Saturday, August 29, 2015

Morse Code Bracelets!

Hello, lovely readers! I hope that your lives have been wonderful and that the new school year is treating you well!

I am studying abroad this semester in London, England, which I am super excited about it! I have a rare hour of wifi access, and I thought I'd put together a blog post for y'all. 


And just what are S.W.A.P.S., you ask?

SWAPS are Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere!

Swaps are a Girl Scout Tradition-they can be any type of object, craft or accessory.
An example of SWAPS
 According to the Girl Scouting website, Swaps were especially popular at national Girl Scout Senior Roundups in the 1950's and 1960's. Today, they are exchanged all around the world between different Girl Scouts and Girl Guides!
 Scouts trade them off at troop meet ups, national conferences, international visits, etc. Exchanging Swaps is a great way to break the ice and to make new friends!
The Website gives a lot of great tips about how to create and exchange SWAPS meaningfully. For example, a SWAP should "tell something about the givers or their group. It is a representation of who the Girl Scout is, or her community, country, or of her troop."
For more SWAPS tips and tricks, check out
http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/traditions/swaps/

Next, I'd like to share a project that would make awesome SWAPS!


I had the idea for this back in high school when I decided to put beads on my headphones. I really wanted to personalize my headphones and put a meaningful secret message into the beading. I decided to encode "All you need is love" with different colored beads in Morse code. The results were pretty cool! In order to create the message with beads, I chose two colors (blue and yellow), and assigned each color to a Morse Code symbol. I used blue beads to represent dashes, and yellow beads to represent dots. Then, I sorted out enough beads to write my message out. For "Love," or "._.. _ _ _ ..._ ." in Morse Code, I needed 12 different beads-5 blue beads and 7 yellow ones. So, I arranged them "Yellow, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, Blue, Blue, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, Yellow, Blue, Yellow."

It's a lot simpler than it seems!

Supplies Needed for This Project:
Seed Beads
  • String
  • A needle (depending on the size of your string/beads-See the link to the tutorial)
  • Different Colored Seed Beads
  • A Morse Code Key (see above image)
  • A word or number that you want to write in Morse Code
  • Bracelet Clasps
  • Time, Patience, and Enthusiasm! :D

Anyway, I thought that this project would translate well into a SWAPS project! Using Seed beads, girls can encrypt their own messages into bracelets! I think it would be cool to write your hometown, troop number, or an inspiring word or two in Morse Code on a bracelets to trade with other girls.


For example, if I wanted to put my old troop number-2009-on a Morse code bracelet, I would write it like this: ".._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ." Then I would pick out two different colored beads and arrange them in that order. 
The pieces are on the smaller side, so I would definitely recommend it for older Scouts and Scouts who can enjoy more time-consuming projects. I think that this would be a ton of fun to trade with other scouts-who doesn't love a beautiful, personalized piece of memerobilia? 

Check out this website for a great tutorial for this project!

Hope that you are all having an awesome week, and let me know how this project goes!

Much Love, 
Gold Girl Allie

P.S. If you are interested in following my London adventures, I will be setting up some sort of Blog soon to document my travels and experiences, and I will post the link in my next Blog post!
For now, here's a picture of me with Big Ben:

















Image Sources for This Post:
Image from: http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/d/d9/Make-Girl-Scout-SWAPS-Intro.jpg/670px-Make-Girl-Scout-SWAPS-Intro.jpg
http://www.makingfriends.com/images/girl_scout_bead_Swap2.jpg
Morse Code Key: https://www.cadetsignals.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/International_Morse_Code.jpg
Seed Bead pic: http://www.doodle-head.com/images/bead/seed_beads_2007-1010.jpg 
Cool Blue Background: http://animatedpowerpointtemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cool-blue-powerpoint-templates-1024x640.jpg
Braclets on a table: https://img0.etsystatic.com/035/1/6975992/il_340x270.569038324_77sh.jpg


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Awesome Ice Breakers


What's an "Ice Breaker?"
According to an Online Dictionary, an Ice Breaker is a game or activity that is used to introduce people to each other so that they feel more relaxed together:
ex.) An ice breaker can be a useful way to start a presentation or training session.

As an Orientation Leader, I worked on putting together a collection of Ice Breakers for the OLs to use when facilitating small group introductions and activities! As a result, I learned a lot of great ways to introduce groups of people and to "break the ice." Here are a few of my favorite Ice Breakers to use at your next Girl Scout meeting/event.



1. Beach Ball Questions





  
Purpose – Participants will become acquainted with each other by answering fun questions
Supplies- A Beach Ball and the List of Questions

Description

      Scouts stand in a circle and throw around a beach ball 
with questions written all over it in Sharpie marker
      Scouts answer whichever question their right thumb lands on when they catch the ball
      Throw the ball until everyone has participated


Questions

1. Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
4. What was your favorite patch to earn in Girl Scouts this year?
5. If you could be one animal, what would you be and why?
6. What is your favorite TV show?

