Activities for the Trackers

Compulsion: compulsory

Objective: after finishing the starting activity the scout has learned new things about Uganda, #NoMissedSchoolDays project’s partnership country.

Description: The meaning of this starting activity is to familiarize the participants with Uganda, the country where The Guides and Scouts of Finland together with Uganda Girl Guides Association and Uganda Scouts Association have a co-operational project. The aim of this project is to increase equality and decrease the number of girls dropping out of school due to menstruation. This activity intends also to create a safe environment for the scouts through common rules.

The group starts to complete the #NMSD scout badge by exploring Uganda and by creating its own #NMSD rules. The first step for the group is to make the #NMSD rules and do the “Get to know Uganda” activities, which are both mandatory. After completing these activities, the group can proceed to its own age section’s activities.

1. The group’s #NMSD rules

You can find the instructions for this in the Scout leader’s manual (section directions for the #NoMissedSchoolDays activities).

2. Get to know Uganda (duration approx. 1 hour)

The scout leader prints out the map of Africa and the Ugandan flag, and cuts them into pieces (for example into eight pieces). The pieces are then hidden around the meeting place / appointed area and the participants will look for them. After this the participants will assemble the puzzles. Can the participants recognize Uganda’s flag or find the country in the map? The group will mark Uganda in the map and think about what they already know about the country.

The group gets to know Uganda as a country. This activity can be held in a library or as a playful information retrieval competition to find out the answers. Imagination is allowed! The group will find out the answers to at least the following questions:

1. What is the capital of Uganda?
2. How do you recognize the Ugandan flag?
3. What is the currency used in Uganda?
4. What languages are spoken in Uganda?
5. What is the form of government in Uganda?
6. Who is the ruler in Uganda?
7. What animal species live in Uganda?
8. What is the time difference between Finland and Uganda?

Answers to the questions and some additional information about Uganda:

1. Capital: Kampala (1.5 million inhabitants)
2. flag: there are three colours in the flag, which represent Ugandans (black), the sun (yellow) and brotherhood (red). In the flag there are six horizontal stripes and, in the middle, a grey crowned crane.
3. currency: Ugandan shilling
4. languages: English, Swahili (in addition Luganda and local languages)
5. form of government: republic
6. President Yoweri Museveni (2021)
7. animal species: for example. mountain gorilla, chimpanzee, lion, leopard, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus, crocodile, rhino…
8. Time zone: UTC+3 (so 1 hour before Finnish wintertime and same time in the summer)

If the group wants, they can gather all the material and information from this activity and write them down on a big cardboard (e.g., glue the map and the flag, write the answers to the questions, draw and colour animals, cut pictures of fruit from advertisements etc.) and leave the poster on display on the wall of the meeting place.

3. Ugandan skills -activity (duration: approx. 1 meeting/ per skill)

The group continues to get to know Uganda, the partnership country of the project, by learning new skills. They can make either paper beads or traditional Ugandan food. The group, if they want and have enough time, do both activities.

Option 1: Ugandan paper beads

Ugandans make beautiful beads from waste paper. These beads employ dozens of people and bring livelihood to hundreds. They are sold in many countries and for example in Finnish online stores for crafts. The group can also get to know Caring Hands, an association that operates in Finland, among other countries, and focuses on improving employment in Uganda. www.caringhandsfinland.fi

On the internet the group can find different types of instructions to make the beads by using keywords like “paper beads”. If the long beads seem too much work, the group can make earrings or a bracelet! Between the paper beads you can also put other kinds of beads that you have in hand at the meeting place, like for example wooden beads.

Examples for instructions:

https://www.martat.fi/marttakoulu/kasityoohjeet/kierratys/paperihelmet/ 

https://kotiliesi.fi/kasityo/samba-paperihelmet/ 

Option 2: Ugandan meal

The group prepares a Ugandan meal and enjoys it together. There are two recipe options: Rolex, a Ugandan omelette roll or Matoke (mashed plantain) with peanut stew. The group can choose the recipe they prefer or that suits them best. The recipes have a lot to do even for bigger groups as long as you divide tasks for everyone.

Put on some Ugandan music in the background while you are cooking or enjoying the meal!

Recipe 1: Rolex-omelette with chapati bread

Rolex is a classic Ugandan street food in which a vegetable omelette is rolled together with chapati bread into a delicious snack. Rolex is suitable for breakfast, lunch or even an evening snack!

