Activities. The Best Day Ever with. Save the planet. Busy bees. You will need:

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1 The Best Day Ever with Activities In The Best Day Ever game on the Rainbows website, Polly Pocket and Olivia had an amazing day out of doors with the Rainbows. They hunted for insects, talked about the environment and had a picnic. These activities explore the themes of the game. Why not try them with your Rainbows? Save the planet Reduce, reuse, recycle. Have the Rainbows heard about these three simple ways of helping their planet? a collection of items to help you discuss how waste can be reduced, such as plastic bottles, old cans, newspapers, an apple paper and pens Before the meeting, find out about recycling facilities in your area. If possible, get pictures of the places and the different sorts of recycling bins or bags that are used locally. As a unit, talk about why we should try not to create too much rubbish. Rubbish is ugly. Rubbish can harm creatures and plants. The more rubbish we make, the more land we need, to make landfill sites to dispose of it. Talk about the items that you have brought in and how they can be reduced, reused or recycled. Reduce the number of carrier bags that are needed by using heavy duty ones or taking your own bags to the shops. Reuse waste in as many ways as possible, such as making notepads from scrap paper or decorating boxes to make pretty containers. Explain what recycled paper is used for, or tell Rainbows that some pencils, rulers and even clothes are made from recycled plastic cups and bottles! Busy bees This game will get the Rainbows busy buzzing! The Rainbows should run around the room, buzzing like bees. A Leader calls out Busy bees stick together in... and then a number. The girls have to get into groups of that number. Any Rainbow who isn t in a group is out. Keep playing till the Rainbows are tired! You could make this harder by calling out different instructions, eg: Busy bees stick together with their right arms. The Rainbows can then design a poster for their home showing different aspects of reduce, reuse and recycle.

2 Ladybird hunt This is a colourful way to enjoy ladybirds. 1. Each Rainbow colours her ladybird template, or decorates it as a collage. Explain that both halves of the ladybird should be the same, but the Rainbows can choose the number of spots they put on it. You may need to tell them that their ladybird will be cut in half. 2. Cut each ladybird in half. Hide one of the halves around the meeting area or in an area outside. 3. Give each Rainbow one half of a ladybird and tell them to find the other half. a collection of items to help you discuss how waste can be reduced, such as plastic bottles, old cans, newspapers, an apple paper and pens collage materials, such as coloured paper and glue a ladybird template for each Rainbow Talk to the Rainbows about how ladybirds are loved by gardeners as they eat bugs and insects that harm some garden flowers. Ladybird template

3 Bug action Get the Rainbows warmed up with this lively game. 1. Explain the different bug actions to the Rainbows (see list). Get them to practise each one in turn. 2. The Rainbows find a space to stand. Each time the name of a bug is called out they should do the right action. Raise everyone s heart rate by calling out the names quite quickly! Ladybird lodge Build a home for nature s best pest controller! Bees: Buzz around with small arm movements for the wings. Butterflies: Sit cross-legged on the floor and use your bent legs to mimic butterfly wings. Caterpillars: On your tummy, move by stretching your arms out with your feet and legs catching up. Centipede: In groups of four, hold each other at the waist and walk together in a chain. Daddy-long-legs: Walk on all fours like a crab. Dragonfly: Fly about with big arm movements for the wings. Grasshopper: Do bunny hops. Ladybird: Lie on your back and wave your arms and legs in the air. Millipede: Like the centipede, but the whole Rainbow unit forms the chain. 1. Hunt around your garden or local park for pieces of bark. Don t pull any bits off trees, and take care not to disturb anything that may already be living in or on the bark! 3. Make two small holes in the side of the bottle. Thread some string through the holes and tie in a loop. 4. Line the bottle with the cardboard, leaving the open end clear. 2. Carefully cut off the top of the detergent bottle. 5. Fill the bottle with the bark pieces. large detergent bottle (thoroughly washed) strong scissors string cardboard (corrugated is best) pieces of bark 6. Hang the ladybird home facing north (out of direct morning sunlight) on a tree or post near a hedge, some plants or a vegetable patch. Leave it undisturbed ladybirds like a peaceful home.