7. What is your favorite movie?

8. What is your favorite candy?

9. What is your favorite holiday?

10. Would you rather be a cat or a dog?
11. Who is the most inspirational person in your life?

12. What would be your ultimate vacation?

13. What is your most embarrassing memory?

14. What is your first memory?

15. What is your greatest accomplishment?

16. If you could go back in time what would you change?
17. You were given ten million dollars to donate to charity, what charity would you donate it all to and why?

18. What’s your life philosophy in five words or less?

Image from: http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com/2012/02/beach-ball-icebreakers.html

2. Adjective Name Game


Purpose – Scouts will learn everyone’s name
Supplies – NONE 
Description

      Have the group stand in a circle

      Each person introduces themselves with an adjective that starts with the same letter (i.e. Sassy Sarah, Amazing Annie, Fantastic Freddy)
      The next person repeats the adjectives and names of all of the people prior to them before introducing themselves
      The last person will have to recite the entire circle 
**Bonus: Ask for other volunteers who can recite the entire circle, then who can recite the entire circle the fastest!**

3. Ha


Purpose – Scouts will become more comfortable in this simple laughing game
 Supplies – NONE
Description

      Tell Scouts that they are under no circumstances allowed
 to laugh during this ice breaker
      The first person says “ha” – the next person says “ha” twice, 
then three times, four times, etc.
      If a person laughs they are out and sit down
      If a person says the incorrect amount of “ha” they are out
      The last person still standing wins




4. Where The Wind Blows


Purpose – Scouts become more connected by discovering similarities
Supplies – NONE
Description

      Have the group stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle with 
one person in the middle
      Scouts can leave their bags directly behind them and 
they will serve as place markers for spots in the circle
      The person in the middle says “My name is _______ and the 
wind blows for everybody who __________” (ex. Has a dog, 
like ice cream, is from Alaska)
      Everyone standing in the circle who fits that category must 
find a different spot in the circle (not next to them)
      One person will be left out – repeat!



5. Snow Ball


Purpose – Scouts will learn names and three fun facts about each other
Supplies – Pieces of Paper and Pens
Image from: http://www.solarroadways.com/snow.shtml
  
Description

      Scouts write three things on a piece of paper and 
crumple it into a ball
      Scouts have a “snowball” fight for one minute
      Each scout grabs a snowball and tries to match the three  facts with one of the scouts by asking if they fit the traits
      After everyone has found their match, scouts introduce 
their partners to the group by sharing the three facts


6. My New Friend


Purpose – Scouts will learn the names and fun facts about each other
 Supplies – NONE
Description

      Scouts break into pairs and interview each other
      After a few minutes, scouts introduce their partner to the 
group by saying “My new friend is...” and some of the fun facts they learned
http://www.orgsites.com/mn/gstroop53697/_pgg1.php3
Image from: http://www.orgsites.com/mn/gstroop53697/_pgg1.php3
 7. Partners

Purpose – Scouts will interact with each other by asking yes or no questions
Supplies – Sticky Notes with pairs of items

Description

      Participants each have a sticky note on their back with
something that comes in pairs
      Scouts must find their matching pair by asking yes/no 
questions about their item
      Scouts can look at others sticky notes but cannot look at 
their own

Examples

      Salt and Pepper
      
Cat and Dog
GIF from: https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/scooby-doo-and-the-witchs-ghost
      Bert and Ernie

      Tom and Jerry

      Batman and Robin
      Marco and Polo
      Scooby and Shaggy
      Spongebob and Patrick

      Spaghetti and Meatballs
      Mickey and Minnie
      Cookies and Cream
      Chips and Salsa
      Jack and Jill
      The Princess and the Frog
      Peanut Butter and Jelly
      Prince and Princess
      Michele and Barack Obama
      Bread and Butter


8. Rock Paper Scissor Tournament


Purpose – Scouts will get to know each other by competing and cheering in the Rock Paper Scissor Tournament
 Supplies – NONE
Description

      Scouts play rock paper scissors against each other
      The loser follows winner and becomes their ‘cheerleader’
      If you are the cheerleader of someone who looses, the 
entire group will cheer for the winner
      The game continues until there are two large groups 
cheering for the last two scouts


9. Blob Tag


Purpose – Scouts will get to know each other by playing this exciting game of tag
Supplies – NONE
Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bhook528/4988779553
Description

      The Leader sets boundaries for play – a smaller 
space will result in a shorter game
      One person starts as ‘it’ and other Scouts spread out
      When they tag someone they lock arms and become the 
blob
      The blob continues to tag people until there is no one left



 And my personal favorite...


10. Pterodactyl 


Purpose – Scouts will break the ice in this silly and competitive game
 Supplies – NONE
Description

      Everyone stands in a circle and covers their teeth with 
their lips
      The first person starts by saying pterodactyl to the person 
to their left. That person says it to the next person to their 
left. Etc.
      Scouts can switch the direction of pterodactyl by making 
a pterodactyl screech in response to the person who says 
pterodactyl
      Scouts sit down when they laugh, show their teeth, or are 
unable to say pterodactyl – the last person to laugh wins

Check out this Youtube video for an example of a group playing "Pterodactyl."


Much love,
Gold Girl Allie <3