Activities

There are loads of things you can do to celebrate World Thinking Day 2010! Check out the activities listed below which will help you to learn about hunger and poverty around the world. You can also download the PDF document.

To earn a World Thinking Day badge, complete six activities including at least one fundraising activity. The fundraising activities are marked with the title ‘Fundraising idea!’ but these are suggestions and you can substitute them with another fundraising activity. Badges are available to purchase and completing the activities is not compulsory.

  1. Younger members: Cabbages

    Try this game played by Brownies in Zimbabwe: The leader needs a tablecloth or blanket. When the leaders calls out ‘Cabbages!’, all the players must curl up in a tight ball like a cabbage and close their eyes. The leader covers one of the players with the blanket then asks the players to open their eyes. The players must work out which player is under the blanket. The first one to call out the right name is the winner!

  2. Younger members: Dollar a day

    MDG 1 states that extreme poverty is living on less than US $1 per day. Find out how much that would be in your own currency and think what you could buy for this money.
    3. Fundraising idea! Make a special wish box. Give up a treat and save the equivalent of $1 per day, or $1 per week, inside your wish box between 1 January and World Thinking Day. Alternatively, you can do this between World Thinking Day and the Centenary Celebration Day, 10 April.

  3. Younger members: The sheep and the hyena.

    Play this lively game from Sudan. One player is the sheep, another is the hyena and the rest of the players are the fence. The ‘fence’ players hold hands and form a circle with the sheep inside the circle and the hyena on the outside. The ‘fence’ players must stay close together to stop the hyena from getting inside the circle. When the hyena breaks through, the game ends and two other players can become the sheep and hyena.

  4. Learn about a country

    Learn about a country in sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia or Central America. Maybe you can find a book that tells you about children’s lives in different countries. With your friends, madke up a short play about what it might be like to live in poverty there and perform it to your group.
    Fundraising idea! Organize a talent night or showcase with your friends. Charge a small entry fee and donate it to the World Thinking Day Fund. 

  5. Home-grown feast

    Celebrate World Thinking Day by preparing a feast using food that has been produced locally. For example, plants that have been grown or meat that has been raised within your country or area. Could you spend a week only eating food that is produced within 160km/100 miles of your home? How can you find out where the food you eat was produced?

  6. Life game

    Everyone stands in a circle, with sweets or small pieces of fruit in the centre. Each person is given a card with a situation on it (eg. war widow with three children and very low income) with the number of sweets she is allowed to take. Everyone compares how many sweets they have at the end of the session. Discuss the different ways war can affect people’s access to food.
    7. Fundraising idea! Make some sweet treats (with adult supervision where necessary) and sell them in your community.

  7. Food shortages

    Find out about food shortages in your country in the past. Think of a story about a girl living through a time of food shortages in the past. Write your story or tell it to your group.

  8. Khinkali dumplings

    Khink    ali is a popular traditional dish in Georgia. Mix together minced meat, onion and spices. Make a flour-and-water dough and roll out thin circles. Place a spoonful of the meat mixture in the centre of each circle and gather the edges together to form pleats. Boil the dumplings in salted water for 15 minutes. If you have Internet access, you can search for full details of the recipe. Try this recipe at your meeting or camp.

  9. Everyday foods

    Find out about the main types of food eaten in one of our featured countries (Sudan, Georgia, Haiti, Maldives or Zimbabwe). Perhaps you could get a small amount to try with your group. How does it compare to the food you eat in your country?
    10. Fundraising idea! Hold a ‘Rich world, poor world’ dinner by selling tickets which are the price of a normal dinner. Sell 80 per cent red tickets, 20 per cent green tickets and ask everyone to sit together. Give those with red tickets a small amount of plain food (such as bread or rice and soup or water) and those with green tickets a more substantial meal.
    This can be an effective way to demonstrate the issue because green-ticketholders feel uncomfortable eating while others don’t have as much food as them, and those eating the plain meal feel even more deprived when they see others eating a full meal. After the cost of the food has been removed, donate the rest to the World Thinking Day Fund.

  10. Bodu Beru

    The traditional music and dance in the Maldives is named after the drum Bodu Beru. Find out about drum music around the world and give a short presentation to your group.
    Fundraising idea! Gather together your musical friends and try your hand at busking – singing or playing music in public. Encourage the audience to donate by passing a hat around the crowd.

  11. Fair play

    Use this game to show the impact of uneven  distribution of resources. Split into two groups, one team has twice as many players as the other. Lay out about 15 small items of food on a tray or table. Players have two minutes, trying to memorise them. Then the objects are covered and the players must write as many down as they can. The small group are those with access to resources, so each of them has a pen/pencil each, a sheet of paper, a chair, and perhaps even sits close to the objects; the larger group has only one pencil and has to stand some distance away. After the game, discuss how the two groups felt being treated so differently. Was it fair to do it this way? Can you think of examples when life is like this for your community or other communities?

  12. What’s fair trade?

    What does ‘fair trade’ mean? Why is it better to buy fair trade goods? Find out how to identify fair trade products and tell six friends about fair trade.
    13. Fundraising idea! Hold a raffle and give away fair trade products as prizes.

  13. My picture of poverty

    14. What does it mean to live in poverty in your country? Find out about the situation where you live. Talk to your friends and family about the subject. Draw a picture to show what you have found out and display it at your meeting place.

