University Highlands Guiding Group

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Carissa

Great news! Burnaby Mountain District is opening a brand new unit to service the SFU community at University Highlands Elementary. They’re off to a bit of a late start because we only recently found leaders for the group and there was a lot of set up procedures to go through, but now we’re ready to go. University Highlands Guiding Group is now available on UnitFinder so people in that neighborhood should be able to enter their postal code and register online for the group.

University Highlands Guiding Group is going to be a new adventure for Burnaby Mountain District — this mixed-branch, or “blended” Guiding Unit will accept both Brownies and Guides. The two branches will do most of their activities together, but still accomplish their own branch-specific programming.

(Click poster above to see more clearly)

The district will be hosting an information session for interested families next Tuesday at the school, and regular meetings will start a couple of weeks after. We look forward to getting involved in the SFU and UniverCity communities and welcoming the fantastic girls of University Highlands!

International Day of the Girl

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Carissa

Did you know that October 11th was declared by the United Nations the International Day of the Girl? The girls of the 24th Brownies commemorated this event by participating in Girl Guides’ International Day of the Girl Postcard project. To read more about the day and this project, click here.

Below is a gallery of the girls’ postcards explaining why the world needs girls. Way to go, Brownies!

(If you click on one of the pictures you can open it bigger and scroll through the gallery to better see the postcards)

Sparks Sleepover Movie Party

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Carissa

The 1st Sparks recently enjoyed a sleepover at Richmond Guide House. The theme was a movie pajama party where the girls watched Disney’s Tangled. They had pizza and popcorn, and did a craft themed to the movie. It was a great chance for the girls and leaders to bond early in the year and to have a great time.

The craft was to make Rapunzel hair. Each girl was given a long braid that they could decorate with clips, flowers, ribbons, and butterflies… just like the part in the movie where Rapunzel gets her hair decorated. The craft turned out great!

Then the girls went into the “movie theatre” — a room in the house where a projector played the movie on a big wall, just like really going to the movies. After the movie the girls went to sleep. The leaders are thrilled to report that the girls were very well behaved and slept really well… for a sleepover, anyway.

One of the highlights of a sleepover like this is seeing some of the shyer girls grow in confidence as they get to know new friends and feel more comfortable in the group. By the end of the event quiet girls were speaking up more and girls who would normally be a little nervous or hesitant were jumping right into the action. It’s amazing what an activity like this can do for the confidence of a young girl — for many of these girls it was their first sleepover ever, and it was a really great experience.

Rangers Practice Cooking

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Carissa

In anticipation of the Area level Iron Chef competition for Pathfinders and Rangers in which girls form patrols to create delicious meals on camping equipment, both the 14th Pathfinders and the 12th Rangers had meetings last week to practice their skills. The Rangers have some pictures to share from when they took over a leader’s kitchen.

The actual competition, happening on Saturday, features guest judges including real food critics. For the practice, leaders gave feedback to the girls on how to improve their creations. One of the Rangers’ creations was called “Thai-ish Rice” which got kudos from the leaders for its coconut flavour and the siriacha spooky face (the competition’s theme is “Frankenstein’s Masterpiece”). They would have liked to see the rice better cooked though — the crunchy rice wasn’t as appetizing as it could have been.

The biggest success of the evening was that all the girls had a great time and showed great teamwork in the kitchen. The cinnamon apple dessert was quite tasty, and the leaders liked some of the creativity that they saw.

Will Burnaby Mountain’s mixed Pathfinder/Ranger patrol bring home the trophy? It will be even trickier to cook on the camp equipment, outside in the cold… but these girls are up for the challenge. More importantly they are ready to have fun.

Brownie Luau Sleepover

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Carissa

To get the year off to an awesome start, the 54th Brownies had a sleepover in September. It was themed like a Hawaiian luau!

Junior leaders at the entrance to the Luau

Heritage home Richmond Guide House was decorated to become to newest Hawaiian island. Girls were greeted by leaders with leis and went on to make their own floral hair pieces. After a pizza dinner (you guessed it, Hawaiian flavour!) the girls made their own coconut bras and donned grassed skirts.

Spicy Owl is helping a Brownie with her costume

Once they were all outfitted, it was time to dance! Hula style, of course.

Before long they were expert hula dancers

The night time snack was pineapple ice — a delicious treat made by freezing pineapple juice and grinding it through a snow cone maker.

Yum! Very refreshing.

A big thank you to all the leaders and Rangers who made this event possible. The girls had a great time!

Pathfinder Kick-off Event

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Carissa

The “Guiding Year” is almost upon us now and registrations are going great in Burnaby Mountain District. We had our first day of promotion at Lougheed Town Centre today and will be back on Sunday, meeting the community.

