Well, these certainly are unprecedented times. But, as always, Girl Guides will step in to provide help and comfort for our communities. In my own community, many Guiders have kicked up some sort of Virtual Programming.

I’ve got Virtual Brownies and with the help of my Co-Guider, Virtual Pathfinders up and running.

This is a copy of my letter sent to parents about Virtual Brownies, feel free to use it and modify it for your own purposes.

Hello Brownie Families!

By now you have all heard that Girl Guides of Canada have cancelled all Guiding activities for the near-future to do our part to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Public schools have also been cancelled until April 5, and we know many of your have put your March Break on hold.

Girl Guides have always stepped up during stressful times, and emergency situations to lend a hand and this time is no different. The only difference is that we will need to lend a virtual hand instead of face-to-face social contact!

Throughout the next few weeks I will be posting activities and challenges on our FB group for the girls to do that will go towards their badge work! We hope this will help alleviate some of the cabin fever. There will be videos for crafts, outdoor activities, and a service project. It will include instructions on how to show me your work so that you can get badge credit. We may even try to arrange a virtual meeting via FB live on our private FB group just for fun (I expect it to be too riotous and loud for anything to actually happen beyond the girls getting a chance to participate in a group activity).

Additionally, the girls may (also) choose to work on their Discovery Badges. These badges are supposed to be done independently, with the end project being a presentation to the unit of the final project. In this case, girls can choose on of three options:

Show their project to me via a pre-arranged Facetime or Google Hangouts meeting,

Post a picture and explanation on Facebook to the group, or

Wait until we can resume unit meetings to present their badge work.

I will attach a form to this email that you can download and print to use as a guide. Please note that girls are not to meet with anyone in person at this time. Instead, they may:

Connect with her online (using video calling or email) or on the phone

Watch a video or do research on a role model (for example, a woman in history) to get inspired!

Please note that these activities are 100% optional. They are only meant to provide some social contact and things to do when we are all in this situation of increased isolation. Please never feel pressured or stressed to participate.

If you are not yet a member of our private Facebook group yet, please join at: 1st Holland Landing Brownies.

Watch our FB group for videos and posts on activities, starting soon! We hope everyone stays healthy and well, and we hope to see you at Virtual Brownies!

virtual-brownies.pdf

I will be trying to post regularly with ideas and tutorials I do for my own Guiding units on the hopes that it helps you with yours.

Feel free to use any materials I post including videos on your own private FB groups or email lists, or however you are sharing with your families.

Here is the Discovery Badges File I use: discovery_badges_guides-brownies.pdf

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

-Rainbow