Turtles Visit Brownies

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Carissa

A recent regular meeting of the 54th Brownies was made even more exciting than normal with a visit by a guest speaker from an organization called Species at Risk.

The speaker came in to discuss identification of local species and distinctions between native and invasive species, threats to survival, habitat needs and the actions being done to help. She also brought in “ambassador animals” — two juvenile painted tutles named Bert and Ernie that the girls got to handle.

This presenation worked towards the unit’s program activities about the living world, particularly their “Saving our Plants and Animals” badge. Thank you to Andrea (and Bert and Ernie!) for such an informative presentation. The girls learned a lot.

Shadbolt Seasonal Festival

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Carissa

Girls from the 1st Sparks, 24th Brownies, and 54th Brownies all came out to a community event at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. The Seasonal Celebration featured crafts, snacks, music and more from various cultures showing how they celebrate in the winter time.

Girls got to meet particularly animated characters like the Gingerbread Man as they wandered through the different activities.

Girls got into the spirit of the season and had a great time making crafts with their friends.

This great family event was a huge success. Thank you Shadbolt Centre and the City of Burnaby for putting it on!

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)

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!

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.

Sparks and Brownies go Mini Golfing

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Carissa

Over the past few weeks the girls of the 1st Sparks and the 54th Brownies have used the mini golfing facilities at Eaglequest Golf in Coquitlam. The groups weren’t there on the same night, but both were lucky to have great weather and had a good time.

The Sparks went first in early March. It’s definitely one of those “dress for the weather” kind of activities.

spark golf 1

It was chilly outside and the course was pretty dark by the time they were done, but the girls had a blast. For many this was their first time playing mini golf, but nevertheless there were some skilled golfers on the course! Spark golf 2

A couple of weeks later the Brownies hit the course. They had the advantage of daylight savings time and enjoyed a beautiful sunset through most of their game.

brownie golf 1

The Brownies played a little more competitively (they actually kept score!) and also had a great time.

brownie golf 2

Herritage Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Carissa

On December 17th, the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks and the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies went on an outing to the Burnaby Village Museum Herritage Christmas. It was an especially exciting time because they invited families to join — since the museum is celebrating the 100th birthday of the carousel, admission was free so it was easy to have lots of people come out.

All together there were 32 girl members, another dozen or so siblings and cousins, and a bunch of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, and even a couple Guider husbands.

Girls went out in small groups to do a Christmas treat themed scavenger hunt and see such attractions as the blacksmith, the old fashioned movie theatre, a visit to traditional Father Christmas, and do a craft.

The highlight, of course, was the 100-year old carousel. They filled the carousel one and a half times!

Burnaby Mountain District

Register today at www.girlguides.ca!

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