Hello Guides!
For this week's 集合, we did a World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) Activity! Due to the pandemic, this week’s 集合 was held online. The Year 3s completed a WAGGGS Activity and worked on earning 1 badge.
In support of the Singapore athletes who will be participating in the upcoming Olympics from 23 July to 8 August 2021, the Year 3s took part in the WAGGGS Olympia Badge. They had to complete 8 activities from the 3 activity types, which are Stadium(Body), Temple(Mind) and Theatre(Cultural) Below are the tasks that they completed.
Section 1: Sitting Volleyball
To play the game, each Year 3 would need to have a ball. Then, everyone should be at least 5 steps away from their screens while unmuted. Next, the first player will need to hit the ball up using your hands while moving closer to the screen. Once she reaches the screen, she should call out the name of the next player, who will now bounce the ball.
Reflection from a Year 3: (300 words)
One of the activities that I participated in during the WAGGGS activity was Sitting Volleyball. This activity was conducted online, and it required us to hit a volleyball three times before calling out the name of another person within our group to continue. We even had a mini competition with other groups, where the group with the fastest average timing would win. Although this activity was done online, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that it was as meaningful as any other physical CCA session. During the time we were given to practice, we had to cooperate with one another so as to come up with the order of which we hit the ball during the activity. We originally had trouble doing so as none of us wanted to initiate the discussion. However, we soon stepped out of our comfort zones to engage in a discussion after someone stepped up to start and lead the discussion. This enabled us to successfully decide on how to go about carrying out the activity. From this, I learnt the importance of stepping up to lead others, be it in a discussion or in any other activity. The game also gave us an opportunity to bond since we do not often have the chance to sit down to have discussions or to engage in exciting games. Furthermore, I learnt that this activity was incorporated into the WAGGGS program as it represents the holistic development of the body. I feel that this activity has heightened our appreciation for ourselves, through developing the body and practicing sports such as Volleyball. This has thus, allowed me to understand more about the focuses of the WAGGGS program. In a nutshell, I enjoyed this activity as it has served as an opportunity for me to learn more about the WAGGGS program and the Olympic games as well as to work together with my batchmates.
Reflection from another Year 3:
As part of the WAGGGS Olympia Badge Journey, we have done the “Sitting Volleyball '' activity which is under the category of stadium (body). Through a Zoom meeting, our batch had to take turns to bounce the ball in the air before calling out the next person’s name. We did this in groups, and had a mini competition between each group at the end of the session. I think that this activity was very fun and tested the cooperation and chemistry we had between our batch. Even though we only had to bounce a paper ball in the air, I think that most of us found it challenging to do so without dropping it. In addition to that, it was also not easy for us to ensure a smooth transition between each player as some of us had faced technical issues. With it being so complicated at such a low level of play, I could only imagine how difficult it is for the sitting volleyball Paralympian. It is definitely very strenuous and demanding for these athletes. Not only do they have to be agile to move around a large area in a short span of time, they also have to possess good communication skills in order for the team to win. After this activity, I feel very amazed by these athletes for their extraordinary skills and grit they have to get to play on the world stage. At first, I thought that it would be relatively easy to play sitting volleyball as there is not much movement involved, but after this activity I realized that it was not the case. Something that may be seemingly easy for us to do may not be the case, even more so for people with disabilities. This activity has taught me the importance of being understanding and gracious to those who may be different from us.
Section 2:Award your friend, award yourself
Each Year 3 was tasked to design a crown with online software such as Canva and Powerpoint, to uphold the spirit of awarding athletes at the Olympics with crowns made of olive branches. After that, they were tasked to send a note of appreciation to their batchmates through email, and also write an appreciation note to themselves.
Reflection from a Year 3: (300 words)
For Friday’s online 集合, we did a batch activity to support our Olympic athletes. It has been quite a while since For one section, under the temple, which represents the mind, we were tasked to award one of our batchmates as well as ourselves. The temple represents the spiritual dimension of our existence, the development of our mind and the acceptance of other people’s minds and ideas. This activity, Award your friend, award yourself, is related to the spirit of the Olympic games and their history, values and symbols. It is an Olympic tradition to give crowns made of olive leaves to the winners. I found it quite interesting as even though we do not have the opportunity to participate in the Olympics and physically receive a crown, we still could carry out this tradition among ourselves on online platforms such as Padlet. I feel that this activity was very meaningful as we get to unleash our creativity by designing a unique crown for our friend. Though giving a crown or writing a message online is not as sincere as in person, I still think that this was a great opportunity to support our fellow batchmates and ourselves. I feel that since our batch has never initiated to write appreciation letters to each other, this would be the golden opportunity for us to pen our thoughts down, and provide moral support for one another. Seeing so many designs being uploaded on a Padlet made me feel very heartened as I realized that our batch is quite bonded, and some people even took the initiative to make crowns for more than one person. During this activity, I reflected on my actions and the values I upheld throughout the year, and noted down my strengths and weaknesses. I made a crown for my friend using Canva, an online website that has pre-made stickers and templates. Some of my other batchmates even went the further mile by drawing their own crowns. It is awe-striking to see such beautiful art pieces made for one another with love.
