below.
Monday 20 April 2015
Swimarathon
11/04/15
Today was the annual swimarathon at the local pool. We had 7 girls who came this year, 2 older ones and a bunch of younger ones. This post from last year explains how it works. One of the younger girls had a Nemo swimming hat with a fin on the top which provoked quite an amusing discussion about how animals without fins wouldn't be able to swim to which we pointed out they could swim and they didn't have fins and tadpoles could swim (to which one girl said 'but they have legs like us' and didn't believe us when we said they didn't!)
The girls started off swimming a length each, in turn but some of the younger ones started tiring pretty quickly. We don't force them to keep swimming, only to do their best, but we do encourage them to do one more, and the look on their faces when they complete that next length is the best!
This year the girls did 61 lengths which was pretty good for a very young team and was exactly the same as the other Brownie unit two lanes over.
Today was the annual swimarathon at the local pool. We had 7 girls who came this year, 2 older ones and a bunch of younger ones. This post from last year explains how it works. One of the younger girls had a Nemo swimming hat with a fin on the top which provoked quite an amusing discussion about how animals without fins wouldn't be able to swim to which we pointed out they could swim and they didn't have fins and tadpoles could swim (to which one girl said 'but they have legs like us' and didn't believe us when we said they didn't!)
The girls started off swimming a length each, in turn but some of the younger ones started tiring pretty quickly. We don't force them to keep swimming, only to do their best, but we do encourage them to do one more, and the look on their faces when they complete that next length is the best!
This year the girls did 61 lengths which was pretty good for a very young team and was exactly the same as the other Brownie unit two lanes over.
Monday 16 March 2015
Holiday Brownies
An interesting opportunity came my way recently. Our county has been running a Holiday Brownie scheme for a few years now and they are looking for new leaders to help out over the summer this year so I have put my name forwards as a potential leader, depending on what summer job I get over the holidays.
The holiday brownies are a unit for girls who are currently on waiting lists for Brownie units in the area and are unlikely to get a place soon, if ever, due to the long waits in the county (even though we have many units). They meet over the summer for 3 days, non-residential, at our local campsite and do different activities which lead to them making their promise as a Brownie on the final night. This then means that they can operate as 'lone girls' and can attend various events which do not require them to be attached to a specific unit and can achieve badges by themselves. On top of this, the unit is entirely run by student guiders, some of whom have their Brownie ALQ and others of whom want to gain it. It is co-ordinated by a non-student, but all the activities are run by the students, to give them experience in running larger scale events than a single meeting and also to give those of us who can't guide at university a chance to put our good ideas to use! The unit also meets occasionally in other school holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, for an afternoon of craft or a trip to the panto so the girls don't lose interest and feel like they have regular contact. You can read more on their blog.
They have also set up a 'virtual Brown Owl' scheme where students can become a Brown Owl for a few girls and then Skype or phone them once a month or so to find out how they're doing and give them inspiration for badges and other activities.
The unit has been meeting for a couple of years now and this year I was approached to be part of it as I am now a student. I hope that I can persuade whoever I end up working for over the summer to give me a few days off to help with this (if it's not a weekend) because I think it is a brilliant idea and I would love to help move it forwards.
I will provide updates on this as and when I know more details but hopefully, come summer, you should see some posts about it.
The holiday brownies are a unit for girls who are currently on waiting lists for Brownie units in the area and are unlikely to get a place soon, if ever, due to the long waits in the county (even though we have many units). They meet over the summer for 3 days, non-residential, at our local campsite and do different activities which lead to them making their promise as a Brownie on the final night. This then means that they can operate as 'lone girls' and can attend various events which do not require them to be attached to a specific unit and can achieve badges by themselves. On top of this, the unit is entirely run by student guiders, some of whom have their Brownie ALQ and others of whom want to gain it. It is co-ordinated by a non-student, but all the activities are run by the students, to give them experience in running larger scale events than a single meeting and also to give those of us who can't guide at university a chance to put our good ideas to use! The unit also meets occasionally in other school holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, for an afternoon of craft or a trip to the panto so the girls don't lose interest and feel like they have regular contact. You can read more on their blog.
