1.19 Pax Lodge

  • Print
Program Connections:
  • Key to the Arts
    • 8. Marvellous Masks
  • Key to Girl Guides
    • 2. Thinking Day and Guide-Scout Week

KeytotheArts
KeytoGirlGuides


Gathering Activity (in their circles)

Opening

  • Circle Songs
  • Brownie Song

Discussion

  • England was the second country to have a world centre; it opened on May 2, 1939
  • All World Centres promote peace and international friendship.
  • England’s first world centre was called “Our Ark” and it opened in 1939. An ark has always been a symbol of security in the Christian and Jewish faiths, so the name "Our Ark" was chosen for the World Center as it was opened in a time of international crisis. Many Girl Guides and Girl Scouts who were refugees from their own country lived there for a time during the second world war.
  • In 1964 it was renamed "Olave House" in honor of the World Chief Guide, Olave Baden-Powell
  • Because they did not have enough space in their building, the World Centre in London has moved around to several locations. Finally, on August 1, 1990, the newly built “Pax Lodge” opened its doors for visitors.
  • The name “Pax Lodge” was chosen because the two family homes of Lord and Lady Baden Powell were called Pax Hill and Paxtu. In Latin, Pax means “peace” and the “lodge” part of the name was chosen because the building now sits where there once was a home called Rosslyn Lodge.
  • The symbol for Pax Lodge is a dove, because a dove is an international symbol of peace. It is shaped like a barge on the water, which reminds us of the original London World Centre, “The Ark”.
  • The country that Pax Lodge is located in is formally called “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” but most people call it just “United Kingdom” or “UK” for short.
  • Some things that you can do in London if you go to visit Pax Lodge are:
    • Visit art galleries and museums
    • Watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace
    • Visit the Westminster Abbey church
    • Hear Big Ben chime, a famous clock tower
    • Ride on the London Eye, the largest Ferris wheel in the world
    • Ride on a double decker bus
    • Ride on “the tube” underground subway trains
    • And LOTS more!

Game (we chose just one game to play, but here are several options)

Song

Craft

Campfire (if time)

  • One thing that is very popular in England is “afternoon tea” which is a light meal between 3 and 5 PM. Many British people have tea and biscuits at teatime. One thing that I don’t think would be very common to see is an actual penguin at teatime, unless you are looking at a book published by Penguin Books, a British publishing company started in 1935, not long before the first World Centre in London was opened.
  • Song: Penguin Song

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.