A Brownie Leader's Life

I'm so sorry, i've been terrible at keeping up to date recently! We've had a few meetings since I last wrote, so here is a quick overview of our programme and experiences since coming back from Easter! We are doing the World Traveller and World Issues badges over this half term so we're 'visiting' a different country each week. 16th April This week was an 'introductory' evening into the badges. Here we covered the sections about going on a trip. We started the evening by making our own passports and including the type of information that would be needed and we talked about the different stamps you may get. We then split the girls into smaller groups and they were all given one of three different types of holiday (Hot, Cold, Rainy) and they had to plan and make an outfit for the trip... The difference? All they had were different coloured bin bags! This activity went really well, the girls really thought about their holiday and how they might need

I thought I’d written this post, but I obviously haven’t, so apologies if I don’t remember everything! The main activity for today was making Owls out of Creme eggs and chocolate buttons: My Owl didn’t stand up very well, I think it was taking a nap, but the Brownies’ were a lot more successful than I was! I know that the girls enjoyed these as I’ve heard on the grapevine that one of the Brownies has been doing them at home with her family! As our final activity for the term we challenged the Brownies in small groups to design and make a parachute to safely guide an egg to earth! All the groups worked really well together and came up with some ingenious ideas (We made sure the groups were split so there was a mix of ages in each group!) We did this activity with plastic eggs (Which I’m pleased we did, as I think there would have been lots of egg on the floor otherwise!!) And now it’s time for two weeks off. The two weeks will be spent programme planning, sorting things for Brownie Holi

Another busy, yet less chaotic, night at Brownies.  As the Brownies arrived we got them to fill in the ideas sheet for next term, we had some brilliant ideas, including our favourite one for something to cook: I really recommend doing planning like this, it’s structured, it gives a range of activities and it also provides feedback on the best things they’ve done at Brownies.  We then had a quick talk about rules and came up with our rules for the Brownie group, each girl had their input, and one of the Brownies is going to type this up.  Fishy Owl was in charge for the rest of the night (I can’t remember why she’s called Fishy Owl!) and we talked about St Patrick’s Day. We then decorated plastic bottles before filling them with soil and planting ‘shamrocks’ in them.  Fishy Owl had already cut the holes in the bottles and we talked to the girls about being safe. They all put their own soil in and sprinkled their seeds. I hope they all remember to water them and help them grow!! Next wee

Wow, it was a noisy week. Firstly, Monday was really rubbish weather here, which means the Brownies didn't get outside play at school, which then means they have loads of energy to let off when they get to us at 6.30! This week our Young Leader (Baby Owl) ran the evening. She is a keen dancer, so runs a meeting at least once a term where she choreographs and then teaches a routine to the Brownies - something the girls really enjoy. This term it was a fast dance to 'We go together' from Grease the musical. The girls were really noisy, and chatty throughout though so they didn't get to finish the end of the routine, so just performed half to us leaders. The routine was rather quick, so the girls did well to learn and remember as much of it as they did (I wouldn't have been able to keep up!) Baby Owl is coming up to her exams now, and will only be coming every other week (Alternating with Rangers) so it was a good for us to have a bit more time with Baby Owl un

Last night we had an evening based on being blind. We talked in the first instance about how you read when you’re blind (the girls knew that you read a series of dots, but didn’t know it was called Braille) and then did a few activities. Firstly we wrote our names in Braille using small felt dots and the alphabet. This was really effective as the girls were able to feel their names. At the same time, girls were taken into the kitchen in small groups to ‘feel’ items and try to work out what they are - but without seeing. This bit was left up to Tawny Owl to organise, so I’m not too sure what was in them all... but I know one included custard! From the giggles I heard, I think that was an enjoyable part of the evening! Then, when some girls had finished, we used baking trays and balls to write words in Braille (thank you Pinterest for that stroke of genius!) the girls wrote their names, the name of their sizes, the word Brownies and then wrote out words for others to guess what

We took the Brownies to Magna, the Science Museum in Rotherham on Sunday 4th. We had booked as part of their uniformed organisations scheme so had 3 workshops booked as well as time to go around the museum.  Only Ginger Owl had been to Magna before- and she had suggested the trip. After a safety briefing from the Magna team, the first session was about Alien Slime. The girls all made their own little pot of slime, in various colours and they were bagged up and given out at the end of the day.  The second session was about volcanoes- they made volcanoes and then after each ‘eruption’ they added another layer of play dough to make the mountain bigger and see how the lava spread. They also had a go at identifying rocks. This was really good and all the girls learnt something in this session!  The final session was about ‘big bubbles’ and they were all able to stand inside a bubble, as well as blowing their own. This was very cool, but unfortunately I can’t share the photos! The rest of th

Promises and Buns (Fairy Cakes) Decorating! Monday was busy! First of all we had 6 girls making their Brownie Promises - they all looked very smart in their new uniforms and had tried really hard to learn their promises. There was at least one parent for each girl who stayed to watch, which was really nice and once that was over, all the parents left! We did bun decorating this week, and instead of just giving the girls buns and icing/sprinkles, we had four tables with different designs. We had Minions (Yellow icing, 2 Marshmallows, Chocolate Chips, Black Writing Icing and strawberry laces) Owls (Chocolate frosting, Oreos, Chocolate Chips and Orange Midget Gems) Butterflies (Jazzies, Chocolate Buttons and Strawberry Laces) and Pigs (Pink icing, Pink Wafers, Chocolate Chips, Marshmallows) It was lots of fun. We decided to use pre-made buns from Sainsburys (Using the Active Kids Voucher) so that we had time instead of waiting for buns to cool down! We had the girls in 4 groups and

Although we've had no Brownies this week due to half term, i'd just like to wish you all a very Happy World Thinking Day!

