Are you planning your meetings yet? I’ve been avoiding it, but it is time to get my head back in the game. I write this post to respond to those of you who searched for “Brownie Structure”, “Brownie First Meeting”, and anything that got you here by asking what the heck do we do on the first night?
The answer to that is mostly crowd control with a little bit of introduction to Brownies thrown in. As your group gets to know each other, you’ll have a better idea of the group dynamics – who is shy, who is outgoing, who needs to be reined in, etc. Every year we outline a grand plan of things to do – and we’ll likely get to an eighth of the activities.
Here’s what we usually do:
6PM – Guider arrival. Set out Toadstool, name tags, markers, and papers for registrations. Give Guiders their role for the evening. Brown Owl and possibly Snowy Owl will typically handle parent questions. You also need at least one (but better with two) Guiders who can handle the arrival game. We like Tag for the first game – it is easy and the girls know it already. Familiar makes them happy. Easy makes us happy.
6:30PM – Girls are arriving.
Step 1 – meet Brown Owl and get your name tag
Step 2 – work on name tag with Snowy Owl
Step 3 – Girls join game – parents often hang back to watch or ask questions. As the girls behave differently when their parents are not present, we try to get parents moving as quickly as possible. Remind them though to pick up at 8PM.
6:50PM Brownie Circles (we don’t have circles assigned yet – we usually do that on the third meeting – after we know the girls).
Call girls to Brownie Ring – Owl: “Brownies, Brownies, Where are you?” Girls: “here we are, here we are, how do you do?”
Teach “We’re the Brownies”, then teach Brownie Sign and say the promise.
Intro Game. Key to Brownies: Getting To Know You.
There are loads of intro games. We like: My name is ____ and I like ____ (something with the same letter as your name). E.G. my name is Cara and I like Cows, Carrots, etc. This starts with the girl closest to Brown Owl. The girls need to remember each girl around the circle (or variation, just the girl next to them – and Brown Owl has to remember everyone – HINT – make sure name tags are ON!).
7:10 Explaining the Rules – Last year we used “Brown Owl Says” (a variation on Simon Says) to talk about the rules at Brownie. But I think this year it should be more like a “Captain’s Coming” which has fewer instructions.
Our Rules:
- Listen to and watch for signals:
- Guider has a hand up – this means be quiet. Put your hand up too and wait until the first person puts her hand down. Then Listen.
- Whistle – Only for emergencies (or if we get a really rambunctious groups – it is a bad meeting if we use whistles).
- Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap: using the One-Two, One Two Three clap and asking the girls to repeat it it pulls them out of whatever they’re doing and makes them listen.
- Brownies Brownies Where are you? (Here we are, here we are, how do you do)… This is supposed to only be used to call to Brownie Circle, but we’ve been using it to get the girls’ attention.
- Ask to leave the room, and always travel with a buddy.
- No running, unless it is part of a game.
- No screaming, unless it is part of a game. (The first scream usually has me dramatically running to “help” in a “panic”. They learn about crying wolf, and how screaming is a sign that there is danger. ).
- Girls must wear rubber soled shoes at Brownies. Mostly as a result of the school we meet in, but also because if there is a fire, we need to have shoes on feet so girls don’t run outside barefoot in winter.
- Wear full uniform (new – unenrolled Brownies may not wear their tie yet) and bring your Brownie book.
7:20 Then a craft. I was thinking something like this Owl craft or this Brownie Promise Door Hanger (we’ve used this often!) – not updated for new Promise, but easily done with a bit of glue and a printer.
7:40 Campfire. Stick to Favourites – we always teach “Make New Friends”
7:55 Closing – New Brownie Squeeze, Now Run along Home, and Brownie Taps – do you do “Oh Lord Our God”, or “Oh Hear Us Now?” I’m torn.
Sounds awesome Cara. Looks like we’re all set for the first night. I love your blog 😀
I’m going to use a variation of this at two different Units for one of the first meetings – thanks. If anyone has any other ideas, please share them in the comments. I have used “Captain coming Aboard ” many times for large groups of mixed ages, especially outdoors. I’ve never thought of using it for modelling behaviours and activities
I’m adding some other “commands” to this Guiding version of : “Captain coming aboard” – calling it “Brown Owl’s talking – what do we do?”
I will will intersperse the following “fun and routine commands” with the “rule commands” that you have provided:
“Circle Time” – each girl finds two others and they hold hands and make a
small circle
“Promise Sign” – each girl makes Promise sign
“Attention!” – each girl stands at Attention (could also add a salute)
“Going Camping” – Find a Partner, face each other, hold arms high and touch
hands, to make a tent shape
“S’mores” – rub hand across stomach to show how good it was, and
then rub hands over face to wipe off the chocolate and
sticky marshmallow – keep repeating until the next
“command”
“Paddle your canoe” – in groups of three – two sit on floor facing each other
and extend legs with feet touching, the third person sits
on floor between the open legs and pretends to paddle
the “canoe”
Great comment Joanne – I was thinking along the same lines – had penciled it in as Brown Owl Has Her Hand Up.