The group can also, if they prefer so, watch a Ugandan man prepare a rolex in his street kitchen for a customer (4 min.). Notice the man’s skilful knife handling but do use a knife only against a chopping board! https://vimeo.com/70917638 

1. do first the Rolex (6 pcs)

•       1 red onion
•       2 plum tomatoes
•       3 dl shredded white cabbage
•       3 carrots
•       1 green pepper

Start by peeling the carrots and chopping the tomatoes and the pepper into slices or small cubes. Grate the cabbage and carrots by using the biggest blade of the grater or for example with a peeler. Mix the vegetables and take six big tablespoons of the mixture and save them for a later phase. Chop the onion into fine cubes but do not mix it with the vegetables yet.

2. then do the chapati breads.

•       7dl of flour
•       3 ½ dl water
•       1 teaspoon of salt

Prepare the chapati breads. Measure the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt. Add water gradually while mixing the dough until it's smooth. Roll the dough into a bar on a floured table and divide it into six pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and roll them out into a few millimetres’ thick pancakes, that are just a little smaller than the frying pan in use. Heat the pan and fry the chapati breads one-by-one on both sides until they have brown spots on the surface. The first side will cook in about four minutes, the other side in about two. Move the prepared breads under a cloth to wait.

3. finally prepare the omelette mixture

•       12 eggs
•       salt
•       oil for frying

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk them with a fork. Add the chopped onion and most of the vegetables. Season with salt. Pour 1/6 of the egg mixture into an oiled frying pan. Make sure that every omelette has both eggs and vegetables. Flatten the omelette into the frying pan and let it cook until golden brown. Flip the omelette carefully. Lift the omelette on top of a chapati bread and spread on top a tablespoon of the fresh vegetables that were moved aside to wait in the beginning. Add a pinch of salt if you wish and roll it into a wrap.

Fry and fill the rest of the wraps.

Recipe 2: plantain puree with peanut stew

In this meal you prepare puree from plantains and peanut stew.

Instructions for the plantain puree:

Matoke is puree prepared from plantain and is a traditional everyday food in Uganda. It is served by itself with sauce or as a side with either meat, chicken, or fish meals. You can find plantains in Finland at the fruit and vegetable section in well-equipped grocery stores.

The group can watch a video of a Ugandan woman preparing plantains. The English video (7,5 min) is available on Youtube.

Matoke (4 persons)

•       6 plantains
•       ½ dl milk or plant-based cream
•       2 tps butter or margarine
•       salt and grounded white pepper

Boil the plantain. Put the plantains into a pot with peels on and pour water on top of them until they are covered. Boil them under the lid for 25-30 minutes. Take the plantains out of the water and let them cool until you can peel them. Mash the plantains. Add milk or plant-based cream, butter or margarine and season with salt and white pepper. Attention be aware that white pepper is a strong spice! You can heat matoke before dining.

Peanut stew (4-6 persons)

•       1 onion
•       1 small, sweet pepper
•       1 crushed garlic
•       salt, pepper, paprika powder, chili
•       7 ½ dl vegetable stock
•       1 carrot
•       1 small sweetpotato
•       2 tomatoes (chopped) or equivalent amount of canned tomatoes
•       2 ½ dli peanut butter

1. Peel the carrot, the onion and the sweet potato. Slice up the vegetables.
2. Mix all ingredients except the peanut butter in a pot
3. Boil on a mild temperature until cooked
4. Lower the temperature, add the peanut butter, and let simmer for a couple of minutes.

Stir often while it cooks.

Compulsion: Compulsory

Before instructing this activity, remember to recall the instructions in the #NMSD-scout leaders guide and repeat the #NMSD-rules with your group. In this way you make sure that you and your group have safe, including and comfortable scout activity.

Goal: The adventurer knows the products related to menstruation and their uses. Getting to know products everyday breaks the taboos and prejudices associated with them. After doing the activity, the adventurer understands that menstrual health products are commonplace and talking about them is natural.

Description: The activity includes three different exercises (Kim's test, Pelle Peloton game and memory game), through which the introduction of the products takes place alongside play and competition. There is enough to do for one meeting.

Duration: One meeting

Getting familiar with the products (15-30 min)

Where the activity can be done: At the meeting place or at camp

Materials: Menstrual hygiene package (pads, biodegradable pads, tampons with and without applicators, menstrual cup and cleaning products, cloth pads)

Adventurer leader procures menstrual hygiene products (pads, tampons (with / without applicator), a menstrual cup and its detergents / instructions for use, cloth pads) for the group and places them on the floor or table that is visible to everyone. All members of the group stand around the products. The products and their uses are reviewed, after which Kim's test is played. Most commonly, Kim’s test has objects that are only visible for a short time. After that, the test subjects must remember what objects were on display and / or in what order they were. After playing Kim’s test, there is an unloading discussion of the activity.

