Karaoke Party

Sticking to our month-long WAGGGS theme, this week we looked at focus country Ireland.  It was decided in our planning that we would celebrate Irish Girl Guides with a One Direction karaoke party! 

Not entirely Guiding, but fun just the same.  We had a brief talk about Guiding in Ireland and got into the fun. 
A huge thank-you to Pigskin Pete, from the Hamilton Tiger Cats, for running karaoke and making it a huge success, even if he did make Sunflower, Sapphire and I sing too ;)

The girls had a blast.  Some of our quiet, shy girls really showed their true colours which was amazing to witness.  The affect music can have on a person is truly remarkable.

Here's a short video of a couple of the girls doing their thing!

Chopstick Challenge

Thinking Day is quickly approaching and we decided to focus the whole month of February on WAGGGS countries and our sisters around the world.

This week, we looked at Japan.  Japan joined the Girl Guiding movement in 1919 and was a founding member of WAGGGS.  We had the girls dress in "mock-Kimonos" using bathrobes and flip-flops. 

We started the night with a chopstick challenge.  The girls were all given a set of chopsticks and then divided into two teams.  One member of each team raced up the floor to where two plates were waiting for them.  Using their chopsticks, they had to transfer five grains of rice, one at a time, and a piece of spaghetti to the other plate before returning to the line allowing the next member of the team to go.  The race illicited a lot of laughter as the girls struggled to pick up the food and transfer it.  Somehow, we managed to get rice everywhere but on the plates.

Next, we made dolls from clothes pins in honour of Doll's Festival. 

"Hinamatsuri (Doll's Festival)" is held on March 3rd. This is a day to pray for young girl's growth and happiness. It is also called "Momo no sekku (Peach Festival)" because of the peach blossom season on the old lunar calendar. - Wikipedia

It always amazes me at how creative the girls can be.  We had girls with buns, girls with chopsticks in their hair and more.

 

After our craft had been cleaned up the girls figured the fun part of the night was over.  Little did they know that the fun was just beginning.  Sunflower learned how to say the Promise in Japanese, which made the girls giggle.  Somehow, she made it sound far too humorous.  The girls then had a laugh playing Janken, the Japanese version of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

English	Romaji	Japanese
Rock	Guu	グー
Paper	Paa	パー
Scissors	Choki	チョキ

Finally, we ended the night with a sampling of Japanese Sencha green tea and sushi...candy style!  The girls made their own sushi using fruit strips (seaweed), rice cereal treats (rice) and gummy fish.  I think they liked it! 

Next week, we're focusing on Ireland...can you say One Direction Karaoke party?