1 GIRL GUIDE HANDBOOK
The Guide Promise
I promise that I will do my best
To be true to myself and develop my beliefs
To serve my community and Australia
And live by the Guide Law
The Guide Law
As a Guide I will strive to:
• respect myself and others
• be considerate, honest and trustworthy
• be friendly to others
• make choices for a better world
• use my time and abilities wisely
• be thoughtful and optimistic
• live with courage and strength
1 GIRL GUIDE HANDBOOK
Girl Guides Australia
Hub Hyde Park
223 Liverpool Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
www.girlguides.org.au
First published in Australia in 2013 Girl Guides Australia
Reprinted 2013
Reprinted 2019
Copyright © Girl Guides Australia 2023
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission by the copyright holder.
ISBN 9780732293802
Design and illustrations by Karen Carter
Printed in Australia
Girl Guides Australia: www.girlguides.org.au
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts: www.wagggs.org
About Me
My name is:
I joined Girl Guides on:
I am a member of Girl Guide Unit.
The Unit is part of District, Region.
We meet at [place]:
On:
Time:
My Leaders and helpers are:
My Leaders’ contact details are:
Pasteyourphotohere.
Do you like making friends?
Do you like having fun?
You are one of ten million Girl Guides in countries all over the world. That is as many as half of all the people who live in Australia! What is a team? Are you a member of a team? What do teams do together?
In your Unit you will join a team. We call our teams Patrols. In your Patrol you will do lots together. You will have lots of fun! What fun things do you like to do with your friends? What fun things would you like to do with your Girl Guide friends?
My Patrol
My Patrol is:
My Patrol badge looks like: Draw your Patrol badge in this circle.
8 Welcome to Girl Guides
The members of my Patrol are:
My Patrol Leader is:
My Patrol Second is:
After you have been a Girl Guide for a while, you will be able to make the Girl Guide Promise. When learning about the Promise, you will also learn about the following seven special things that all Girl Guides know.
1. The Girl Guide Promise and Law
Your Leader will help you to understand the Girl Guide Promise and the Guide Law. This is the Girl Guide Promise:
I promise that I will do my best To be true to myself and develop my beliefs To serve my community and Australia And live by the Guide Law
This is the Guide Law: As a Girl Guide I will strive to:
• Respect myself and others
• Be considerate, honest and trustworthy
• Be friendly to others
• Make choices for a better world
• Use my time and abilities wisely
• Be thoughtful and optimistic
• Live with courage and strength With the help of your Patrol, set a challenge for each part of the Guide Law. Share your completedchallenges with your Patrol or Unit.
2. The Girl Guide uniform
This is the uniform that all Girl Guides your age wear in Australia to their Girl Guide Unit meeting.
Why do people wear uniforms?
You may wear a uniform for school, or a uniform for when you play sports. Nurses and police officers wear uniforms as part of their job.
As a Girl Guide, you wear a uniform to show that you belong to Girl Guides. You will also be able to earn badges and wear them on your sash over your uniform.
3. Can you make the Girl Guide sign? Girl Guides all around the world make this sign with their right hand. Do you know how to make the Girl Guide sign? Let’s have a go! Practise making the sign with other Girl Guides and at home.
4. Can you do a Good Turn? What is a Good Turn? Good Turns are something you do to help other people. This could be your family, a teacher, a friend or a neighbour. It is not a job that you normally do or a task that you are expected to do. It’s something extra or different. Doing a Good Turn will help another person and it will make you feel great.
Think about a Good Turn you might do when you go home today. Can you do a Good Turn for someone special? Write it down here. Read the story ‘Charlotte and the Ants’ on pages 17 to 22 to help you to understand why it’s important to help others.
5. Do you know the girls in your Patrol?
Your Patrol is your Girl Guide team. These girls are your friends and you will be doing many activities together.
6. Can you do the handshake? Girl Guides around the world shake hands with their left hand to show they are friends with all other Guides.
7. Do you know the Girl Guide Motto? Be Prepared. Can you think of ways to Be Prepared when you visit a friend, or go to the beach, or stay at a friend’s for a sleepover? The skills you learn in Girl Guides will help you to Be Prepared.
Charlotte and the Ants
ne warm summer day, as the sun was going down, Charlotte was lying in the grass under the shade of an old peppercorn tree.
‘Charlotte!’ Mum called. ‘Come and help Dad and me in the kitchen, But Charlotte didn’t come. She was watching the flickering shadows
But Charlotte didn’t hear her mother as the birds were noisily settling down for the night along the creek.