They have also set up a 'virtual Brown Owl' scheme where students can become a Brown Owl for a few girls and then Skype or phone them once a month or so to find out how they're doing and give them inspiration for badges and other activities.
The unit has been meeting for a couple of years now and this year I was approached to be part of it as I am now a student. I hope that I can persuade whoever I end up working for over the summer to give me a few days off to help with this (if it's not a weekend) because I think it is a brilliant idea and I would love to help move it forwards.
I will provide updates on this as and when I know more details but hopefully, come summer, you should see some posts about it.
Monday 9 March 2015
Thinking Day trip
15/02/15
Firstly, apologies that this is a little late, coursework deadlines loomed this past fortnight!
I went home for Thinking Day as all the other adults, except Brown Owl, were going on away during half term and couldn't make it to our District Thinking Day celebrations. I'm not complaining about this by the way; I was planning on coming home for it anyway!
We took 3 coaches of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Leaders up to Thinktank in Birmingham. It is a science museum with 4 different floors and a garden, all filled with interactive things for children to explore.
It got off to a bit of a rocky start when the coach with the District Commissioner on got stuck in traffic and we were the first there. Luckily they weren't too far behind us and we soon got to go in. We were taken to a room by a member of staff and the girls were told to stay within sight of a leader and not to run or use the lifts (as they are meant for disabled users). Then we went in and were let loose, so to speak. Each unit set their own rules for where the girls were allowed to go. We decided that, as we had 10 girls, 2 YLs and 2 adults that we would all stick together and work our way from floor 0 (where we started) up to floor 4 at the top.
Floor 0 wasn't particularly interactive so the girls quickly became bored (although they were fascinated by the water tipping machine and insisted we had to wait for it to fill up and tip over again because they wanted to see if they'd get wet (it went every 5 minutes or so)!
We then ate lunch before moving up to the next floor. This floor was more interactive with lots of things for the girls to touch and experiment with. They spent quite a bit of time there before we could persuade them to move on up to the next floor. They soon discovered that it was a brilliant idea though, as on that floor was a mock street complete with doctor/dentist, post office, shop, cafe and loads of dressing up costumes! They spent ages in there, and we had a struggle to keep track of where they all were. Luckily, there was on;y one entrance/exit to that section so Brown Owl waited there to make sure no one left without us knowing and the 2 YLs and I wandered around, making sure our girls were fine. There were loads of other leaders and girls in there too so I'm sure, if anything had happened, they would have been in capable hands anyway (and all our girls wear their unit name tape so they can be reunited with us).
Eventually, we persuaded them to leave that area and go outside to the garden. The garden contained loads of water related activities and was entirely self contained so we let them loose and sat with some other leaders discussing Macaroni Woods (our pack holiday location of choice) as they are planning on taking their girls there and wanted to know what it was like. Quite a few of our girls got soaked, so we suggested going inside again to get warm and to finish off the final floor of the main museum.
The top floor was all based around medicine and technology which the girls didn't find particularly interesting (to my dismay, being a CompSci student myself - note to self: run meeting on how awesome technology is), so we went back down and gave them the choice of going back in the mock street or spending their money in the shop, as we didn't have much time left before we had to leave. Most of them chose to come into the shop and I supervised them by the till and directed them back to Brown Owl when they had bought what they wanted.
We arrived back at our coach a minute or two late and were surprised to see we were the first of all the units to get back! A few others then arrived and one of the coaches filled up enough to leave. Then the rainbows on our coach got back but we were still missing the other Brownie unit. Another load of girls and leaders arrived in the car park - most of them got on the second coach but a handful got on ours. We double checked that we were ready to go and that unit said no, they were missing their Tawny Owl and a few girls. We had to pull out of the car park then, to let them lock the gate and we waited for a while. Finally, the rest of their unit turned up - as it turned out, they were trying to get out of the ground floor, despite us having come in on level 2, and couldn't get out of any of the doors...
After that minor mishap, we set off home. On the way, one of our YLs got a text from her sister on a different coach to say their driver had somehow managed to get on the motorway going North instead of South and they were running late! The third coach had got stuck in traffic again so, even though we were the last to leave by quite a large margin, we ended up being the first coach to make it back!
