So, a Rainbow said to me...
I love Guiding - it provides the opportunity for fun, and what makes it fun is the people within it. I spent an hour a week at Rainbows (they're 5-7 year olds) and they never fail to make me smile. Here are a few conversations I've had with them this year which have stood out:
We're making bird feeders at Rainbows - lard, nuts, seeds, cooked rice, all mixed together with your hands (some love doing this, some don't!) and then squashed into a yogurt pot.
Rainbow: Can I go and wash my hands?
Me: We can wash our hands afterwards when they're all covered in lard and seeds
Rainbow: But mummy says we have to wash our hands before cooking
Me: That's right, we do, but no humans are going to eat this, so it's okay to only wash our hands afterwards.
Rainbow: But I don't want the birds to get my germs
Me: They won't! The birds will be fine. They eat worms straight from the ground, people wouldn't do that - we're all different.
Rainbow: Okay! I'll wash my hands when we're finished.
At the end of a meeting on International Women's Day, I'm helping one of our youngest Rainbows do up her coat.
Me: Your earrings are very pretty.
Rainbow: I do taekwondo.
Me: That sounds fun.
Rainbow: It helps me be strong. So I can be strong and pretty!
We are trying to get our 13 Rainbows into a group of 6 and a group of 7. After a few minutes with an 8 and a 5, a bit of reshuffling later we finally have a 6 and a 7.
Me: This group of six is with me! Can you come and stand in a circle with me please?
Rainbow 1: Am I in your six group?
Me: Yes, all six Rainbows in this group are in my six group.
Rainbow 1: But I'm only 5.
Rainbow 2: I'm nearly 7 but I'm still 6 now so I'm in this group.
Me: That doesn't matter! I need six Rainbows in my group, it doesn't matter if you're 5 or 6 or 7, everyone in this circle is in my group.
We have a few new girls starting and so we go round the circle saying our name and our favourite colour.
Me: My name's Amy and my favourite colour is blue.
Rainbow 1: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is pink.
Rainbow 2: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is purple.
Rainbow 3: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is pink and purple sparkles.
We're starting a new badge at Rainbows, based on Russia. I've brought along a world map and we're finding where we live (south coast of England) and where Russia is, far, far away.
Rainbow: Are we going to Russia?
Me: No, we're going to learn about Russia, and do some Russian crafts, and other Russian activities, but we're not actually going to visit Russia.
Rainbow: Oh. Why not? You could drive us there!
Me: I don't think we'd be back in time for your parents to pick you up at half five.
So, a Brownie said to me 2015
So, a Brownie said to me 2014
We're making bird feeders at Rainbows - lard, nuts, seeds, cooked rice, all mixed together with your hands (some love doing this, some don't!) and then squashed into a yogurt pot.
Rainbow: Can I go and wash my hands?
Me: We can wash our hands afterwards when they're all covered in lard and seeds
Rainbow: But mummy says we have to wash our hands before cooking
Me: That's right, we do, but no humans are going to eat this, so it's okay to only wash our hands afterwards.
Rainbow: But I don't want the birds to get my germs
Me: They won't! The birds will be fine. They eat worms straight from the ground, people wouldn't do that - we're all different.
Rainbow: Okay! I'll wash my hands when we're finished.
At the end of a meeting on International Women's Day, I'm helping one of our youngest Rainbows do up her coat.
Me: Your earrings are very pretty.
Rainbow: I do taekwondo.
Me: That sounds fun.
Rainbow: It helps me be strong. So I can be strong and pretty!
We are trying to get our 13 Rainbows into a group of 6 and a group of 7. After a few minutes with an 8 and a 5, a bit of reshuffling later we finally have a 6 and a 7.
Me: This group of six is with me! Can you come and stand in a circle with me please?
Rainbow 1: Am I in your six group?
Me: Yes, all six Rainbows in this group are in my six group.
Rainbow 1: But I'm only 5.
Rainbow 2: I'm nearly 7 but I'm still 6 now so I'm in this group.
Me: That doesn't matter! I need six Rainbows in my group, it doesn't matter if you're 5 or 6 or 7, everyone in this circle is in my group.
We have a few new girls starting and so we go round the circle saying our name and our favourite colour.
Me: My name's Amy and my favourite colour is blue.
Rainbow 1: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is pink.
Rainbow 2: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is purple.
Rainbow 3: My name's [-] and my favourite colour is pink and purple sparkles.
We're starting a new badge at Rainbows, based on Russia. I've brought along a world map and we're finding where we live (south coast of England) and where Russia is, far, far away.
Rainbow: Are we going to Russia?
Me: No, we're going to learn about Russia, and do some Russian crafts, and other Russian activities, but we're not actually going to visit Russia.
Rainbow: Oh. Why not? You could drive us there!
Me: I don't think we'd be back in time for your parents to pick you up at half five.
So, a Brownie said to me 2015
So, a Brownie said to me 2014
I absolutely love these posts, the things that children say are hilarious. We quite often share little anecdotes from the kids in the staff room and it certainly helps remind me why we do the job we do!
ReplyDelete...and I still have zombies on the risk assessments!
DeleteI used to love conversations like this when I did Rainbows. We had news at the start of our meetings and normally it was about who had lost a tooth, who had wobbly teeth, how many teeth they had lost, how many their older brother/sister had lost, how many they had to lose, who they knew who had lost teeth, a full profile of their tooth fairy, what the going rate was and so on. Parents on the rota found it hilarious!
ReplyDeleteSounds familiar! We're going through a phase at the moment when the girls are telling us about what their friends are doing at school - I feel I know these children I've never met quite well!
DeleteI love the bit about the colours. I was dressing my daughter earlier and she said she liked pink. I said I liked pink too. She said 'No. Mummy likes purple.' True. But not to the exclusion of all other colours!
ReplyDeleteWell you do like purple quite a lot!
DeleteI love these posts! Got to love Rainbows. My favourite conversation from last term was when we were doing first aid. We started chatting about people we knew who had needed first aid, and one Rainbow told us her cousin had been to the doctor because she swallowed a battery.
ReplyDeleteMe: "What happened to your cousin, was she ok?"
Rainbow: "She pooed it out."
The best thing was that none of the other Rainbows noticed/reacted, but my helper and I were in stitches.
BRILLIANT! I love it when the leaders get the giggles, the girls ask why, but it's something we either can't explain, or don't want to for their age group!
Delete