Week 4, 2 November 2010

Tonight the girls continued with their Heat theme and the OutnAbout Unit Badge.

For their OutnAbout Unit Badge the girls made a God’s Eye craft as a craft about nature and its shapes. 

The girls also were OutnAbout drawing in chalk on the foot path between Patteson Avenue and the kindy to have fun with chalk.

The girls then came inside to eat their hot dog which had been cooked using hot water as part of our heat theme.  That was a yummy treat!  We introduced Sue (our new leader-in-trainer) to the American Hot Dog.

Finally, the girls had a treasure hunt outside to find some babies toys.  The toys had little Brownie Sunshine tags attached so the girls could easily identify them as part of their OutnAbout Badge.

The girls received their Pinwheels For Peace badge which finally arrived from the USA.  The girls earned this badge at the end of last term but the shop in the USA had none left and then it had to get sent all the way to New Zealand!!

Week 3, 26 October 2010

This week at Brownies we celebrated the Harvest Festival with old fashioned games for the evening.

First of all we wrote letters to Carol (our old leader who is now living back in the United Kingdom).  Each six wrote a card or a letter to send in a parcel along with our six badges.  In return we will receive a set of their six badges which are quite different to ours!!

We then went outside to start our evening of games by apple bobbing.  Girls had to pick up an apple with their teeth in a bucket of water making sure that they didn’t use their hands.  It is a lot more difficult than you think!  We then got to eat our yummy apples and played on the playground while everyone finished up.

The races began – first was a three legged race.  The girls had to pair up and work out the best way to walk together with “three” legs.  Many techniques were tried and tested by moving in time was the most important of course.

We also had a potato and spoon relay to see which group could complete the course the fastest.

The last activity for the evening was the piñata.  Each girl got blindfolded and handed the special piñata stick to hit the piñata with.  Great fun was had by all especially when the lollies came out!  We attached the piñata to the tree so that no adult was injured during the supervision!  We had so much fun outside we didn’t have any time for any other games.

Week 2, 19 October 2010

This week at Brownies we continued with our heat theme by completing the following activities:

1) Sunshine bookmark – the girls had to first plait some wool for the “body” of the bookmark.  Then we hot glue gunned sun shaped pieces of felt together to the bookmark.  Finally, the girls cut out their own designed feet for their sunshine person.

2) Decorated pencil – the girls decorated pencils by glueing sunshine shaped pieces of felt on the top of the pencil.  The girls then designed hands to be stuck on.

3) Match safety – the girls learned about match safety and how to strike a match safely.  Once the girls had successfully learned how to light a candle safely they were allowed to toast a marshmallow over the small flame.

The girls made some extra pencils and bookmarks to send to our pen pal unit in Washington, USA.

Week 1, 12 October 2010

Today was the first day back for the last term of 2010.

The girls told us one exciting thing that they did in the holidays - it seems like a lot of you went skiing, to the movies and to the beach. I am glad that you have had a lovely break from school and are ready for the term ahead at Brownies.

We began our Out n About Unit Badge tonight by making flying things - kites and paper planes. Designing your own paper planes was quite a lot of fun, especially trying to get the planes to fly straight.

I provided you with a template for the kite design and by using popsicle sticks you created some fabulous flying machines.

It was quite windy this week at Brownies so it was perfect for us to go outside and test our flying skills with the kites and paper planes.

Then to end the evening you played on the playground.

Week 10, 21 September 2010

Due to camp we did not have Brownies on 14 September.

For the last evening of term we had an end of term party.

Our pen pal unit in the USA were making Pinwheels for Peace, so we did the same activity for the evening. It was quite neat to do the same activity as our pen pals and the pinwheels looked quite special with the girls' peace decorations.

The girls went outside to play a game with Katherine.

We then enrolled Annaliese, Molly Louise and Martha as Brownies in our traditional ceremony.

Finally, we had our afternoon tea with everyone bringing a plate for the evening.

10 - 12 September Brownie Camp

On the weekend of 10 to 12 September Kohi Brownies, Glendowie Brownies and a few St Chad's Brownies went on camp to Motu Moana Scout Camp in Blockhouse Bay.

