GAMES, SONGS, RECIPES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD:

Asia

Africa

Australia

SWAPS or Craft:
- boomerangs out of "woodsies", balsa wood, fun foam with pin backs glued on and then put your troop # information on the boomerang
- koalas out of pompoms with pin backs glued to the back.
- kangaroos - silhouette from fun foam . I have seen a stencil to trace out the form. Be sure to define the pocket of the Kangaroo maybe with a note strip with your troop id on it coming out of the pocket. Check out the websites for Australian GG troops on WAGGGS website. Information about the troops and levels in Girl Guides one of these had an outhouse facade as a craft idea swap item I think. Check out Thinking Day Central at :
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7038/TD/index.html. This site has individual WAGGGS countries with all sorts of info...food, songs,programs, etc.Do you need a costume idea? The girls could wear Aussie style hats. Mainly cowboy hats with one side brim pinned up to the crown and the chin strap used under the chin. Be sure to have them wear bandanna mask neckerchiefs for the Outback areas to filter out the dust and they could
wear jeans or khaki colored pants or shorts.Is there an Outback Restaurant in the area? Perhaps they could assist your troop with props for the visual part of your display, learn to fix a blooming onion for the food table."Waltzing Matilda" seems to be a good song for Australia in general, maybe on the Thinking Day site above.For a craft if the girls wanted to make. If you could get the hip pockets from jeans and cut them out, the participants could attach yarn braids as a strap or handle with simple sewing etc. The trouble with this is the
time factor and getting enough pockets to have them available. Perhaps only your troop could make them as part of a costume but have the directions available for the other leaders to take with them for their
troops to do later? The pockets can be embellished with beads, fabric paint, embroidery etc. in addition to the straps. These are small purses really, but fun to make. - A response submitted by Bobbi to Scouting Links Newsletter regarding Australia ideas for Thinking Day.

By Megan (in Scouting Links Newsletter): Many Australians enjoy vegemite. It is a spread made from yeast and is a by-product of our beer industry. It is also an acquired taste so if trying only sample a little bit. I don't know if there is anywhere you can get this in America. If you can track down the tune to 'Advance Australia
Fair' our national anthem, here are the words to the 'Vegemite National Anthem'.
Australian's all love vegemite,

For breakfast lunch and tea,
We all enjoy our vegemite,
In front of the T.V.
On biscuits or in sandwiches,

At morning, noon or night,
The health food of our nation,
Is a jar of vegemite.
In happy voices, Let us sing,
HOORAY for VEGEMITE.

When reading suggestions for dress, I have never known an Australia wear a kerchief, we tend not to worry about the dust. However, the idea of putting corks on a hat to keep the flies away still does occur occasionally. It was more known for our swagmen (drifters who would travel from area to area looking for work, especially during the depression era).Shearers tend to wear jeans and a blue singlet. The chin strap on the hat is worn as part of the army dress uniform.Food we often cook is Billy Tea and Damper. Make sure if making the tea that you use tea leaves thrown into a boiling billy, which is then swung around the head three times. A Eucalpyt leaf added in, adds extra flavour. The damper is usually cooked on the coals. This is basically just flour and water.


Austria


Belgium

Canada



China

Costa Rica

The most famous crafts from Costa Rica are their painted ox carts. Good luck putting those together :^). But a variation could be painting pasta wheels. Use bright colors and dot w/ flower-like designs. The country is also famous for volcanoes, beautiful birds and wild sloth!

Food-wise, corn tortillas and refried black beans. You might be able to find the refried black beans canned in a Latino market. Coffee is an important export. Little burlap bags of coffee beans would also make a good craft.
- Kathy



Denmark
This information was in the Scouting Links Newsletter. See instructions for signing up FREE under GERMANY.:
Links:
Denmark
http://www.dbs.dk - Girl Guides of Denmark (DBS)
http://www.dds.dk - Girl Guides of Denmark (DDS)
http://www.pigespejder.dk -Girl Guides of Denmark (YWCA)
http://www.dina.kul.dk/~nikrjel3/dk-Scouting/ - Scouting in Denmark
http://worldguiding.anzagl.com/ - World Guiding site
http://www.wagggsworld.org - WAGGGS site
http://www.guidezone.skl.com/liz_denmark.htm - GuideZone - Denmark
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7038/TD - Thinking Day Central
http://rt66.com/~korteng/da.htm - Denmark
http://www.abcnews.go.com/reference/countries/DA.html - ABC News Country

Profile - DenmarkHistory.
Guiding started in 1910 when some girls joined a Boy Scout group. The DDP (Det Danske Pigespejderkorps) was formed a few years later. In 1919 the KFUK Spejderne I Danmark was formed. Both organizations became part of the Pigespejdernes F lksr d Danmark. Since 1952, Guiding has developed in Greenland.

