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Brownie Resources
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Taiwan and Hong Kong
Brownie and Girl Scouts in Taiwan There has been Guiding in
Taiwan since 1919. The younger girls are
called Brownie Scouts, the older are called Girl Scouts. The Taiwan
Brownie Scout
Promise badge has a frog in the centre. The Taiwan Girl Scout
motto is: Be prepared, do a good
turn everyday, the greatest aim in life is to serve.
Brownies and
Guides in Hong Kong
There has been Guiding in Hong Kong since
1916. The youngest group are called Happy-Bees, the next age group
(7-10
year olds) are called Brownies, the next oldest are
called Guides, then Rangers. According to the Hong Kong GGA, their
symbol "is based on the trefoil. Its notched edges
recall the distinctive leaves of Bauhinia blakeana, Hong Kong's flower.
The internal form of the symbol is a stylised version of the Chinese
character Kwong meaning a ray of light of guiding
beacon, a concept especially appropriate to the spirit of Guiding. When
used in colour, the symbol will be mainly in mauve which reflects the
Bauhinia blossom's colour along with red which is considered
particularly auspicious by the Chinese." To see pictures of the
uniforms worn and badges Brownies can earn go to the Hong
Kong
GGA website.
Brownie games from or related to Taiwan and Hong Kong Dragon's
Tail: Brownies stand
in a
line with their hands on the shoulders' of the person in front. The
head of the dragon has to catch the tail, whilst the tail tries to keep
out of the way. When the tail is caught the head goes to the back of
the line. Tip - if you have a large Pack you may want to have 2 or 3
small dragons.
Chinese
Tag: Played like ordinary tag, but the playing
area is restricted to a small, clear area. The person who is 'it' is
blindfolded.
Choosing Who is it a traditional Chinese way:
Brownies
stand in a circle with their hands in front of them. When the Guider
shouts 'go' they all put their hands either face up or face down. The
majority are out. This is repeated until 2 girls are left. These 2
girls should then play paper, scissors stone.
Lame Chicken: Each six stands in front of 10 sticks placed apart like rungs of a ladder. The first Brownie in each six hops over the sticks without touching them. When she has hoped over the last stick she reaches down and picks it up. She then hops back and places the stick at the beginning of the row. The next Brownie then takes her turn. The team to finish first wins. Knife
Hand: Brownies divide into two groups. Each group
chooses a home base (eg a tree). Each Brownie tries to get to the other
team's base without getting caught whilst the other team tries to catch
the Brownies. When a player's leg is touched by the 'knife hand' of
someone on the other team they are out. They must go to the other
team's base and start a human chain. They can play again when a member
of their team 'cuts' their chain with the 'knife hand'.
Water
Sprite: Divide the Brownies into 2 groups and line
them up facing each other at opposite ends of the hall. One Brownie
should be in the middle (in the river) between the two lines - she is
the water sprite. The water sprite selects a Brownie from one side of
the riverbank. She then closes her eyes whilst the chosen Brownie
points to someone from the other side of the bank. The water sprite
then opens her eyes and the two Brownies on either side of the
riverbank try to change places without the water sprite catching them.
If a Brownie is caught she then becomes the water sprite.
Mother-hen:
Each six stands in a line at one end of the
hall. Opposite them their sixer (their mother bird) stands in a hoop
(their nest). When the sixer calls the name of someone
in her six, they run across the hall and into the
safety of their nest. In the centre of the hall is another nest and a
very hungry eagle. If the eagle
catches a little bird they must stand in her nest. To save the little
bird her mother must tag her - but if the mother bird is caught, all
the little birds die. The
winning six is the one who first gets all the little birds home safely.
Chinese
chequers: Either bring in a copy of the board game
or make a giant board for everybody to play (the Brownies could be the
pieces).
Tangrams:
Hide
tangram puzzles around your meeting place (a
different colour for each six). Have a competition to see which six can
find all 7 pieces and put them back together in a square. When each six
has completed the game, hold up a
shape they need to make and see which six can solve the puzzle first.
(To see how to make a Tangram, look at the craft section.)
Chinese
Pebble-picking: This game is played in pairs. Each
pair needs 5 small bean bags which are scattered on the floor. The
first player picks up a beanbag and throws it into the air. She then
picks up a second beanbag (without touching any of the others) and
catches the first beanbag. The first beanbag is put aside and she
repeats the process until all five beanbags are put aside. She then
repeats the whole process with two beanbags, and then three and so on.
