TREGADILLETT BROWNIES have completed the summer term with everyone achieving another badge virtually!
Once again, we were joined by some of the girls from 6th Launceston Brownies. This term many of the activities were for the Skills Builder badge ‘Live Smart’. This included learning about the rules of the road, how much things cost to buy, what tools you can use for different jobs around the house and garden and the one that everybody enjoyed most – how to build things using food! This involved doing some experiments on what kind of structures worked best to make them strong and able to be really tall. The best thing about this challenge was that the Brownies were able to eat much of what they built! It’s always a bonus if you can eat while at Brownies.
There were also some new girls who joined us after Easter and they also enjoyed the activities over Zoom. As things have gradually got easier as the summer has progressed, we were able to meet together for the first time. Although, this has been permitted for some time, the Leaders made the decision to continue using Zoom for the time being. It was very exciting the first time we all met together. Many of the girls had only ever been seen on a computer screen!
We met outside the hall at Tregadillett and we all took a picnic to the woods and enjoyed the first meeting together. It was great fun and made even more special in the fact that some of our new Brownies made their Promise during the evening too. The final week of the term was a lovely evening at Trethorne Premier Bowl where we shared a meal together followed by a game of bowling.
Of course, during the summer holidays we usually go on a Pack Holiday together. As it has been very difficult to know what restrictions were going to be around in the summer, the Leaders made a decision not to go away this year but to put on a second ‘virtual Pack Holiday’. Last year’s weekend worked very well and this year was no different apart from the added bonus that we met up for a meal together over the weekend.
This year the theme was Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ book. We were joined by some girls from the Jacobstow Brownies too and everyone had great fun. As before, the girls received a pack in the post that they weren’t allowed to look at until the day. At the first Zoom meeting, the pack was looked at together and the day’s challenges were discussed.
It wouldn’t be a Pack Holiday without a campfire and some singing on the first evening, so the girls had to set up their sleeping dens and make their own campfire. Some chose to make edible ones to bring to the evening Zoom! The next day, everyone was expected to wear pajamas at the breakfast Zoom where the main challenges were discussed.
They all had a cooking and cleaning challenge to do first and a recipe had been included in the pack for the girls to try if they wanted to. Then during the afternoon they had to make up an adventure and to take photos to tell the story using only ten scenes. This was great fun and all the stories along with the photos of the various challenges were uploaded into the group on Facebook that had been set up for the weekend.
In the evening, everyone met up for a meal at Trethorne Golf Club and spent some time chatting excitedly about their adventure stories that they had been doing in the afternoon. The final Zoom was on the Sunday morning when everyone opened the envelope that they had been given the previous evening. This contained their badge and certificate that they had earned over the weekend. Hopefully next summer we will be able to go on a proper Pack Holiday again!
Sarah (Leader)