June 28, 2025

A Day of Nature, Fun, and Gnome Activities at Lingbogol

After several months of planning by volunteer Leaders Cherie and Julie-Anne, the Ballarat weather delivered a rare gift — a beautiful winter’s day — for the much-anticipated Garden Gnome Day. Young Girl Guides, aged 6 to 10, gathered at the Lingbogol Campsite for a program packed with creative, hands-on fun and outdoor adventure, all themed around gnomes, gardening, and the environment.

Upon arrival, the girls were assigned to specific gnome patrols and given custom name tags before beginning a full day of round-robin activities:

Each Guide decorated her own calico bag, using fabric pens to colour the event logo and decorate the bag to add personal flair. This special bag was used to carry home the day’s creations and goodies.
Gnome-themed and scarecrow-themed bookmarks were coloured, cut, and folded for practical use.
The Guides chose their very own Take-Home Gnome from a delightful collection of cute, hand-knitted companions to join them on their adventures and take home at the end of the day.
A Gnome Hunt around the campsite added a challenge, with Guides searching for hidden gnome pictures and identifying their names.
the Guides created unique ‘mini scarecrows’ to add to their garden-themed collection. This activity gave the girls a chance to get creative using wooden spoons, material and natural materials.
Using recycled milk bottles, each girl made a bird feeder to hang in her garden at home. They bagged birdseed and received wildlife pamphlets with the challenge to identify local birds and animals at home.
As part of a meaningful service activity, Guides helped weed around trees planted at Lingbogol during the Queen’s Jubilee tree-planting program. They then made newspaper seed pots, labelled wooden plant tags, and were given sunflower seeds to plant in the appropriate season. A fairy-themed version of Kim’s Game wrapped up this session.
In a creative twist on a classic, the Guides decorated stones to look like ladybugs and bees, which were then used to play noughts and crosses outdoors.
The girls also participated in a sensory challenge, searching for the pairs of black socks that Geraldine Gnome had lost and identifying the hidden contents using only their senses of touch and smell. And of course, we all know why gnomes wear black socks.

The Garden Gnome Day was an incredible mix of craft, nature, singing, and friendship — the perfect setting for young Guides to learn, create, and explore in a supportive and imaginative environment. The girls were even able to earn a special ‘Scarecrows and Garden Gnomes’ badge as a keepsake of the day.

Special thanks go to the volunteer Leaders who ran the planned activities, helping to make the day such a memorable experience for the Guides.