Kim’s test can be carried out in many ways. In addition to visual attention, memory based on, for example, hearing or touch can be tested. Kim’s story is considered a traditional scout story, so if Kim’s story is unfamiliar to adventurers or there is otherwise plenty of time, adventurer leader will read Kim’s story to adventurers first.

Kim's story

Kim, aka Kimball O’Hara, was the son of a sergeant of an Irish regiment serving in India. Kim’s parents died when he was an infant and he was left in the care of his aunt. All of his playmates were indigenous and through it he became familiar with their language and customs. Kim befriended an old wandering priest and traveled all over North India on his journey.

One day he happened to meet his father’s old regiment marching and as a curious character decided to visit their camp. Initially, when soldiers found Kim investigating the camp, he was arrested on suspicion of theft. As the soldiers' investigation proved Kim to be the son of a former regiment, the regiment took Kim into their care and raised him. All his free time, however, Kim dressed in Indian outfits and spent his time among the locals as one of them.

After a while, Kim became acquainted with, among other things, Mr. Lurgan, who was not only a merchant of old gems and other rarities, but also a government spy. The jeweler soon noticed Kim’s extensive knowledge of the customs and habits of the local population and realized that he could train Kim to be a handy helper for the government’s secret service. To train Kim, Mr. Lurgan gave Kim various attention tasks and advised him to memorize even the smallest details. The jeweler started by showing Kim a tray of different gems and let Kim look at them for a minute.

He then covered the tray with a cloth and asked Kim to tell how many stones there were on the tray and to describe them. At first, Kim only remembered a few gems, and couldn’t describe them very accurately, but after a while of practice, he learned to remember an amazing amount of detail. The same was true of many other objects presented to him in this way. After a wide range of training, Kim became a member of the secret intelligence service and was given a secret token for his job with a neck locket with a phrase inscribed in a special way.

The story is based on Rudyard Kipling’s original story and is adapted from the B-P’s Scout Boy’s book from 1961. Based on Kim’s adventures, Baden-Powell got the idea for that teaching method and began using it as part of scout education.

After the activity (approx. 15min)

Next, the products are gathered together again and assembled around them. Adventurers are allowed to ask questions related to the products. The purpose is to make adventurers realize that mind-boggling questions are allowed to be asked. In addition, the adventurer gets information about menstrual hygiene products as well as the opportunity to discuss them in a safe environment.

•       Have you seen such products somewhere, for example at home?
•       What kind of menstrual pads could you ask for if you or a friend, for example, needed one at school? What about at home or in scouts?
•       With whom can you and could you talk about menstruation?

Pelle Peloton, approx. 30min

Adventurers are divided into pairs or small groups. Each group is given a menstrual hygiene product and given about 5-10 minutes to come up with an alternative name and purpose for the product. At the end of the time, each pair / small group in turn introduces the new product and its name to the others. The purpose of the activity is to lighten the atmosphere and create opportunities for wonder and discussion.

Fun to know: The precursor of the tampon was invented according to stories in ancient Egypt? A roll of papyrus was then used, which was softened by soaking in Nile River water. The first menstrual pads were developed in France in the early 20th century by nurses. Nurses worked in military hospitals during World War I and invented the use of cellulose bandages for wound dressing as menstrual pads.

Memory game (approx. 15min)

Adventurers play in pairs or small groups a memory game related to menstrual hygiene products, which can be found in the material bank.

Information about menstruation and menstrual protectives:

• Today, women's menstruation begins earlier and lasts longer. Everyone’s need for protectives is personal and varies over a lifetime. For example, childbirth or heavy menstruation increase the need to use menstrual pads.
• A person wearing disposable menstrual pads can wear tens of thousands of pads over their lifetime. They can also cost up to thousands of euros over a person's lifetime. In Uganda, the price of one package of menstrual hygiene products can be up to a week’s salary.
• In countries in the global south (located mainly in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean), girls may have to be out of school for up to one-fifth of the school year due to their period. In Finland, this would mean an absence from school of about two months. Such time has a significant impact on learning. In countries in the global south, menstrual pads may not be affordable, not available, or schools do not have adequate sanitation facilities to provide menstrual hygiene.
• Non-biodegradable menstrual pads remain in the ecosystem even longer when worn by the wearer. In the absence of adequate sanitation (e.g. rubbish bins), menstrual pads cause significant inconvenience when clogging drains, thus increasing maintenance costs.

Compulsion: Compulsory

Before instructing this activity, remember to recall the instructions in the #NMSD-scout leaders guide and repeat the #NMSD-rules with your group. In this way you make sure that you and your group have safe, including and comfortable scout activity.