‘Charlotte! Where are you?’
Charlotte still didn’t answer. A big black ant was climbing a blade of grass right near her face. She looked to see where it came from. Down on the ground, she saw a line of ants marching along. Each one of the ants was carrying a large white bundle.
‘Charlotte!’ This time it was Dad’s voice, and it was very close. Charlotte looked up. ‘Why can’t you come the first time you’re called?’ Dad said in an upset voice. ‘Now, please come in and help us.’
Emily, complaining. ‘Why do I have to feed the dogs? I had to pick up all
At bedtime, Charlotte didn’t go straight to bed. She curled up on the window seat in her room. The bright moonlight made shadow patterns of gum leaves on the walls. She imagined she
Suddenly a rough voice behind her said, ‘Come on, get up!’
She spun around. A giant ant was waving its antennae at her. ‘Take that egg from the littlest ant,’ it said. ‘Everyone needs to do their bit.’
Charlotte saw a whole line of giant ants coming through a jungle of tall grass. Then she realised that the ants hadn’t grown. She had shrunk! The littlest ant came up to her waist. It was puffing and leaning on a round white thing as big as Emily’s beanbag. ‘That must be the egg,’ Charlotte said. She did as she was told and picked it up. It was very heavy.
The line of ants came to an opening in the ground. They went through it into a huge room with earth walls. One by one they placed their eggs
neatly on a shelf along the wall.
Charlotte did the same.
She was sitting down to rest when the rough-voiced ant came and poked her with its antennae.
‘Well done, Charlotte,’ it said.
‘Now come and see what a busy and wonderful place our colony is.’
Charlotte followed the ant. It showed her many shelves full of food that had been collected. It showed her the nurseries, where worker ants tended the eggs and freshly hatched grubs. It showed her a place where a wall had collapsed, and teams of ants were fixing it, all helping each other to get the job done quicker. It showed her the ‘ant army’ patrolling and defending the ant nest. Everywhere ants were busy moving back and forward, bumping antennae and following each other in lines. ‘Oh!’ said Charlotte. ‘Every ant has a job to do. And they are all
Her new ant friend looked pleased. ‘We like to help each other,’ it said.
‘We help other insects too.’ It pointed to the rows of eggs on the shelves. ‘These eggs were laid by leaf insects that live high up in the gum trees. The eggs drop to the ground, and we collect them. See the knob on the end? It’s really yummy. We eat that part and leave the rest of the eggs to hatch. When the young leaf insects come out of the egg, they leave our nest and climb up into the gum tree.’
‘That’s amazing,’ said Charlotte. ‘The ants all help each other, and other insects as well.’
‘That’s ri—’
Before the ant could finish what it was saying, it had vanished, and Charlotte opened her eyes. She was sitting in the window seat, and the morning sun was shining on her face. It had been a wonderful dream. She crept through the quiet house to Emily’s room. Emily was already up and reading.
‘Let’s go to the cubby.’
They tiptoed out of the house and raced across the yard to their cubby.
Charlotte told Emily about her dream. ‘The ants all helped each other,’ she said, ‘and they were so happy.’
Emily was excited too. ‘Dad was talking to me the other day about helping. He told me to look at how all the animals work together. So I’ve been watching the kookaburras. I could hear the old ones teaching the young ones to laugh. Just listen to that racket this morning!’
‘Do you think we should try and help more?’ asked Charlotte. ‘Let’s give it a go,’ replied Emily.
Over the next couple of days Mum and Dad noticed that something was different. What do you think was different?
Write your thoughts on the lines below.
These are the dif ferences.
The dogs were fed, the toys were put away, Charlotte and Emily’s rooms were tidy, and there was no fighting. GIRL
Your Promise celebration
Can you remember the Girl Guide Promise?
What do you promise to do?
Who do you promise to serve?
So what is a Promise celebration?
The Girl Guide Promise is made (said) at a special celebration. Your family will be invited to come to share this special time with you. You might have a special theme –like stars, candles or rainbows.
The date I made the Girl Guide Promise: My Promise celebration was special because:
What Do Girl Guides Do?
Girl Guides do lots of things together. You and the other Guides in your Unit work out what you would like to do. You decide what badges you want to work on and what special events you want to be part of. The Leaders, other Girl Guides and helpers will help you make your ideas happen.