Our theme for the weekend was Robin Hood and to get into their camp activity groups the girls were given an animal for the animal noise game to find other members. The girls then had to discover their six name for the weekend by finding the appropriate coloured letter hidden around the room and then they had to spell them out. Six names were - Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Merry Men, Little John and Will Scarlett.

The girls decorated their own paper bags for their crafts and also decorated an oak leaf. We played Robin Hood Is Coming (like Captain's Coming) but with a Robin Hood theme.

It was then off to bed after supper for a fun filled day at camp.

After breakfast was dormitory inspection and a teeth washing competition as part of our Come Camping Unit badge.

Once we had brushed our teeth without using the tap we completed a round robin of activities including:

1) Giant Jigsaw - putting the giant jigsaw back together - it is a poster of the movie Where The Wild Things Are.
2) Hair Washing - where the girls learned how to wash their hair in a bucket.
3) We played the Robin Hood game to see who could get the most beer, bread and meat pieces to win the game.
4) Sherwood Forest Mask - the girls made their own mask from a Sherwood Forest animal.
5) Darts - using a magnetic dartboard the girls learned how to play darts (similar and much safere than archery!!)
6) Coin Toss Walk - Using a coin and map the girls walked around camp. At each intersection they flipped a coin to see which direction they needed to go in.

After that the girls got to play a Kim's Game with a twist - they first had to find their items which had a green ribbon with a Robin Hood tag attached in the bush outside. Once they had their toy it got put in the middle of the circle, we made sure everyone knew the names of the items then they were covered up. The girls then had to see how many items that they could remember!

Filled rolls were our lunch and then we were off on to our wide game for the afternoon activities:

1) Pigpen - girls had to decode their instructions and then write their name in pig pen code.
2) Hideout - the girls had to build a mystery hideout
3) Trail - girls followed a trail using the directions given using signs on the ground
4) Flying Fox - girls got a turn on the small flying fox at Motu Moana
5) Robin Hood's Hat - one of our wonderful mother helpers made the girls each a Robin Hood hat from felt for the girls to decorate
6) Treasure Hunt - girls had to navigate themselves down to Green Bay Beach where the treasure was buried for the girls to dig up
7) Shield - girls designed their own shield
8) Co-operation Walk - on pre made ski like contraptions (that fit 3 girls) girls had to navigate a course working together on the field.

After our afternoon activities the girls came back to prepare a skit for campfire later in the evening.

Dinner was burritos and dessert was fruit crumble and icecream which was enjoyed by all.

As the weather had finally taken a turn for the worse the girls performed their skits inside and then we walked up to the large covered camp fire (thank goodness!). At camp fire we sung songs and toasted marshmallows. Supper then off to bed was next on the agenda.

After we had eaten breakfast the girls tidied up their gear and departed their dormitories for the last time. The girls planned Guides Own and due to the rain we were unable to have it in the beautiful outdoor chapel so we had it in the hall instead.

The girls then got to make their own little booklet as a reminder of their time at camp and the other activity was icing cupcakes.

Our lunch on Sunday was hot dogs and after that we let the girls go on the flying fox again if they wished or back to the beach for a walk while the parents tidied up.

There was time for a short game before the closing ceremony where the Motu Moana Camp Badge, Come Camping Unit Badge and the Discover It Specialised Badge were given out to the girls.

We also thanked our wonderful parent helpers for coming to help for the weekend - we wouldn't be able to make camp happend without your help. It was then time for a well earned rest at home for all!

Week 8, 7 September 2010

Camp preparation was the theme for the evening at Brownies.

The older girls shared their camping experiences with everyone. We also discussed duties at camp (grace, hygiene, dishes, helping with the cook) and answered any questions about camp.

The girls then learned about what a ditty bag is, what goes inside it and why we need to bring one to camp. Inside a ditty bag goes all your eating equipment (knife, fork, spoon, cup, plate, bowl and tea towels).

We played some games outside then camp back inside to sing our favourite camp songs in preparation for camp this weekend.