Key to Fun: Bubbles Experiments

Tonight is our last meeting before Advancement and, as always, we’re a mixture of sad that Brownies is ending, and ready for a break.  But we are going out with a bang (or a pop!) with a really fun Bubble Meeting.

6:30 Arrival Game – play your favourite game of the whole year.  They picked Captain’s Coming.

6:40 Circle Inspections

6:50 Circle Time

7:00 Program

All together (while the stations were setting up):

• Talk about what an experiment is.  Listen to instructions, observe what’s there, predict the result, do the activity, and report the actual results.
• Make Bubble Solution – Compare it to Commercial Bubble Solution.

Then split the girls into three groups.  Circulate through the stations (about 8 minutes per station)

• Station 1 – Make individual wands in different shapes (circle, square, heart, triangle) and then blow bubbles to assess if the shape of the wand impacts the shape of the bubble.
  The answer: it always makes a sphere.  From Bubbleology.
  Supplies – Pipe cleaners/Chenille Sticks and a pan of bubble solution.
• Station 2 – Make a rectangular frame (String with two straws threaded through to make a rectangle).  Also to assess whether or not the shape of the wand makes a different shaped bubble.
  Answer: It always makes a sphere.  From Bubbleology.
  Supplies – straws and string, with scissors. And a pan of bubbles.
• Station 3 – Make Paper Cone bubble maker and Make a Bubble Snake.  Not an experiment – but super fun.

7:30 Bubble Party.  Have fun making bubbles.

7:45 Our favourite songs campfire (Tall Trees, Land of the Silver Birch, Littlest Worm) and Closing at 8.  Done!

Resources:

• Bubbleology https://mypages.iit.edu/~smile/ph9512.html
• Bubble Snake  http://chemistry.about.com/od/bubbles/a/Bubble-Rainbow.htm
• Bubble Solution Recipes http://www.education.com/activity/article/bubblescience_first/
• High tech bubble blowing tube http://www.zurqui.co.cr/crinfocus/bubble/tube.html

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How to get a group to be quiet

Getting a group to quiet down when you need to is tough and there are lots of ways to do it without losing your voice (or your mind).

• Guiding has “the Hand” – a Guider puts her hand up and as people notice it, they put their hand up too and wait quietly for the leader to speak. Eventually, everyone is silent (but it is less effective with younger girls).
• Schools use other methods like clapping … the leader claps a pattern and the girls are meant to repeat it twice.  OR the teacher says “hands on top” and the kids put their hands on their heads and reply… “that means stop.”
• I’ve used “Brownies, Brownies, where are you?” and the girls respond with “Here we are, here we are, how do you do?”  Technically this is supposed to be reserved for Circle Time, but it works!
  

  from http://www.clipsahoy.com

• There’s always the option of a whistle – but that’s a desperation move for us. It should be reserved for emergencies.

This weekend, I had a chance to see how some other talented Guiders manage groups…

1. Snowy Owl Danielle (aka Wicked) amazed me by getting 50 girls to shush in seconds at the beginning of a big campfire. She shouted WATERFALL! Everyone put their hands up over their heads and swept them down to the ground while saying “SHHHHHHHHHH” (like water). And we were quiet. It was magic!
2. The next technique took a little longer and is sort of like “the Hand”.  The Guider who wants attention speaks in a normal voice.  “If you can hear me, touch your nose.” (Guider touches her nose too).  “If you can hear me touch your ear”, and so on.  Eventually, everyone is following quietly along (thanks Guiders Julie and Katherine for an excellent campfire)
3. I was telling my friend Guider Lisa from Halifax about Waterfall. She said she uses her normal voice and calls “If you can hear me, clap once.” Then “if you can hear me, clap twice,” “If you can hear me, clap three times.” And so on. The clapping gets everyone’s attention and eventually everyone is following along.

We play Brown Owl’s Rules at the beginning of the year to show new girls the ropes…I have added these to the game. How do you let girls know it is time to be silent?

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Key to Brownies: Brown Owl’s Rules

In 2011 my unit and I (with the help of Guider Joanne’s comments on the blog) made up a game that helps girls learn our Meeting Rules in a fun way (kind of like a fun fire drill).  (edited Sept 2014)

Brown Owl’s Rules
Objective – to teach common signals and rules at Brownie meetings (but easily adapted to other branches)
You need – a large open space (like a Gym) and a whistle.
Game is an adaptation of “Captain’s Coming”

Guider Commands/Actions (some are silent) – with Girl Reactions

1. (Action) Guider puts her hand in the air – You’re quiet and put your hand up too.
2. (Action) Clap Clap, Clap Clap Clap – Leader claps the sequence once, Girls join in for two more times through and then be silent.
3. (Guider call) “Buddy Up!” – Girls catch hands with a partner
4. (Guider call) “Someone Screamed!” – Girls go shhhhhh and put their finger to their mouth
5. (Guider call) “Waterfall!”  Girls respond by putting hands up over their heads.  They sweep their hands towards the floor and they say “SHHHHHHHHHH” (like water).  And then be silent.
6. (Guider says in a normal voice) “If you can hear me touch your ear”  (girls who hear touch their ear and quietly follow along).  If you can hear me, touch your eye… etc.
7. (Guider says in a normal voice) “If you can hear me, clap once” (clap).  “If you can hear me clap twice.” (Clap Clap) etc. Girls who hear clap along and are silent.
8. (Guider call) “Why are you running?” – Girls start running around and respond “Because it’s a Game Brown Owl!”
9. (Action) Whistle Blows (you’ll need a whistle) – line up in front of caller ready for evacuation.  Check to make you’re wearing shoes.
10. (Guider call) “Brownies, Brownies, Where are you?” – Girls respond “Here we are, Here we are, How do you do?” and run to whoever sang it. (in a moment of fun, Snowy Owl called this, and then started running – she had 20 little girls running after her chanting here we are here we are…and it was awesome!)
11. (Guider call)  “Make New Friends” – Make the Brownie sign and shake hands (left hand!) with the friends around them.
12. North! (they run to the North side of the gym)  South! East!  West!  (so they get some running)
13. Add any of the “Captain’s Coming” calls in there too randomly just for fun.  My favourite is “Rats on Board” (Stomp rats!)

Joanne also added these actions that will make the game appealing to the older girls. 

• “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”
• “Hug A Tree” – two girls get together – must be of two different heights – and smaller hugs the taller (I really like this one)
• “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 ?

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Welcome to Brownies – Our Structure

I am Brown Owl for the 119th Ottawa Brownies in Ottawa Canada – we also have a Snowy Owl, Starry Owl, and Spotty Owl.  We currently follow the Girl Guides of Canada Brownie Program and, as most of our ideas come from online and are documented electronically, I thought it would be cool to be a resource for other Brownie Guiders. And if nothing else, I’ll know where I got stuff from, when we need it again.

We are traditional Brownie Guiders.  Our team is fantastic – we’re quite structured in our approach to our unit management.  Planning ahead of time is the key to success for us.  I’m a planner at heart – but Snowy Owl makes me write it down – and for that I’m very thankful. 

A basic meeting for us looks like this:

• 6:30 Arrival Game or Craft
• 6:40 Brownie Circles – Inspections, attendance, etc.
• 6:50 Call to Circle
  “Brownies Brownies, where are you?”
  Circle Openings
  Brownie Opening Song
  Brownie Promise
• 7:00 Program
• 7:20ish Game (usually a running game to get the sillies out)
• 7:30ish Craft or other activity
• 7:45ish Campfire then closing at 7:55

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