Tag / Girl Guiding

by jo

ForTheGirl – Girlguiding’s New Campaign

Girlguiding recently launched the campaign ForTheGirl.

ForTheGirl is on YouTube and was shown in cinemas at the Girlguiding Screening of Beauty and the Beast recently.

If you have never been a part of Girlguiding you might not know what it’s all about.

If you were a part of Girlguiding years ago you might think it’s all about loving God and worshipping the Queen.

Things have changed.

Girlguiding has changed.

We still sing the same song at the start (it did change a few years ago) but Girlguiding is different.

Which is where Forthegirl comes in.

Girlguiding to me is recognising each girl is different. Each girl has strengths that others don’t. It’s about inspiring girls to do good things, to be the best they can be. To have fun. To work through their Brownie Adventures and have them come to me telling me they have done some badges on their own.

I want to inspire the girls we work with, and for them to make me proud because they’ve done it on their own. Every time a girl comes to me and says they’ve done a badge I’m delighted.

Which I’d say is the message in ForTheGirl. There’s so much more though.

I want each girl to do their best and have a brilliant time.

Having said that, getting 30 girls aged 7, 8 and 9 to listen can be difficult. But then it’s also challenging fun for the majority of the time too. I come out of a meeting buzzing with ideas for the next one. Hearing their voices and ideas is inspiring and gives us ideas in return.

I want to work with 30 confident girls who can turn around and say “this girl can”.

Because that’s it. We’re ForTheGirl. Each girl deserves a voice and to be heard.

I like to think Girlguiding is doing that.

Later this year Girlguiding is going to be doing a campaign to take on more volunteers as leaders. I made the step up last year after helping at Rainbows for two years. We all make a difference.

Read more at Girlguiding.

by jo

World Thinking Day 2017 – Girl Guiding Fun

Every year on the 22nd February Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and onwards celebrate World Thinking Day. I’ve always found it a fun day and am so happy the tradition continues to this day. Here’s what we did for World Thinking Day 2017.

World Thinking Day 2017 badge

World Thinking Day 2017 was the 22nd February. All Guides of all ages celebrate it – from Rainbows to leaders. It’s a day to think about other Guides around the world. Besides this, you can wear your uniform to school if you get permission from the head teacher.

This year felt like a big deal – the majority of schools came on board and said children could wear their uniforms. I would say most of our group did – and they loved telling us about it as well.

Our meeting was the day after Thinking Day, and I thought it would be good to post about what we did.

I signed up to the forums at Guiders.co.uk. A lot of other groups from around the world were asking if anyone would like to swap cards or postcards. I’m also part of a Brownie leaders group on Facebook so found loads of other groups to swap with there.

I also messaged Facebook friends with children of a similar age to H to see if they knew anyone. I got a couple of troops in the US which when I told the girls, they were pretty excited about.

World Thinking Day 2017 Quiz and dot to dot

Once we’d had pow wow, the girls went into their sixes. I found a quiz on the internet for Thinking Day, each six got a copy of the Brownie Adventures book to find the answers. It made me happy to see them all work as a group and make sure everyone got a turn to answer a question. This gave us time to set up the next task – writing the postcards!

I bought some simple postcards from WH Smith – you can buy packs of 25. I printed out some World Guide Badges which the girls could stick onto their cards if they wanted, or they decorate the card. The content was their choice. The girls had read cards from other groups they knew what kind of things to write.

Thinking Day Brownies Around the World

Our main leader picked up some girl shapes from Poundland (12 for £1). I found some pictures of uniforms from other countries and printed them out for each six, laminating them for future use. I made sure the pictures were on both sides.

Each girl could choose which uniform they wanted to copy and had a choice of eight different ones.

Some girls were quicker at this than others so we had a World Guiding Badge dot to dot for them to fill in. If they finished that then they help others in their six.

World Thinking Day 2017 dolls

To finish off we had a World Thinking Day Candle Ceremony which is a nice way to finish the day. With us having 25 Brownies there it took a long time; In future we’ll send the girls through in twos!

I enjoyed celebrating World Thinking Day 2017. It was a good excuse to get my old Brownie and Guide Badges out as well!

The theme for World Thinking Day 2017 is GROW. I’d like to think that our meeting has helped our Brownies grow their knowledge of other girls in other parts of the world doing the same as them.

I’m hoping that next year we’ll get more Brownies from other countries! If you’re reading this and you’re a leader drop me a message as we would love to swap cards again.

I’m a leader in training at our local Brownies. Thank you to all the Guiding Resources linked above who have these fantastic ideas for Thinking Day!

by jo

Rainbows!

Back around 1977 my journey into the world of Girl Guides started. I was a Brownie and then a Guide and did it for quite a while. I’m not sure why I loved both groups, but I had lots of friends and I think it gave me skills I probably still use to this day. In addition, I remember being the first Brownie in York to do the Friendship badge – I had to go to a Guide group to be tested and it was my first glimpse into the older Guiding world.

rainbows logo

So H recently turned 5. A lot has changed in the Brownies since I was young – there are Rainbows now. In actual fact, Rainbows have been going since 1987 – and are for younger girls, aged 5-7. The groups tend to meet at the earliest time of day (we meet just after 4pm) and the meetings last for an hour, where you work towards your Roundabout badge – one the group does as a whole rather than individually (like in Brownies).

H isn’t a games person. She doesn’t take to playing competitive games very well at all – however, I’ve noticed a change in her since Rainbows started. She doesn’t mind losing – as it’s done so nicely and everything is fun!

I know it’s something she’s going to benefit from, helping her confidence (which does need a bit of help) – as well as making new friends. The majority of the girls in our group are from the same school, though fortunately we know a few of them already.

H rainbows

Oh yes, I say ‘we’ as I’m helping out there too. That’s been interesting – H isn’t allowed to call me ‘mummy’ (my rules) and can only refer to me with my animal name. Which she chose. Which is kangaroo. Sigh.

I’m really enjoying it, I just need to learn the songs and the actions. The only way to do this is by me typing them up, so here goes…

Look at the world around
Learn everything you can
Laugh as you go along
Love this world of ours.

Look, Learn, Laugh, Love
Rainbows has begun
We’re all here now
Come and join the fun

phew.

If you’re interested in signing your child up for Rainbows, bear in mind it’s popular – we were on the waiting list for a year – so sign up your child around their fourth birthday. You can do this via the Girl Guiding Website.