Brownie restaurateurs for the night

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Carissa

This week, for their last meeting before the winter break, the 54th Brownies had a great meeting where they got to take on the roles of restaurant owners and chefs. The girls worked together to make their menus, set tables, and do the prep work and cooking to share a great meal together.

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The food was simple, but full of crowd favourites. The girls prepared veggies and dip for their appetizer, mini pizzas for the main course, and a creative dessert of cookies and grinch kebabs! Everyone took great care to use the kitchen equipment safely and because they were cooking for all of their friends, they took great attention and care to their jobs!

The Brownies showed lots of consideration for each other. Two girls took initiative and decided to write names on the drink cups so they didn’t get mixed up. Great idea girls! This was very helpful when they set the tables.

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Cooking with Brownies is always an adventure and the leaders say this was a contender for their favorite meeting so far! As we know from camp, our girls love to eat! What fun 🙂

Sparks Making Friends with Critters

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Carissa

Last night the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks got to practice the part of their promise that tells them to “be a friend” — with awesome animals! The group welcomed a special guest, Mike (from Mike’s Critters), who brought with him lots of critters for the girls to touch, hold, and learn about.

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The first animal was a chinchilla, which is the world’s softest animal. Her fur was soooo soft to touch! Everyone got the chance to touch her, and some even got to hold her. It was a very exciting start to the presentation.

Other animal guests included a chameleon, a turtle, a hedgehog, and a bunny. There were even some kind of scary animals: a tarantula and a snake! But every animal was very friendly and safe to be around. Mike did a great job of teaching the girls cool things about every single animal that he presented. They learned what kinds of food the animals eat, what kind of environment they live in, how they stay safe from predators, and other interesting facts.

The girls also showed great interest and critical thinking skills when they asked some really good questions. One girl asked why the chameleon has a big ridge on his head (answer: to collect morning dew so it can flow into his mouth) and another wanted to know why the chinchilla had whiskers (answer: so it it can tell if a hole in a cave or tree is big enough to climb into safely).

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It was a really fun day and everyone — even the leaders! — learned a lot. Thank you, Mike, for bringing your awesome critters to our Sparks meeting.

Awesome Science Guest Speakers

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Carissa

In Burnaby Mountain District we are lucky enough to have access to lots of great guest speakers who are available to come in to speak to our girls about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). With close access to universities, museums, and other programs, we are fortunate enough to have lots of ways to expose our girls to these exciting subjects.

Recently the girls in the 24th Brownies applied to a Science World’s program where they send a professional scientist to your group. They had a chemist named Allyssa, who develops colours and formulas for gel nail polish for a living, volunteer to do a presentation on polymers for the girls.

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She started off with a bang, lighting some powders on fire. Next she did a trick where she poured some water into one of three cups, moved them around and had the girls tell her which one the water was in. When they were sure, she dumped the cup over her head, and nothing came out – and tried this with all three. Of course, she hadn’t disclosed that there was a polymer in the cup with the water, which absorbed the water and turned into into a spongy substance. Then she made fake snow, and lastly gave the girls these squishy little balls called Orbeez. Of course she briefly explained the science behind her demonstrations. The girls really enjoyed her presentation.

And this week, in the University Highlands Guiding group, the unit got a presentation from Let’s Talk Science, the same group that organized our District Science Day last year. For this unit of mixed Brownies and Guides, the SFU scientists led the girls in an activity where they got to extract DNA from strawberries! The hands-on learning was a great way to show the girls the science that exists around us every single day.

An important part of our programming STEM is always a hit with our girls. Stay tuned throughout the year for more examples of how girls learn all about the world around them and how this knowledge and these skills can be applied in on-going passions and careers.

Rangers start to finish

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Carissa

November was a big month for Rangers in Burnaby Mountain District. For this, our oldest age group of Guiding, ceremonies and celebrations have lots of meaning as many of these girls have been in Guiding for most of their lives.

The 12th Rangers were happy to welcome new members to their unit at their enrollment ceremony. The Guiders tried to make the day special, including nice gifts. Lots of red and white made the day extra festive.

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Every November girls from West Coast Area gather to receive Guiding’s highest level girl awards at the annual Celebration of Achievement. At this event, two Burnaby Mountain girls who finished Rangers last year were awarded with their Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award. This award takes lots of hard work and includes a lengthy process of personal and skill development, community service, and dedication to Guiding. The celebration was a very special night and it was a pleasure to hear all the award recipients say a few words about what Guiding has meant to them.

Welcome, to all the new Rangers and may your coming years have lots of fun, friendship, and excitement. The unit has lots of great adventures planned, including an upcoming snowshoe outing to Mt. Seymour. Have a great time! And congratulations to the girls who completed their Ranger programming last year. Burnaby Mountain is thrilled that both of these young women are continuing to be involved in our district. They are proving to be excellent assets to our team.

Horsing Around in Brownies

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Carissa

Over two 2-hour sessions these past few weekends, girls from the 24th Brownies participated in the Horsemanship Program at the Burnaby Equestrian Centre, which is also run by volunteers. Girls got to learn a lot about some amazing animals and how to take care of them.

