Summer Term Beginning Online

[smallhobbit]

As lockdown eases and we move forward Girlguiding HQ has said certain indoor activities are now possible, but with continued social distancing.  Which would mean we'd have to run meetings for half the pack at a time, which causes all sorts of problems for us, so we've decided to stay as zoom meetings until the middle of June when hopefully there are further relaxations, and three of the four leaders will have had their second jab.  Most of the Brownies are now joining in with zoom so it still works okay.

Last week we began with the enrollment of two new Brownies who joined last term, after which we played a couple of games - silly games involving standing up, sitting down, waving our hands around etc.  And then they began the first part of our activity, which was to make a room in a box.  They had received a number of printed sheets with items of furniture on, which they began to colour and cut out.

This week the two girls who had joined last week also made their promises and we continued with the room in a box.  As well as the furniture, they had sheets to make three walls of the room - leaving the fourth wall open - so they constructed the room, with in some cases parental assistance.  We explain, the Brownies begin, get confused, call parent over (one condition of attendance at zoom meeting is that there is a parent/carer present even if at a suitable distance), parent looks confused and we explain again.  Some of the rooms were really good once they had completed them, and we encouraged posting photos to our unit facebook page.

Last week our waiting list was down to one page, about 20 girls.  That isn't as bad as it sounds, because some are Rainbows who are on the list but won't move up until they are seven.  However, we're now over 20 on the list again.  It's good to be popular!

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Sounds like a fun activity!

[smallhobbit]

Yes, they all seemed to enjoy themselves.

[adafrog]

Were those like shadowboxes? I have good memories of making things like that when I was in grade school. :)

[smallhobbit]

No, just ordinary boxes made out of sheets of paper. We have to do very basic activities, being limited by what we can deliver to their homes and ease of giving instructions over zoom.

[adafrog]

Ordinary builds imagination. :)

[luthienberen]

Oh the room building activity must have been jolly fun for all involved! I'm always impressed by how many different types of exercises you have for the girls and parents. :) A wait list of over
20 is an excellent indicator you are doing things right.

I hope by June you can all meet again in person!

[smallhobbit]

They did seem to enjoy taking part. It will be good to get back together - we're planning on having a party :)

[luthienberen]

Oh, wishing you a fun fantastic and food-filled party!

[rusty_armour]

It would be great if you could start having some outdoor activities, but I can understand why it's not practical right now, especially if you have to divide the pack in two. The Zoom meetings have obviously been a success, so it makes sense to continue using that platform until more restrictions are lifted.

I love the room in a box activity. I probably would have loved it even more back when I was a Brownie.

It's great that girls are still enrolling for Brownies and that you have a waiting list. It certainly is good to be popular! :-)

[smallhobbit]

We'd love to do outdoor activities, but where we meet doesn't enable us to do so in a safe way - there is a small area of ground at the back of the hall, but there are public paths on either side (no fences) which makes it impossible to run anything other than a few games. Also, English weather being what it is, we can't guarantee it won't rain!

So for the moment we shall continue as we are, which the Brownies still enjoy, and change when we are ready to do so.

[margaret_r]

Fingers crossed the restrictions are eased and you can get back to regular indoor activities. In the meantime you're doing a wonderful job of keeping the girls engaged and active:)

[smallhobbit]

It will be so nice to get back together. But it has been lovely seeing how the girls have enjoyed themselves.

[medievalrosalie]

making the room in a box sounds really great! I may have made a similar thing as a small child! Kids that age are just so much fun. The magic of crafting hasn't worn off. (it never wears off for some of us, right?)

[smallhobbit]

Or if we stop crafting for a while we come back to it. I think particularly at the moment making something fun has great appeal.