4 Bug badges Rainbows can make a badge with a difference! 1. Cut a circle of tissue paper slightly larger than the bottle lid. 2. Put glue onto the outside of the lid and inside the rim. Cover the lid with tissue paper and push the edges inside the lid. Leave to dry. 3. Decorate with a bug design, using the pens. 4. Attach a pin or brooch back to the rim of the lid with glue. plastic tops from milk or water bottles coloured tissue paper felt-tip pens brooch back or safety pin PVA glue Safety note: Be careful with the sharp points on brooch backs and safety pins. Be safe Mini bug trail This quiet game can be played indoors or outdoors. 1. Draw or find pictures of six to eight different types of insects (see The Best Day Ever activity sheet for Rainbows on the Rainbows website for pictures). You will need a copy of each type of insect for every Rainbow, plus one extra, so it may be quicker to photocopy the pictures. Put a set of insect pictures into each envelope. Stick one picture of an insect onto the lid of each plastic tub. 4. When a Rainbow finds a tub she puts the right picture inside and moves away so no one knows it s there. Tell the girls that it s important to be quiet so as not to disturb the insects! 5. The winner is the first girl to find a home for all her insects and come back with an empty envelope. 6 8 empty margerine tubs with a picture of an insect on the lid. an envelope for each Rainbow with one picture of each insect inside 2. Hide the tubs around the meeting place or outside area. 3. Give each girl an envelope with a set of insect cards inside. Then give the Rainbows ten minutes to move quietly around the area looking for homes for their insects. Safety note: If you do this activity outside you must do a risk assessment. Check for litter or fouling by dogs. Position your adult team so that all the tubs can be seen by them but not by the Rainbows. Be safe

5 The Best Day Ever with Activities Polly Pocket has joined Olivia s Rainbows, and they ve had the best day ever! Share the fun with these activities. Ant Butterfly Minibeast hunt Polly and Olivia hunted for minibeasts. Minibeasts are small creatures without a backbone or skeleton. Butterflies, moths, centipedes, spiders, snails and worms are all minibeasts that you might find. They are everywhere! With an adult you know, find a patch of grass in a safe area. Lay a hoop on the grass and see what minibeasts you can find inside it. If you have a magnifying glass you can take a closer look, but don t touch minibeasts or pick them up. If you don t know what they are, use these pictures to help, or look in a book. Snail Centipede Worm Try putting your hoop in other places under trees, on some mud, even on the beach! Do you see the same minibeasts? Spider Wood louse Litterbugs! Polly, Olivia and the Rainbows talked about putting their rubbish away so that it doesn t become litter. Litter makes the environment look untidy and can be dangerous to people and animals. Have you heard of Reduce, reuse, recycle? Reduce means not throwing so much rubbish away. Reuse means using things again, like using an empty jar to keep your pencils in. Recycle means turning rubbish into other useful things. If everyone did their best to reduce, reuse and recycle, there would be less rubbish and litter. Hi! I m Polly Pocket. Ask an adult to get you a selection of clean litter, like plastic bottles, small cardboard boxes or foil containers. Use the litter to make a litterbug! It can look however you want it to. Maybe it will have two heads, eight legs or a funny face! When you have finished, make sure you recycle the leftover litter.

6 Polly s picnic Polly, Olivia and the Rainbows had a picnic on their day out. Why not try these easy recipes and have a picnic of your own? Spider cakes Cut the strawberry laces into eight short lengths. Turn the chocolate teacake over and use chocolate spread to stick eight laces onto the flat side. Picnic pinwheels Cut the crusts off a slice of bread. Flatten the bread with a rolling pin. Spread it thinly with the filling of your choice. Carefully roll the bread up so it looks like a Swiss roll. Cut the roll into four slices. a chocolate marshmallow tea cake strawberry laces a knife chocolate spread two small sweets or raisins for eyes Turn the spider over again and put it on a plate. Use chocolate spread to stick on two eyes. a slice of bread a knife a rolling pin sandwich filling (something soft like cream cheese) Rainbow kebabs Ask an adult to cut up the vegetables and fruit into bite-sized pieces. Push them onto a skewer with the cheese cubes to make a tasty no-cook kebab. raw vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes, cucumber and different coloured peppers cubes of cheese canned or fresh fruit, such as pineapple chunks wooden skewers Fruity lollies Peel a banana and cut it in half. Push a lolly stick into the flat end. Dip it into the yogurt and then roll it in the crushed cornflakes. Eat your lolly straight away! a banana a knife lolly sticks yogurt in a bowl crushed cornflakes on a plate