Four Elements and seven Fundamentals
The Australian Guide Program (AGP) helps Girl Guides to decide what they like to do. The AGP has four Elements and seven Fundamentals.
The four Elements make up the tree that is shown here in the AGP symbol.
Promise and Law
Outdoors Service
World Guiding Guiding Traditions Leadership Development Patrol System
The four Elements are:
Physical: Growing fit, healthy and strong.
People: Making friends, sharing, caring and understanding others.
Practical: Learning helpful skills.
Self: Becoming stronger, braver, kinder and more skilful.
The seven Fundamentals are written beneath the tree. A Girl Guide:
• strives to keep the Promise and Law
• enjoys the Outdoors and looks after the environment
• gives Service to others
• learns about people from different countries through World Guiding
• shares in Girl Guiding Traditions
• learns Leadership skills
• is a member of a Patrol.
The next seven chapters of this handbook are about the seven Fundamentals.
GIRL
Challenges
What is a challenge? Getting ready for school on time each day could be a challenge. It is great fun to challenge yourself as a Girl Guide. It is about doing your best. If you find it hard at first, keep practising until it becomes easier.
Challenges encourage you to try different activities, learn new skills and meet new people. Here’s how you could develop a challenge.
Discover You want to make some food for a party. You could ice biscuits or decorate cupcakes.
Decide Which one would you like to do? For example, ice the biscuits.
Plan How many biscuits do you need; what colour icing; what other decorations, such as choc drops, jelly beans, etc; do you need adult help; what utensils do you need; how will you display your biscuits once they are iced; what else do you need to think of?
Do Ice and decorate your biscuits and share with your friends.
Evaluate First ask yourself how you went. Was it a challenge for you? Was the icing too thick or too thin? Did the biscuits look great? Did they taste yummy? Then tell your Girl Guide friends about your challenge. Listen to what they say.
Decide if you should try something a little harder next time, such as make and decorate cupcakes.
Rewards
There are many ways you can be challenges you complete in Girl Guides.
a special outing a hug from a good friend
a smile applause certificates badges and awards
For example, your friends might give you a special hug and ‘thank you’ for the iced biscuits that you shared with them.
Do?
You can also complete challenges to earn badges. There is a book called Look Wide that is full of badges you may like to work on.
Check out the Discover a Challenge badges that are in Chapter 8.
Discover You want to earn the Food Create a Challenge badge because you think it would be fun and you really enjoyed icing the biscuits.
Decide You decide to make and decorate cupcakes for a special occasion, such as a Promise celebration.
Plan What is the special occasion; what recipe will you use; how many people will be invited; how many cupcakes do you need; how will you decorate them; what icing and decorations do you need; do you need adult help; what utensils do you need; what else can you think of?
Do Bake and decorate your cupcakes and then take them to the special occasion for sharing.
Evaluate First ask yourself how you went. Did I have fun? Did I do my best? Did the people who ate my cupcakes enjoy them? Tell your Guide friends about your challenge. Listen to what they say.
1 Promise and Law
The Girl Guide Promise and Guide Law will help you choose the right things to do. Girl Guides are always kind to others. Think about how you can help other girls in your Unit. Most importantly, always treat others as you would like to be treated.
You can try to keep your Promise by:
• doing your best
• being kind, and
• sharing.
There are some activities on the following pages that you can do with your Girl Guide friends that will help you keep the Promise.
Have a go!
You could try:
• tying your shoelaces
• doing your hair a new way
• learning a new song
• making up a new dance
• drawing a picture for a friend.
With your Girl Guide friends and Leader, pick up litter at a local park.
Try the friendship circle.
1. Stand in a circle with your friends and hold hands.
2. One girl starts by squeezing another girl’s hand, and then that girl passes the ‘squeeze’ on to the girl next to her. The ‘squeeze’ symbolises the passing of love and friendship around the circle.
In the heart below, draw a picture of the people you love. Thank them for looking after you.
With the help of someone at home or your Leader, make a Good Turn fairy.
1
Cut out two cloud shapes. Paste a 1cm area around the edge and sprinkle with red glitter.
4
2
Paste the cloud shapes onto a lunch-sized paper bag, with the opening at the bottom. decorate her. Cut out and paste the fairy over the top of the clouds. Use your puppet to make a play about Good Turns. Place your Good Turn fairy in a special place in your bedroom to remind you to do a Good Turn each day.
