By Sophie Miller, publicity officer for Helensburgh Girl Guides

With the “kids bubble” opening, Helensburgh Guides thought it was time to share some of our secrets to keep the adventurous and wild ones happy.

MasterChef nights have always been a big hit at Guides, even if they do involve extra prep. Rather than a whole mystery box, we choose a mystery ingredient and set up a “pantry”. We try to choose something in-season and a little unfamiliar to the kids, herbs are a great choice. Previously we’ve done a rosemary mystery box that was a big hit, as well as one with peas and parsley. 

We split the girls into small groups which we call patrols, but this can also be an individual challenge depending on numbers. 

While endless creativity is always encouraged, we cheat a little by printing out five or six recipes with common on-hand ingredients to guide them. We give the girls a timeframe to choose a recipe in their patrol while we lay out the ground rules. They must read the whole recipe first before assigning tasks amongst themselves, follow hygiene rules, do all cooking and cleaning themselves and they must try whatever they make. They require some supervision if sharp knives or heat sources are used and need help to interpret the recipe at times, but you will be surprised how capable they are. And the best part is you get to be the judge,
or you can outsource like we do!

If you ever see one of our Guides in Coles on a Friday night looking a bit manic there’s a chance they are doing another one of our favourites: $10, 10-minute picnic. This is more suitable for the older guides and can be run as groups or individuals. The rules are simple: they have $10 per course – entree, mains and dessert and it must feed at least four people. They are given 10 minutes to plan and 10 minutes in Coles to grab their ingredients. We then travel to a picnic spot – usually Stanwell Park Beach – where the picnic is held. Cups, plates and drinks are not included in their budget. 

As leaders we find that MasterChef and our picnic challenges provide opportunities for the girls to try new things and learn or master a range of skills that are fundamental to the Australian Guide Program, such as: Practical (budgeting, shopping, chopping, cooking); People (working with others; teamwork) and Self (leadership, tasting new things, learning/mastering a new skill). Above all they have fun while doing it and amaze themselves (and us) with their results.

Stay safe, everyone. We are hoping to be back to Guiding in term 4.