submitted by Kai A. DuBose
My name is Kai DuBose, I lead a multi-level troop of 46 girls in Middletown, DE. We are part of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council and our service unit hosted a World Thinking Day event this past March.
What is World Thinking Day You Ask?
World Thinking Day was first created in 1926 when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world decided to create a special day to “think” about and give thanks for their “sister” Girl Scouts. Events are typically held around Feb. 22, the mutual birthdays of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scout movement, and his wife, Olave, who served as World Chief Guide.
Celebrating 13 Countries
Our Service Unit’s World Thinking Day event was attended by over 135 girls. We had over 14 countries represented with table displays of food, crafts, games and other fun activities for girls to sample and try. We also had a keynote speaker from Puerto Rico who taught the Girl Scout Promise to the girls in Spanish and gave a salsa lesson.
Other special presentations were an Irish dance presentation by one of the Cadette Girl Scout troops as well as a special play performed by one of our Daisy/Brownie troops that shared with us why we celebrate World Thinking Day.
World Thinking Activities
We hosted the event at the local middle school and used the cafeteria space for our countries and an adjacent space for the performances and an additional Brazilian mask station and spanish game area. As troops arrived, they received traveling bags (colorful handled plastic bags), passports from Makingfriends for each of their girls which were stamped with an appropriate country stamp each time they visited a different country.
They also all received a World Thinking Day Fun Patch and troops who represented countries also received the official World Thinking Day patch from GSUSA . Troop leaders received a “boarding pass” for the presentations and a “travel itinerary” with a schedule of the countries they would visit and when.
I used the Cadette portion of my troop as “flight attendants” and they wore hats that they made at our meeting from cardboard, felt and gold buttons and helped to guide some of the daisy troops around and were stationed at one of our craft areas. Great HAT Pattern here.
The theme of this year’s World Thinking Day is “Education Opens Doors For All Girls and Boys,” which is based on a United Nations Millennium Development Goal that seeks to achieve universal primary education throughout the globe. That theme was incorporated throughout the event with educational games, fun facts, and presentations. The girls walked away with a great understanding of the countries and cultures around them.
MakingFriends®.com has many ideas and products to inspire your international celebration. Start on the International Ideas for Thinking Day* page to find links to ideas for many countries including costumes, food, pins for swapping and more.
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