Brownies and Teddies – where it all begins

STEEPED in history, the Girl Guides movement dates back to 1910. Today, the movement continues its legacy to prepare today’s girls and young women for the future with skills and experiences ranging from community service to critical thinking. Recently, Queensburgh News sat down to chat with Natalie Raw, district commissioner for Queensburgh District Girl Guides, who has been a part of the club for some 25 years. Because of the wealth of knowledge to share about this movement, we have decided to publish a series of articles detailing the club. This week, we discover more on the youngest members – Teddies and Brownies.

The Teddies group caters to girls aged 4–7, and there are no subdivisions as all ages within this bracket work as a unit for all activities.

“Where necessary, we will do an activity at two levels so as to challenge the older children. However, this is usually not needed,” said Raw.

She added that their Teddy Den has grown in numbers and will be divided into two groups to create a second Teddy Den soon.

Also read: Queensburgh Girl Guides – a legacy continues

“The meeting times and venue will remain the same, and there will just be two leaders with two separate groups. This will allow us to help the older Teddies complete their Honey Paw before linking up to Brownies,” explained Raw.

Queensburgh and District Girl Guides makes an exception to their girl-only rule by allowing boys up to the age of 8 to join.

How does Teddies differ from Brownies?

As girls progress to Brownies, the programme builds on the knowledge they learnt as Teddies. The programme consists of eight adventures – these are just at a more advanced level.

“It is important to note that a girl can join the Girl Guides at any age. She does not have to have been a Teddy to join Brownies. In the same breath, while we do work on age groups, a child can be accommodated in a different group if needed. For example, if a child has learning disabilities and would not cope with Brownies, we would place her in the Teddies group where she feels more comfortable,” said Raw.

Among the skills in the programme, Brownies learn to care for others and the environment, and they experience new outdoor skills, such as hiking, cooking outdoors and going on sleepovers.

“They expand on their kitchen and cooking skills and may learn new crafts, such as knitting, sewing, embroidery or crochet. The Brownies also have a greater number of Interest Badges which they can earn over a wider variety of subjects, including swimming, outdoors, safety, art, shopping and IT/computer skills. Ultimately, we aim to be Girl Led, and so we try to match all activities to what the girls enjoy and want to do. We also like to encourage them to experience new things and move just a little outside of their comfort zone,” explained Raw.

Badges

During lessons, children work on Adventure Badges. “There are eight Adventure Badges, covering community service and advocacy, guiding, leadership, outdoors and water, first aid and safety, personal growth, crafts and the environment,” explained Raw.

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She added that Teddies can work on 18 Interest Badges in addition to their eight Adventure Badges.

“There is the Techno Warrior Badge which introduces Teddies to using devices in a safe way, with an emphasis on internet safety and cyberbullying. Top Chef encourages the Teddies to learn basic cooking skills and kitchen safety, like using knives correctly and ensuring the kitchen surfaces are hygienically cleaned. They learn to make simple dishes like sandwiches, salad and puddings. The Outdoor Adventure Badge encourages families to get out and explore the world around them by planning and then going on a family outing or going camping,” said Raw.

Brownies have 36 Interest Badges to choose from.

“For the Waste-not Badge, they learn about recycling and how to save money and resources by looking after their things, reusing recyclable materials and repairing broken goods. Our Water Safety and Swimmers badges cater for all levels of swimmers with the emphasis on first learning to be water safe and confident in the water before they learn proper swimming strokes. For the Shopping Badge, girls go shopping with an adult and learn to draw up and follow a shopping list, plan and stick to a budget, and how to compare the quality and sizes of various products,” added Raw.

Among the upcoming events for Brownies is a sleepover and a Guide Camp planned for June. For more information on Girl Guides, contact Natalie Raw on 074 514 8828 or email: guideskzn@gmail.com.

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