With the help of someone at home or your Leader, make a colourful plaited friendship bracelet for a friend. It’s a great way to show someone you like them. Write down the colours you used in the bracelet and who you gave it to. 1 2 3 4 5
Learn to tie a double overhand knot to keep a skipping rope tidy. Practise by clearing up the skipping ropes at your Girl Guide meeting place.
Outdoors 2
What do you like doing outdoors? Girl Guides love spending time outdoors. At your weekly meetings, you will learn lots of games and skills to get you ready for camps as well as joining in lots of outdoor activities. You will have fun outdoors. You will also learn to care for the environment.
Safety in the outdoors
Remember these safety tips when outdoors.
• Slip! Slop! Slap! Seek! Slide!
• Wear closed-in shoes; that is, no thongs or sandals.
• Tie back your hair.
• Always have an adult with you.
Caring for the environment
Girl Guides look after our environment. All plants and animals are important. They need each other to live. To care for the environment, you have to care for all parts of it!
You can help our environment by:
• placing your rubbish in a bin
• leaving leaves and branches on plants where you find them
• leaving all animals and insects alone if they are not hurting you
• caring for injured animals by calling a native animal rescue group
• turning off the tap when you clean your teeth
• turning off the lights when not in a room.
Draw and write down what you do to help the environment.
Tracking
Tracking is a fun way of exploring the outdoors with friends. Some of you can lay a trail, and the others can follow it. Here are some tracking signs you can make.
Change of direction.
Letter hidden in direction of arrow (5 stones = 5 paces).
Do not follow this trail.
I have gone home (end of trail).
Follow this trail.
When laying a trail, make sure the tracking signs can be seen easily. The signs should always be the same distance apart. A good space is ten large steps.
If you are the last person following a trail, remove the signs so you don’t leave a man-made mark on the environment.
Have a go!
Lay a tracking trail for other members of
Get someone else to lay a trail for you to follow.
Cooking
Girl Guides love food and cooking, especially when they are with their Girl Guide friends. Cooking oudoors is even more fun!
Here are some things to remember when cooking (inside or outside):
• Tie your hair back
• Wash your hands
• Don’t lick your fingers or any cooking utensils (like spoons or bowls) until finished
• Always have an adult nearby to help.
Have a go!
You can try cooking this pikelet recipe indoors or outdoors. Remember to get adult help.
1 cup self-raising flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1. Sift flour, salt and bi-carb soda into a small bowl.
2. Add sugar, egg and milk. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and there are no lumps in the mixture.
3. Add melted butter and mix again.
4. Place a spoonful of mixture onto a hot greased frypan and cook until bubbles form. Turn over and cook on the other side until golden brown.
5. Remove from frypan and allow to cool.
6. You can eat pikelets plain, or add toppings of your choice, such as butter, jam, honey, cream, lemon and sugar.
Have a go!
Complete another challenge towards your Food Create a Challenge badge by using another recipe that is suitable for outdoors cooking.
Place a photo or drawing here of what you have cooked.
Camping
Camping is exciting because you get to go away with your friends. You can play outside, help cook your own meals and you get to sleep on a camp bed or in a sleeping bag.
You might start off with a sleepover at your Girl Guide meeting place. You might go to a day camp, where you play outside all day. Your Leader might take you on an overnight camp, where you sleep in a room with your Girl Guide friends.
When you go to a sleepover or camp, you pack your own bag and look after your belongings. What sort of things do you think you need to take with you?
Notebook and pencil
Sunscreen
Toiletries
Have a go!
Practise packing your bag (for school, sleepover or holidays) so that you know you have everything you will need and where it is.
Gumboots
Hat
Torch
Joggers
Teddy Sleepingbag
Extra clothes
Raincoat
Pillow Waterbottle
Service 3
Service means helping other people. Girl Guides help people by doing Good Turns and by joining in larger community projects, such as Clean Up Australia Day.
As a Girl Guide, try to do one Good Turn a day.
Help your younger
Tidy up your toys or dirty clothes.
Wash the dishes at home or stack the dishwasher.
Pack lunch without
Help a teacher carry books or supplies to the classroom.
Water the vegie garden or pot plants.
Have a go!
Write or draw a Good Turn in each hand below. Show your parents or Girl Guide Leader all the Good Turns you want to do. When you have finished a Good Turn, colour in that helping hand. Keep going until all the hands are
First aid
What is first aid? First aid is helping someone who has hurt themself. If someone is hurt, the best thing for you to do is to get an adult. You may need to call ‘000’ (triple zero) if there is no adult help available. You can also help by caring for the person who is hurt. You can Be Prepared by learning some basic first aid skills.
