Other diseases activities

Here is a list of the activities to help you celebrate World Thinking Day and earn a World Thinking Day badge. You can download the PDF version of this sheet from the bottom of this page.

1. Dehydration-rehydration. As around 65 per cent of the human body is made up of water it’s important to stay hydrated. Find out what happens when the body becomes dehydrated. Make up this home-made recipe for a oral rehydration solution and give a small amount to the rest of the group to taste: Mix one teaspoon of salt, eight teaspoons of sugar and one litre of clean water together until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.

    

2. Invite a doctor or other medical professional to attend your meeting. Hold a ‘question and answer’ session about one or more of the diseases listed.

    

3. FUNDRAISER: Create a quiz of fun and serious questions about different countries that have Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting organizations. Hold a quiz night and charge for entry and refreshments.

    

4. Think about a situation where a family might find one of its members suffering from one of the diseases. Produce a puppet show or short play to illustrate the situation and how it could be prevented. Perform it to an audience of your group and the wider community.

    

5. Design a poster to illustrate how malnutrition, unsafe water and diarrhoea are linked. Display it where members of your community will see it.

    

6. Coughs and Sneezes game. Give each participant a small handful of tiny bits of paper (confetti, hole-punch waste, etc.) which she must keep in her pocket. Stand about one meter apart. Tap two participants on their shoulders – these are the infected people. The infected people put some paper in their hands and blow them towards the other players, pretending to cough and sneeze at the same time. If the paper falls on another player, they must do the same. Continue for several minutes or until everyone is infected. Discuss how pneumonia and tuberculosis are caught and why some people are more susceptible than others.

    

7. In small groups, discuss why vaccines are important and what barriers might prevent children from being vaccinated. Illustrate this in a role play.

    

8. FUNDRAISER: Choose a country where one of these diseases is a major danger. Learn more about the lives of the people living there. Hold a cultural event using their food and costumes to raise money for WAGGGS’ health projects.

    

9. Draw a funny cartoon to highlight the importance of washing your hands. Cover it in protective plastic and display it in a bathroom or kitchen in your community.

    

10. Find out who has had measles amongst your friends and family. Discuss the symptoms and treatments.

     

11. Choose a disease that is present in your community or country. Learn more about it and then design a poster to highlight its causes and treatment.

     

12. For older members: Stay Healthy story. Give each person a strip of paper with some words at the top. They must use the words in the first paragraph of a story, finishing the paragraph with the words ‘and then…’. Each participant folds over the paper so no one can see their part of the story and passes it on to the next person who continues the story incorporating the words they were given. After the story has been passed around four times, finish the paragraph with ‘and finally….’. When the story is finished, unfold the paper and read it aloud to the rest of the group. Here are the starting words: CLEAN WATER, GOOD FOOD, VACCINES THAT PROTECT ME, FRIENDS WHO SUPPORT ME, SAFE HOME.

     

13. For older members: Don’t just think – speak out about the spread of disease. Use the WAGGGS’ Advocacy Toolkit to organize a campaign and plan your advocacy project.