Games

"Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening" The girls make a circle. One
girl runs round the outside of the circle and gives one of the others a pat on the back as she passes. This girl then runs the other way round the circle and when the two meet, they each shake hands and say "Good Morning". They go on running until they meet again, saying "Good Afternoon", run around once more, saying "Good Evening", and then they race to reach the empty place in the circle."A Fishing Game"The fishing poles are made from thin wooded dowel rods about 25cm long. A small screw eye is put into one end of each pole; then a heavy thread about 20cm long is tied onto the screw eye, and a dress hook is tied to the other end of the thread.The fish are made from corks about 3cm high. Staples or tiny hasps are driven into the tops of the fish, and the fish are each given numbers between 1 and 20, written on the bottoms. The fish should be painted.They are place on the table or on the floor. Four players fish at once, by catching the dress hook on the end of the fishing line into the staple on the fish. As soon as one fish is caught, it is unhooked and another one gone after. After all of the fish are caught, the player with the highest total (found by adding the numbers on the bottoms of the fish) is the winner. The number of fish caught does not matter.
"Fruit Salad" - The girls sit on chairs in a circle. The Apple-man (who does
not have a chair) stands in the center. Everyone is given the name of a different fruit: orange, apple, pear, (more if needed). If the Apple-man calls "Oranges.", all of the oranges change places. The same happens when any fruit is called. If the Apple-man calls, "Fruit Salad.", everyone gets up and changes places. During the change-over(whether it is one group, two groups, or every group) the Apple-man must try to find a chair. Whomever is left without a chair becomes the new Apple-man.

Language:

The official language of Denmark is Danish.
Good day God Dag (go-day) Goodbye Farvel (Farvel)Thank you Tak (Tak)

Crafts:
Autograph Book. Find some leaves, and/or flowers and pres them for a few days. A leaf/flower/both is placed on a piece of paper and put between two pieces of contact plastic o. r 'mac-tac'. Several pieces of paper that are the same shape and size are cut and stapled together with the 'leaf cover' to form a book.

Christmas Hearts: Cut out two circles of paper, one red and one white. Fold each circle in half; glue them together so that each side of the 'basket' looks like a half red, half white heart, and put on a paper handle. The 'basket' can now be filled with candies as tiny gifts.

Stories:
"The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Anderson. This story is often read, while girls mime the parts during the pauses.Once upon a time, there was a Prince who wanted to find a real princess to be his wife. . . so he traveled all over the world to find one. . .
There were princesses in plenty, but there was always something not perfectly correct, so he returned home very much cast down, for he did so want a real princess for his bride. One evening, there was a terrible storm, and while the rain was pouring down, there came a knock at the palace door. . . and the old King himself went to open it. . . A princess was standing outside begging for shelter, and she said that she was a REAL princess. . . The Queen was determined to find out if this was true, so she went into the bedroom. . . Then she put 20 mattresses and 20 eiderdowns on top of a pea. . . There, the princess slept for the night. In the morning, they asked her how she had slept. . . and she said that she had hardly closed her eyes all night, for there had been something in the bed which made her black and blue all over. . . They could see this was a real princess, for nobody else could possibly have such tender skin. . . So the Prince married her. . . and the pea was carried in the wedding procession. . . Afterwards, the pea was carefully kept in the Museum, where it still is to be seen to this day, unless someone has taken it away. - Michelle

Dominican Republic

Egypt

England

France

 

Guides de France * Some French SongsVirtual Journey through FranceA French GameThe Game of BoulesBrownies in France Descrip. from Guidezone

*Be sure to hit button for English translation!

Germany

The item below (and other items on this page that are so noted) was posted to Scouting Links Newsletter, a document full of information and read by scout leaders around the world. You can post questions to the newsletter and receive more responses than you'd ever dreamed you'd get. The newsletter is FREE and it offers a wealth of information. You can subscribe to it (and reach the archives) by following this link. You can get an overview of everything offered at their main site by following this link.