How
to call ‘000’ (triple zero)
The emergency number for Police, Fire and the Ambulance in Australia is ‘000’ (triple zero).
The person who answers your call will ask which State you are calling from and then which emergency service you need: Police, Fire or Ambulance. They will then put you through to the right emergency service. Do not hang up the phone until they tell you to.
How to clean a cut and put on a band-aid
1
Wash your hands.
3
Dry the cut carefully with a clean, dry tissue.
2
aid on a teddy bear.
Use a clean tissue to wipe away the dirt.
4
Check that the person is not allergic to band-aids. If not, then gently place a band-aid over cut.
Practise calling ‘000’ (triple zero) on a toy phone. Have a Leader or another adult pretend to be on the other end of the call asking questions about the emergency. Do not practise this on a real phone.
Making things better
You can make a difference in the world. If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change?
Girl Guides do more than just wishful thinking. They take action!
Try to finish these sentences:
My town/suburb would be a nicer place to live in if
I think the world would be a better place if
I believe I can make a difference by
Making a difference in this way is called advocacy. Advocacy is about making a change in the world for the better.
Have a go!
In the tree, write the names of five adults who can help you to change the world.
To begin to make a difference you need to:
• work out what you want to change
• how you can change it
• who can help you change it.
An example of advocacy using the AGP Process:
Discover Look after our environment (recycle, save water, reduce electricity usage).
Decide Recycle more at home.
Plan Identify what you can recycle at home; talk to Mum and Dad about recycling; find out more about recycling services in your town/suburb; find out how to recycle.
Do Carry out recycling for a month.
Evaluate Talk to Mum and Dad about how your household is recycling. Do you think you have made a difference? Will you keep going? Talk to your Unit about what you have done.
Advocacy is all about trying to make things better.
World Guiding 4
As a Girl Guide, you belong to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (or WAGGGS, as it is known). You are one of more than ten million Girl Guides around the world. Being part of this world family helps you learn about girls from many different countries.
Look at this charm bracelet. The charms on the bracelet represent the symbols that Girl Guides around the world have in common.
1 2
3
4 5 6 7 8
Have a go!
1. World Badge
2. Girl Guide sign
3. World Centres
4. World Flag
5. Good Turn
6. Be Prepared
7. Left handshake
8. World Song
Make a paper chain and draw on each link one of the symbols that we have in common. Give this to a friend of new Girl Guide to remind her of all the things that we share as Girl Guides.
Our World Homes
Our World Centres are five special homes that Girl Guides can visit.
1. NuestraCabaña, Mexico
2. PaxLodge, England
3. OurChalet , Swi t z
4.Sangam, India
5. Kusafri, Africa Region
Have a go!
1. Choose one person to be the aeroplane.
2. The aeroplane must fly around tagging the others.
She cannot tag anyone who has both their feet off the ground. When the aeroplane tags someone, that person becomes the aeroplane.
Try or make some food from each of the countries of the World Centres. This could be another challenge for the Food Create a Challenge badge.
Guiding Traditions
5
There are lots of traditions in Girl Guiding – the symbols as mentioned in Chapter 4 World Guiding are examples of Guiding traditions. This tells you about some more.
How Girl Guiding began
Robert Baden-Powell born 22 February 1857. A national hero after the Siege of Mafeking in 1899.
He ran a camp for boys on Brownsea Island in 1907.
Then wrote, under the name of B-P, Scouting for Boys in 1908.
11,000 Boy Scouts attended Crystal Palace Rally in 1909.
So did a small group of girls. They demanded to be Girl Scouts.
B-P agreed. The Girl Guides had arrived! He asked his sister, Agnes, for help.
Brownsea Island
Agnes Baden-Powell became President of the Girl Guides Association in 1910.
B-P married Olave Sinclair Soames in 1912. She became Chief Guide in 1918.
B-P and Agnes wrote the f irst Girl Guide Handbook in 1912.
Lord and Lady B-P travelled the world to promote Guiding and Scouting.
World Thinking Day, 22 February, is in recognition of Lord and Lady B-P’s birthdays.
B-P died in Kenya in 1941. Lady B-P died in England in 1977.
Ceremonies
Many Units come together in a circle as a way to begin and end a meeting.
What can you do in a circle?