Description: The purpose of the activity is to introduce adventurers to taking care of menstrual hygiene in scouting. After doing the activity, the adventurer knows how it is possible to take care of menstrual hygiene at the camp site and knows that taking care of menstrual hygiene is possible and important also during the trip. The intention is for the adventurer to know that there are leaders in the local group who they can talk to safely on trips and camps. The aim of the activity is also to draw the attention of the leaders and the local group to the possibilities of taking care of menstrual hygiene in camping conditions. Talking about the topic in scouting helps to reduce the taboos associated with menstruation as well as reduce the feelings of shame associated with it, among other things. The purpose is to make menstruation a daily and normal thing, even in scouting and on camps. Menstruation should not prevent you from local group trips and camps.

Goal: The adventurer knows that it is safe to talk about menstruation to the leaders in the camp and that the local group is prepared for the menstruation of the campers.

(Attention to the leader: One of the goals of the activity is also to develop the activities of the local group, so the leader should get acquainted with the situation in his / her own local group before arranging the activity and agree with the other leaders of the local group).

Duration: Approximately 1 hour.

Where it can be done: The activity takes place at the local group’s Kämppä?? or other camp destination.

• It is a good idea to start the activity with an exercise game where you can release energy. An example is a toilet seat tag, where the tagger catches other children in a confined area. When the tagger catches the player by touching, he/she stays in the kneeling position and raises the hand up and shouts “toilet seat”. Other players can save him/her by sitting in the “toilet seat” on the friend’s knee and pulling the toilet, i.e. lowering the friend’s hand.

Instructions for the activity:

The adventurers are divided into pairs (or groups of three if necessary). Pairs are given tags that say “toilet,” “toilet queue begins,” “washroom,” and “waste disposal.” The pairs go to attach the tags to the places where they think they are. It doesn’t matter if no place was found for all the tags, they will be discussed later as the activity progresses.

After this, the adventurers gather again and go around the campsite together (taking into account the toilets, washing facilities and waste disposal), considering how the care of menstrual hygiene in the camping conditions is arranged at the campsite. After the leader has gone through the campsite with the adventurers, the group discusses together what is needed to maintain menstrual hygiene in the camps and how the hygiene has been taken care of in their own campsite. The group discusses how to work on an trips, camp, or hike if your period falls at the same time with them.

The group discusses the following matters with the leader’s guidance:

• Where on the trip can the menstrual pads be changed and how others should be allowed time in peace in the toilet and remember to queue further away from the toilet.
• How can you wash at the campsite if necessary and what is needed for it? Can washing be done in the sauna? If there are no separate washrooms, what is needed to maintain hygiene (e.g. hygienic wipes)? It is important that others allow others to wash alone if necessary, if there is space and opportunity. This is important to note in all camping activities whether you were menstruating or not.
• Where can products be disposed of?
• What to do if your period starts unexpectedly?
• What to do on hike during menstruation?

The group can watch the #NMSD International Menstrual Day (May 28) remote activity on Instagram, which allows everyone to assemble a menstrual hygiene kit, or a “period bag” at home for scout camping during menstruation. The group can also agree to make a period bag as part of a group meeting or outing.

Compulsion: compulsory.

Before leading the activity, please recall the #NMSD leader instructions and review the groups #NMSD rules. This way you can ensure the environment for this activity is safe, nice and considerate of others.

Objective: the tracker reflects on a deeper level their own relationship to the themes of this project by means of creative expression. The tracker understands the means of influencing that are used in social media campaigns and can create their own content about a topic they have learned.

Description: the group designs and carries out their own campaign related to menstrual health and the #NoMissedSchoolDays project. The objective is to generate discussion in their community.

Duration: approximately two meetings (+ preparation time at home)

Location: meeting place or the hut

The leader’s task: before starting the activity, the leader will get to know social media campaigns and elements related to them. They will help the trackers to plan the idea and execution, in addition to time management. They are responsible for making sure that common timetable and goals are respected. The leader will find out if the campaign can be published in the local group’s or district’s social media.

Instructions for the activity:

First meeting: Before starting to plan the campaign, the group will research different organizations’ or public social media campaigns (e.g. Hunger Day, Finland Red Cross, Finn Church Aid) and instructions on social media behaviour (from for example the Guides and Scouts of Finland’s website). At this point it is also important to map out the skillset of the group and time reserved for the activity: do not make it too complicated but keep the activity simple.

Next the group will plan the general content of the campaign. It can include blog posts, Instagram posts, videos, or anything the group comes up with! At the end of the meeting the group will divide tasks among the members.