Links about Germany
http://www.pfadfinder.de/bdp/ - Guides and Scout Union (BdP)
http://www.pfadfinder.org - German Saint George Scout Association (DPSG)
http://www.vcp.de - Christian Guide and Scout Association (VCP)
http://worldguiding.anzagl.com - World Guiding Site
http://www.wagggsworld.org/ - WAGGGS site
http://www.guidezone.skl.com/liz_germany.htm - GuideZone - Germany
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7038/TD - Thinking Day Central
http://kids.infoplease.com/ - Infoplease - Kids World Almanac
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5011/ - The German Culture Page
http://www.abcnews.go.com/reference/countries/GM.html - ABC News Country

History: The Union of German Girl Guides was formed in 1949, to represent the 3 active Associations. The BDP (Bund Deutscher Pfadfinderinnen) is non-denominational and open to all girls. The EMP (Evangelischer Mdchenpfadfinderbund) and Bund Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen (Bavaria) areopen to Protestant girls. The PSG (Pfadfinderinnenschaft St. Georg) is open to Roman Catholic girls. Germany gained Full membership in WAGGGS in 1954.

Crafts:
A Wall Picture - On a piece of cardboard, black or coloured, draw a shape or a picture. Put some glue on the shapes, and put cut-out pieces of cloth or coloured wool on top of it.

Language:
The official language of Germany is German. Good day Guten Tag (goo-ten-tag) Thank you Danke (danker) Goodbye Auf Wiedersehen (owf-vee-der-sain)- Michelle

Ghana












Greece

Holland

From Kathy:

Dutch craft:

Delph Tiles: Buy each girl a white tile (the kind you find on the bathroom walls!). Buy one of those car seat things that are made of beads. Cut it up - and glue a bead at each corner of the bottom of the tile, so that it sits up off the table. You can glue felt on the bottom to 'finish' it if you wish. (You could also use small tiles and stick magnets on the back)Give the girls royal blue acrylic paint and have them paint a blue tulip on their tile. Or get a stencil and use the blue paint with the stencil. (Acrylic paint doesn't come out of your clothing so be careful not to spill! - or wash it out before it dries!!)Then the girls can take their 'Delph blue' tiles home as Untersitzens (which is the German word), hot plates to put the tea pot on at the table. (If you wish, spray the tiles with matte or satin plasticizer to seal it.) (This came from Jane Maddin, 1st Orleans Pathfinders, Orleans, Ontario, Canada but several others had similar ideas)

Lace caps.
When my Brownie Troop did Holland many years ago we made the traditional Dutch hats out of paper. I don't remember the pattern, but if you look at a picture of the hat you might be able to figure it out. Wish I could be more helpful on instructions, just remember that the girls looked real cute. The evening itself didn't go quite to plan. I tried buying the tiles but the local store took a week to order them so I bought some paper doilies to make lace caps.When it came to Brownie evening. I had 8 girls leaving that evening to go up
to Guides and they had decided to do a play (Ronald Dahl 's version of Cinderella). They had also arranged an obstacle race, a spider made from ready made icing, and to finish the evening a 'take off' of Blind Date (an
English tv game show). This last part was so well done we were all in stitches(LOL). I'm sure this was not quite the evenings Guiding the Baden-Powells were imagining but at least the girls had shown some team work
and initiative and I can have my Dutch evening another week!!

 



India

From Kathy (in Scouting Links Newsletter):
http://indianculture.miningco.com - Indian culture information from About.com.

We did India in 3rd grade. For our food--rice pudding with a little cinnamon (not exactly the Indian recipe--tried that by boiling milk and rice together and decided traditional USA rice pudding tasted almost the same, less work and maybe a little more tasty--got the idea from a lady from India). We put the table legs down and sat the tables on the floor and ate there.
Learn to wrap a sari---just get some yardage of material and get a book from the library to learn how it's wrapped. My girls also used some round gems and stuck them to their forehead (some come with adhesive on it--just peel and stick). Be sure to discuss why they wear those--again the library book.
Learn to play Parchesi--a board game that is very easy for your age group to learn to play--ask your parents if they have the game--someone will--if not it's not expensive and your daughter and family would enjoy it.
Check on that library book about holidays--I believe there is a Festival of Lights that you could talk about and maybe decorate your booth or table with.
Also, Check out http://www.danabhai.com/ornaments/rornaml.html for
information on the history of jewelry making in India. More Information on India October 1997 issue of "Kids Discover" Magazine. It is Volume 7, Issue 8. It is totally devoted to India. This magazine can probably be found in your local library in the children's dept.

