Brownie Winterfest

Our troop is coordinating the Council event entitled, "Brownie Winterfest" to be held in January in the Mountains of Tuolumne County. We are planning activities to accommodate any weather we encounter since no one can count on the weather. A perfect day would yield snow on the ground and the sun in the sky but you can't have everything! We have a community building available in which to do activities if the weather proves to be a problem. Following is a sampling of activities we may incorporate into the program. It is followed by a sample event schedule.

Snow Related Activities

• Snowman Building Contest (prizes for all)
• Snow Tin Can Ice Cream (see link below to Teel Family Snow Activities)
• Exploring Snow
• Look for evidence of animals in the snow (footprints, bark eating, etc.)
• Snow Scavenger Hunt (see link below to Teel Family Snow Activities)

Rain Related Activities

• Rain Splatter Prints
• Rain hike
• Scavenger Hunt
• Make rain gauges (from Brownie Handbook)
• Make Rainbows (from Brownie Handbook)

Indoor Activities

• Make  a paper snowflake (see link below to Teel Family Snow Activities)
• Borax Crystal snowflake (see link below to Teel Family Snow Activities)
• Treasure Hunt
• Snow Stories or Snow Plays (see link below to Teel Family Snow Activities)
• Sock Snowmen (credit Tammie Peterson, Mid-Continent Council, Kansas City)

Tentative Event Schedule

Some of these activities were found on the following pages:

Minnetonka Elementary Science Center

The Teel Family Snow Activity Page

To Sample Events Page

Exploring Snow

Snow versus Water versus Ice

Fill two clear plastic cups with snow. Bring them inside. Ask the girls the following:

• "What do you think will happen?"
• "How long do you think it will take?"
• "How about if we put it on the stove?"
• "Will it be the same size as the snow?"

After the snow melts, confirm the answers to the questions, i.e., time how long it takes to melt by itself and over the stove, and measure the amount of water in the cup.

Ask the following:

• What do you think will happen if we put it back outside in the snow?
• What do you think will happen if we put it in the freezer?

Put one back out into the snow and one in the freezer. Compare after they re-freeze.

Cold versus Warm Plastic

Place a 2 liter plastic soda bottle out in the snow for at least an hour. Squeeze it and see what happens. Compare that with a 2 liter soda bottle that was left inside (and squeeze it as well) Ask:

• Why do you think it did something different when it was warm and when it was cold?

Catching Snowflakes

 Place black construction paper in the freezer. Take it outside when it is snowing and catch the snow on the paper. Before it melts, look at the snowflakes under a magnifying glass.

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Rain Splatter Prints

Put some powdered tempera paint on a piece of heavy paper or poster board. Place outside in the rain for a short period. This works best when the rain is on the light side instead of pouring down. Remove from the rain and let dry flat. You now have a picture that the rain "painted".

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Sock Snowmen

from Tammie Peterson, Mid-Continent Council, Kansas City

Supplies

• Tube Socks with colored tops
• Toilet paper rolls (cheap kind) - (or can use beans to fill bottom of sock)
• Styrofoam balls
• Ribbon
• Cloth scraps, buttons, paper, and/or marker pens

Turn a tube sock inside out and stuff an toilet paper roll down in the bottom. Next put a styrofoam ball on top of the toilet paper. Tie a ribbon around the neck of the snowman (between the ball and the TP) on the outside of the sock. Turn the sock down so that the colored top is now the hat. Decorate the snowman with cloth scraps, buttons, paper or markers.

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