So long, farewell

Last week we went to the park to practice activities for an upcoming Guide and Scout regatta. We also said goodbye to one of our Patrol Leaders who is moving up to the Guide unit. The girls gave her an ear-piercing BRAVO (for being awesome) and then a giant group hug. 

Whenever a girl moves up to Guides, I give her a card with a photo on the front from when she first joined the unit. As most of my Brownies are with me for two or more years there is usually a dramatic change in their appearance during the time they are with me - from a baby-faced seven year old to a mature young lady, almost ready for high-school!

The card was filled with goodbye messages from her friends and  I caught her reading them over the course of the night. She also seemed pleased with the bunch of flowers i'd picked from my garden. I still recall how grown up I felt the first time I was given flowers as a birthday present from my friends so I though i'd pass on the feeling.

With another PL moving on, I will need to reorganise our Patrols, but not too much as I should (hopefully) have two more heading to Guides by the end of the year. I'll save the complete rearrange until then so we can hold new Patrol elections.

Board Games

A nice relaxing evening for the last Guide meeting of the term. Pyjamas and board games - definitely, my kind of night!

The girls brought along their favourite games and broke into small groups to play. The variety of games was great and there were many that I wasn't familiar with. It was nice to see the Guides teaching their friends games that they play with their families.

There was a snooker type game from India, a giant snakes and ladders board, Payday, Hungry Hungry Hippos, card games (cheat), Guess Who?, Connect Four and so many more.

One group played The Logo Game for the entire night and while I only spent a little time with them, they were clearly enjoying themselves! The photo below shows one of the game cards. Can you name all four chocolate bars pictured? (I could only get the first two correct).

With about 40 minutes left before the end of the meeting, I grabbed Taboo and taught two of my former Brownie Guides how to play. Soon another two girls joined in and we had great fun giggling as we each struggled to have the others guess our tabooed word. 

We played a modified version of the game with one person choosing a card and the rest of us trying to guess the word. Whoever had the card was in charge of self monitoring that they didn't use a tabooed word. Whoever guessed correctly kept the card as a point.

One of the more amusing comments of the night occurred after we had correctly guessed the words 'Bloody Mary' from the above card.

Guide 12 years old: I don't understand this card. It was so easy to guess! Shouldn't it say words like 'scary', 'mirror, and 'haunted'? How come it has all these food words on it?

The girls were shocked when I informed them that Bloody Mary wasn't just a spooky story told at sleepovers but it was also an alcoholic drink! Ahhh, the well-rounded education you receive as a Girl Guide.

Sometimes I go months without visiting a Guide meeting so it's always nice to spend time with the older girls. I'm always shocked by how mature my former Brownie Guides have grown and so pleased with how much they still love Guiding! I really hope that they choose to have another game night and that I get invited. There are so many great card games i'd love to introduce to the girls. I can just see them shouting at each other while playing Spoons!