1.23 It's All About the Spud

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Program Connections:
  • Key to the Arts
    • 6. Canada Sings
  • Key to My Community
    • 2. Proud to be Canadian

KeytotheArts

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National Challenge:

  • Cross Canada Challenge - Atlantic
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Gathering Activity (in their circles)

  • Attendance and dues
  • Inside the circle box, put a cut up potato (in a ziploc bag) and a stack of sturdy toothpicks.  Cut the potato into about 5 pieces before the meeting.  The girls will need to put the potato back together like a 3-D puzzle.
  • Instructions for the girls: 
    • This week we are starting on the Atlantic Canada Challenge. One of the places we will learn about is Prince Edward Island where they grow lots of POTATOES.
    • Work as a team and use toothpicks to put the potato back together.

Opening

  • Circle Songs
  • Brownie Song

Introduce PEI section of the Atlantic Canada Challenge

  • Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province.
  • PEI is also Canada's most densely populated province.
  • Charlottetown is the capital city.
  • PEI is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Canada's east coast.
  • PEI is joined to the rest of Canada by the Confederation Bridge, built in 1997.
  • Before Prince Edward Island got its name is 1799, it was called Epekwitk, Ile Saint-Jean and St. John's Island.
  • The popular book Anne of Green Gables was set in Prince Edward Island.
  • Charlottetown is the "birthplace of Canada" where leaders met in 1864 to discuss the formation of our country.
  • Each year in O’Leary, PEI, there is a celebration of everything relating to potatoes. There are lots and lots of activities for both children and adults all related to potatoes. After all, PEI is famous for its potatoes.
  • Here are some interesting facts about PEI potatoes:
    • Farmers in PEI have been growing potatoes since 1771.
    • The potato is so important to PEI that there is even an entire museum dedicated to potatoes.
    • Prince Edward Island potatoes are grown on the province’s unique red soil.
    • PEI farmers grow more than 600,000 tonnes a year.
    • PEI is Canada’s leading potato province.
    • Almost half of the potatoes grown in PEI are processed into frozen potato products and are sold in Canada and in 30 different countries around the world.

Potato Games (some ideas - choose which best appeals to you)

    • Back to Back
      • Players stand back to back holding a potato between their backs. They must go through an obstacle course without dropping the potato. Then the potato is passed to the next pair.
    • Potato Fencing
      • Players hold a spoon with a potato on it in one hand. In the other hand the players hold an empty spoon. Then they try to knock the opponent’s potato off the spoon without losing their own potato.
    • Hot Potato
      • Sit in a circle and pass the potato around as quickly as possible. You will be timed so you continue to pass the potato until you get your best time.
    • Potato spoon relay
      • Get into teams of four and put a potato in a spoon. Try to run across the room and back without dropping it. If you drop it, pick it up and start again. Once you have returned, you will pass the potato and spoon to the next girl on your team.
    • Forehead to Forehead
      • Players stand forehead to forehead holding a potato between their foreheads. They must go through an obstacle course without dropping the potato. Then the potato is passed to the next pair.
    • Head Balance
      • The player must go through an obstacle course balancing a potato on his head.
    • Feet
      • A potato is placed on the foot or the shoe. The player must pass it to the next player using his foot.

    Craft

      • Potato prints (off-site link) - make sure to cut the potatoes with designs prior to the meeting

      Game - Collecting Potatoes

      • Many potatoes are distributed over the playing field. At the signal, the potatoes must be collected and put into a pail or bowl using only a spoon. The winner is the team who collects the most potatoes, was the fastest, or collected the most potatoes measured by weight.

      Introduce Newfoundland and Labrador part of the challenge

      • Canada' most easterly province.
      • Joined confederation in 1949.
      • St. John's is the capital city.
      • The provincial flower is the pitcher plant.
      • The provincial bird is the Atlantic Puffin.
      • People live in small fishing villages near the coast.
      • Vikings were the first to visit this province.
      • Explorer John Cabot arrived in 1497.
      • Icebergs can be seen off the coastline.
      • A traditional Newfoundland kitchen party happens when a group of people get together at neighbour’s house, gather in the kitchen and enjoy musical entertainment as someone plays the accordion or guitar and sings songs.

      Learn a traditional Newfoundland and Labrador song (e.g., I’se the B’y). {Key to the Arts: 6. Canada Sings}

      • The people of Newfoundland are fun-loving people who create wonderful songs about their everyday life. One of their most famous songs tells the story of a fisherman who goes out to catch fish and take them home to his wife, Liza. They have a unique way of talking in Newfoundland and sometimes use words and phrases that you would never hear anywhere else in the world.
      I’s the B’y
      I’s the b’y that builds the boat
      and I’s the b’y that sails her
      I’s the b’y that catches the fish
      and takes them home to Liza
       
       
      Chorus
      Hip your partner Sally Tiboo
      Hip your partner Sally Brown
      Fogo, Twillingate, Morton’s Harbour
      All around the circle
       
       
      Sods and rinds to cover the flake
      Cake and tea for supper
      Codfish in the spring of the year
      Fried in maggoty butter
       
       
      Chorus
       
       
      I don’t want your maggoty fish
      They’re no good for winter
      I can buy as good as that
      Down in Bonavista
       
       
      Chorus
       
       
      I took Liza to a dance
      Faith but she could travel
      And every step that she did take
      Was up to her knees in gravel
       
       
      Chorus

      1. ^ fish: Unless otherwise specified, "fish" in Newfoundland English almost always refers to codfish, fish entry at the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

      2. ^ rind: A long strip of bark, normally from a standing spruce or fir, and used for various fisheries and building purposes, rind entry at the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

      3. ^ flake: A platform built on poles and spread with boughs for drying codfish on land, flake entry at the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

      4. ^ cake: Ship's biscuit or hardtack, cake entry at the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

      5. ^ magotty fish: Fish when not cured correctly would become infested with Blow-fly larva, magotty entry at the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

      Try learning a Newfoundland folk dance.

      • Play "I's the B'y" for the girls to dance to
        • Find a partner and stand side by side.
        • Walk forward for three steps and hop.
        • Walk backward for three steps and hop.
        • Skip sideways away from your partner for two steps and clap.
        • Return to your partner and hold both hands and face each other (waltz hold).
        • Skip sideways in the waltz hold two steps forward and back.
        • Stay in the waltz hold and step and hop around the room.

      Try a Newfoundland treat

      Closing

        · Hand out flower sheets & Ask girls to write one great thing about who they are on each petal. Explain that it can be about their skills, backgrounds, talents, beliefs, families, strengths, and other social and personal traits.