GS Juniors Work on the Playing the Past Badge

October 15, 2014: The girls worked on the Playing the Past Badge. The girls learned and experienced a small part of what it was like to be a girl of the 1800's. They looked at pictures, discussed what they thought living in the past was like, experimented with a dutch oven, played games of the past, and made a bonnet to wear. 

October 18, 2014: To continue the adventure we (girls and adults) made rag dolls similar to the ones girls would make and play with during the pioneer era. This wonderful event was sponsored by our town's Historical Museum and instructed by lovely volunteers dressed as if from that era too.

















November 30, 2014: How better to experience the past than to visit a museum where the past is lived. The girls enjoyed the self guided tour and interaction with the many volunteers that roamed the museum dressed with outfits from the 1800's. The Fort Worth Log Cabin Village is not only a great get away for an afternoon, but an amazing place to teach the girls that life was indeed wonderful before we were overrun with technology and the many conveniences we now have. It gives us a chance to experience how differently girls lived in the past, and f how to appreciate what they have in the present.

AHG Court of Honor

May 20, 2014: Today was officially the last day of the Year for the American Heritage Girls of Troop 1508 as we celebrated the girls achievements in Court of Honor. Each level group was recognized with the awards they earned. Kaylee received a multiple of awards she worked so hard for throughout the year. The girls moving up to the next level crossed the bridge and received the new uniform. The pride and happiness in the girls faces was difficult to hide.

The Young Meteorologist Award

Kaylee decided to work on the AHG Young Meteorologist Award. How fun!

(Let me apologize right now to all the teachers out there for probably making a mess out of this project.)

Here is what Kaylee (with the help of mom) accomplished:

Defined weather, made a windsock (more like wind ribbons), made a water gauge, and created a tornado in a jar. Kaylee (with Dylan as a volunteer assistant) observed and recorded the findings in Kaylee's AHG Journal.

WINDSOCK: (or wind ribbons) an "instrument" to determine which direction (with the help of a compass) the wind comes from in our area. To make the windsock Kaylee covered an empty tape roll with electrical tape to make it waterproof. She then made a handle with pipe-cleaners; and tied ribbon to the tape dispenser. We found the ideal spot in our yard to hang the windsock and observed for two weeks. Actually, we hung three windsocks - Dylan and I also made our own.

RAIN GAUGE: an instrument to keep record of the rainfall in our backyard (also for two (2) weeks). The rain gauge was very simple to make. This is how we did it:

• Taped a funnel to an empty tennis ball container (with the smaller opening to the inside of the container) 
• Drew the inch markers using a ruler as a guide (we made the markings on masking tape for better visibility)
• Taped skewers to the container to allow it to stay put in the ground even when wind was determined to pay us a visit.  
• Set the container in an area where it would get rain (only from the sky and not our roof top), was stable enough, and not at all disturbed by any of our wildlife friends and pet. Combining all those was a challenge but we managed. 

Side Note: We probably would have been just as fine leaving it under our roof since the rain did not cooperate and Kaylee collected 0 inches of water... She is determined to collect whatever comes down, so the rain gauge has now taken a permanent spot on our yard until it does it's job.

TORNADO IN A JAR: a fun project to simulate a tornado. Here is how we made it:

• Filled a jar 3/4 with water 
• Added 1 teaspoon of liquid soap 
• Added 1 teaspoon of vinegar 
• Covered the jar and swirl around to see the magic happen.

Another Side Note: Actually, no magic happened, in fact nothing happened and the kids were disappointed, so we tried again, and again, and again ... Until we just used a spoon to swirl the water and the fierce tornado made its appearance.

So, what did we conclude?

• During this time of year in our area the wind comes pretty consistently from the SW
• During this time of year in our area we had 0 inches of rain. We did have some moisture and a few gloomy days
• The temperatures change drastically from cold to warm from one day to another
• Recording findings in a journal is actually fun
• Tornado in a jar is pretty cool (even if it takes many tries to make it work)
• Kaylee is "officially" a young meteorologist - at least she likes to think so

Puppetry, Money Management, Ancestor Detector

March 18, 2014 - It was a meeting packed with fun activities. To culminate the Puppetry Award the girls brought a common object from home to use for making noise that would represent a specific kind of sound in a show . They shared their object, made a sound (or a few) with them and discussed what the sound may represent. The girls were very creative with their choice of objects and coming up with what each sound could have been used for. It was loud, it was musical, it was fun! Can you guess what Kaylee's objects were?

To continue to work on their Money Management Award, they each brought a stuffed animal friend to trade with each other. They were responsible for taking care of it during the meeting. Through this, they learned stewardship. The girls discussed what makes each one of them a good manager, the things God entrust them with, and how they felt when entrusting their things to others.

With clear skies and a great temperature of just a little above 80, the girls had the opportunity to go outside to work on their Ancestor Detector Award. After learning the official rules of hopscotch, the girls made three groups and played hopscotch until their hearts were content. Later they discussed other games their ancestors may have played. Lastly, they enjoyed the playground, fun that our ancestors passed on.

April 29, 2014: Today the girls continued working on another part of the Ancestor Detector badge. They made their own kites and flew them in the play ground. It was a beautiful site to see the many girls running around as they made their kites fly as high as they could. It was a very exciting time for us all.  After flying their kites, they learned the rules of the game Kick the Can and enjoyed playing that for a while before returning inside to take part in the closing ceremony. This was another day full of excitement for the American Heritage Girls.

AHG Work on the Toys & Games Badge

February 25th, 2014 - Each meeting the AHG start with a flag ceremony and a prayer. Today was no different. At the culmination of the ceremony, the girls gathered up and started to work on a step for the Toys and Games Badge. Sadly, the girls had already started this badge by the time Kaylee joined this group, and she may not be able to finish all previous steps for the badge; but nonetheless, she enjoyed participating. The girls followed origami steps to have a very adorable waterproof boat. If you will like to make one too, follow this link. Thanks Zoe from Captain Crafty!

After the girls were finished with their paper boat, they played a game with conversation heart candies and chopsticks. This game consists of the girls using chopsticks to pick up as many candies as they can in a 25 second time frame. The girls that waited their turn cheered the girls playing. This game had been planned for the Valentine's Day Party but with so many other activities planned, there was no time for this one. The leaders brought it back to get the girls engaged in this challenging game. The girls enjoyed it so much that they requested it was brought back the next meeting for another moment of loud fun.

After the closing ceremony, Kaylee had the opportunity to meet with the group leader for a conference about her Joining Award. Kaylee has officially completed all the steps to get this award; and she was one happy girl. Congratulations Miss. Kaylee!