Programme planning and girl-led guiding

Last term (and last week again), we asked the girls for ideas on what they wanted to do:  Four A3 sheets pinned up around the hall, and a big stack of postit notes divided up between the patrols.  The four sheets were titled:

• Badges & GFIs
• Activities in the hall (crafts, cooking, skills)
• Visitors or Trips
• Games to play

The girls were allowed to write their ideas (individually) on post-it notes and stick them onto the appropriate sheet.  They were also allowed to write 'Not...' if there's something the didn't want to do.

We got equal numbers of 'More Craft' and 'Not Craft', and equal numbers of 'More sport' and 'not sport' - so we'll include one session of each in our term plan (and perhaps in the summer months, split the unit in two for some sessions where some can do craft, and some can do sporty things outside, if we have enough adults.

The overwhelming votes were for 'Chocolate' (appeared on all four boards, many many times), and visits to a trampolining centre.  So, we're doing the Chocolate GFI this term and will arrange a trip to one of the trampolining centres.  And, in the interests of a balanced and varied programme, (and because a very kind friend has offered to come and do a CPR and emergency first aid training session for free) we're working through the first aid badge.

As well as these our badge and GFI for the spring term, we've also got 4 BP girls who want to run various sessions as part of BP Clauses, so we've allowed time in the plan for these. They include

- an international evening

- a celebration of a festival from another culture (chinese new year)

- a 'peace and relaxation' session (good luck with that one, will be a challenge)

- a patrol cooking competition

With this lot, plus a trip out to the trampolining centre, I think we'll be covering all of our five areas:

• Healthy Lifestyles – develop your mind, body and soul. It’s all about keeping healthy and happy.
• Celebrating diversity - meet new people and get involved in things going on in your area.
• Global Awareness – make the world a better place.
• Discovery – have new experiences and adventures.
• Skills and Relationships – build on your personal and life skills.

And all of the sessions will be based upon the 5 essentials

1. Work together in small groups
2. Govern themselves and make their own decisions
3. Have a balanced & varied programme
4. Care for the individual
5. Share a commitment to a common standard

AKA

1. G - Groups - working in small groups
2. U - Uniformity in a common standard
3. I - Individual - care for the individual 
4. D - Decisions - Making their own!
5. E - Exciting - balanced and varied programme

AKA

1. M - Making Decisions (girl-led guiding)
2. A - Activities (balanced and varied programme)
3. G - Groups (working in a variety of groups)
4. I - Individual (care and choices)
5. C - Commitment to a common standard (promise, law, unit rules, etc)

Games Ideas - Large Teams

Skinning the snake

Everyone stands in a line, with legs apart. The right hand is passed between the legs and linked with the left hand of person behind. The person at the back starts to crawl through the legs of those in front, and the others follow, without letting go, until everyone is standing in a line.

Over and Under - ball passing
Girls get into lines of approx 10 girls, each line has a ball, e.g. a football or large foam ball.
Front person passes ball between legs to 2nd, 2nd passes over head behind to 3rd, third passes between legs to 4th, etc.   The last person in the line gets the ball and runs to the front, and they repeat. The winning team is the first to get their original 'leader' to the front again.

Poop the Potato.
Form two teams, with a potato for each player. 

Put a bucket or small trash can at the goal line. Each person places their potato between their thighs. The object is for each team member to hobble down to their bucket and drop the potato into it. They may not use their hands except to reposition the potato between their legs if it should fall too soon.
The first team to "poop" all their potatoes in their bucket wins.



Malteser Game

GET READY
- Buy some maltesers: you'll need a few packets becuase people eat loads of them!
- Put them in a bowl in the middle of the group
- Each person needs a straw and a cup
- You also need one dice.

PLAY
Someone starts by rolling the dice. It keeps going round until someone rolls a six.
When they do, they have to try and get as many maltesers into their cup using just the straw, by sucking the maltesers.
They keep doing this until another person rolls a six and starts sucking instead.

It's so much fun because as you are trying to suck the maltesers you keep laughing at your other mates who keep trying to get a six but can't. It makes it very difficult.

Games Ideas - Full Unit Games

Zip Zap Boing!
People sit round in a circle.  One person begins by looking in a direction and saying 'zip' the next person then says zip and it continues round in a circle.