  14. Poverty and hunger: snakes and ladders

    Take a 40 x 40cm piece of cardboard and divide it into 10 x 10 grid of squares. Number the squares from the bottom left square as 1 and going backwards and forwards up the board to the top left square. Draw seven ladders and seven snakes which connect different squares to each other. On other squares, write the following instructions:
    • Your crops fail, go back three spaces
    • You are not allowed to go to school, go back three spaces
    • You have a successful harvest and sell all your produce at market, go forward three spaces
    • You get a grant to start up a small business, go forward three spaces
    15. You will need one marker for each player and a dice. Roll the dice and move the marker that number of spaces. If you land on a ladder, you can climb up it if you give a reason why you might be ‘climbing out of poverty’. If you land on a snake, you must slide down it unless you can give a reason why you might ‘slideinto poverty’. If you give a good reason, you don’t have to slide down the snake. The first to space 100 is the winner!
    Fundraising idea! Organize a games tournament. Charge a small fee for all players. Teams of children could play against teams of adults! Ask local businesses to sponsor the event.

  15. Quality of life

    Draw a picture of a girl or boy – it could be yourself - in the middle of a piece of paper. On one side draw what his/her life will be like in ten years time if s/he has access to education, health care, good housing, food, etc. and on the other side, what his/her life will be if s/he does not have these things. You can choose to do this exercise including the effects on a family or community of different ‘quality of life’ levels.
    16. Fundraising idea! Organize an exhibition of all the ‘Quality of Life’ pictures and display them in a public place. Charge a small entry fee and ask your community to come and see the pictures.

  16. Krik? Krak!

    17. Traditional storytellers in Haiti call out ‘Krik?’ and their audience answers ‘Krak!’ before they begin telling their story. In a small group, each player thinks of a quick story featuring a Girl Guide or Girl Scout in another country. Using the Krik? Krak! call, go around the circle and hear all the stories.
    Fundraising idea! Collect stories from around the world. Hold a storytelling evening and charge an entry fee. Use the Krik? Krak! call to begin each story. You could award prizes for the best storytellers.

  17. Be a journalist!

    Interview three people about what food they have bought and why. Write a magazine article, commenting on whether they have made healthy food choices and if not, suggest alternative foods. Put all the articles together to make a ‘Healthy food choices’ magazine.
    18. Fundraising idea! Print copies of the ‘Healthy food choices’ magazine and sell it for a small fee. Donate the proceeds to the World Thinking Day Fund.

  18. Day in the life

    Find out how children live in extreme poverty in another country. Imagine a ‘day in the life’ of someone of your age based on your findings and tell your group about it.

  19. Older members: Local business connections

    Invite two local business leaders from small or medium size companies to come and talk to your group about poverty and hunger within your country.
    20. Fundraising idea! Challenge local business people to give up their luxuries and live in relative poverty for a weekend. Help them to promote the project and get sponsorship from their friends, family and other businesses.

  20. Older members: Learn about food subsidies

    Look at how your government’s policies on this subject may affect other countries. Share your findings with your group.

  21. Older members: Learn about famines and famine theory

    Write an article about the benefits and costs of food aid. For example, food aid helps immediate hunger but it can be expensive and could harm local food production. Try to get your article published in a local newspaper.
    22. Fundraising idea! Find out the daily wage in one of our featured countries. Raise funds by doing various events such as holding a cake sale to raise the equivalent of the daily wage for each member of your group.

  22. Older members: Commercial/community debate

    Split the group into ‘commercial’ and ‘community’, and hold a debate on the actions taken by local governments, businesses or individuals which could affect people’s access to food. Think about limited access to food through environmental damage versus the country’s need to grow economically. How would this affect the local community?

Your comments

View oldest comments first View oldest comments first

Marian - 8 February 2010 - 3.59AM (GMT)

Thanks so much for the wonderful ideas here. I am a first year leader of 19 girls in a combined Daisy/Brownie Troop and I like that there are many different age appropriate activities to raise their awareness. Keep it coming!

Marsha - 7 February 2010 - 3.25PM (GMT)

World Thinking Day is such a great way for Girl Scouts and all people to celebrate not only the differences between countries but find we are not so different after all in the most important characteristic: We care about our fellow human beings.

Michelle - 2 February 2010 - 12.34AM (GMT)

Hi Cheryl from Ontairio...THis is Michelle from Maryland, USA. We are celebrating World Thinking Day and representing Canada...
What sort of games do you play? What activities do you do in the meetings?

Karin Poppe - 27 January 2010 - 7.03PM (GMT)

Please have more of this wonderful information available in a .pdf format for ease of downloading to share with our troops & girls

Susan - 25 January 2010 - 11.57PM (GMT)

Now that I have returned to Guifding and I am the leader in charge (Brown Owl), it's great that there is web sites like this one that help us out.

Cath Narey - 21 January 2010 - 6.34PM (GMT)

Excellent ideas, great for sharing with my Brownie Unit for Thinking Day.

U.Savas Baran - 15 January 2010 - 6.15AM (GMT)

I understood that any children can make activities on Thinking day badge
This will help the promotion of this great movement and promote its mission to much wider student group in schools and other guide scout organizations
congrulations. Specially on this days with rthe disaster in Haiti

kathy williams - 11 January 2010 - 7.33PM (GMT)

this is a very infomative site! I was researching for WTD activities for my Daisy troop (I am a first year leader) and am trying to be prepared in advance with activity ideas. This site has many I plan on reviewing with my co-leader for our Febuary meetings. thanks so much!A question: Is there a way to contact GS or Guides from countries other than the USA for penpals at the Daisy/Rainbow level? I thought this activity might also bring awareness of the rest of the world to the youngest GG/GS's.

Renee - 9 January 2010 - 1.12PM (GMT)

What a great way to involve girls in thinking beyond their borders. Our troop is very excited to be a part of such a large movement. Dayton, OH

Tiresha Turman - 8 January 2010 - 5.11PM (GMT)

Thanks for a great site. My troop is getting prepared for World Thinking 2010.

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