Sparks go to Tumble City!

One of the cool parts about Girl Guides of Canada is getting the chance to try new things with your friends!

Recently, our 1st Sparks Unit had the chance to try something very new, and go to Tumble City! They went for an introduction to Parkour. Parkour is a sport where participants try to jump from point A to point B in the fastest way that they can. The Sparks got to practice running, jumping, and tumbling over all kinds of obstacles. The program leaders were young and energetic. The girls loved chasing each other, doing races, and some free time play. Some of them were really little ninjas.

It was such a cool experience for everyone! Thank you, Tumble City, for having us!

Frozen at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!

On Sunday January 22, the 1st Sparks and 47th Guiding (Sparks and Embers) went on a very exciting outing to see Frozen with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!

First we rode the skytrain all the way downtown and made our way to the Orpheum theatre. There, we found our chunk of 44 seats and watched the musicians warm up. The movie Frozen played while the VSO played the music. It was really interesting having the music play an even larger role than normal. In some parts it got very loud!

It was a pretty exciting outing for the Sparks and Embers! Thank you to the VSO and to the Guiders for making this wonderful afternoon possible!

Guides Go Skating!

Winter is the perfect time to try some new and fun activities! In December, the 56th Burnaby Mountain Guides decided to get active and go ice skating for one of their Unit meetings!

The Guides had a great time skating around, laughing, and trying some tricks. The skating rink even had nets to play hockey with and chairs to slide around on. For some of our Guides, it was especially exciting as it was their first-ever time ice skating.

There’s still time to participate in Girl Guides for the rest of the Guiding year and join our fun adventures! Did you know that from now until the summer, the registration fee to join Guiding is 50% off? A lot of our Units in Burnaby Mountain still have space, so join now by visiting register.girlguides.ca

Tea-rrific Tea Party

One of the most exciting things about this Guiding year is that we’re allowed to have sleepovers again! Sparks and Brownies in Burnaby Mountain District recently held a Tea-rrific Tea Party sleepover at Richmond Guide House. For all of the girls, it was their first-ever Girl Guide sleepover, and it was a huge success!

It was a full-house, with Sparks and Brownies from the 1st Sparks, 27th Guiding, and 47th Guiding Units coming together for the tea party. The group cooked strawberry jam on a camp stove, made fascinators (headbands) to wear to the tea party, and made tea sandwiches. Of course, dinner was a high-tea with the sandwiches and other treats!

The group also played a rousing game of pass the parcel and ended the evening with a movie night, watching Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.

Thank you to all of the Guiders who worked hard to make this sleepover happen, and to all of the Sparks and Brownies for attending. It was such a fun evening!

Aurora Winter Festival with Guides

Recently, Burnaby Mountain District’s 49th Guides went on a special outing for an end-of-season finale to the Aurora Winter Festival at the PNE.
IMG_0378
The unit was able to make this a fun and affordable outing (including a ride pass!) because the girls were fantastic cookie sellers in the fall campaign — well done, girls!
There weren’t a lot of people there, so there was barely any waiting in line. A small assortment of rides were open, and they rode the tube slide and Super Shot, which were conveniently located beside each other. At one point the girls even stayed on the ride, time and time again.
They downloaded the app on a Guider phone, so along the Mystical Worlds lights display stroll, the girls found icons and scanned QR codes to complete the quest and each received a souvenir jingle bell ornament as a prize.
img_0403.jpg
The girls had a blast running around, and dancing in the disco igloo. It was a fun and exciting outing for the Guides. What a great way to finish 2019 with Guiding friends, and an awesome reward for an especially successful cookie campaign.

Sparks and Brownies and Fish (oh my)

The 54th Brownies and 27th Guiding (Sparks & Brownies) units recently had a fun-filled, fish-filled sleepover in the local Steveston and Richmond communities. The visited the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, ate fish and chips at a local restaurant, and then returned to Richmond Guide House for a fun sleepover with fish-themed crafts and activities.

unnamed (7)

Did you know the Gulf of Georgia Cannery offers tours specifically catered to Girl Guide programming? The excellent staff at the cannery have developed a program for girls to explore their local cultural and natural heritage through stories, activities, and a guided tour. The cannery was built in 1894 and it is fascinating to learn about the history of the fishing industry, the people who worked there, and the ways that this effected the local communities.

The group then took a lovely stroll through historic Steveston, ending up at the Sockeye City Grill for a delicious meal of fish and chips. The staff was impressed by how well mannered this large group of Sparks and Brownies was, and the girls and leaders all thoroughly enjoyed their meals.

unnamed (2)

After supper the group enjoyed a ride on local public transit, riding the bus to Richmond Guide House, one of our favourite local spots for Guiding sleepovers. There the group did a variety of fun activities including a bright colourful fish-themed craft before finally getting some sleep.

It was a fish-tastic time. And a great oppor-tuna-ty to learn all about fish and the local community.

 

Rangers on the Town

The 12th Rangers recently went on an urban adventure in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver, riding transit, walking around, visiting with seniors, stopping for snacks, and doing some uniquely sustainable shopping.