The next command is boing (difficult to type, as in the sound a spring makes.) This changes the direction of the zip and so it continues back round in the opposite direction.
Finally Zap. Zap throws the 'zip' across the circle. The person who says zap points to who they want to have the zip. The receiver then looks in the direction they wish to continue play and the zip moves on.
Here comes the fun part!You can't boing a boing, you can't zap a zap, you can't boing a zap or zap a boing you can only zip a zap and zip a boing! Simple right? 
Fantastically fun game once people have mastered it!

 Beans

Can be played with any number.

The Guider calls out various types of beans and the girls perform the correct action.

• Runner Beans – run around 
• Jumping Beans – jump 
• Baked Beans – lie out in the sun
• Chilli Beans – shiver
• Frozen Beans – Stand still
• Broad Beans – Stand with legs as far apart as possible
• French Beans – say “Oh La La!”
• String Beans – stand still, arms straight up.
• Dwarf Beans – squat down
• Has Beans – fall on the floor 

Band aid Tag

Each girl has two Band-Aids (her 2 hands). When tagged by another girl she covers the tagged spot with a Band-Aid. If she is tagged and has no more Band-Aids, she sits down.

Set the game boundaries for the group. In this game all girls with a free hand (available Band-Aid) are IT. When game starts, all players try to tag the others. The objective is to be the last standing player. You can introduce other variations (ways to administer ‘first aid’ to those sitting so they can re-enter the game, such as tapping on head, perhaps also saying the girl’s name).

Duck-Duck-Goose

Sit the girls in a circle. One girl walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each girl on the head saying “duck, duck…” At some point she changes the name to “Goose!” The “goose” must get up and chase the caller around the circle. The first of the two of them to get back to the place where the “goose” was sitting gets to sit back down, and the other then must go around the circle again, tapping each girl on the head saying “duck, duck, GOOSE!”

Frogs and Ants

This is a large group tag game. In a group of 30 or so, assign 5 frogs to be “IT” and the rest of the players are ants. Designate the playing area, including a safe zone (the ant colony). Start the game by having the ants run around the playing area. The object of the game is for the frogs to touch the ants. Once an ant is touched, it must lay on its back with both arms and both legs in the air. This cry for help signals FOUR ants to rescue their fellow ant. A rescue is successful if four ants (all arriving at the same time) can carry their fellow ant to the safety of the colony where it is reborn to play again. The four rescue ants must arrive at the injured ant at the same time and start working or risk being touched by a frog and becoming injured ants themselves. If there are four ants attached and working at the same time, they cannot be touched by a frog. The working ants must transport the injured ant to the safe area (colony) where all can then rejoin the game in progress.

Penguin Tag

Girls must keep their knees together and elbows glued to the side of their bodies. Everyone is ‘it’ – you tag others by waddling over and tagging them lightly with your flippers. Fun to watch & fun to do!

	Pass it on!
Duration: five minutesSections: allWhat you need: a ball, balloon or beanbag

Try these quick throwing, catching and relay games to fill a spare five minutes and burn off some energy! They are also a great way to develop skills.
In a circle: Throw the ball as quickly as possible across the circle, saying the person's name as you throw the ball. Use a number of balls to make this more difficult, or challenge the participants to do an action before they catch the ball, perhaps spin around or kneel down.
As a relay: In teams stand in lines and pass the ball over head and under legs as a relay - the person at the front who receives the ball last runs to the back and the winners are the team that have the original person back in front first. Alternatively get the girls to pass the ball using your elbows, knees or feet. Use a water balloon or a plastic cup of water to add a bit of drama!
Target practice: Use a container like an empty bin or you could use a skipping rope to make a circle shape on the floor and set up a start line. Give each girl three turns and the challenge is to get all three into the target. If it gets too easy, move the target further away or use a smaller container.
Human croquet: Ask one girl per team to be a croquet hoop. The team's aim is to roll the ball through their team-mate's legs, once each, as quickly as possible in a relay. If a team member misses, they have to go and collect the ball and try again. Once one person has played, it's their turn to be the croquet hoop. 

	Human knot
Duration: up to ten minutesSections: Brownies, Guides, The Senior Section

This game is quick, but not so easy and helps the girls to practise working in a team. 

1. Ask girls to form a circle, all holding hands. 
2. Choose one patrol or six to step outside the circle and close their eyes. 
3. Give the rest of the group two minutes to make the biggest human knot that they can by moving around in the circle. They should hold hands all the time. 
4. Ask the patrol to open their eyes and try to untangle the human knot by directing the girls in the circle. It often proves difficult! 