From Kathy: Game of India - Pass On

For this game a bag containing slips of paper numbered one to ten is needed.Players stand or sit in a circle and pass the bag to each other. The game leader blows a whistle and the Guide holding the bag at that time takes out
one slip of paper and calls out the number. She must then recite the part of the Girl Guide law which has that number.Players continue passing the bag round the circle until all numbers have been picked and all of the law recited.

Ireland

Israel



Italy

Japan

From Kathy (in Scouting Links Newsletter): We wore yukatas, made origami whales, our booth had a japanese snack and people came to our booth and learned to use chopsticks picking up the Japanese rice snack crackers. You could also have top ramen noodles for a snack -- use those with chopsticks. Chopsticks are called "Hashi" in
Japanese. Teach the girls how to count in Japanese.

Craft Idea: Try some Origami. Unless someone is good at describing origami on a text-only web-site, this is an activity that is probably best researched through library books, etc! [Editor's Note: You should be able to find some websites on origami by searching any of the major search engines with the keyword origami.

Food: Sushi/Dora Yaki Recipe - Japanese Tea CeremonySushi recipe (also check in Japanese cookbooks available in your local library)We bought toasted seaweed (nori) at a Chinatown grocery store -- you can also get it at some health food stores. It comes 10 sheets to a pack for about $2.50 or so.Cook rice the usual way (if you use short grain rice it will stick together better) but when it's done, sprinkle vinegar on it while a second
person fans it to cool it. Seriously, my friend and I just cracked up while we were doing this! When the rice is cool, pat it in about a 1/4 inch thick layer on the nori, staying about 1/2 inch from the ends. You can put a scallion (green onion) or some mushrooms or some cucumber spears on top of the rice, near one long end. Wet your hands and start to roll like a jelly roll from one long end . If you go very slowly and are careful, you will end up with a very pretty green log. Using a sharp knife, cut it into rounds about 1 inch thick. I know that sushi is usually thicker, but you are just trying to get a sample to the kids and if they like it they can have more. We
managed to get 10 slices per roll which was way more than we needed.To transform this into sashimi you'll need very thinly sliced raw fish. We did not go this route as we were concerned about the fish going bad while
unrefrigerated. Serve with wasabi (Japanese horseradish) as a dip -- caution-- this stuff is incredibly hot!!!! The biggest drawback that I saw was that the rolls smell a little fishy from the seaweed even if you don't use fish on top. One way around it is to roll the seaweed to the inside -- we did not try this ourselves but I have had these "California" rolls and they don't smell as much. The smell turned off some of the kids.Dora Yaki (grilled temple gongs -- literally!) are small, sweet pancakes. I found a recipe in a cookbook but you can use any pancake recipe, but just make them fairly small. I once found a can of sweetened red bean paste but I have also just cooked red beans and sweetened them with sugar and vanilla. The texture is not as good, so you might want to run the beans through a food processor to get them kind of like whipped potatoes. We added red food coloring to get a neat color. "Ice" the pancakes with the bean paste and top with another pancake for a little sandwich.

Japanese Tea Ceremony (Chanoyu):

Materials: pottery tea bowl Sweets: fresh cake or rice cake
Utensils: ladle, bamboo stirrer, spoon, red silk napkin, white linen cloth, powdered green tea, hot plate, pot, water, cushions (optional), cups (one for each person), kimono for leader (optional).
Arrange a large area where everyone can gather on the floor. Cushions may be arranged for guests to sit upon. Set up all the materials you are going to use for the tea ceremony at the front of the group so that your guests
can watch the process. You should have the water heating at this point. (To authenticate this ceremony even more wear a kimono.) Invite your guests to come and sit upon the cushions.
Directions for tea ceremony:
a. Bow to your guests and welcome them. "Yopku irasshaimashita" means welcome.
b. Call each guest by their last name, always adding the word SAN, a term of affection. Example: Liz Watts would be Watts-san.
c. Serve guests a small rice cake or sweet. When the leader says, "Orakuni," or "Please relax," the guests begin to eat their sweets.
d. Prepare utensils:
1. Clean the ladle (chashaku) with a red silk napkin.
2. Wipe the rim of the pottery bowl (chawan) with a white linen cloth.
3. Warm the pottery bowl with hot water. Pour out the hot water.
e. Spoon the powdered green tea (ocha) into the pottery bowl.
f. Ladle the boiling water into the bowl and stir vigorously with the stirrer until the tea foams.
g. Ladle the tea into cups or bowls for the students.
h. Guests bow and sip the tea.Note: Japanese women and girls are gentle graceful and very polite! Challenge the girls to be truly Japanese for a whole evening: polite, considerate, and self-controlled!