Our commands (which include actions):
1. Brown Owl Has her Hand Up – You’re quiet and put your hand up too
2. Clap Clap, Clap Clap Clap – Girls repeat the clapping pattern
3. Snowy Owl, May I leave the room? – catch hands with a partner
4. Someone Screamed! – Girls go shhhhhh and put their finger to their mouth
5. Why are you running? – Girls start running around and respond “Because it’s a Game Brown Owl!”
6. Whistle Blows – line up at the door ready for evacuation. check to make you’re wearing shoes
7. Brownies, Brownies, Where are you? – Girls respond “Here we are, Here we are, How do you do?” and run to whoever sang it.
It needs a running component (the best benefit of Captain’s Coming is that they’re pooped out at the end) – any thoughts?
Hi, Cara:
Lying in bed this morning .. I thought of other ideas for the game and realized there was no running component – (“it proves that Great Minds Think alike” 🙂 and I hadn’t included anything like the Port, Starboard, Bow, Stern calls – and they are the ones the kids like the best !!
and then I thought of this one:
Compass Points: the Leader designates walls (markers if outdoors) for the points of the compass – girls have to run to the compass point that is called
and then I thought of a few others too –
“Hug A Tree” – two girls get together – must be of two different
heights – and smaller hugs the taller
“Go For a Hike” – group of two to four girls hold hands and skip a
round in a clockwise circle
“Day is Done/Taps” – girls come together in one large circle and hold
hands (could be the signal for the end of the game)
– or actually sing it as the end the meeting …?
“Campfire” – three to four girls sit together in a circle and sing
“Fires Burning” through to the end – only once
OR it could be the signal for a large campfire – and the small groups could be guided through to sing it as a round with each group given a signal as to when to start – and then move quietly into a larger campfire circle ?
There are too many calls to do all at once – but for a few weeks the game would be a good way of learning about the safety and behaviour rules/calls
as well as other Guiding terms and traditions
all for now – I hope to try out the game tomorrow !
I’ve made a post out of our game. Hope you like it… =)
Let me know how it goes Joanne… great ideas. And we won’t try it out until the 20th so I’m curious to see how it goes. I love Hug a Tree – kind of like Romeo and Juliet (which also could be used to model behaviours…). And the compass points are easy additions for running.
I love it! Thanks for putting it into an easy to follow game plan form – I can see that it could be very popular for a lot of reasons.
After I sent my additions to you this morning I sent my whole comment to four of the Guiders that I work with – we will use the game at my thursday Spark/Brownie/Guide meeting tomorrow, and the other three Guiders will be able to use it at their meeting next Monday – when I will be absent because I have to be at a hospital for the birth of my fourth grandchild !
I don’t usually play the Captain Game by eliminating somebody, unless we are going to play it for a long time – and then I get the “loser” to help make the calls, and then s/he returns to the game after a couple more are out.
I have used it often outdoors at Vacation Bible Schools when there is a 5 yr old to 11 yr old age range – – sometimes the youngest are paired with the oldest, or sometimes the older ones ask to help call.
I realize that the N S E W calls might confuse the young ones – but it will be an easy way to teach the relationship of the 4 compass directions – and in the original game the calls of “Bow, Stern, Port, Starboard” are used. The young ones often look at the older ones to see what direction to run – it was when I first started using this game, as an adult, that I finally learned the difference between Port and Starboard 🙂
Are you familiar with the “Hug a Tree” program? or the activity? I know the phrase in two situations: a program that is given to show kids/families methods of preventing getting lost in a bush, and of staying safe if you are lost – i.e. staying near a “special” tree that can shelter you and keep you from walking around in circles; and an activity that involves partners, one of whom in each pair is blindfolded, then turned around a few times to get disoriented, and taken by hand to a tree – the blindfolded person must feel the tree carefully – “hug ” it, determine what the bark is like, what is around it a the base on the ground, feel a low branch or leaves , etc, “get to know their special tree; then is led back to the starting point, and the blindfold is taken off. It is amazing how accurate most players are when they then try to find their own tree. After the first blindfolded person has a turn to find their tree, then the second person is blindfolded and led to another tree for a chance to do the same. It can be run pretty easily, since a number of pairs can be participating at the same time, as long as there is a clearing near a bush with a number of larger trees. saplings are too easy to find, if there are only one or two, and too hard to find if there are only saplings..