5f06049d-5168-46f4-9063-b4e855907ae0.jpeg

The group visited Cavell Gardens independent living home for seniors and chatted with some residents during coffee time. It was lovely visiting with the residents, many of whom were previous Girl Guides from different parts of Canada and Ireland as well!

The Rangers and seniors shared stories, sang a few girl guide songs, and the girls even sold plenty of Girl Guide cookies at the residents’ request! The residents loved the visit and they even exchanged thank you cards, hoping the girls will come back soon!

They also walked Main Street, enjoying the vibe of the city. The girls shopped for sustainable fashion and explored Mintage Mall and F as in Frank for vintage, recycled, and upcycled clothes. Our fashion choices make a difference!

B7411DED-C3A9-4DDE-8BFC-95B4A8BF79BF

Another cool shopping opportunity was when they checked out Urban Source for upcycled goods and got craft supplies. This store gets its materials from over 100 different local industries, diverting safe, useable off-cuts, discards, misprints and over-stock from the land fill. It will be great to see what amazing (and sustainable!) creations the group comes up with.

It was a lovely adventure. As their Guider said, the group “Walked a lot, ate scones, and stayed merry” — what more could you want?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Burnaby Mountain District! Lots of units are getting up to festive fun this week, but perhaps none quite so earnestly as the 14th Pathfinders who spread Halloween into a multi-part event!

MVIMG_20191027_190132

The group decided to check out the local Burnaby Village Museum, which puts on a great haunted attraction for Halloween.

MVIMG_20191027_184527

There can be lots of spookiness in history. Highlights included a spontaneous conga line street party!

But that’s not all. The group also recognized Halloween at regular meetings where they first spent a day making great Halloween decorations for the next week when they had a fun spooky party with snacks and games.

You’ve got to admire this group’s dedication to the season! Looks like a great time was had by all.

Sparks & Brownies 4Cats Unicorn Outing

Earlier this year the 2nd Sparks and 47th Brownies (our two Saturday units!) teamed up for a fun day of art at the local 4Cats Studio. Appealing to their joy in all things magical, the girls got the chance to design and create their very own unicorn mug!

4cats group

The 4Cats staff was fantastic at helping the girls through the process. This involved drawing their own unicorns, working with clay, and painting their creations.

4cats drawing

Step-by-step instructions helped the group figure out what to do. Though these girls are young, they are great listeners. They worked hard on their mugs.

4cats working

Finally, after creating the mug and painting it with the special glaze paint for clay, the mugs got left behind at the studio for them to be baked and glazed. A couple of weeks later, girls got their finished products. They were pretty proud of what they created.

4Cats is fun for girls of all ages. A few weeks ago we posted about the 10th Pathfinders visiting a 4Cats studio. Since then, we received this great photo of their final product — how adorable are these?!?

IMG_2530

Whether it’s a unicorn mug or a panda planter, 4Cats is always a good time.

District Victoria Trip

Last month Burnaby Mountain District took a day trip to visit our province’s capital for a day of culture, fun, and friendship. Organizing this trip was quite the undertaking as more than 70 girls participated. Girls left Burnaby on a school bus early in the morning and arrived back there late in the evening. In between they participated in their choice of a variety of experiences — all on a day that turned out to be very, very rainy!

Girls had signed up for their experiences ahead of time. Choices included the Royal BC Museum, Miniature World, a tour of the BC Legislature, and more.

Girls who went to the museum got to enjoy amazing artifacts from the Mayan civilization at the featured exhibition called Maya: The Great Jaguar rises. Some of the items were about 3000 years old! They also had time to check out some of the living world exhibits to learn more about the geography and creatures in beautiful British Columbia.

61560701_858178921214457_9006020857448890368_n

The legislature tour was very informative, telling girls all about the history of how BC’s government was formed and how it functions today. They also got to enjoy the amazing architecture of a very beautiful building. The engaging tour was inspirational for the girls.

The incredibly detailed dioramas at Miniature World were a highlight of the trip for both some of the youngest and also some of the oldest girls on the trip. There’s something about the tiny figurines recreating periods of history and fantasy that really capture the imagination. They’re really cool!

61541907_316583515928027_3547640078803140608_n

Some girls also spent time at majestic Beacon Hill park, including playing with some incredibly friendly petting zoo goats. What a group of silly kids! (See what I did there?)

Victoriabugs At the Victoria Bug Zoo, girls got to learn about, view, and even handle some amazing bugs. It’s a wild world out there.

The rain put a bit of a damper on things, making the planned scavenger hunt a bit of a bust. Pathfinders also had their bike tour cancelled due to the weather — but the girls still had a blast doing some shopping and stopping for tea at Murchies. It turned out to be a bit of a lesson for some girls about being prepared… for much of the day it wasn’t lightly drizzling, it was pouring.

victoriameal

Everyone gathered at the end of the day for a huge group meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The staff there did an incredible job feeding our huge group and getting us out in a timely manner so we could get back on the buses and to the ferry terminal in time to get home on schedule.

What a day! Thank you to all the businesses, tour guides, tourist attractions, and friendly strangers who helped out our group all day. Thank you to the planning committee who worked hard to make this trip happen, and thank you to the girls who participated in cookie sales and other fundraising to make this trip (especially its transportation costs) manageable.