Games:

Flap the Fish Relay Race.
Each team has a paper fish (tissue paper or similar is ideal because it is very lightweight) and a newspaper. Each player has to 'flap' the fish along the floor to a certain point (chair opposite each team?) and back. Then the next player in the team has does the same, and so on until all the players have done this. The winning team is the fastest team!

Jen-Ken-Pon (Stone-Paper-Scissors).
In pairs, girls say together "Jen-Ken-Pon", or "stone, paper, scissors".
When they say "Pon" or "scissors", both girls bring one of their hands forward to represent stone, paper or scissors. A clenched fist represents stone, an open hand, palm facing up, represents paper, a scissors shape
with index and middle fingers represents scissors. Stone beats scissors because it blunts them, scissors beat paper because they cut it, and paper beats stone because it can wrap it. (This game can also be played in two
teams, with each team deciding whether they are going to be stone, paper or scissors before they start each round.)

Hanakago (Flower Basket). Everyone sits on chairs in a circle, except one person who stands in the center. Everyone, including the person in the middle, chooses the name of a flower which the leader writes down. The leader calls out two names, and the girls who chose these names try to change places before the girl in
the middle sits in one of their chairs. The person left without a chair each time becomes the person in the middle. When "flower basket" or "hanakago" is called, everyone must change places!

Touch Yourself Tag (four or more players).
The Brownie who is 'It' tries to tag other players in the usual way. Thenthe tagged player becomes 'It', but must put one hand on the place where she was tagged - on her back, her shoulder, perhaps her leg! She has to chase the others like this. (If you have a large group, several players
can be 'It' at the same time.)

Other Ideas:

Dressing Up
. Dressing gowns and wide sashes of material could be made to look like kimonos and obis. (Better still, find a Japanese lady who will come and demonstrate how to put on and wear the real thing!). Simple Japanese fans are very popular and help to give the girls the Japanese feeling.


Malaysia

1) we in Malaysia have brownies aged between 10-12 years old. Girl Guides aged between 13-15 years old
and Rangeers 16-18 years old.
2) Scouting is co-ed here. Thoguht, girls can join guides and boys have another thing but here in Malaysia it is co-ed. Scout memebers here are aged between 10 untill 18 I think. It's a rather big group.
3) Girls in scouting here? Well, Do you mean Malaysia or just my school?? Please explain.
4) Badges.. well the first badge is of course the tenderfoot badge. IT's the badge that you have to do to become a Guide.Then we have our badges (I have no idea what you called it in English!!) O.K, like this after the tenderfoot badge we have a test called the Second Class Test. Afler completing it (about 14 of it), we are eligible to do the Tali Perkelilingan (It's the big sash you wear on your shoulder full of badges...) Test and compete in the Queen Guide Competition held by our district. Well, that's only the sash but not the badges yet.
The badges are :
cook
laundry
Baby sitting
Hostess
Tailor
Gardener
Carpenter
First Aid
and etc..
Obviously the test is more to doing Living Skills like cooking and all. This is an induvidu work. For other badges on the sash, it is meant for group work.
5) Sorry, I don't think we have an equipment catalogue. BUt I'll try to ask my Guides teacher if there is one. I'd like to see your catalogue if you'll send it to me.
6) hmm.....anything interesting.....well, do you have gatherings? Heree, in Malaysia we have alot of it.
It's not actually a jamboorie (How do you spell it anyway??). JAmborries are like camps but gatherings
are only a day. HEre we have school gatherings where every year schools with guides and scouts associations will invite other schools. So in a year we get about 10 invitations from 10 different schools. SO, it's rather cool. I suppose you have it, too, right?? :) O.K, Guides administration here is different than your place, I think. We have Guide teaches but no Guide Leaders. The head of our Company (mine is the 12th Company or 12th Coy) is called the Coy Leader. She's 15 years old. She is assisted by the Coy Second, the Secretary and the Treasurer. These 4 people stand in front of the whole group in the role call. After them comes the Patrol leader and all.
Well, I'm just the Treasurer and unoffically my Coy's researcher about world guiding.. hehehe..

