Brownies Build Birdhouses

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Carissa

This week the girls from the 54th Brownies went to Home Depot to try out some new skills with tools and construction!

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Each girl got to make her very own birdhouse. Leaders were impressed with how quickly some of the girls picked up on the skills, figuring out how to assemble their pieces and how to screw and nail them together almost before they even told how! It is great to see them all so proudly showing off their creations.

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The leaders were very impressed with the program offered to them by the staff at Home Depot. One leader said “Mark, Gary, and Penny at Home Depot on Henning Drive were fantastic! They were so helpful, went out of their way to accommodate us (Especially Gary who precut all the pieces at home on his day off!)” Wow! A huge thank you to Home Depot and its staff for supporting Girl Greatness in our community!

District Space Centre Sleepover: Guiding Reaches for the Stars!

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Carissa

Last weekend Burnaby Mountain District took over the HR MacMillan Space Centre for an amazing sleepover! More than 100 participants got to learn all about space including astronauts, the universe, rockets, and more.

Girls were divided into groups to take part in different activities. One of the stations took place in the observatory where girls got to learn about the giant telescope and how astronomers study space. SC 2

Everyone got a chance to explore the cosmic courtyard, which featured lots of hands-on activities. Girls got to touch a moon rock, feel different spacecraft materials, design rovers out of lego, and consider the possibility of alien life forms.

Another station was a presentation by Space Centre staff about what it’s like to be an astronaut. Girls got answers to all kinds of interesting questions: How to astronauts wash their hair? What do they eat? Where do they sleep? How do they go to the bathroom?

Finally, everyone got to see a show in the planetarium theatre before bed, showing us just how small we really are in the universe. They learned about planets, stars, and galaxies, and got to spot constellations and find out why Pluto is no longer classed as a planet.

It was a really successful event and everybody had a great time. Space Centre staff were impressed with how well behaved the girls were and how organized the leaders were. They were also impressed that we knew more songs about space than just “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!” SC 7

In the morning, girls got to launch the bottle rockets that they constructed the night before. Everyone was impressed with how high the rockets actually flew.

This is another great example of how Guiding includes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into programming for girls of all ages. We learned a tonne, and had a great time doing it. A HUGE thank you goes out to the incredible Space Centre staff for leading such an exciting program as well as to all the Guiders who volunteered their time to make the night a success.

What happens at a typical Guide meeting?

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Carissa

Most often we here at Burnaby Mountain District like to post about the really super awesome outings, events, and meetings that our girls are getting up to (stay tuned for a post in the next few days about the amazing district sleepover at the planetarium!). But sometimes it’s good to post about a regular weekly meeting. You might be wondering what does a Guide group do at an average meeting?

The girls at the 22nd Guides recently decided to answer that question for local Brownies who will be advancing to Guides in the coming year. They invited some second year Brownies to see what Guides is typically like.

The answer, of course, is that there is no “typical” night at Guides! These girls like to do all kinds of things from arts and crafts, to cooking, to community service, to planning for their upcoming events, to playing games, and more.

As a special treat, the Guides treated their Brownie friends to an activity of cupcake decorating, showing off how they have honed their decorating (and eating) skills.

And it wouldn’t be Guides without the fun and friendship of hanging out with your Guiding buddies. This is a unit that knows how to giggle!

Brownies Experience the Orchestra

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Carissa

Last month the girls of the 54th Brownies enjoyed a concert at the Orpheum Theatre in downton Vancouver called Latin Beats Heroic Feats. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra put the show on as a part of their Kids’ Koncerts series.

Especially exciting was the opportunity visit the VSO Instrument Fair in the hour before the show. The girls got some hands on exposure to a variety of instruments.

Performers were available with several different instruments to give kids personal demonstrations and a chance to try them themselves. The girls had a chance to try a cello, violin, flute, oboe, bass clarinet, and more!

There was even a craft station — always a bit hit with Brownies! — where the girls got to make their own carnival masks, which later became a part of the interactive show. The orchestra performed a number of musical pieces from across North and South America in an interactive show designed for kids aged four to eleven years old. Clowning and puppetry were also used to stage a story about a young boy’s travel through time and space, learning all about music and rhythm. Once again the girls impressed everybody with how well behaved and engaged they were through the whole experience. This unit visited the symphony last year as well and when Brown Owl asked what kinds of outings and activities they wanted to plan this year, there was an overwhelming desire to see the symphony again.

Way to go, 54th Brownies, helping these girls develop a love for live orchestral music!

Three Ring Brownies

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Carissa

Girls in the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies have been learning about the circus. They recently had one of the district’s Pathfinders, who does circus lessons, come in to show them some tricks and let them try some equipment. stacked Activities including spinning plates, crazy yoyos, juggling, ring tossing, human pyramids, and more. It was a lot of fun!
The unit is carrying on with the circus theme, currently working on puppets for a three ring puppet show that they will be presenting at a Mother’s Day luncheon. Their puppets are animals, clowns, and acrobats… stay tuned! pyramid

The circus activities are also involved in completing a provincial Arts challenge. How cool is that?

Thank you to the awesome Pathfinder who donated her time to teach the Brownies fun new skills.

