We just had a very successful Spark and Brownie sleepover,
with a “Dolly & Me” theme. The girls were encouraged to bring an 18” doll
friend along to participate in this “camp-in”. I thought you might enjoy seeing
our plans – and then maybe adapting them to make them your own, for your unit
to enjoy! I am not including pictures, as Blogger doesn't seem to like my using so much space! ;-) But you can find pictures of my inspirations in the links.
Note that we were fortunate enough to have a large, modern
single level church at our disposal, with several small class rooms, a spacious
board room, a large open foyer, and a sanctuary/fellowship hall with moveable
chairs, as well as a full kitchen.
We realized that this was not the most economical nor
environmentally friendly event we have ever done (like using disposable dishes
and cutlery) but we had a lot accumulated from past events and decided to use
it up and free up our time to do activities with the girls. We Guiders had some scheduling difficulties (life
gets in the way sometimes!), so juggled
and maintained our ratio at all times, but had some Guiders coming and going,
so streamlining things like meal time was important to us.
As with all plans, while we had time slots for each
activity, these were fluid and were adjusted as needed at the time. For example
we ran out of time to decorate frames once they were painted, and didn’t have
campfire as planned. Instead we decorated the frames after our skits the next
morning, as there was ample time then – sat around the electric campfire and
sang a few songs then too. But all in all, we started on time, went to bed on
time, and ended on time, and didn’t omit anything in the end, so considered the
scheduling to be a success!
The girls seemed to enjoy the activities immensely, and were
able to articulate what they had learned about camping too. The skits proved
entertaining and were a good gauge of what the girls had retained from
information given. I would definitely resurrect this theme again in a couple of
years!
Here is the plan we used:
Brownie/Spark
Sleepover Date
Dolly Camp-In
|
Time
|
Description
|
Leader
|
|
4:00
|
Guiders
arrive
|
|
|
5:00
|
Girls
arrive – stow gear along wall. If air matts have to be blown up, ask parents
to do so and leave leaning on wall.
|
|
|
5:15
|
Opening
and Welcome, rules and reminders
|
|
|
5:30
|
Opening
Activity – Name Tag Craft – make nametag for self and for doll. Put Girl’s
name on back of Doll nametag. FOYER
|
|
|
5:45
|
Grace
& Supper – alphaghetti, mini meatballs, appetizer size “pigs in a
blanket”, mini carrots, mini cuke sticks, grape tomatoes, ice cream in dixie
cups with mini spoons. FOYER
|
|
|
6:30
|
Round
Robin Activity #1 – Decorate wooden picture frames and have “Dolly & Me”
photo taken - collect the frames – get the photos developed and put into the
frames and give to girls at the next meeting.
BROWNIE ROOM
|
|
|
6:50
|
Round
Robin Activity #2 - Make doll sleeping
bags- fringed fleece tied together SPARK ROOM
|
|
|
7:10
|
Round
Robin Activity #3 – Check out Daisy’s
Camping Kit – is she bringing the right things?? What is she missing? What
should she leave behind? A/V ROOM
|
|
|
7:35
|
Game
– hide & seek (Guiders hide dolls in board room, girls seek in dark with
flashlights) AND Norwegian Number Game – girls go to hide & seek in small
groups, while rest continue with the singing game. BOARD ROOM & FOYER
|
|
|
7:55
|
Set
up and decorate cardboard box “tents” ---- and a bit of play time in them.