- Bariah B., Malaysia (courtesy of Kathy)


Mexico

Mexico Guide History:Guiding in Mexico began in 1930, with the movement organized along the British lines. In 1938, they were organized as a National Organization. Mexico became a Full member of WAGGGS in 1957. The same year, Our Cabana is opened. In 1964, an annual Guiders Day was established on November 16. In 1966, 2 Senior Guides represented Mexico at the Juliette Low Session at Our Cabana. Lady Baden-Powell visited Mexico in 1967 for Our Cabanas 10th Anniversary.

Links:

Guias de Mexico(in English and Spanish)
Coyoacan District (in Spanish)
World Guiding Mexico
WAGGGS Mexico
Guide Zone Mexico
Thinking Day Mexico


Holidays:La Posada
Songs: Posadas 1, 2, & 3, Sheperds Run to Bethlehem
Song Games: "Traffic Policeman" Each girl is given three beans. The girls run in every direction, pretending to be cars, trucks and buses. A leader (or one of the girls) is the Traffic Policeman. When the Policeman holds up her hand, all the traffic stops. Anyz vehicle that is caught moving must pay a fine (1 bean). At the end of the game, the Patrols/Sixes/Teams count their beans
and the one that has the most beans is the winner."Pinata" A pinata is a clay jar covered with coloured crepe paper in the shape of some kind of animal, bird, flower, or other object. It is filled with candies, popcorn, etc. and is hung by cord from the ceiling, or a tree branch. The girls each, in turn, are given a stick and, while blindfolded, they try to break the pinata. Each girl is allowed three strokes at each turn until someone breaks the pinata and the contents are scattered.Perhaps in some way have several pinatas to be used by sections of the larger group. A pinata is usually filled with candy but can be filled with trinkets instead.Mexican Hat Dance for the girls to participate in. Using castanets and teaching the others how.CraftsSwaps could be made using miniature clay pots , small straw hats (sombreros style), make tacos using fun foam, small miniature fans, attach pins to the swaps somehow.
"Pinatas"- Blow up a balloon. Tie it. Cover it with five layers of torn strips of newspaper dipped in a flour-and-water paste (paper machee). Dry thoroughly. Pop and remove the balloon. Fill the inside and cover the hole. Paint and decorate it.
Huichol - Ojo de Dios (God's Eye): God's Eyes are used in Mexico to commemorate the birth of a child. The father makes the center of the God's eye at the child's birth, so that God will watch the child. At the first, second, and third birthdays,
additional eyes are added to the "arms" to show that God is still watching. I guess that the assumption is that a child that makes it to three will probably live to be an adult. The Huichol Indians of Mexico have kept many of their old traditions in dress, religious ceremonies and lifestyle. Huichol culture is very rich in folk art. Nature is treated with much respect. The Ojo de Dios is the most well known symbol. The Indians believe the design of the eye has the power to heal and to protect. The Ojo de Dios is hung on the wall and used in ceremonies and prayer. The colours used have different meanings: RED - life itself,
YELLOW - sun moon & stars, BLUE - sky & water, BROWN - soil, GREEN - vegetation, BLACK - death. They can be used as good luck symbols.
Language: The people of Mexico speak Spanish.Good Day - Buenos dias (bwen-ose dee-as), Thank you - Gracias (grat-zee-as), Goodbye - Adios (add-e-ose)
Food:"Guacamole" (wa-ka-mo-leh), Ingredients:2 large ripe avocados, 15mL (1 tbsp.) finely chopped onion, 1 tomato, peeled and chopped, 10mL (2 tbsp.) finely chopped tinned chili, 15mL (3 tbsp.) chopped, fresh corriander, salt and pepper to taste. Method: Peel the avocados. Remove the stones. Mash the flesh to a pulp in a bowl with a fork. Mix in the other ingredients. Cover the guacamole with foil. Place in the refrigerator until it is time to serve, either as a dip or with salad at the start of a meal.Food: nachos and cheese, girls always love that. Use a crock pot to keep the cheese warm. - Posted in Scouting Links Newsletter by Michelle, Ontario, Canada


From Kathy (in Scouting Links Newsletter):
Here is a Mexican recipe I got at a Thinking Day event years ago. It has been so popular that I memorized the recipe and keep giving it out all of the time as I still use the recipe several times a year at picnics, covered dish suppers, etc.