It was a great day and the girls all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I think this was a perfect trip for the girls as it shows them that science can be fun and interactive and will hopefully encourage some of them to consider going down that route as they get older, something which I am extremely passionate about being a woman in technology myself.
Firstly, apologies that this is a little late, coursework deadlines loomed this past fortnight!
I went home for Thinking Day as all the other adults, except Brown Owl, were going on away during half term and couldn't make it to our District Thinking Day celebrations. I'm not complaining about this by the way; I was planning on coming home for it anyway!
We took 3 coaches of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Leaders up to Thinktank in Birmingham. It is a science museum with 4 different floors and a garden, all filled with interactive things for children to explore.
It got off to a bit of a rocky start when the coach with the District Commissioner on got stuck in traffic and we were the first there. Luckily they weren't too far behind us and we soon got to go in. We were taken to a room by a member of staff and the girls were told to stay within sight of a leader and not to run or use the lifts (as they are meant for disabled users). Then we went in and were let loose, so to speak. Each unit set their own rules for where the girls were allowed to go. We decided that, as we had 10 girls, 2 YLs and 2 adults that we would all stick together and work our way from floor 0 (where we started) up to floor 4 at the top.
Floor 0 wasn't particularly interactive so the girls quickly became bored (although they were fascinated by the water tipping machine and insisted we had to wait for it to fill up and tip over again because they wanted to see if they'd get wet (it went every 5 minutes or so)!
We then ate lunch before moving up to the next floor. This floor was more interactive with lots of things for the girls to touch and experiment with. They spent quite a bit of time there before we could persuade them to move on up to the next floor. They soon discovered that it was a brilliant idea though, as on that floor was a mock street complete with doctor/dentist, post office, shop, cafe and loads of dressing up costumes! They spent ages in there, and we had a struggle to keep track of where they all were. Luckily, there was on;y one entrance/exit to that section so Brown Owl waited there to make sure no one left without us knowing and the 2 YLs and I wandered around, making sure our girls were fine. There were loads of other leaders and girls in there too so I'm sure, if anything had happened, they would have been in capable hands anyway (and all our girls wear their unit name tape so they can be reunited with us).
Eventually, we persuaded them to leave that area and go outside to the garden. The garden contained loads of water related activities and was entirely self contained so we let them loose and sat with some other leaders discussing Macaroni Woods (our pack holiday location of choice) as they are planning on taking their girls there and wanted to know what it was like. Quite a few of our girls got soaked, so we suggested going inside again to get warm and to finish off the final floor of the main museum.
The top floor was all based around medicine and technology which the girls didn't find particularly interesting (to my dismay, being a CompSci student myself - note to self: run meeting on how awesome technology is), so we went back down and gave them the choice of going back in the mock street or spending their money in the shop, as we didn't have much time left before we had to leave. Most of them chose to come into the shop and I supervised them by the till and directed them back to Brown Owl when they had bought what they wanted.
We arrived back at our coach a minute or two late and were surprised to see we were the first of all the units to get back! A few others then arrived and one of the coaches filled up enough to leave. Then the rainbows on our coach got back but we were still missing the other Brownie unit. Another load of girls and leaders arrived in the car park - most of them got on the second coach but a handful got on ours. We double checked that we were ready to go and that unit said no, they were missing their Tawny Owl and a few girls. We had to pull out of the car park then, to let them lock the gate and we waited for a while. Finally, the rest of their unit turned up - as it turned out, they were trying to get out of the ground floor, despite us having come in on level 2, and couldn't get out of any of the doors...
After that minor mishap, we set off home. On the way, one of our YLs got a text from her sister on a different coach to say their driver had somehow managed to get on the motorway going North instead of South and they were running late! The third coach had got stuck in traffic again so, even though we were the last to leave by quite a large margin, we ended up being the first coach to make it back!
It was a great day and the girls all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I think this was a perfect trip for the girls as it shows them that science can be fun and interactive and will hopefully encourage some of them to consider going down that route as they get older, something which I am extremely passionate about being a woman in technology myself.
