England seems to be a natural choice for World Thinking Day celebrations, and not just because we share a common language. The roots of Girl Scouting – the Boy Scouts – began in the United Kingdom, and one of four (soon to be five) WAGGGS World Girl Guiding Centers, Pax Lodge, is in London. Each year, World Thinking Day is celebrated at Pax Lodge, with one of its highlights being a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Girl Guiding UK is made up of four age levels:
- Rainbows (ages 5-7 years)
- Brownies (ages 7-10 years)
- Guides (ages 10-14 years)
- Senior Section (ages 14-26 years)
You can be an adult leader from the age of 18 and a member of the Trefoil Guild too.
Famous former Guides include children’s author J.K. Rowling; Helen Sharman, the first British woman in space; and Queen Elizabeth II, who I learned was quite the active Girl Guide as princess of England! (Check out How the Girl Guides Won the War to find some interesting ancedotes about her.)
Learn
Order Not For Parents London: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (Lonely Planet Not for Parents London)
Order Cultural Traditions in the United Kingdom (Cultural Traditions in My World)
Order A Visit to United Kingdom.
Order England (Blastoff! Readers: Exploring Countries)
You can download activities about England and a patch program here.
Play
A couple of English games you can play:
- Pass the parcel
- George and the Dragon Game
Choose one person to be George and one to be the Dragon. All the other players stand with linked arms in groups of three. George has to chase and capture the Dragon, but the dragon can hide by linking arms with ones of the groups. This makes the player at the other end of the chain the dragon. If George captures the dragon, then the roles are reversed and the game continues.
Eat:
A couple of British recipes you can try with your girls:
- Liquorice Allsort (from the Pax Lodge website) Get directions.
- Harder to find ingredients: licorice allsorts (Amazon link), Marie sweet biscuits (Amazon link), copha – can substitute shortening
- Coronation Chicken recipe
Swap:
Fish and chips swap:
I love these swaps about the Queen’s guard:
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What other Thinking Day ideas do you have for the United Kingdom? Share your ideas and pins below!
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[…] England […]
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The promise has now been changed. So you might want to update this page. And why not just call this world thinking day UK as there is 4 nations that use the same system. We in the UK Don’t go well we will just do one state and leave out the others if we are doing the usa we include as many of the states as possible
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Thank you so much for this feedback! I will research the updated promise.
Here, stateside, troops select a country first then learn about the culture and scouting in that country. I do see your point, though, we wouldn’t do “Thinking Day for North Carolina.” 🙂
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My Independent Girl Scout Daisy has chosen England has her country for our SU Thinking Day project! This is brilliant! Have you updated the promise as mentioned? Just want to make sure before I recommend my daughter use it on her poster! Thanks so much for putting this (and the others) together!
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I have not put together a new graphic, but you can read more about it here and even do some of the activities. https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/default.aspx?page=7601
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The Brownie Promise is … I promise that I will do my best, to be true to myself and develop my beliefs, to serve the Queen and my community, to help other people and to keep the Brownie Guide Law.
The Brownie Guide Law is … A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a good turn every day.
Hope this helps
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[…] World Thinking Day Ideas for Leaders: England (United Kingdom) […]
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[…] World Thinking Day Ideas for Leaders: England (United Kingdom) […]
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