MEXICAN DIP
1 large can refried beans

2 large avocados, peeled and mashed or diced thin
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 cup mayonaise
½ cup sour cream
1 packet taco seasoning mix
2-3 cups shredded cheese
sliced ripe olives
diced tomato (I like to use the pear shaped ones, more meat/less juice and
seeds)
diced green onion, tops only (save the bottom part for a salad)
taco chips or nacho chips
Jalapeno slices or diced (optional/ I often serve on the side)
Directions: In large glass casserole dish. Spread the refried beans over
the bottom of the dish. Combine the mashed avocado & lemon juice together and then spread over the top of the refried beans. Mix the mayonaise, sour cream and taco seasoning together. Spread over the avocado mixture. Spread the shredded cheese over the top of the mayonaise mixture. Sprinkle the ripe olives, diced tomato and sliced green onion tops over the top of the cheese. Chill. Serve with the taco or nacho chips.

New Zealand




Nigeria


Idea from Mary Anne (in Scouting Links Newsletter): What about doing the Mancala game. We did this with dried lima beans and empty egg cartons. It is an ancient African game. Usually it is a carved wooden board with polished stones. I think we typed out the rules for any of the girls who wanted to play it at home. It was many years ago and I don't remember the rules, but I think it shouldn't be hard to find them.


Norway

In Norway the "official English" is British, so officially we are called "Girl Guides" - but I speak and write American English (- that is; try, that's why I write "scouts." This is the age-levels we have in Norway:

One can join scouts at the age of 6: Then you are a "Rabbit" (Hare.) Yellow bandana.
From 7 to 9 your are "Brownie" (in Norw: "Meis" - a kind of little bird). Still yellow bandana.
From 10 - 12 : Junior (Norw: Stifinner= path-finder) Blue bandana.
From 13 - 15 : Senior (Norw. Vandrer = "Wanderer") Green bandana
From 16 - 25 : Senior scout II; (Norw: ranger = "Ranger") Burgundy bandana.
From 25 and up: Leader; dark blue bandana or bandana in the color of "your" troop's age-level. Or you might just be adult scout; dark blue bandana All over Norway they are popping up "Once a scout - alway a scout" troops, with "retired" girl scouts.
As you may see we can be active scouts without beeing leaders for a long time.
The age-limit for seniors /rangers was extended not so many years ago. The "Rangers" have a National Meeting once a year, and on this meeting they (we) decided to extend the age-limit for rangers from 18 to 25. I am in my last year as a "ranger" now.In Norway we all have the same uniform, no matter if you are 6 or 60, of course
size wary, but ... :-)It is only the color of the bandana wich is different (and a few other details.) I am quite proud of our uniform. Though time has changed, and so has fashion, during the years since 1910, the Norwegian
uniform look like it did back then. Of course details etc has been changed, but it is made on the same idea; it is kaki / beige colored, - bandanas, stars, pins and badges tell about age and rank and so on.The official skirt is kaki too, but you might wear brown / dark blue trousers or skirts. Among the olders girls - the rangers - it has almost become a "fashion" to look old-fashion; with the kaik shirt and a dark blue - ankle-long- skirt, the hat and the belt in the waist.... look at an old photo of girl scouts in England in 1910!
-
Ellen Anne Teigen, still living in 1997, in Baasmo, Mo i Rana, Norway (courtesy of Kathy)



Panama

Peru

Scotland



Spain

This information was in the Scouting Links newsletter, too.. If you don't already subscribe to it (it's free!), you just have to sign up! See instructions further up the page.
I was a Brownie leader for two years while living in Spain. One of our favorite foods there was the potato tortilla. A tortilla in Spain is NOT the same thing as one in Mexico. In fact it is nothing like it. A Spanish tortilla is similar to an American omelet. The ingredients I use are potatoes, garlic, eggs, onion and olive oil. What is nice is that it can be eaten hot or cold and it can be served with a toothpick. A perfect choice for thinking Day. Also, for a swap. How about finding a picture of a girl in her Feirra Dress. Trace it onto Shrink art, color it and then shrink it. You can cut a hole in the top before you shrink it for a sting or chain to go through it, too. Or, do you know what their Scout uniform looks like? The wore dark paints or skirts (usually navy) with a yellow blouse and yellow scarf (bandana). **This is what the Scouts your age wore. - Heidi
Take a virtual journey through Spain by clicking here.