	Sausage – who can keep a straight face?
Duration: five minutes Sections: all

This is another fun game to get the girls laughing!

1. Ask one girl to be the volunteer. 
2. She stands in the middle of the circle. 
3. The others take turns to ask her questions, to which she can only answer 'sausage' (or any other word you choose). 
4. If she laughs, she's out! Swap places and give everyone a chance to have a go! 

Pairs

Duration: five minutesSections: Brownies, Guides, The Senior SectionWhat you need: cards or slips of paper with matching pairs on them. The pairs should be separated and shuffled. 

The aim of this game is to find your matching partner.

1. Hand out one card to each girl. 
2. They must then find their matching partner. 
3. They should then sit down and wait for the rest of the group to get into pairs. 

Me too!

Duration: until they get bored or run out of questions! Sections: Brownies, GuidesWhat you need: one chair per person

Most getting-to-know-you games focus on what is different about everyone. This game will help your girls to realise that they are alike in many ways.

1. Ask each girl to get a chair and arrange them in a circle, facing inwards. One girl should be without a chair and standing in the middle of the circle. 
2. The girl in the middle shouts out a statement such as, ‘I have two sisters’. If that is true of someone sitting down, they should stand up and shout, ‘Me too!’ 
3. The girls who have stood up and shouted, and the girl who was standing in the middle, must then run around and find a different chair to sit on. 
4. The girls are not allowed to sit back on their original chair or the chairs on either side of it. 
5. The girl left without a chair must stand in the middle and ask a new question. 

Pairs

Duration: five minutesSections: Brownies, Guides, The Senior SectionWhat you need: cards or slips of paper with matching pairs on them. The pairs should be separated and shuffled.

Suggested pairs

• Ham and eggs 
• Salt and pepper 
• Punch and Judy 
• Romeo and Juliet 
• Needle and thread 
• Bangers and mash 
• Horse and cart 
  Cheese and biscuits􏰀  
• Apples and pears 

Yes or no game

Duration: 20 minutesSections: Brownies, Guides, The Senior Section
What you need: a list of questions (or you could make them up on the spot)

This game involves movement, questions and laughter.

1. The girls should get a chair, put them in a circle and sit down. 
2. The Leader then asks all the girls a question. It must be a question where the answer can only be yes or no. 
3. If the answer is yes, the girl must move one place to her left. 
4. If the answer is no, the girl must move one place to her right. 
5. This means that everyone will be moving at the same time, even if this means sitting on someone’s lap! 
6. You can keep going until you have used up all your questions or until someone has made a full circuit back to their original chair. 

Example questions

• 􏰀  Do you have a pet? 
• 􏰀  Are your eyes blue? 
• 􏰀  Do you like cornflakes? 
• 􏰀  Do you like watching football? 
• 􏰀  Did you go on camp last year? 
• 􏰀  Have you been to America? 
• 􏰀  Do you know how to spell necessary? 
• 􏰀  Do you still live in the town/country where you were born? 
• 􏰀  Can you remember the Promise? 

UM 12: And we're off! A new year.

Our first week back after Christmas, and another new guide to join us, bringing our numbers up to 29 on the books.  A stark change from when my own daughter joined 3.5 years ago and there were only 9 girls in the unit!  It was lovely then, and is lovely now - just very different!

Our first week back is usually when we try and get the routine tasks out of the way and give the girls chance to catch up after their break from school. Our girls are split over 7 or 8 different schools, so it's futile to expect to not want to spend the whole time nattering on the first week back.  Tonight was no exception.

This evening, we spent time in the horseshoe remembering what our Unit Guidelines are (as set by the girls in September), we talked about what the Baden Powell Award involved for the older guides and introduced our newest guide to the unit.  There was much 'talking-over-the-top' going on...but again, that's par for the course on the first week back.  I've long since discovered when they're in this kind of mood, there's little point fighting it.  With reminders that if they carry on interrupting/talking that they won't get to play games (and following through on that), they generally get the idea after a few minutes.

We were also treated to a presentation by one of our BP girls who had done a fantastic poster and fact presentation sheet about Global Warming. The girls listened attentively to her, and the presentation was well-researched and well presented.  That's one more clause signed off!

Over the course of the evening, I asked the girls to give their suggestions on four topics - Trips Out, Games, Activites and Badges/GFIs.  Each patrol was given a stack of post-it notes, and four A3 sheets were pinned around the room (one for each topic).  They were to write their preferences/suggestions on the postit note and stick it on the appropriate posters.

