I was asked if I would be interested in writing a blog post on the latest Alberta provincial training I went to. Absolutely I said. When I first signed up for the conference I had to figure out what sessions I wanted to take. All the sessions were based on one simple theme – ‘Our Favorite Things’. Things like program (consisted of WAGGGS, team building, outdoor activities), STEM, and the Arts.
One session was ‘Wild Science for Sparks and Brownies’ where we learned how to make elephant toothpaste, paper towel rainbows, lifting ice cubes, dancing raisins, and fake snot. All were very cool science experiments that you could easily do with things from your own home. After making fake snot, everyone was sharing what colour snot they had: purple, green or blue. Quite funny!
The second session was ‘Boomwhackers to Chimes’ where we sang well-known songs with long tubes to beat on our wrists. After we learned how those worked, we got to move up to tone chimes. Marion was an awesome instructor teaching us all about the word ‘Echo!’ and how it meant ‘repeat after me’. We got to sit in super comfy chairs for an hour (unless we were up playing!)
In the middle of the afternoon we got to play games in the dark (really!). One game that we did (thankfully I never got picked!), involved one person standing in the middle with a flashlight and they had to go up to someone else and ask for the names of the people sitting on either side of them, as well as how those people were feeling. If they answered good, then you stayed where you were, but if even just one of them was so-so, everyone had to find a new chair to sit in. The last one standing then became the person in the middle. It was fun listening to who everyone was (and how everyone was feeling), and even more entertaining to have to find a new chair (keep in mind this game was all in the dark!)
My favourite session by far was our team building activity. And, it was with…wait for it…rubber chickens! We did many different activities that built our team skills.
The best part of any Guiding activity (no matter where you are) is the laughs and giggles you get to have. And obviously meeting new friends. I got to share a room with a girl I had met last year at the same training event. We had met online through Twitter, and then when I got to the location, I realized her room was right across the hallway from mine. This year I met up with a few others I had met last year and a few new ones on top of that.
Another favourite part of any Guiding activity is the food. I mean, what activity in Guiding does not include getting fed something?! Every camp is meal, snack, meal, snack, meal, and then did I mention a snack?
Anytime I get a chance to go to a training, I jump on it (as long as I can afford it!) as it’s so worth learning something new, and meeting other Guiders.
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Jenn is a Guider in Central Alberta who loves working with younger girls and hopefully will become a teacher in the next few years to work with the younger grades. Read a previous post by Jenn on GirlGuidesCANBlog: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do.
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