| November | ||
National American Indian Heritage Month |
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| (also: check out the Butterfly Project!) | ||
| Learning links for all ages: | ||
| Click for link | Famous firsts by Hispanic Americans | |
| Click for link | Scholastic's Celebrate Hispanic Heritage | |
| Click for link | Native American Facts for Kids | |
| Click for link | MORE Native American Facts for Kids | |
| Click for link | Native American Activities | |
| Click for link | Native American Games | |
| Badge related Activities: | ||
| Did you know? | Native American tribes were simple, economical, and wise in their use of plants and natural resources. How are some ways you can use plants wisely? Ask your parents, teachers, adults ‘What is something that is made out of plants?’ Share all the uses during your troops’ circle time. | |
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| Try this game: | Pebble Patterns In order to grow up to be skilled at hunting, gathering, and staying safe in the wild, Native American children had to learn to be extremely observant of their natural surroundings. This game was played by many tribes throughout the continent to challenge and develop this skill. Players would gather about thirty pebbles of varying size and color. One player would create a pattern or design out of some of the pebbles, at the appropriate level of difficulty for the other player or players. The other player(s) would study the pattern for a specified time before the pattern was covered or destroyed, and then re-create this pattern to the best their ability. As skills develop, this game becomes more and more complex! You don’t have to use stones for this game. If you have a button box, paper cut-outs, or even coins, for example, you already have what you need to try this game at home. |
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| Talk: | One Native American Proverb says ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.’ What are some ways you can treat the earth way? |
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| Invite: | Invite someone who has Native American heritage to talk to you. What questions could you ask? | |
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| Art: | Gather some small empty boxes, tubes, empty butter bowls and lids, etc. and put them all in the middle of the table and make something out of them. Use masking tape to put the containers together and then paint the finish project. |
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| Girl Scout Brownie Activities: | ||
| Dancercize Try it #3 |
Learn several Native American Dance steps and create your own dance. | |
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| Around the World #5 | What are some Native American recipes that you can learn and make? | |
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| Plants Try It #1 |
Native Americans were known to plant maize (corn), beans and squash together, which they called the ‘3 sisters.’ Beans grow up the Corn stalks and add the nutrients (Nitrogen) to the soil that the others need to grow. Squash is planted in between them to keep weeds out. Do the Plants Try It activity #1 with corn, beans and squash. | |
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| Cooking | Try making a Native American recipe. Here is one to try: | |
| Native American Shuswap Bannock | ||
| Ingredients |
1 cup wild blueberries 1 1/2 cups water 3 cups all purpose flour 1/1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp baking powder |
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| Equipment |
Oven Pie plate Bowl Spoon |
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| Instructions | Mix dry ingredients together and quickly add water as you continue to stir. Spread on pie plate and bake in oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. | |
| Girl Scout Junior Activities: | ||
Humans & Habitats |
Check out some Native American breads. Here’s a link to some recipes: Click for link |
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| World Neighbors Badge #7 | Native Americans lived in a variety of different home styles based on the climate and other factors. Research some of these styles. | |
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| World Neighbors Badge #8 | Learn more about the history, customs, and heritage of native Americans | |
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| World Neighbors Badge #10 | Find out about the typical or traditional type of clothing worn by Native Americans | |
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| Local Lore #7 | Visit the Native American displays at the Baltimore Museum of Art, visit the Baltimore American Indian Center, or visit any other museum focused on Native Americans. | |
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| Local Lore #8 | Volunteer at a Native American Festival. | |
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| Celebrating People #10 | Learn and then practice some Native American meeting and greeting customs. |
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| Earth Connections #8 | Learn to identify five different plants that are native to your area. Find out if American Indians or early pioneers used these plans for food, medicine, or something else, such as bedding or fuel. Note: Do not pick or eat any plants that you are studying without the supervision or permission of an adult. |
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| Wildlife #9 | Native Americans used many plants for medicines, home remedies, and beauty aids. Find out the healthful properties of three of the following: aloe, ginger, chamomile, peppermint, ginseng, hot pepper, garlic, coriander, foxglove, and chocolate. Ask a librarian, a pharmacist, or someone at a health food store, or go online if you need help. | |
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| Books #1 | Read two folk tales, stories, or poems from a culture other than your own. Share what you have learned in any of the following ways: |
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| - | Act out one or more of the stories or folk tales |
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| - | Learn more about one or more of the writers. |
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| - | Read one of the stories, poems or folk tales to your Girl Scout group or another audience. |