Then it was on to some patrol time.  Nothing too difficult this week, and really an opportunity for the girls to chat and renew their friendships.  They all made a Guide Law Folding Thingy (thankyou to the wonderful 2nd Kingsbridge Guides) each patrol was asked to write down 4 or 5 important qualities of a good patrol leader or patrol second.  Mostly they chatted though.

After that, a quick tidyup, then time for a silly game. They got into pairs and we did the Body Parts game.  I shout out a number, and a body part, e.g. "3 feet" or "4 hands" or "two tummies" - and as a pair, they need to ensure that they ONLY have those body parts touching the floor.  So, two girls standing up would be "4 feet", or two girls lying with their feet in the air would be "2 backs".   There were some inventive approaches from some, and it was a good giggle game that required little or no preparation or organisation into teams etc. Everyone could join in, and it can last as long as you want.

At this point, our visitors arrived!  We had invited along our District Commissioner (who was also leader of this unit until a year ago), our Division Commissioner (who runs our feeder brownie unit), and our Division President (who runs a feeder Rainbow unit), so most of the girls knew them all.

The reason? We had a Baden Powell Award Presentation to do!  One of our older guides worked independently to complete her BP, and managed to get on her Adventure Weekend at the end of last year.    Our District commissioner made a fantastic cake (as well as some delicious chocolate maltezer tray bake), and our BP girl gave a short talk to the unit about what she had done as part of her BP award, and what the BP Adventure Weekend was like. She had had a wonderful time - she said the 'best weekend ever' and had made lots of new friends.   As leaders, we were thrilled with this achievement, she had worked independently and been self-directed throughout. And as a result of the Adventure Weekend she now wants to look for a Ranger Unit to join -  fantastic news!

UM11 - Carol Singing

So, our last week of term was a trip to the local care home to sing some carols for the residents.  Our attached Brownie unit also joined us, along with our young leaders, so we had around 45 girls, plus half a dozen adults and leaders. Our District President also joined us, which was lovely.

The care home made us feel very welcome, and we set up in the lounge near the entrance way. Chairs had been placed out for the 'audience', and lots of residents came in to listen.  One of our fantastic young leaders and her UH mum had organised a backing track which we played through a bluetooth speaker, and this really worked well. They had also printed out word sheets for all the brownies and guides.

As the music started up, it was quite moving to see the energy the brownies and guides put into their singing, and the evident enjoyment of the residents and staff.  One gentleman shed tears as he listened (surely our singing wasn't *that* bad?!).  After half an hour of singing, the guides handed a home made christmas card to each resident, and we spent time chatting to our audience.   There were may tales of their own experiences in brownies, guides, or scouts, and one lady told us that her mother, born in 1903, had met Lady Agnes Baden Powell!  It was an evening that I think all the leaders and adult helpers were very proud of our young brownies, guides and young leaders. They did a wonderful job.

At the end, the girls were treated to home-made decorated gingerbread biscuits, made by the staff at the home. It really was a magical start to christmas, and I hope the residents and staff of the home enjoyed it as much as we did.

UM9 Crafts, carols, YLs, new patrols and noise

So, this week was a bit of an odd one.  I was really looking forward to this meeting; to having an evening with girls that i've got to know just that little bit better (on camp) since last week.  However, that's not really how it turned out, so i'm going to have a bit of a moan.

We had several items that we needed to get through, plus some 'fun' bits to do as well.

Our first 5 minutes was to introduce our newest patrol and present them with their Patrol Badges. Our very youngest girls had decided they wanted to break away from their (larger) existing patrols and form their own patrol together, and had chosen to be Parrots, so there were new patrol emblem badges and PL/PS badges to give out.  Unfortunately, despite this only taking  a few minutes at horseshoe time at the start of the evening, there were number of guides who didn't seem to want to listen and talked through it all; we ignored them and carried on, but (for me at least, and i suspect for the new Parrot patrol) it took a bit of the special-ness away from the occasion.

Nonetheless, we were thrilled that our new guides had decided on a new patrol, and even more so that between them, they have chosen a patrol leader and patrol second that they are all happy with.

For the main part of the evening we were doing two things.  The Young Leaders were leading some carol singing practice for when we go out carol singing to a local care home in a couple of weeks.  And while doing that, the girls were doing a simple craft with plastic baubles, ferrero rocher, and acrylic colouring pens.