We are especially promoting our Pathfinder unit at this time and have come up with an awesome way for girls of that age to try out a taste of our program to see if they’re a good fit before committing to registration.

Burnaby Mountain District presents…

Pathfinder Kick-Off Event

September 21-22, 2013

Have you ever thought about joining Girl Guides? It’s not too late! Pathfinders enjoy girl-centered programming focussed on the things that girls enjoy. Typical activities include outings, camping, community service, skill building, and arts. If you’re a 12-14 year old girl, try this taste of Pathfinder’s event without committing to joining the group – if you have fun, then you can register after!

Who: 12-14 year old girls

What: A tent-out and trip to the Richmond Night Market

Where: A Girl Guide property in Richmond

When: September 21-22

Cost: $15.00

(plus a recommended $10 to buy dinner at the market)

Interested in signing up? Contact webmaster@ggcburnabymountaindistrict.com for details. Come with a friend – maybe you’ll both want to join.

Spark and Brownie Fairy Camp

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Carissa

The 1st Sparks and the 54th Brownies recently had their year end camp together at the beautiful Camp Olave. The theme was “A Fairy Earns Her Wings” and the girls had a fun-filled weekend doing different tasks that eventually ended in a fairy ball where each girl was presented with a pair of beautiful wings.

There were crafts, games, and songs. They did activities like navigating a blind trail obstacle course and swimming in the ocean. There was even a bear sighting the first night that put a rather rapid end to the campfire, and provided much excitement.

The weather was warm and beautiful. Every single girl got into the ocean — which isn’t always the case, as the water is very cold! But these fairies needed to cool off.

One of the highlights was the fairy magic station. Regular little girls can blow regular bubbles. But only fairies can make GIANT bubbles. This activity was a hit with girls and leaders alike, and got the attention of many other campers on site.

At the fairy ball the girls earned their wings, got a fairy jewel (a ringpop) and danced to some pop music. It was a great celebration to recognize their fairy accomplishments.

Big thank yous to all the leaders who organized such a successful camp. There were a few volunteer mums who came to help out and they were amazing. For many of these girls this was their very first camp — we’re glad it was such a great one.

Brownie Dance Party

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Carissa

Early in the Guiding year the girls of the 54th Brownies were very clear about one thing that they wanted to do this year. They wanted to have a DANCE PARTY.

Brown Owl wasn’t too sure what to make of their request at first, but as they continued to show interest in pop music and making dance routines and singing together during regular meetings, it became clear that this was something they should pursue.

So for their second sleepover of the year, the group rented a hall in the community for the night. The leaders decorated with music-themed decorations. The girls made a craft out of recycled CDs. But the biggest hit was the disco light that showed three different colours and kept to the pace of the music that was playing.

The girls made dance routines in patrols to some of their favourite pop songs. They also did “traditional” dances like the Chicken Dance, the Macarena, and the YMCA. The danced enthusasitically, even singing along to the chorus of Brown Owl’s favourite song (Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”) taught to them by some of the other leaders.

It was a night of Kelly Clarkson, and Justin Beiber, One Direction, and Taylor Swift, and so many more — and a really fun night that neither the girls nor the leaders are likely to forget.

Brownie Sleepover at the Pool

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Carissa

Earlier this year the 47th Brownies went on a sleepover to Eileen Dailly Pool in Burnaby. The swimming — and especially the waterslide! — was a lot of fun. Kudos to the leader brave enough to take her phone into the pool to get this awesome group shot.

After some time in the water, the girls got to eat pizza and cake. Before bed they watched Disney’s Brave, which was a great opportunity to talk about how awesome girls are.

A big thank you to the staff at Eileen Dailly for hosting our group for the night. Everyone had a great time.

Club Aviva Sleepover

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Carissa

This weekend the 1st Sparks (along with a few Brownies) spent the night at Club Aviva gymnastics centre in Coquitlam. The girls had a wonderful time. They got to play in the gymnastics gymnasiums, have a pizza snack, play parachute games, and then sleep in the gym.

The leaders were tired out just watching them race through the gym and use the equipment. Some girls had already had gymnastics training whereas others were using the equipment for the very first time. Either way, they loved it.

The trampolines were probably the biggest hit of all. Who doesn’t love bouncing?

Why yes, that Spark is about 15 feet up in the air. She shimmied up there like a monkey. This seems like a good time to thank the amazing Club Aviva staff for having us for the night and for making sure we had a great time while also being really on top of our safety!

The other really popular area was the foam pit. Girls could jump or swing in and land in balls of foam.

Now that this unit has done two sleepovers already this year, it’s time for them to start getting excited about their 2-night camp in June. Some people believe Sparks can’t do the same fun things as older girls, but this unit sure proves them wrong. These girls are unstoppable!

Burnaby Mountain District

Register today at www.girlguides.ca!

Category Archives: Unit Event