Wow, what a fun evening! We did an evening that we ran about four years ago, therefore all the girls who did it previously have left! We invited the Minister for the Church we meet in to run a session on puppetry. The Minister (Kim) loves puppets and runs a club at the church to get children telling stories with them - so she's used to working with children and puppets! First of all, in their Sixes, the girls picked a puppet each and then made up a short play with them. Some were... interesting... They included a story about a sick sheep and some others which I can't remember from the top of my head! After rehearsing for around 10 minutes, they performed the play to each other. We then had a quick break for a drink (And some white chocolate buttons that Ava brought in to share - which was very kind!)and got back on with the puppets! Kim played a piece of music and shared the words with the girls for them to 'sing' using their puppets. We had a 'lead singer

Tonight was another busy one! We started off playing monkey football (The game where you have to try and get the ball through each other's legs) and we spent the rest of the evening doing Promise/Becoming a Brownie stuff. We had 6 new Brownies in January and a number in September (The majority of our Brownies have now started since Sept) so we decided to do a proper overview of all the new Brownie things! We read the Brownie story first and played a game where girls had to change places depending on their 'name' (They were all called Tommy/Betty/Owl and all moved on Brownies) and most of the old ones admitted they didn't remember it either! We then split into two groups: The first group were the pre-promise girls and we worked through the Becoming a Brownie book - so we covered the Promise, Uniform, Law, Brownie Sign and talked about what will happen at their Promise ceremony. Promises are going to be done on the 26th Feb - the week after half term! The older

This morning we hosted a Coffee Morning at the Church where we meet to raise money for our Brownie Unit and the Rainbow Unit who meet before us on a Monday. Brownies were invited to complete heir Hostess badge by making drinks/helping on stalls/washing up etc and Rainbows were invited along to enjoy themselves and help if they want. Both sections made things before the day (Rainbows made signs and Brownies made decorations for the table (See Photo below!)) It was a very busy morning and the hall was packed for the whole 1.5 hours. It was hard work for the leaders but all the irks were superstars and really helped out. We were supported by so many people, members of the Church, friends, family and lots of others!) We raised an amazing £461.10 which will be shared 50/50 between the two sections which made the planning and hard work worth it!

Tonight was our 'Pre Coffee Morning' preparations! On Saturday we're holding a coffee morning at the Church we meet at to raise money for our unit and the Rainbow Unit who meet before us - so tonight we did some preparation with the Brownies! We started the evening with a game of splat (Which the girls really enjoy!) and after Brownie circle the girls got settled around tables for the craft to start. We explained that those who are coming to the CM on Saturday will earn their hostess badge (Which reminds me, I need to order the badges!) but everyone was going to make table decorations which they will be able to take home next week! We made bouquets of flowers (In paper form) and decorated invitations to go home. Some of the girls were telling me that they had already invited friends, families and teachers so the invites were written to a lot of different people! The bouquets were really easy to make - you fold a piece of green paper in half lengthways and cut from t

There isn't a lot to write about this week.... On 22nd January we had some very special visitors - our local PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) Adele and Maria joined us to talk about Crime Prevention and Online Safety.  The girls learned about postcode schemes (And were all given a postcode scheme UV pen and some stickers) and talked about how to keep their belongings safe both at home and in the car.  We then talked about online safety and how girls should never arrange to meet someone they have met online and how they might not be who they say they are. It was interesting to see how many girls 'talk' to people on different online games, and I hope that they went home and thought about ways of keeping themselves safe. We finished the evening with a game of giants keys, and gave out badges to those who have moved Sixes since Christmas (And Adele and Maria were given badges for their adoptive Sixes too!) We did have a new leader start with us, she&

Phew! Another exhausting evening - and if we do this activity again, then we'd definitely make some changes! We started with a game (I can't remember which i'm afraid as I was collecting in forms and money for a Coffee Morning, Trip to Magna and Pack Holiday!) but my lovely Assistant Leaders and Young Leader are all super capable so I left them too it! After Brownie circle we played the bean game. I think in advance we need to decide as leaders the names of the beans and how people are out! It's been (No pun intended!) a long time since we played this last, and we kept forgetting different names of beans. We also have some girls who transferred from different groups and they kept telling us the beans from their own groups! In future, we're going to have a list for our group, and that's it! Tawny Owl led tonight's activity and we made bird feed holders: http://www.woohome.com/diy-2/12-fun-diy-spring-garden-crafts-and-activities-for-kids so we had thousa

Wow, what a hectic session, but not a lot to talk about really! We had 7 new Brownies starting tonight - 3 were previous Rainbows, and 4 are new to the organisation! As we had 8 girls leave last term, we did a big move around of Sixes tonight. We now have.... Elves, Pixies, Gnomes, Kelpies and Ghillie Dhus! Every Six has a new Sixer, so this should be a fun new challenge! Because we had so many new girls, we decided this week should be a games and getting to know you evening! We played: Splat, Rats/Rabbits/Rice, Brownie Bingo, Chinese Whispers and Giants Keys! All the girls seemed to get along really well, which is always positive! We ended the night by giving out letters for a Coffee Morning, a trip to Magna and Pack Holiday!