Units Visit Local Seniors

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Carissa

Our district is pretty excited this year to be continuing to make connections in this community. This fall and winter, units from our district have been building a relationship with LJ Christmas Manor, a local senior citizens highrise complex under the sponsorship of the Lions Club. This vibrant community of seniors have been happy to receive our units, and our girls have been so welcomed that we hope to make return visits.

In November the 22nd Guides did a Remembrance Day visit. They sang some of Guiding’s more traditional and sombre songs in honour of the occasion and shared a snack with residents afterwards.

In December the 54th Brownies visited and sang a campfire that mixed traditional campfire songs (including some silly ones!) with Christmas carols. The girls then gave out Christmas themed gift bags with handmade ornaments and cards.

As an added bonus, the Brownies ended up invited to watch a shuffleboard tournament happening down the hall and were given a lesson! For many, this was the first time they had encountered the game.

Thanks for having us, Christmas Manor! Hopefully some of our units will be able to make it out to visit you this Spring.

Burnaby Village Museum Heritage Christmas Outing

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Carissa

Several units from Burnaby Mountain District visited the Burnaby Village Museum for its annual Heritage Christmas display at the end of 2014. The museum is known for putting on a great evening with live entertainment, lots of educational material from the 1920’s, and, of course, the carousel.

There was a really fun scavenger hunt themed as the 12 days of Christmas. The clues were the words from the song and the things that “my true love gave to me” were scattered throughout in creative ways. The “four calling birds” for example, was four crows making phone calls in a store window! Shown below are some of the “nine ladies dancing”.

There were lots of lights and amazing decorations. The eco-sculptures were dressed up too. There was lots to learn about how Christmas was celebrated almost 100 years ago.

One of the highlights of course was the ride on the beautiful traditional carousel. The girls loved riding with their friends. The horses move faster than you might think!

We hope you enjoy these photos of the 1st Sparks and the 54th Brownies from when they went together one night. Other units visited the museum on different nights as well.

Gulf of Georgia Cannery/Richmond Guide House Sleepover

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Carissa

At the end of September the girls and leaders of the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies had an incredible overnight experience combining a tour of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and a sleepover at Richmond Guide House.

Some of the leaders outside the Cannery as the girls gathered for the event

Everyone met at the cannery, which is a Parks’ Canada National Historic site. Two enthusiastic tour guides took everyone around the facility, showing how salmon was fished and canned and west coast.

The start of the tour, near a display about old time fishing techniques

It was fascinating to learn about what the conditions were like for the people working in the cannery, to see the machines, and understand some context about the west coast fishing industries.

The girls were a rapt and well behaved audience

The girls especially enjoyed some hands-on activities designed to give them an appreciation for the weight of the fish, how they moved fish around the cannery, and even learning how much a Brownie’s weight of salmon would have been worth (answer: about $20!)

One Brownie using a tool to move rubber fish from one bin to another. It was heavy, hard work!

After the tour the girls had a fish and chips dinner in the cannery’s ice house. A huge thank you to friend of Guiding, Dave’s Fish and Chips, who prepared our delicious meal for wonderful value. Everyone then rode the bus back to the Richmond Guide House where they settled in to the sleepover portion of the evening.

A koi fish wind sock — fish theme, get it?

The girls worked together to cook some stone soup for mug-up, made a craft of koi fish wind socks, sang campfire songs, and went to bed (at a very reasonable time, the leaders are pleased to add!).

Brownie Greek Mythology Camp

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Carissa

Brownies from three units gathered for the weekend at Camp Capilano in beautiful North Vancouver to camp out ancient Greek style. After conducting a poll of all three units, the girls chose the theme Greek Mythology for their weekend.

The girls had a great time making new friends and enjoying the wonderful camp facilities. As part of their afternoon Olympics, the girls spent time Poseidon adventuring in the heated outdoor pool.

SAM_2884 They also learned how to use camp stoves as part of their camping badges. They worked together to make some fruit of the gods jam to bring home to their moms for mother’s day.

Other Olympic games included shot put, discus, and cupid’s arrow.

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It wouldn’t have been Brownie camp without a campfire including all their favourite songs, and roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

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And the girls danced the night away at their toga party wearing the awesome toga nighties they made earlier in the day.

It was a wildly successful camp. Thank you to the leaders from the 24th Brownies, the 54th Brownies, and the Highlands Brownies for working together to pull this off. Also, a thank you to the couple of Guides who came along to act as patrol leaders, showing great leadership and fun attitudes.

Pixar in Concert with the VSO

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Carissa

Girls from the 54th Brownies and the Highlands Guiding unit got together for an outing to the Orpheum theatre in Vancouver to attend the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Pixar in Concert.

The show featured music from all 14 Pixar films performed live by the orchestra while images from the films were projected on a screen above. The concert really illustrated how powerful the music is, and how it is used to set mood, character, and place in some of our favourite movies. At times funny, sad, and scary, the music and images worked well together — well enough that the sold out audience was held in rapt attention through the whole performance. pixar

The Guiders would like to acknowledge that the girls were exceptionally well behaved, proving yet again that there is nothing our girls can’t do. For many of the girls, this was their first time seeing a live orchestra performance and we’re thrilled by how much they enjoyed it. We were all impressed by the talent of the musicians and the splendor of the Orpheum. It was a night that none of us are likely to forget soon.

Burnaby Mountain District

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