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| - | Create puppets and put on a puppet show, based on one of the stories, for a group of younger children or Girl Scouts | |
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| Ceramics and Clay #10 | Look at two or three examples of Native American sculpture or pottery at a museum, online, or in magazines. Look for example from a variety of tribes. Observe how pieces from Northeast area Native Americans are somewhat different from the Southeastern area Native Americans. If possible, get pictures or reproductions of the works you are describing. Label them by their titles, dates and places of origin. | |
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| Folk Arts #5 | Learn an art form that was traditional for Native American girls 200 years or more ago. Complete a small project using that art form. | |
| Girl Scout Cadette and Senior Activities: | ||
| Creative Cooking, Skill Builder #6: | Prepare two meals using Native American recipes that include appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Familiarize yourself with the basic ingredients and seasonings of the cuisine you choose. |
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| It’s About Time, Skill Builder #4: | Compare the ages and rites of passages in three or four cultures including Native American. Determine what you think was or will be your most significant rite of passage. |
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| Once Upon a Story, Skill Builder #3: | Write a Historically based Native American fiction story. To do so, you first have to learn about the time in history you plan to cover in your setting. Who were the famous people? What were the important events and politics of that time? What was daily life like for the average citizen? Most writers of historical fiction are real people and events to some degree in their stories, even though their plot is fictionalized. | |
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| Reading, Skill Builder #6: | Read literature from Native American culture. Compare the treatment of a common theme, such as coming-of-age for girls, by an American author with its treatments by a Native American author. | |
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| A World of Understanding, Skill Builder #6: | Plan and stage an event where each girl wears clothing representing a different Native American tribe. Discuss what that clothing tells you about being female. What roles and behaviors are expected of these women? How does their clothing affect everyday activities? Find out what clothing young women wear to school, on the job, and on special holidays. | |
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| Folk Arts, Skill Builder #1: | Read several Native American folk tales. Determine how the climate and geography of the area play key roles in the story. Look for characters that personify elements of nature. What impact do these characters have on the lives of the other characters? Create a presentation of the folk tale for younger Girl Scouts, and lead a discussion about it afterward. | |
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| Folk Arts, Skill Builder #4: | Write your own fairy tale based on Native American culture. Put the heroes through tests of strength and character. What struggles do they overcome? What rewards do they reap? Read at least three or four famous fairy tales such as those by the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, for inspiration. | |
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| Folk Arts, Service Projects #2: | Hold a storytelling hour at a local library or school. Read a selection of Native American folk tales. Be dramatic! Use props such as slides, puppets, or sound effects. Leave time for discussion. | |
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| Heritage Hunt, Skill Builder #3: | Do two activities that young Native American women of previous generation would have done as part of their everyday lives: |
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| - | Bake bread and make butter Weave on a loom |
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Gather natural fabric materials and dye them. |
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| - | Forage wild edibles with a naturalist or other trained person and then prepare and eat what you gather. | |
| - | Plant an herb garden. |
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| - | Chop and split wood, square or hew a beam, or refinish a piece of wooden furniture. | |
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| Heritage Hunt, Service Project #4: | Identify several examples of literature that represent the diversity of Native American tribes. Read selections to a group of younger Girl Scouts. | |
| Patch Packets: | ||
| patch program Heritage Studies: Native American Click for link |
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| Community Service Packets: | ||
| - | Volunteer at a Native American museum or event. |
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| - | Read Native American folk tales to a younger group of Girl Scouts. |
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| - | Perform Native American dances at and elderly community center. |
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| - | Plant and harvest the ‘3 Sisters’ and donate the harvest to a soup kitchen. | |
| Journal Topics: | ||
| Write about a possible name for yourself you were a Native Amercan girl. |
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| Write a story about your life if you were a Native American. | ||
| The Butterfly Project | |
| Official Website | |
| About | The Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies, which will be displayed in a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2012, for all to remember. Who is making the butterflies? YOU ARE! |
| Deadline | June 30, 2011 |
| What can YOU do? | Create your own butterfly while you do the "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" activity and create as many handmade arts-and-crafts butterflies as possible. You can make your own butterflies, or get your friends and make the butterflies together |
| Instructions | a.. Butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches. |