Reflection from another Year 3:
On Friday 13 August, we had CCA as a batch. Of all the activities conducted during the session, the most memorable activity would be ¨award your friend, award yourself¨. The instructions given to us was to design a crown for our friend, write a letter to them, and write a letter to ourselves before uploading it to the Padlet created. Initially, I was unsure of what I should do because we do not usually express gratitude to our friends in this manner. Therefore, I took some time to think and reflect on the past years I have spent with them. At that moment, I realized that I had a lot to write about, and I was very thankful to be able to work with them. We have come very far from when we first joined the CCA. We have worked with one another almost every week for the past years, gone through thick and thin together, and forged beautiful memories as a batch. It seems as if we have taken each other's presence for granted. As I had more than enough time, I decided to design more crowns based on my friends´ personalities. The activity has allowed us to foster a closer bond with each other. At the end of the activity, we all took some time to look through the Padlet, and it was very heartwarming to see all the positive notes of encouragement. This activity has provided all of us with an opportunity to affirm our friends, and show our gratitude towards them. We rarely show our appreciation to anyone, especially in the form of a letter and drawing. Hence, I found this particular activity extremely meaningful. If given a chance where there is more time, I would definitely choose to write an encouraging note to every Guide in my batch.
Section 3: Making a “Kimono”:
Lastly, the Year 3s were tasked to make a ¨Kimono¨. The Year 3s would require pieces of Origami paper and follow certain steps to make their own Kimono. The Kimono is the dress that represents the spirit of the Japanese people who care and cherish everything in daily life.
Reflection from a Year 3: (300 words)
Today during online 集合, we did a WAGGGS activity and one of the tasks we had to complete was making a kimono out of pieces of origami paper. This activity is part of the theatre segment, which aims to represent the balanced development of our soul, and our cultural and emotional self respect and tolerance. The kimono is the Japanese traditional clothing, and is a major part of their culture. I was very grateful to have a chance to try out this activity, as I do not have much experience with Japanese traditional culture and it was a great way to learn more about the culture of the Olympics host country. I also find it interesting that we could make our own kimono out of paper, which is readily available to us. Through this activity, we learnt to appreciate the culture of other countries from the comfort of our own homes. It was also a great batch bonding session as we all folded the kimono together at the same time, despite the session being held online and we were not physically together. The kimono was not very easy to fold, and there were many steps to follow. However I did not give up even though I failed to keep up with the steps on the first try. However, I managed to get it on the second try and I felt quite rewarded and happy. I am very thankful for the In-Charge of this activity, for guiding us through and demonstrating the steps to us, as some parts of the instructions were a little unclear. After seeing many of my batchmates also succeeding in their Kimono, I felt heartened to see everyone keeping calm and managed to follow the instructions until the end to get a beautiful origami Kimono. In total, I feel that this activity was very meaningful and I enjoyed folding the Kimono online with my batchmates.
Reflection from another Year 3: (300 words)
For this activity, as a batch, we listened to the IC’s instructions and folded a kimono each. In general, I felt that making my own kimono was a rather interesting experience. Since this WAGGGS 集合 is held online, we are unable to carry out this activity face to face with our batch. Hence, no physical guidance or help was able to be provided and other than the instructions and demonstration given, we had to work on our own. As someone who rarely does origami, I managed to fold a product without any additional guidance. For this, I feel rather satisfied. I personally feel that the folding of this kimono was of a suitable difficulty for everyone. It was not too easy to an extent that it was boring, but at the same time not too hard to the extent that we had difficulties completing it. Although we were all working at different paces, in the end everyone still managed to complete their own kimonos and we took a nice batch photo with our completed product. Looking at my kimono, I felt that although it is a simple origami product, it turned out really nice and cute. Based on my knowledge, I know that kimono is a traditional Japanese attire that is worn on special occasions in Japan. This simple origami activity allowed us to explore other country’s culture which also is linked to the Olympia badge since in the Olympics, Singapore gets the chance to interact and compete with other countries. Even though we may not be physically with each other, this activity contributed to bonding our batch since everyone was working on the same task. Seeing each other folding our individual kimonos through the screen was definitely a fun experience and I am glad to learn a new thing, how to fold a kimono, through this activity.
We hope that everyone has enjoyed themselves and learnt something during this week's 集合!
Published by:
Pok Jing
53届 Secretary
