Elizabeth's Guiding Corner

These are worksheets that lay out the steps for earning a discovery badge. You can use them with your Unit, or send them to families for girls to complete on their own. I made a version of these when the discovery badges first came out, and I have now updated them with the new branch name and changed the Girl Champion badge to Change Champion. Ember Discovery Badge Worksheets Guide Discovery Badge Worksheets

 Hi everyone! I'm back with another activity sheet for Sparks and Embers. This would be a great activity when preparing for enrollment, or learning about your branch.  I'm a Spark! activity sheet Je suis une Spark! activity sheet I'm an Ember! activity sheet Je suis une Ember! activity sheet

 Here is a basic Two Stars and a Wish template I've made, perfect for evaluating camps, events, or the Guiding year in general. I am also working on one that is mostly drawing-based for younger girls, as well as a more detailed one for older girls. Two Stars and a Wish - English Two Stars and a Wish - French

 I'm back with some more resources, this time some word searches. I've created a simple version and an advanced version (the advanced version has more words), and they are both available in English and French. Girl Guide Word Search - Simple - English Girl Guide Word Search - Simple - French Girl Guide Word Search - Advanced - English Girl Guide Word Search - Advanced - French

 Here are some colouring pages that I made based on the new GGC clipart. There are four different designs, all in one file for easy downloading.  GGC Colouring Pages Disclaimer: The images that these are based off are owned by Girl Guides of Canada, I just traced them to turn them into colouring pages for personal/Unit use.

 With Brownies being renamed to Embers, I anticipate that a lot of Ember Units will be looking for new resources with the new promise, law, and branch name. I've made these promise posters, which would make a great aid for teaching the promise, law and motto. I made one for each branch, in English and French. The font size is quite large, so they can be printed as a full page, or multiple per page to be a more convenient size. Spark Promise Poster: English French Ember Promise Poster: English French Guide Promise Poster: English French Pathfinder Promise Poster: English French   Ranger Promise Poster: English French Girl Guide Promise Poster: English French

 Hi Everyone! This summer I am working as a lifeguard at a apartment building pool. So far it has been fun, and I've met a lot of really interesting people. The part that I like the most is having the opportunity to teach people about water safety. I've been swimming since I was very young, and am now a certified lifeguard, swimming instructor, and Emergency First Aid instructor, so I know a lot about the subject! Here are the two most common things that I explain to people: Lifejackets, PFDs, swim vests, and pool toys While they all serve vaguely the same purpose, there is a big difference between these four items. Lifejackets are a flotation device that will turn an unconscious person from face down to face up in the water. They have a flap on the back that will support an unconscious person's head, allowing them to breath. This is what I would recommend to a parent if they ask what sort of floatation device they should buy for their child. Personal Flotation Devices (PFD...

I made a Tiktok joking about how I always make a Kit List whenever I travel, and someone in the comments asked if I could share my kit lists. So here you go! These are the generic kit lists that I use and add to when needed. I've left them as Google Docs, so if you'd like to edit them you can make a copy and add or take away things as you wish. Travel Kit List (3 Nights, 4 Days) Travel Kit List (9 Nights, 10 Days) Sleepover Kit List (1 Night) Two Night Cabin Camp Kit List Two Night Tent Camp Kit List And if you haven't yet, check out my Tiktok: @t0astedmarshma110w

 I've created this activity sheet for Sparks and Brownies about diversity and how our differences make us unique. Each pizza topping represents a different trait or interest, and the girls create their pizza slice based on the instructions for each topping. Diversity Pizza Activity Sheet

 This week we learned about First Aid and emergency preparedness. We learned about what Paramedics do, when you should call 911, and how to apply a bandaid.  7:00pm - Welcome and Opening 7:10pm - Peel Paramedics Virtual Tour Peel Paramedic Service has put together a series of virtual tours for different age groups. We watched the one aimed at grades 3-5, and in it a paramedic gives a tour of the ambulance, talked about what paramedics do, and gave some safety tips.  7:25pm - How to Apply a Bandaid We went through the steps of how to clean a small cut and put on a bandaid on a stuffed animal. 7:35pm - When to Call 911 We used this  Slideshow  by Anna Cole to talk about when to call 911. The slideshow has a series of scenarios, and we worked as a group to decide what to do in each one. We also talked about what to do if you accidentally call 911 .  7:55pm - Closing This meeting was a lot of fun, and it was a great way to finish off the How To theme.