| Email photos of your butterfly to | butterflyproject@hmh.org |
| Mail or bring your butterflies to | Holocaust Museum Houston Include the following information: |
| Ongoing Things of Interest | ||
| Awards, Scholarships, Projects and more... | ||
| The Good Samaritan award | ||
| What? | The official National United Methodist Award recognizes ministry to others through outreach, humanitarian assistance, or advocacy. |
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| Who? | You must be in Grade 7 - 12 (ages 12 - 21) |
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| How earned? | A. be a registered member of a civic youth-serving agency (Girl Scout troop, Boy Scout troop, Venture crew, Camp Fire Boys and Girls group/club, 4-H club) chartered to, sponsored by, or meeting in a United Methodist church OR B. be an active member of United Methodist Youth, or a youth member of a United Methodist Church. |
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| How nominated? | You must be nominated by an adult familiar with your outstanding service and you must be participating in outreach ministry within the context of the United Methodist church giving the award. |
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| Want more info? | Ask your leader to request a brochure for you from the Girl Scout Volunteer Resource Center. | |
| WINGS2009 | ||
| Official Website | Wings2009 website | |
| Yahoo Group | ||
| What? | WINGS2009 is an international experience for Guides and Scouts from all around the world. It will be based in Windsor Great Park in the Royal County of Berkshire in the UK for a week starting 1 August 2009. All who attend will have fun, be challenged, have adventures and make new friendships that will last. WINGS2009 will have all the great favourites from WINGS2003, WINGS'98 and WINGS'93 and some spectacular new ideas to match the start of the second hundred years of Scouting and Guiding. |
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| World Water Monitoring Day | ||
| Official Website | ||
| Yahoo Group | ||
| What? | Adopted by Water Environment Federation in July 2006, World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) is an international outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world. Held annually between September 18 and October 18, the program engages communities in monitoring the condition of local rivers, streams, estuaries and other water bodies. Since its inception in 2002, more than 80,000 people have participated in 50 countries. The Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has developed a partnership with the WEF and rekindled last year's partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement the World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) program. Monitor your site. Invite others to help you monitor, or do it yourself. Visit your site anytime from September 18 through October 18 to test the water. |
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| You can earn? | Get With the Land Patch Click for link Water Drop Patch Click for link |
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| Bejing Blogs: Adobe Youth Voices Initiative | ||
| Read the Bejing blogs | ||
| Yahoo Group | ||
| What? | Six Beijing high school students have created blogs about their life in China. They've been blogging away in Chinese for several months on China's main blogsite. A few weeks ago, they started an English version that includes a sample (but not all) of their blogs for students outside China to read. The students have written English versions and a Chinese-American graduate student who is working with us in the U.S. has polished them up. The students in Beijing are EAGER for some American kids to read and respond to their blogs. They'll be keeping up their blogs through July. | |
| NAHEE KIND Kid Award | ||
| Official Website | National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE) | |
| Yahoo group | ||
| Deadline? | January 15, 2009 | |
| What? | Each year the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE) recognizes children in grades K-6 who have made a positive difference for animals. One KIND Kid Award winner is selected to receive $100. Four runners-up are awarded $50 each. |
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| How earned? | See the Official Website for details. | |
| Humane Teen | ||
| Official Website | Humane Teen website | |
| Deadline? | November 15, 2008 | |
| What? | The Humane Teen of the Year Award recognizes a teenager who has made a significant contribution to animal protection, such as direct work on behalf of animals, aiding in the passage of humane legislation, or educating others to be kind to animals. The award consists of a $300 cash prize and a feature story at HumaneTeen. | |
| How earned? | To be eligible for the Humane Teen of the Year Award, |
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| - | be between the ages of 13 and 19. | |
| - | submit your application and supporting materials, along with a note or e-mail of parental consent by November 15, 2008. | |
| - | have made a meaningful, preferably long-term contribution to animal protection and express a sincere interest in protecting animals. |
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| Girls Going Places | ||
| Official Site | Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award Program | |
| Yahoo group | ||
| Deadline? | The 2009 Award Program runs September 1, 2008 through February 27, 2009. | |
| What? | The Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award Program is the Guardian Life Insurance Company's annual initiative designed to reward the enterprising spirits of girls ages 12 to 18. Guardian awards prizes to 15 girls who demonstrate budding entrepreneurship; are taking the first steps toward financial independence; and make a difference in their schools and communities. Prizes totaling $30,000 are granted to three top winners and 12 finalists each year, to further their entrepreneurial pursuits or save for college. | |
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| By Kids for Kids Competition | ||
| Click for link to yahoo group Official website A to Z Animal Challenge Mind Your Own Business Entrepreneurial Challenge Advertise Your Cause Challenge Trash to Treasure Competition |
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