• Sing a welcome or opening song.
• Receive a badge or reward.
• Start a chant that includes everyone’s name: ‘This is …’
• Introduce yourself: ‘My name is … and I like …’
• Close the meeting with a favourite poem, prayer or story.
Write the special things your Unit does to open and close a meeting.
Here are some great circle songs you could sing.
‘Welcome Song’
(Tune: ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’)
Welcome, welcome, how are you?
Welcome, welcome, join us do.
We are happy to meet you.
We are happy to greet you.
Welcome, welcome, how are you?
Welcome, welcome, join us do.
‘Opening Song’ (Tune: ‘London Bridge’)
Take my hand and join the fun, Join the fun, join the fun. Take my hand and join the fun. Make a circle.
Now our meeting will begin, Will begin, will begin. Now our meeting will begin. We are ready.
Campfires
Campfires are a wonderful Girl Guiding tradition. Sitting around a fire with other Girl Guides and Leaders is lots of fun. You can:
• sing songs
• play singing games
• learn action songs
• listen to stories
• eat toasted marshmallows
• watch the flames leap and glow.
Remember to stay safe around a campfire.
Have a go!
Try making a healthy edible campfire – using celery and carrot sticks for ‘wood’ and cherry tomatoes for ‘flames’. This could be used as another challenge for your Food Create a Challenge badge. Can you think of some songs about food that you could sing around your edible campfire?
Gratedcarrotflames
Celerysticks for wood
Tomato wedge flames
Learn an action song to sing at a campfire.
Sultana and cranberry rocks
Kim’s
Game
At Girl Guides we play Kim’s Game to help us remember what we see, feel or hear. It is a fun game that helps to improve our memory.
Who was Kim?
Kim was a boy in a story about India, written by Rudyard Kipling. Kim taught himself to have a good memory by studying jewels and precious stones placed on trays at a jeweller’s shop. When a jewel was removed from a tray he could work out which one was missing.
Have a go at the activity on the opposite page. Then get your Leader to put together a Kim’s Game based on healthy food or ingredients to make a healthy recipe. This could be another challenge for your Food Create a Challenge.
Have a go!
Look at the pictures on this page for a little while. Then close the book and see how many you can remember.
Guides’ Own
A Guides’ Own is when Girl Guides meet to think about the Promise and Law and to say thank you. Have you been to a Guides’ Own? What special thing/s did you do there? Where was it held? Draw and write about your Guides’ Own.
6 Taking Turns at Being a Leader
Being a good leader is being nice to other people, listening and making sure everyone has a chance to speak.
Taking turns
Not everyone can be a leader at the same time. You will need to take turns with your friends at Girl Guides. You might get to help run a game or look after a new girl or tidy up after an activity.
Say nice things to other people
Think about one of your Girl Guide friends. What do you like about her? Is she friendly to others? Does she share her toys? Does she give you a hug when you are sad? Next time you see her, tell her why you like her. Draw a picture of your friend and what you like about her. It is also important to remember other people’s names.
Have a go!
Everybody sits in a circle and decides on a ‘topic’; for example, the colour pink. Each person says her name and what item she owns in that colour – it may be clothes or a toy or something in her room. When you remember their pink item, you will remember their name.
Helping your friends to decide together
It’s important to talk about the choices before making a decision as a group.
• Make sure everyone gets a turn.
• Listen to other people.
• Talk about your own ideas.
Have a go!
Can you work with a small group of friends to make a decision about … a game to play, food to eat? Write down everyone’s ideas and your decision below.
What do you do well?
Everyone can do different things well. What do you do well?
Can you share a new game or activity with your friends?
Being able to give instructions clearly is important. Think about what you need to tell and show your friends.
Have a go!
Here is an activity that you might like to use to help practise giving instructions.
Make a warm fuzzy
1. Show your friends what you are going to make first. (So have one already made up.)
2. Take a pom pom and add eyes, mouth and feet.
3. Take a piece of coloured paper to make a gift tag for your pom pom. Write a special message for your friend, such as: ‘I like you because …’ or ‘You’re a great friend because …’
4. Don’t forget to say ‘Well done’ or ‘Fantastic’ to the people you are teaching so they feel good about learning something new.
5. Give your ‘warm fuzzy’ to your friend.
Patrols 7
Now that you go to Girl Guides, you belong to a Girl Guide Unit. You may also belong to a small team called a Patrol.
Working together
The members of a Patrol work together to:
have fun make decisions try challenges do activities play games.