Sweden

Switzerland

From Kathy: When we did Switzerland for Thinking Day, we did Swiss cheese swaps. We pre-
cut triangle yellow felt. The girls used hole punches to make the holes. We
added a safety pin and we were done.


Thailand

From Bobbi in Scouting Links Newsletter: Suggestion for Thailand SWAP: Two years ago in our SU Thinking Day event, a troop had a Thailand display and we did a short craft at that table or maybe this was the SWAP the troop used in participating in the SWAP time as a first experience in our Service Unit. Anyway...
-- Use Grey fun foam... draw the front view of an elephants head -- like you are looking directly towards his eyes trunk and ears.
-- Cut out the head.
-- Glue wiggle eyes on for eyes, and
-- Make a trunk out of pony beads in grey color to match the head.
-- Use a small button on the back side of the fun foam where you are attaching the trunk. Insert needle and strong thread or maybe dental floss through the button and foam to the front and string enough pony beads on to make a neat trunk long enough.
-- With the last pony bead take needle back around the bead and back through the previous beads, through the fun foam and thru the button.
-- Perhaps resew this step through the trunk to make stronger and
-- finally ending by securing the thread beginning and ending by knotting together.
-- Glue a pin back on the back of the head.
-- The ID could be written on the fun foam on the back also with a ball point or a fine line sharpie.

I hope this makes sense. It is a cute elephant with the moving eyes and trunk swinging.Song with actions/ "dance": Perhaps an elephant song. I think Lois & Bram did this one.
"One little elephant went out one day, on a spiders web to play.
She had such enormous fun
That she invited another elephant to come
Two little elephants went out one day,
On a Spiders web to play.
They had such enormous furn,
That they invited another elephant to come.
Three .... etc"
Girls act out the verse, skipping and hopping around on a spiders web, maybe forming a single line to conga style together. Swinging arms like trunks in front of their faces as they bend over being elephants. Continue to add girls to this line style dance/skipping

Be sure to checkout Thinking Day Central for ideas at : http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7038/TD/index.html



United States

Vietnam


General Information Sites


DON'T FORGET TO GO TO OURLINKS PAGE & SEARCH SOME OF THE SCOUTING SITES AND SCOUTING MESSAGE BOARDS FOR EVEN MORE IDEAS! AND CHECK OUT OUR LIST OF FREEBIE/COUPON CODE SITES TO SAVE MONEY ON SUPPLIES FOR CRAFTS!

Here are some more Thinking Day sites that were posted to the Scouting Links Newsletter:
Thinking Day Related Sites

Guides on the Air (GOTA-2000)
Service Unit 11 - Thinking Day 2000
Thinking Day 2000 - Special Postage Cancel
Girl Guide and Scouts on Stamps
Scout Internet Greeting Cards

Posted by Shawn Marie in Scouting Links Newsletter: I thought with World Thinking Day coming, we could do something about the world. Items needed: Felt, foam sheets, scissors, pencil, shapes of different countries, & pins.

- Take felt or foam and cut into circle
- Then cut shapes of countries out
- Glue shapes onto circle where they would be on the world.What my troop did for SWAPS was to make the world out of blue felt.
Then cut out the shape of Australia & a koala. We made these out of foam.
We then put them together showing the country and animal from there.
We then put pins on back.
Good luck & Happy World Thinking Day 2000!!!!!!!!:0)

Click here to learn some fun Thinking Day songs!
Click here for some songs from around the world.
Click here for the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund Story (drama activity).
Click here to visit the ParentSoup.com site. Check out their Scouting message board. You have to join to respond to the threads, but you can read all you like!
And click here to visit the ParentsPlace.com site to view their Boy/Girl Scouts message board. You'll have to scroll down a bit to "all message boards." Click on that & then scroll down until you reach the Boy-Girl Scouts message board. You won't be disappointed.

Did you know that the free Scouting Links newsletters is read by Girl Scout troops around the world? Sign up for it and ask away about Thinking Day ideas, recipes, troop management - whatever! Click here.

Worried about kids with peanut allergies? Try this link to the Food Allergy Network.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL APPROVED SITE. ALL CONTENT IS MINE ALONE.


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