B1.14 Chinese New Year

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This meeting plan was shared with me by another Guider.


Program Connections:
  • Key to My Community
    • 4. Celebrations
KeytoMyCommunity_copy

 

National Challenge:

  • Zoe's Trek Around the World - Beijing, China
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6:00-6:05 pm

    • Circle songs (attendance/dues)
    • Brownie opening song
    • Brownie Promise

      6:05 - 6:25 pm

      • 4. Celebrations
      • Why is it important to respect different faiths and cultures?
      • A. Find out more about a special ceremony or celebration for a faith or culture that is different from yours.
      • Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting with the family, celebration, fireworks, and gift-giving. It is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a new moon and ending with the full moon on the day of the Lantern Festival.
      • The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year pattern with each year named after an animal. There are various stories which explain this. The simplest is that Buddha (or the Jade Emperor) invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only 12 animals turned up. To reward the animals that did come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
      • 2009 – Year of the Ox
      • Depending on the year you are born, you are believed to have the various character traits of that year's animal.
      • 2000 – Dragon
      • 2001 – Snake
      • Read ‘The Runaway Rice Cake’ book
      • Read Zoe’s Travel Journal Entry #1, 2 and 3 (also see photos)

      6:25 – 6:35 pm

      • Active Option #2: Sights of Beijing Relay
      • Leader will call out something that Zoe has seen or done in Beijing during her travels.
      • March on the spot as you decide where to go.
      • Reach your arms up, hold on to your kite string and follow the wind.
      • Walk on top of the Great Wall of China
      • March on the spot as you decide where to go next.
      • Dance like a dragon at a Chinese New Year celebration
      • Carry heavy luggage
      • Fly like a plane
      • March on the spot as you decide where to go next.
      • Walk like a giant panda
      • Reach your arms above your head and stand tall like the Lama temple
      • Jog around Tiananmen Square

        6:35 – 6:50 pm

        6:50 – 7:10 pm

        • Guiding Option: Dress a paper doll in a Hong Kong Brownie uniform.
        • What are Brownies called in Hong Kong? Brownies
        • How old are they? 6-12 years old
        • What is their Promise and Law?
        • Law
          • As a Brownie Guide
          • 1. I will care for my home, my community and myself
          • 2. I will do a Good Turn every day
        • Promise
          • I promise to do my best, to be true to myself,
          • my God / Faith*, and my country, and the country in which I live, to help others, and to keep the Brownie Guide Law.
          • Note : *Choose either the word God or the word faith according to her personal convictions

        7:10 – 7:25 pm

        • B. Plan a meeting where everyone brings a snack that is special to their faith or culture and talks about it.
        • Have each girl who brought a snack tell the group what they brought and why.
        • Have snacks.
        • Cultural Option 2: Taste of China – Chinese Moon Festival “Moon Cakes”
        • “Moon cakes” are a traditional Chinese recipe made to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival.  The Moon Festival celebrates the brightest full or harvest moon of the year.

        7:25 – 7:30 pm

        • Brownie closing song

          Supplies needed for meeting