Monday 26 January 2015
Pantomime
22/01/15
I have just finished my first lot of university exams and have a week off so I came home, specifically to go to the pantomime with Brownies (yes, I miss it that much!)... And this time I got to wear my new necker from the Scouts and Guides society at university.
We met all the girls at a local school, which has a proper stage and theatre, and there was lots of excitement as they didn't know I was coming! I kept an eye on some of the girls, and supervised them buying sweets with the money they'd bought with them while Brown Owl ticked everyone off her list as they arrived, and then we went in and sat down. We had a Leader at the end of each row, to make sure the girls didn't go too far along and then filled in our three rows with the girls. Somehow, we had managed to read the row letters wrong though and ended up sat in C, D, and E instead of D, E, and F, which caused some confusion when the Brownie unit that was sitting in front of us arrived and didn't have enough rows to sit in! We solved it quite easily by just moving the one incorrect row back to the correct one but a few members of the public were having issues with getting in the right row too so I think it was an problem with the system as opposed to us being dim.
The pantomime we watched was 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves'. As usual, it was very entertaining, with quite a few references to local places. There were also two of our ex-Brownies in it; one as a dancer and the other as Princess Jasmine, which was nice to see. There were a few slip ups but that's expected from an amateur performance and, in my opinion, that makes it even better because it becomes more spontaneous. In the interval, most of the girls bought ice cream or sweets, if they had brought money with them. One girl had eaten all of the Tangfastics that she liked and only had the cola bottles left, which she didn't, so she offered them to me and one of the Young Leaders so I ended up with sweets to eat in the second half too!
The girls all seemed to enjoy it, and got involved with the audience participation song (Alice the Camel - a popular song in our unit many years back) and there were lots of smiling faces that left that evening. It's always a good evening going to the panto so I was glad that it had fallen in my week off from uni so I could come too (although, if it hadn't, I'd probably have tried my hardest to come home for the night anyway!).
The next time I will see the Brownies again will be for the Thinking Day celebration on February 15th - unfortunately I can't get to a unit to help in my second semester either because of the way my timetable has fallen...
I have just finished my first lot of university exams and have a week off so I came home, specifically to go to the pantomime with Brownies (yes, I miss it that much!)... And this time I got to wear my new necker from the Scouts and Guides society at university.
We met all the girls at a local school, which has a proper stage and theatre, and there was lots of excitement as they didn't know I was coming! I kept an eye on some of the girls, and supervised them buying sweets with the money they'd bought with them while Brown Owl ticked everyone off her list as they arrived, and then we went in and sat down. We had a Leader at the end of each row, to make sure the girls didn't go too far along and then filled in our three rows with the girls. Somehow, we had managed to read the row letters wrong though and ended up sat in C, D, and E instead of D, E, and F, which caused some confusion when the Brownie unit that was sitting in front of us arrived and didn't have enough rows to sit in! We solved it quite easily by just moving the one incorrect row back to the correct one but a few members of the public were having issues with getting in the right row too so I think it was an problem with the system as opposed to us being dim.
The pantomime we watched was 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves'. As usual, it was very entertaining, with quite a few references to local places. There were also two of our ex-Brownies in it; one as a dancer and the other as Princess Jasmine, which was nice to see. There were a few slip ups but that's expected from an amateur performance and, in my opinion, that makes it even better because it becomes more spontaneous. In the interval, most of the girls bought ice cream or sweets, if they had brought money with them. One girl had eaten all of the Tangfastics that she liked and only had the cola bottles left, which she didn't, so she offered them to me and one of the Young Leaders so I ended up with sweets to eat in the second half too!
The girls all seemed to enjoy it, and got involved with the audience participation song (Alice the Camel - a popular song in our unit many years back) and there were lots of smiling faces that left that evening. It's always a good evening going to the panto so I was glad that it had fallen in my week off from uni so I could come too (although, if it hadn't, I'd probably have tried my hardest to come home for the night anyway!).
The next time I will see the Brownies again will be for the Thinking Day celebration on February 15th - unfortunately I can't get to a unit to help in my second semester either because of the way my timetable has fallen...
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