When she moves another beanbag or fails to catch the beanbag play
passes to her partner.
Typhoon
Signal: The Brownies spread out across the hall.
The leader calls a number and the Brownies must form groups of that
number. Those left out of a group are out. (The idea is that in the
event of a typoon they must listen and respond to instructions
quickly.)
Crafts
Chinese
Horoscope Pendants
Get the Brownies to work out which animal was their year of birth. Do they fit the desciption? For details follow this link or try this link. Use shrinkles to make pendants of their sign. If you own word you can download the complete set of signs (search for chinese astrology) from Word clipart for them to trace. Chinese Dragon Puppets Fold a red piece of A4 paper in half lengthways and cut along the fold. Fold one of the rectangles in half and cut the end to form a tail (see picture). Concertina it, then cellotape 2 sticks inside the paper and glue the body-tail together. Draw and cut a dragon head out of card. Stick the head to the body. You now have a dancing puppet dragon! Red
couplets
These are used as decorations during the New Year celebrations. They bring luck, long life and wealth. They also help to keep away Nian, the New Year monster. Decorating Chop Sticks Buy some cheap disposable chop sticks and decorate them with chinese characters. You could use the couplets linked to above. If you want to use the chopsticks remember to use a suitable varnish to finish them! Painting Paper Lanterns These lanterns came from Baker Ross. They are quite delicate but look lovely painted. Willow
Pattern Plates
Read the Brownies the story
behind the
willow pattern. They can then have a go at creating their own.
You could use paper plates and
pens, but for a real challenge buy some
economy plates (we picked them up for 15p each) and porclain paint.
Making Tangram Puzzles
Also known as Chinese
wisdom puzzles, tangrams are simple to
make, but tricky to solve! You need a square of card. With a pencil
divide the card into 16 squares and then cut out the shapes marked in
red. Use your tangram to make the different shapes featured on this site.
Decorating
Paper Fans
These fans came from Baker Ross. Food Ideas Eating with
chopsticks
Cook or buy some rice
and noodles. Get the Brownies to try eating it with chopsticks.
You
could even decorate the chopsticks in advance.
(see craft section) Making Fortune Cookies.
1) Cream 4oz butter and 4oz sugar.
2) Add 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon
of vanilla essence.
3) Blend in 14oz plain flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 pinch of salt. 4) Add 3 tablespoons of milk. 5) Mix into a dough and then roll out to 1/2 cm thick. 6) Cut out 6-7cm circles of dough. 7) Place a paper fortune message onto the dough and then fold in half, ensuring that the edges are firmly pressed together. Sculpt into a 'bannana moon' shape. 8) Cook at 180°C/Gas mark 4 for approximately 5 minutes. Make sure the fortunes you insert are not
poisonous! Here are some
sayings that we used: "The fortune you seek is in another cookie!"
"Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if
you just sit there."
For some more Chinese recipes see Chinatown online. Other Activities The wishing tree: At Chinese New Year and other Chinese festivals people leave messages on wishing trees. Get each Brownie to write a wish on a small square of red paper. Tie the paper to an orange using brightly coloured ribbon. Throw the oranges up into a tree. If they stay there the wish should be granted. (Obviously you can not throw them up into any old tree - check with the owners first!) To see a picture of a wishing tree try this link. Chinese
stories: The
four dragons, Bright
Pearl, Superior
Pet, Natural
Enemies, Jewelled
Sea, We
Are All One. You could simply read them in a pow-wow or get the
Brownies to act them out.
Chinese Gift Packets:
At the New Year, Weddings and
Birthdays the Chinese give money gifts in red envelopes. Follow this
link to see how to make a Chinese
Gift Packet.
Instead of money gifts, get the
Brownies to write down a
good turn they intend to do for someone and place it in the envelope.
New
Year Fireworks: These could be real (eg sparklers) or
craft fireworks. To find out why fireworks are let off at the Chinese
New Year read the story of Nian,
the New Year monster.
Please note: I am a
Brownie Guider in the UK. These pages have
been put together from research for our Thinking Day celebrations and
badgework. I do not have any further information about or contact
details for units in other countries.
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