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In the first session, the girls learned about colourings and markings, and got to meet most of the horses in the three barns, applying what they had just learned by identifying the colourings and marking on each of them.

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They were divided into two groups, taught about safety around horses, and each group got to groom a horse. They fed horses, and they met a horse who plays fetch and smiles on command!

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At the next session they started off by sitting in on the rehearsal for the drill demonstrations that will be held around 10:30am and 1:30pm next Sunday at the Open House.

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Then the girls were split up again and groomed different horses than they had before. The rain had let up, so they went out to the Round Pen and they got to lead horses, and learn about the different gaits.

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They practiced imitating those gaits and had a short race that way. After that everyone went back to the barn and the girls learned more details about the horses’ feed, and the riding tack (gear). They put the tack on one of the horses, and by then it was already time to go.

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The girls really had a great time at the equestrian centre. The volunteers were super friendly and knowledgeable. The fee covered an Associate Membership, which will enable girls to pursue further horsemanship opportunities if their parents so choose.

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Consider checking out the Equestrian Centre’s Open House, Christmas with the Horses, happening this Sunday, December 4th. Info is available here.

Remembrance Day Meetings

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Carissa

This week at Girl Guide meetings across the country, girls and their leaders have had tough, but important conversations about remembering. One of Burnaby Mountain District’s leaders wanted to share what they did to honour to Remembrance Day in the 24th Brownies:

We had a good talk about the poppy and its symbolism, Canada, our flag, our national anthem, the geography of our history/presence in wars, and our veteran family members, and we did some singing. Then we made Christmas cards to send to military personnel overseas. The girls were pretty into that. Take a look! It was a fun meeting despite the density of the subject matter.

Way to go, girls! Those look great. These cards are sure to bring cheer to some who really need it this holiday season. This meeting, complete with service project, is a great example of how the Guiding program connects girls with the world around them. These activities helped fulfill part of the Brownies’ My Community program area.

Halloween Sleepover

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Carissa

On Halloween weekend, Sparks and Brownies from four different units got together at Camp Capilano to enjoy some spooky fun and friendship at a super fun sleepover. The girls had a great time making new friends from the different groups, and everyone got along great. Everybody was kept busy with lots of fun activities.

The girls got to make a variety of crafts including their very own jack-o-lantern candle holder. These were made by gluing tissue paper to mason jars, and lighting them up with a battery operated tea light. This is a special keepsake that girls will be able to remember this sleepover with for a long time.

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Other crafts included pom-pom aliens, and a popular Halloween mask colouring station.

After a supper of mummy dogs and spooky veggies, the group was lucky enough to have nice weather for a wonderful campfire. They each got to take turns making s’mores. For some of the girls this was their first time roasting marshmallows over a campfire! They sang lots of fun campfire songs before going back to the cabin.

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Before bed the girls had a dance party featuring great Halloween music like “The Monster Mash” and theme songs from Ghostbusters and Spiderman. The common room was decorated with awesome Halloween decorations including the jack-o-lantern candle holders the girls had made earlier that night. The disco-style party lights made the atmosphere perfect for dancing.

The next morning early risers got to watch the movie Hotel Transylvania 2, and once everyone was up they all enjoyed a hearty breakfast of pancakes with turkey bacon. A few more festive activities, including the ever-popular pumpkin bowling, kept girls entertained until it was finally time to be picked up.

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Over all it was a very successful sleepover. The leaders were all impressed with how well the girls got along, and everybody was very well behaved. For most of the Sparks it was their first sleepover with Girl Guides, and everyone did great!

Climbing Guides

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Carissa

This week the girls in the 56th Burnaby Mountain Guides took their regular weekly meeting to local Climb Base5, Metro Vancouver’s largest climbing gym!

Some girls had been before, but for others this was a brand new experience. They spent about two hours climbing and had a great time. Girls learned about safety with the climbing harnesses and equipment.

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They had a wonderful time challenging themselves to see how high they could climb on the rocky walls.

This was a great outing for the girls to have fun and try new things. It is also a great way to get active and be healthy. Thank you to the great facilitators at Climb Base5 for helping our girls have a high-reaching fantastic night!

Skulls on Tour visits Highlands

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Carissa

This week, the girls in the University Highlands Guiding Unit were thrilled to welcome a very special guest speaker to their meeting. The presenter’s name is Yvonne and her program is called Skulls on Tour. She has a large collection of natural science specimens including… you guessed it: skulls!

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In addition to the scientific learning opportunity the specimens provide, she talked about what it’s like to have a serious collection/hobby, and spoke about the community of other collectors that she’s become a part of. The girls and leaders found it informative on several levels.

The girls were very interested in checking out Yvonne’s collection. They got to get pretty close and even handle some of the specimens. It was a really neat chance to learn about animal physiology.

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Bones, horns, teeth, and fur were all included in the display. There was so much to look at, touch, and feel. Girls were very engaged and asked lots of questions. It was fascinating! Guest speakers are such a fun way to bring something new to a regular unit meeting.

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Yvonne is a Sparks leader in Vancouver and can customize her talk for any age group. For more information, or to inquire about booking Skulls on Tour for your own unit, check out her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/skullsandoddities/.

Burnaby Mountain District

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