  This week we combined science and the arts to learn about the science of sound! 7:00pm - Opening and Welcome 7:15pm - Sound Waves We looked at some diagrams of sound waves (From this  slide deck ) and talked about how echoes work, and why small instruments make high sounds and big instruments make low sounds. 7:25pm - Videos We were going to watch some videos of people playing boom whackers and glass bottles (in the slide deck), but to be honest I completely forgot about them. We had some technical difficulties that resulted in the meeting starting a few minutes late, and the girls were ready to start experimenting so we just went straight to that. 7:30pm - Experimenting Once we were done with all the talking, we sent the girls off to experiment. They all brought cups and they filled them with water to make different pitches. I also suggested that they try tapping the cups with different objects to see if they could make different sounds. Then we all shared the songs we...

 Last week we took a virtual trip to the Toronto Zoo. I picked some videos from their YouTube channel ahead of time and put them in a presentation for the girls to vote on. 7:00pm: Welcome and Opening 7:10pm: Virtual "Tour" Here is the presentation  with the videos. There are two videos on each slide, and the girls voted on which one they wanted to watch. We had some extra time so we went back and watched some of the videos that we didn't watch the first time around. My favourite is the penguin video. 7:45pm: Animal Add-On Add-on was one of my favourite drawing games in elementary school, and the great thing about it is that you can play it with pretty much any theme. Here's how to play: The person leading the game picks the starting shape (in the case of an animal theme this would be the shape of the body) The person leading the game then picks other players to add the other parts of the animal (head, ears, eyes, arms, legs, fins, etc). If you have more people that b...

 This week was my first week back after a long break, and we did the Shining Rights activity from the World Stage theme. We started by reviewing the difference between needs and wants. What are things that are nice to have and make our life more fun and exciting, and what are things that we need need. Some of the wants were toys and watching TV, and some of the needs were clothes and food. Next we moved onto the Shining Rights activity from the platform. We talked about the Rights of the Child (Food, shelter, play/rest, education, safety), and what they look like in our lives.  If you'd like a template for making the star, you can find it in the World Stage activity book  that I posted last year.

Here's another resource for Pathfinders and Rangers. Last time I gave my tips for planning a meeting, and this time I've used my experiences to put together a step-by-step guide.  Meeting Planning Guide for Pathfinders and Rangers I've summed up planning a meeting into five steps: Pick your badge Pick your activities Finalize the details Run the meeting Evaluate your meeting The guide also includes a graphic organizer to organize the details of the meeting, like the opening activity, main activities, and closing activity, and questions to help evaluate the meeting once it's done. I hope that this helps anyone who wants to plan a meeting but doesn't know how! 

 Pathfinders and Rangers, this one's for you! I've lead many meetings throughout my time in Pathfinders and Rangers, and I've also seen many meetings lead by my peers (and myself) that didn't go exactly as planned. So, here's my tips on how to plan a fun and engaging meeting! 1. Prepare questions to guide the discussion Sometimes everyone is engaged in the discussion and it kind of guides itself, but have some questions or prompts ready just incase your unit isn't feeling that talkative. Open ended questions tend to work best as they leave room for many different answers and opinions. 2. Don't be afraid to do "kid" things Just because you are in Pathfinders or Rangers doesn't mean that you can't do crafts, play games, and sing songs. Before the holidays I lead my unit in making SWAPS and singing campfire songs, and we had a great time. 3. Take advantage of online resources A popular attitude right now is that there are so many things that w...

