 | Brownies Girl Guides: Encyclopedia - Brownies Girl Guides
Brownies (Girl Guides)
Brownies is the name given to the junior branch of the Girl Guides, and dates back to 1915.
The group was started by Agnes Baden-Powell (Lord Baden-Powell's sister) in 1914. Originally the girls were called Rosebuds, but were renamed by Lord Baden-Powell. Their name comes from a story by Juliana Horatia Ewing, written in 1870. In the story two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful Brownies or lazy boggarts.
Brownie packs are divided into groups called sixes. Each six has either the name of a fairy creature (Leprechauns, Pixies, Elf, Kelpie, Bwbacod, Ghillie-Dhu, Gnome, Imp, Sprite ) or a woodland animal (rabbit, hedgehog, fox, badger, mole, squirrel). One girl is in charge of the six - the Sixer. Another girl helps her - the Seconder.
Activities Brownies undertake vary between Packs. Most will play games, work towards badges, make things, cook, go on trips and holidays, camps etc.
Brownie uniforms are brown, yellow and blue. The girls can choose from a variety of different uniform items. In Canada, the uniforms have recently changed from the traditional all brown (with choices including brown t-shirts, sweaters, sashes cargo pants or skirts, along with extras such as camp hats) to dark orange with a navy sash, as in the older girl guides.
The Guiding movement in the United Kingdom remains popular - one third of all 8 year old girls in the UK are Brownies. Many Packs have long waiting lists and struggle to find enough adult volunteers to cope with demand.
When a person does nice favors for another (especially for an authority figure), the person can be said to earn brownie points, a phrase which may have originated from the reward system used in the Girl Guides' junior branch.
Category: Scouting
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Brownies Girl Guides", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