Sometimes we can do activities well by ourselves, like skipping. Other times it is much more fun to work together with friends. When Girl Guides work together they can achieve much more because everyone is helping. Activities
When you work together as a Patrol, everybody can be included. We all have different skills and can help out in different ways, just like the ants in ‘Charlotte and the Ants’.
By doing activities with your Patrol, you will learn to:
• decide together
• encourage others
• explain things
• take turns
• tidy up
• use good manners.
Have a go!
Try this fun activity with your Patrol.
Put on a puppet show
Choose a story everyone knows. What about The Three Little Pigs? Your Patrol can work together to make the puppets. Decide together what puppets you need to make.
Think about what each person is good at and make sure everyone has something to do. Maybe one of you is good is good at drawing, another is good at cutting out and a third is good at gluing. You could all work together to make the backdrop scenery.
Put on your show for your Unit.
Discover a Challenge 8
The Discover a Challenge has ten levels. You can earn a badge at each level, and each level has four sections: Physical, People, Practical and Self. This handbook describes the first two levels: Turquoise and Topaz. You only work on one level at a time.
How to earn a Discover a Challenge badge
You need to do ten challenges for each level to earn a badge: two challenges each from Physical, People, Practical and Self and two more challenges from any section.
Your Leader will sign off each challenge when you have done it. Draw a smiley face in the left-hand column to show which challenges you want to do. Before you start, talk about your choices with your Leader. You may complete some of these challenges with your Girl Guide friends at your Unit meetings or you may complete them at home.
Have fun!
Discover a Challenge
Turquoise
Turquoise is a beautiful gemstone that can be sky blue or dark blue, blue—green or even yellow—green in colour. The start age for this badge is five years.
CHALLENGE I WILL DO CHALLENGE DATE CHALLENGE COMPLETED LEADER’S SIGNATURE
Physical
Taste a new fruit or vegetable. Tell your Patrol or Unit what you thought.
Go for a walk in a park. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? Write it down or draw pictures to share with your Unit.
Practise throwing and catching balls of different sizes. Do this at least three times in one week.
Draw a picture about safety at home or at Girl Guides. Share with your Unit.
CHALLENGE
I WILL DO CHALLENGE
People
Bring a friend to a Girl Guide meeting.
Do three Good Turns in a week.
Play a game or activity from another country.
Join in team games at Girl Guides.
Go to an activity or event that includes Guides from other Units.
Practical
Make a picture out of natural materials, such as leaves, bark or sand.
Make something with glue and scissors.
Know how to clean a cut and put on a band-aid. OR
Thread beads or buttons or weave paper strips or wool to make a craft item.
DATE CHALLENGE COMPLETED LEADER’S SIGNATURE
CHALLENGE I WILL DO
CHALLENGE
Tell your Leader how you care and share with other people.
Learn to help at home. Do one of these every day for a week: set the table for a meal, pack up your toys or put your dirty clothes in the washing basket.
Self
Tell your Unit or Patrol something interesting about yourself. OR Know your full name, your parents’/ carers’ names and your address.
Play a game that shows you know how to be a good friend.
Remember and pass on a short message.
Make a card or small gift to say ‘Thank you’ to an adult who is important to you. Share with your Unit what you did and how it made you feel.
DATE
CHALLENGE
COMPLETED
LEADER’S SIGNATURE
Topaz
Australian topaz stones are usually clear, pale yellow or pale blue. The start age for this badge is six years.
CHALLENGE I WILL DO
CHALLENGE
Physical
Find and name two plants and two birds at your home, school or Girl Guide meeting place. Draw pictures of them and share with your Unit.
Drink water instead of cordial or soft drink for one week.
Make a list of the Unit’s safety rules. Practise an evacuation drill with your Unit.
Find out how many times you can skip with a single rope without stopping. How many more times can you do it after practising for a week?
DATE
CHALLENGE COMPLETED
LEADER’S SIGNATURE
CHALLENGE I WILL DO
CHALLENGE
People
Make a promise to yourself or a family member and do your best to keep it for one week.
Think of one Good Turn you can do for someone at home. Do your best to do it daily for one week.
DATE
CHALLENGE
COMPLETED
LEADER’S SIGNATURE
Find out about World Thinking Day by joining in a Thinking Day activity.
Help to organise a game or activity that every member of your Patrol or Unit can take part in.