This week we finished up the My Physical Self theme by talking about healthy eating. I took me a while to figure out how to address healthy eating without talking about "good food" and "bad foods" and also make it fun, but I finally got it and the girls had a great time. 7:00 pm: Opening and Welcome 7:10 pm: Fun food vs fuel food We started off the night by talking about different kinds of food, and whether or not they are a fun food or a fuel. Fun foods are foods that are fun to eat, but they don't have a lot of the nutrients that our bodies need. Fuel foods on the other hand have lots of nutrients that help us grow big and strong. Once we were all familiar with the concept, we played a  guessing game to practice identifying fun foods and fuel foods. I showed the Brownies pictures of food and had them give a thumbs up for fun food or make big muscles with their arms for fuel food.  7:25 pm: Video At he end of the game we watched a  video from Kids Learning Tu...

This past weekend we had our second virtual camp. Our first one was last spring and it went over very well with the girls and their parents, so we decided to do it again! Here's the schedule and the booklet that we sent out to the Brownies and their families: Virtual Winter Camp Booklet Friday Night: 6:30 pm - Camp opening and tent tours All the girls built blanket forts for our night of camping, so we started camp by giving each other tours.  It wasn't that cold so I slept outside 7:00 pm - Camping scavenger hunt Our girls really like scavenger hunts so I included a camping scavenger hunt in our activities. This one was pretty basic, just a list of things we might bring on a camping trip like a flashlight, mittens, a winter hat, and a sleeping bag. 7:30 pm - Edible campfire One of our girls specifically asked to learn how to make a campfire and this was a fun way to do this that didn't involve any actual fire. In the booklet I included a list of suggestions for the differe...

Hi there! The holidays have really snuck up on a lot of us this year, so here's a list of winter/holiday themed activities that you can do at your virtual holiday party that don't require a lot of preparation. Paper Snowflakes : Super easy, and all you need is scissors and paper. You could make it an upcycling craft by using old newspaper 3D Paper Snowflakes : I learned how to make these in Brownies and I still love making them. All you need is paper, scissors, and tape or a stapler. Like the paper snowflakes, you could use old newspapers as well Have a pajama party! Everyone could show off their favourite pajamas/comfy clothes and introduce their favourite stuffed animal Make decorations for new years eve, You could use these  printable new year party hats  or just make your own decorations with whatever supplies you have on hand. While you make them you can talk about your wishes for the new year Winter bingo : This card in particular has a lot of winter clothes on it, ...

Every year WAGGGS creates a challenge for the International Day of the Girl, and this year the theme is Hear Me Now. There is a challenge booklet to complete with your unit, which you can find here:  Hear Me Now - IDG 2020 , as well as a social media campaign. Normally I don't post until after a meeting, but since IDG is coming up I figured that I would share my plans now. Specifically a template for the hero emblem activity. The instructions say to have the girl draw a shield and fill it in as per the instructions, but for virtual or anytime Guiding it might be easier for the girls to have a pre-made template. In the fourth quadrant there is space for the girls to write their personal pledge. Even if you aren't doing the challenge, you could use it as a stand-alone activity in the Being You or Your Choice themes. Hero Emblem Template Here is the plan for the meeting: Time Activity Details 7:00 pm Welcome and Opening 7:15 pm “Girl On A Mission” guided meditation [My Mighty Mind...

Hey everyone! After a bizarre back-to-school season, we're back to our weekly meetings. The first week was the usual getting to know all of the new Brownies, and also getting used to the new Covid precautions. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there that week, but apparently everything went smoothly. This week the weather was cool and rainy so we decided to move our meeting online. We took this as an opportunity to introduce the Brownie Promise and Law. We used the promise and law mini books from owl-and-toadstool.blogspot.com , and discussed what we thought each line meant. And then we gave the girls some time to colour while we talked about how school has been for them so far.