Thinking Day Activity 2018

On February 22, Girl Guides in Ballarat joined together to celebrate World Thinking Day with a fun night of activities focusing on the impact that Guiding has on the lives of members and their communities.

Despite the persistent rain, almost 80 youth members participated in outdoor activities with a Connect-Grow-Impact focus, exploring the ways that individual Guides can bring positive change. The topics covered:

• Impact of environmental footprint
• Communication brings impact
• Impact on others
• Citizenship brings impact
• Collaboration brings impact

In true Guiding fashion, this translated into fun activities involving dirt, paint, sponges, wood and bamboo sticks. The girls worked well together and completed challenges where they:

• played games that required different methods of communication
• decorated a large banner using paint-laden sponges
• hammered nails into wood to represent that harmful words and actions have an impact and that removing the nail takes effort and still leaves behind a hole.
• constructed a water-carrying device that required co-operation to navigate and control
• made environmentally-friendly pots and planted vegetable seeds
• actively discussed actions and behaviours that cause environmental footprints

When Lord Baden-Powell started the Scouting movement in the early 1900s, he could not have foreseen the enormous impact he would have on society.

And when a group of girls wearing uniforms turned up to a Boy Scout rally in 1909, he could not have anticipated that a separate Girl Guide movement would be established, developed and expanded to encompass 150 countries.

Each year on February 22nd, 50 million Girl Guides, Girl Scouts and Scouts around the world participate in special activities to celebrate what is known as ‘World Thinking Day’ in the Guiding movement and ‘Founders Day’ in the Scouting movement. Terminology aside, it’s an acknowledgement of the birthdates of Robert Baden-Powell and his wife, Olave Baden-Powell, respectively the World Chief Scout and World Chief Guide.  For Girl Guides, it is:

• a day of international friendship to connect with the worldwide sisterhood of Girl Guiding
• an opportunity to speak out on issues that affect young women
• a chance to make a difference by raising funds to support projects in member countries

Ballarat Guides always enjoy the opportunity to experience Guiding at a wider level, either at District, Region, State or International level.

-> Article also published in The Miner, 1 March, 2018