Set up beds. SANCTUARY (Guides will
go to Board Room)
|
|
|
8:30
|
Campfire
(with electric fire) BOARDROOM
|
|
|
9:00
|
Mug
Up – “Vanilla Lattes” - warm milk with
cinnamon and vanilla, Nilla wafers. FOYER
|
|
|
9:15
|
Teeth
brushing and into bed SANCTUARY
|
|
|
9:30
|
Story
time – a camping story SANCTUARY
|
|
|
10:00
|
Lights
Out
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7:30
|
Guiders
up
|
|
|
7:45
|
Girls–
dress, pack up, etc.
|
|
|
8:15
|
Grace
– Breakfast – cleanup (mini apple strudels cut in half, mini yogurts, grapes,
mini cheese cubes, mini “donuts” {cheerios}, Twizzler straws with strawberry
milk, apple and orange juice also availaible) Breakfast cleanup – everyone
clean their own mess (mostly paper plates/napkins, right) Wipe tables, etc. FOYER
|
|
|
9:00
|
Split
into small groups – each group plan a skit for their dolls to perform, about
some aspect of camping life (give pre planned scenarios) BACK ROOMS AS FOR ROUND ROBIN
|
|
|
9:30
|
Show
time – dolls perform skits BOARD ROOM
|
|
|
10:30
|
Closing
– Group Photo -- then finish packing and cleaning – girls help! FOYER
|
|
|
11:00
|
Girls
picked up FOYER
|
|
|
11:30
|
Leaders
go home
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use disposable plates, napkins. Have participants bring own water bottle
and juice/coffee cup.
The girls will make sleeping bags for their dolls. Cut out fleece
in 24 by 30, fold in half to be 15 by 24, then put 3 or 4 inch slits on the
open side and bottom. The girls tie the fringes together. This is easy, and even the Sparks will mostly be able to complete it independently.
Inexpensive blankets were purchased from Dollarama
in bright colours. Each blanket made 4
sleeping bags.
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This is a collapsible playhouse
that would make a good “tent” for each Brownie or Spark to decorate for her
own. They fold flat for storage, and with lead time we have, we can start
collecting boxes and making them well in advance. Won’t they have fun?? We can even choose to cut
side windows in them if we wish…. Then we send them home with the girls…
As we could not
find 15 same sized, clean boxes in time to do this on the cheap, we purchased
15 new moving boxes from U-Haul. The design of them was not the same as in the
photos, so we made them a little differently, but the result was basically the
same, except they didn’t fold flat. The girls decorated with streamers,
stickers, old gift wrap, waxed crayon, and magazine pictures. We can tell you
it took a lot of duct tape, and that the name brand stuff was far superior to
the dollar store variety!
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To add to the fun, we could provide bandannas
and duct tape and make Doll Seats at the tables beside the girls, so their
dolls have a place to sit at meal time?? We would fold the bandanna into a triangle,
tape the two ends to the top of the table, and the middle point to the bottom
of the table. Doll’s legs go around that middle point part so she doesn’t slip
out.
Because we were concerned about
duct tape leaving sticky residue on the tables, it was decided to set up a
small dolly table and use small chairs, with bandana seat belts. We will have
small dishes for them, and fake (paper?) food. In the end the result was very
favourable and probably much better than having the dolls actually at the
girls’ tables!
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Picture frames – could use wood shapes to glue
on, could paint them, could use (if we feel brave) a wood burner to put in
designs …..
Note, limit the colour choices – I have seen too many “mud” coloured
results!
We purchased them Walmart, sized
to fit a 4x6” photo. Frames were embellished using craft supplies from our
storage cupboard. The completed frames were left in our storage cupboard. Photos
of each girl and doll were taken at the sleepover, then printed, put in the
frame and handed out at next regular meeting.
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Daisy’s Camp Gear station:
I brought
my Our Generation Doll with appropriate and inappropriate gear and clothing and
lead a discussion with each group about what Daisy should bring or not bring
and why. We really wanted this sleepover to be the start of good camping
habits. This allowed for the girls to get a good visual representation of the
benefits of a “bucket hat” vs a ball cap, pyjamas vs a nightgown or “onesie”,
etc. They really “got it”! We also used a piece of foam and an airfilled
ziplock bag to illustrate the warmth factor of one versus the other. (Touch the
cool table, feel the foam; touch the cool table, feel the “air mattress” – foam
felt much warmer to the touch.) This led to many good discussions.
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