Unfortunately again, this turned out to be challenging - the same few older girls continued to talk, screech and shout while the young leaders were trying to organise carols and give them instructions, and during the singing.  It ended up with the now-impatient-and-grumpy leader (me) putting my foot down and giving them a lecture on respect and behaviour.  Things settled down after that a bit, but I didn't enjoy the evening and I came home questioning why I bother - and certainly not wanting to take them all out for a pizza and panto next week.

We had an extra craft (making purses) lined up, and offered to play games too chosen by the older ones, if we had enough time - they all seemed keen on this. But when it came to tidying up, two patrols did nothing - our youngest girls tidied and put away three tables (without being asked), and we ran out of time to do anything while the older ones messed around.  And quite honestly, i was glad to see the back of them at the end of the meeting. It's the first time i've felt like that.

So, now, a few days later, and a bit of time, space and reflection, and these are my thoughts.   There were lots of good things that made me happy that evening, and I should focus on these

1. I was so impressed with how the new patrol had formed themselves.  It was lovely to see them come to their own decisions, on their own with no guidance from us  - they only had the suggestion from us that 'if you enjoy working together and decide in the future you'd like to have your own patrol, then come and ask us about it.  
2. The Young Leaders did an amazing job organising the carols. One YL did all the planning and prep, and the other two helped her implement the plans on the evening.  They realised that trying to get the 'whole group' engaged wasn't happening, with teh disruptive elements playing a large part in this.  So, they changed their tack, and got the girls singing table-by-table, with a competitive element for 'the *best/nicest* singing'.  It worked well, even the disruptive ones didn't want to be embarrassed here.
3. The crafts worked well and the girls had some lovely results to take home with them.
4. Four of our guides  had a GFI clause to finish, having missed an earlier session -in  two different patrols. They got on and did this independently (one pair with a fairly complex cooking activity) - they were organised and self-sufficient, and successfully completed their activities and were still able to also do the craft and singing.
5. We Introduced the guides to the GG North West England 'Get Away From Home' Scheme.  I was keen for the girls to record and manage their records themselves. Each guide has been given a record book to fill in and keep, and it is their responsibility to come back and see me when they think they are ready for another badge.   I don't intend to keep these records for them, so it's up to them!

I also realised that something else adding to the stress was the constant shouting out to me asking questions that didn't need asking, or asking for help that they didn't really need.  Again, shouting out to me, while the YLs were talking to them.   With the larger unit now, I think we need the girls to be more self-sufficient at at least try to resolve the simple questions or problems themselves before asking a leader.  I asked a few of the more sensible girls about this, and they said they have something similar in craft lessons at school.

1. First, ask your neighbour
2. Second, as your table
3. Third, ask your table leader
4. Fourth, ask your mentor
5. Fifth, ask the teacher

This fits nicely with trying to give the PL's and PS's a bit more responsibility, so I think i'll introduce this for any 'at the table' activities they do.

If you've got a question or are having problems doing something

1. Ask your neighbour, then ask your other neighbour
2. Ask the other guides in your patrol
3. Ask your Patrol Leader and Patrol Second
4. If you still can't do it, then ask a PL to ask a Leader to come over.

PLs and PSs will have responsibility for answering questions and ensuring that girls on their table have enough help.  Hopefully it will also encourage the guides not to just switch off their brains at the door!

I'll have a think about the rudeness, screeching and talking over people - I hope that was just a one-off and things will be better next time, but I think I will also have laminated copies of the unit rules to put on each table, and maybe some sweet rewards for the best behaved patrol each week.  

I will admin that still dreading taking them out next week, but fingers crossed I will be pleasantly surprised and behaviour won't be a problem.

Any suggestions welcome...

UM8 Christmas Card Crafts

This week was run by our other leader, who is fabulous at crafts.   We decided to try and use up a lot of the paper and card stock from the cupboards, and make Christmas Cards.  We had plenty of black adn white card, metallic pens, shiny / metallic coloured card and paper, and ribbons.

The girls could make a card for themselves, plus a card each to take and give to the residents at the care home we are visiting in a few weeks for Carol Singing.

The cards made by the girls were amazing. H gave them some example designs for ideas, keeping it very simple - and the results were really effective for everyone, even the non-arty girls came out with a fantastic looking christmas card.

** Addendum: When we went carol singing, each of the girls gave a card to a resident - the residents seemed genuinely touched to receive a card and chat to a youngster.  It was well worth doing.