CHALLENGE
I WILL DO CHALLENGE
Practical
Show how you can tie knots by making a mobile, bracelet or pom pom.
Know how to call ‘000’ (triple zero). With your Leader, practise answering some of the questions you might be asked in an emergency.
DATE
Wipe a table and sweep the floors for one week at home. OR
Help to sort the recycling from the family rubbish for one week.
Play Kim’s Game.
Make a gift or card for someone.
CHALLENGE I WILL DO
CHALLENGE
Self
Know your full name, your parents’/ carers’ names and your home phone number. OR Tell your Unit or Patrol something interesting about yourself.
For one week, do your best to smile when you feel like complaining. Tell your Unit how you did this and how it made you feel.
Greet a visitor to your Unit and look after them at the meeting.
Find out why it is important for all children to be able to read. Share your findings with your Unit.
DATE
What’s Next?
What’s your most exciting adventure at Girl Guides so far?
What do you like about being a Girl Guide?
What activities do you enjoy doing with your Girl Guide friends?
Have you made your Girl Guide Promise? Do you understand it better now? Do you find it easier to remember and keep?
What’s something you would like to try or improve on?
Just because you’ve reached the end of this handbook doesn’t mean you’ve reached the end of your Girl Guiding adventure. In fact, it’s only the beginning! There are many more adventures you can have, such as:
• being a Patrol Second or Leader
• having fun with older Guides
• improving the skills you already have
• trying new adventures
• going on weekend camps
• starting work on your Junior BP Award.
Talk to your Leader about what’s next in your Girl Guiding adventure.
Index
‘000’ calls 54
advocacy 56–59
Aeroplanes game 64
AGP Process 28, 32, 58
AGP symbol 26
Australian Guide Program (AGP) 26
badges 8, 13, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 48, 64, 68, 71, 85–93
Be Prepared 16 campfires 70, 71
camping 49–50 ceremonies 24, 68, challenges, developing 28, 29
‘Charlotte and the Ants’ 17–22 cooking outdoors 46–48 decision-making, group 25, 77, 78, 82, 83, 84
Discover a Challenge 31, 85–93
Topaz 90–93
Turquoise 87–89 double overhand knot 40
environment, caring for 41–43, 59
first aid 54–55 four Elements 26
friendship bracelet 39
friendship circle 36
Good Turn 14, 15, 51–53
Good Turn fairy 38
Guide handshake 16
Guide Law 10, 11
Guide Leader(s) 5, 10, 25, 49, 70, 72, 86, 95
Guide Motto 16
Guide Promise 10, 24, 35, 94
Guide sign 14
Guides’ Own 74
Guiding Traditions 27, 65–74 healthy edible campfire 71 helpers 25 history of Guiding 66
Junior BP Award 95
Kim’s Game 72, 73
Leadership 27, 75–80 making a difference 56–59
Outdoors 27, 41–50
Patrol 7, 8, 9, 16, 27, 81–84
Patrol Leader 9
Patrol Second 9, 95 pikelet recipe 47
Promise and Law 10, 11, 24, 27, 34–40, 74
Promise celebration 24
puppet show 84 remembering names activity 77 rewards 30
safety outdoors 42, 70
saying nice things 30, 76, 83
Service 27, 51–59
seven Fundamentals 26, 27 songs 69 symbols 61 taking turns 76, 83 taking turns at Leadership 75–80 team 7, 16 tracking 44, 45 uniform 12, 13
Unit 7, 25, 34, 68, 81 WAGGGS 60 warm fuzzy 80 what Guides do 25–33 working together 77, 82
World Guiding 7, 27, 60–64
‘Taps’
This version is sung after sunset.
Day is done, Gone the sun,
From the sea, from the hills, from the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
‘Daylight Taps’
This version is sung before sunset.
Thanks and praise, For our days,
’Neath the sun, ’neath the stars, ’neath the sky.
As we go.
This we know.
God is nigh.
‘World Song’
(Sung to a marching beat; the tune can be heard on http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/global/ wagggs/world_song.asp)
Our way is clear as we march on, And see! Our flag on high, Is never furled throughout the world, For hope shall never die!
We must unite for what is right, In friendship true and strong,
Until the earth, In its rebirth, Shall sing our song! Shall sing our song!
All those who loved the true and good, Whose promises were kept, With humble mind, whose acts were kind, whose honour never slept; These were the free!
And we must be,
Prepared like them to live,
To give to all, Both great and small, All we can give! All we can give!