Girl Scout Awards and China

An investigation of China can help USA Girl Scouts earn requirements for a number of awards and patches. For Brownies, check out requirements of these Try-Its:

• "Different Languages" in People are Talking,
  
• adapt the "Knots" requirement in Art to Wear,
• investigate kites for Movers,
  
• "Eating Customs" in Manners,
  
• Puppets, Dolls & Plays, and
• with World Thinking Day (WTD) celebrations: Caring and Sharing (p. 60), Making Music (p. 156), People of the World (p. 158), Playing Around the World (p. 160), Brownie Girl Scouts Around the World (Try-it Book, page 8, especially #5), Around the World (p. 146),

Part or all of these Junior badges can be earned investigating China, including from

• Girl Scout Basics: Girl Scouting Around the World;
• Adventures: Global Awareness, Traveler, World Neighbors;
  
• Family and Friends: Celebrating People, My Heritage;
• Create & Invent: Folk Arts, Prints and Graphics (Chinese produced rubbings, perhaps as early as 2nd century AD);
• Explore and Discover: Globe-Trotting, Let's Get Cooking; and
  
• Online only badges:Now and Then Stories from Around the World, and (at least #8 of) World in My Community.
• With WTD, consider: Girl Scouts Around the World (Badge book, page 2), World Neighbors (Badge book, page 28), Traveler (#2, #3, #5, #8, Badge book, page 26), Global Awareness (esp. #7, #8, #9, Badge book, page 14) and requirement #5 of Girl Scouts in My Future (Badge book, page 4).

For older girls, China relates to requirements in at least these Interest Patches:

• A World of Understanding,
  
• Global Girls,
  
• G.O. Girl (Get Organized) (Feng shui started in China!),
  
• Paperworks,
• Textile Arts, and
• Travel.
  

(If you have a girl really interested in China, certainly alternate requirements can be created for some other awards at every level.) There are also Council's Own awards and patches for the "back of the vest/sash", including GSUSA's Our Rights and Responsibilities Junior Patch - supporting WAGGGS' Ours Rights, Our Responsibilities theme for 2006-2008. Do remember to check individual council's requirements for selling to scouts out of council before proceeding with their programs.

Reminder: The goal of World Thinking Day (February 22nd) is to learn about other Girl Scouts and Girl Guides and what they do; not learn about the country or its national animal! (Mainland) China is not a member of WAGGGS and not suitable for part of WTD celebrations - but you can do Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Give-away Ideas

• Papercuts, Origami, Paper Lanterns
• Animals from the Chinese Zodiac. Although I am sure that Taiwanese Scouts and Hong Kong Guides know their zodiac signs, it is years and years since everyone's birthday was celebrated on one day of Chinese New Year.
• Put rice in a bowl with school glue and mix it together. Put some rice it in a soda cap cap and add two toothpicks. It looked like a bowl of rice with chopsticks. (This is a good time to review chopstick etiquette!)

Display/give-away - One troop made fortune cookies (an American invention now associated with many Chinese restaurants) from craft foam. For each fortune they glues in a part of the Hong Kong law or promise. They made slightly larger ones for part of their display and smaller ones for the give-away. They were all made of foam circles. They used a dot of glue to hold it until the glue gun glue dried.

"American Fun" Chinese hair sticks - I have heard of troops having the girls wear their hair up in a bun with decorated chopsticks. I think this comes from someone's interpreation of (Japanese) Geisha hairsticks, but I have not tracked it down. Find out how Chinese girls wear their hair, whether they might do this and their possible reactions. Why do Americans think of (only) Tea and chopsticks when they think of China? What might your girls think after you have learned about China? Will their activities reinforce stereotypes or give them a better understanding of how others live, and perhaps how we are all similar?

Activities - Chinese Games, Chinese jump rope