I wonder if there will be any other ideas possible calls for the game? I am looking forward to establishing the behaviour modification calls that you use in your meetings – and this is such a painless and fun way to teach them to the girls. Modifying behaviours of restless girls is one of the challenges I have each year.
This is a great outline of a first meeting Cara — Re closing we use “Oh Lord our God”
A couple of other ideas that we are using tonight for our first meeting:
1) Arrival – get to know activity
Beaded friendship bracelet (25 different colours of pony beads on pipecleaners) – each girl will receive a different bead on a pipecleaner and a empty pipecleaner. The girls need to collect one of each of the different 25 beads and put them on her empty pipecleaner to make a bracelet. When she asks for the bead she must introduce herself and find out what her new friend’s name is. In the end the girls will each have a bracelet that contains a bead from each of her New Friends.
2) “It” sticks – a popsicle stick with the girls names on that they can also decorate. The “It” sticks will be used to select someone who needs to be “It” (i.e., for a game, start an activity, lead an activity, help with something, etc) – we will go through all the sticks before starting over again.
3) In addition to all the “get the girls attention” ideas listed above and standard rules we will also introduce the song “Here we sit like birds in the wilderness”. If you are unfamiliar with this one it is an older song that is used to call someone to a circle (usually ends up being a Guider) who we are waiting for to start and activity – the girls love it!
4) We will be doing this get to know activity which I found here
(http://www.ehow.com/info_8657950_first-activities-brownie-girl-scouts.html#ixzz1VUpWiXWG)
Have the girls learn about each other by playing a lineup game. Tell the girls to lineup in order by first name. This is a good way for the girls to learn each other’s names. Other ideas include having them lineup by birthdays, age, shoe size and hair length. Divide the girls into two teams and see who can get in the correct order the fastest.
5) and just for fun we will play
This Way Valerie
How to Play:
The girls line up in two lines facing each other.
Each girl grabs hands with their partner (across from them in the other line) and move arms alternately forward and back while singing the verse (to the tune of “Short’nin’ Bread”):
This way Valerie, That way Valerie,
This way Valerie, All the way home.
Take a couple of steps back and the head couple moves to the next two verses while everyone else sings and claps their hands. The girl on the right side struts down the line doing any action she wants. When she gets to the ends she joins the line on the left. The girls all sing (to the same tune):
Strut Miss Lucy, Strut Miss Lucy,
Strut Miss Lucy, All the way home.
The girl on the left copies the actions of the first girl during the next verse and when she gets to the end she joins the line on the right.
Here comes another one, Just like the other one,
Here comes another one,
All the way home.
Both lines move up a wee bit and repeat the song over and over and over again until everyone has had a turn. The girls will eventually start getting quite creative in their actions if you play this many times.
I appreciate the ideas for a first meeting. It is always nice to see what others are doing! What are the “New brownie squeeze” and “now run along home” items? I assume they are songs? Do you have copies?
Hi Tara – I’m a little fuzzy about the Brownie Squeeze, but stay tuned… I think I’ll clear it up in mid-August.
And the other is the second closing song “Now run along home, and jump into bed, Say your prayers (or go to sleep), don’t cover up your head. The very last thing I say unto you is You dream of me, and I’ll dream of you”. It is a good one. We say it like a chant, but there is a tune.
There are actions for “Now run along home” – simple movements base on the words, using hands, arms, head, etc. Can be done with chanting or singing.
Hi Joannne. Haven’t seen you in a while. Hope you’re having a nice summer. 🙂
Took a bit of a break after mid June – but tomorrow we have a local meeting to talk about the various joint activities we might want to do in the fall ….. and soon we’ll we need to send in our flyer to the School Board to get permission to send them home with the girls in September. It never ends – but it’s mostly Fun!
Hi Cara, read your blog for first time today, must say I am impressed with your level or organization – something we all strive to accomplish! We had our first regular meeting last night with Brownies and we have 2 girls that moved to our small town from the city and I believe what they were trying to explain to me was the game of “Brown Owl says” or “Captain’s Coming” ! I had never heard of this game, so we were kind of in the dark, but your blog has certainly enlightened me – thanks so much.
Hi! I was wondering what the Brownie squeeze is? Can you please clarify. I’m a new Brownie leader 🙂
The Brownie Squeeze is something I kind of remember as a kid. I remember that we did the squeeze as we did taps, but I know of other units who do a song to the tune of Farmer in the Dell “the Squeeze is going around, the squeeze is going around…(I don’t know the rest)”.
But in essence, everyone catches hands. One person squeezes the next person’s hand, and they pass it along. In our unit, I usually start the squeeze with both hands as we begin Brownie Taps.
A lot of good information on here. I am a new leader this year and now I have some ideas for my first meeting!! Thank you!