Between the meetings: the group members can plan their own parts of the campaign and start preparing them.

Second meeting: the trackers will work on their social media campaign together in base of feedback given by others. In the end all the work done is put together.

If the local group or the district have their own social media, the trackers or in case the leaders should be in contact with the people responsible for communications. When the group shares the campaign online, remember to tag #NoMissedSchoolDays so everyone else can see the amazing campaigns! Blog Posts and pictures can also be sent to be published on the project website. Planned campaigns do not have to be published anywhere if the group does not want to.

Compulsion: Voluntary

Before leading the activity, remember the instructions on the #NMSD leader’s guide and go through once again the common rules of the group. This way you can ensure the environment for this activity is safe, nice and considerate of others.

Objective: the tracker thinks about taboos and myths regarding menstruation and gender stereotypes through plays.

Description: in the first year (2019), the project conducted an initial mapping where members of the community, teachers and pupils were interviewed about taboos regarding menstruations, and how they affect school attendance. In this activity the trackers will be introduced to the results of these interviews and reflect the subject through them.

Duration: about 1 hour / one meeting

Location: meeting place or the hut

Leader’s tasks: the leader prepares to the activity by reading carefully through both the citations and getting to know the #NoMissedSchoolDays project. By doing so, it is easier to lead the conversation. The leader prints out the plays (7 pcs) and cuts them out ready for the activity. The leader also prints out the “leader’s scenes” which have those scenes marked that should be discussed together. The plays should be laminated or covered in other means, if they will be used by multiple groups or outdoors.

During the activity:

the leader will explain to the scouts that in the first year of the #NoMissedSchoolDays project conducted a research in which many members of the community, teachers and students were interviewed. In this activity the tracker will get to act different scenarios from these interviews and discuss the subject through the plays. These scenes are written based on the interviews, so they are based on reality.

The leader’s task is to lead the conversation and encourage the participants to really think about the subject. They make sure that everyone’s opinions are heard and respected. In addition, they make sure that the subject is dealt with in a sensitive manner.

Practical instructions:

The leader divides the group into two. The groups pick between seven different scenes. Each group uses a certain amount of time to practise the scene and then acts out them to others. The plays include some false information, believes and stereotypes related to menstruations. The other groups should always shout “STOP” once they notice a false information in the play. When someone has shouted “STOP”, the group then discussed together why “STOP” has been shouted and how the scene should be fixed. The leader works as the supervisor and a director. In addition, they hold on to the scenes (see below) that have those parts marked in which “STOP” should be shouted. If no one shouted “STOP” when it was necessary, the leaders would have to stop the scene and start a conversation.

Both groups will act as actors and spectators.

Instructions and helpful phrases for the leader of the activity:

During the play:

•       Why did you shout STOP?
•       Why was this a belief / stereotype / false information?
•       What does everyone else think about this?

The manuscripts and the leader’s instructions are below.

Compulsion: voluntary. Before leading the activity, remember the instructions on the #NMSD leader’s guide and go through once again the common rules of the group. This way you can ensure the environment for this activity is safe, nice, and considerate of others.

Objective: After finishing the trackers will understand how narrow and harmful gender stereotypes are and are able to think about their influence and consequences through the images presented in the media. The tracker understands that the image and point of view created and used by the media has a strong influence on what is considered in society. This activity provides means to analyse these in a more critical manner.

Description: Media often presents gender in a one-sided manner which can influence the perception of what is considered normal and desired. These perceptions hide behind them many different identities and experiences. In this activity the trackers investigate the way gender roles are perceived and described in different media. Through different sources they think about stereotypes and the harmful consequences to an individual.

Duration: approximately a couple of hours.

Location: the meeting place or the hut.

The leader’s task:

Before the activity: for the sake of this activity, it is vitally important that the leader looks into and refreshes their knowledge about gender diversity (see for example the link below). When handling gender stereotypes, gender diversity is often bypassed. When talking about stereotypes, diversity is an important subject to take in consideration. The leader must understand that the subject is to be dealt with sensitivity for example when it comes to the language used. During this activity, the leader must pay attention to not accidentally strengthen any stereotypes.

The leader gathers different media sources such as magazines, newspapers or advertisements, that they bring to the meeting place or hut. For this activity you need A3-size posters, glue, scissors, and colour markers.

During the activity: the leader must make sure they do not strengthen any stereotypes.

Instructions for the activity:

Start the activity with a game (see below) after which you can move on to the clip art/poster task.

The trackers are divided into small groups where they examine how different genders are presented in the media and cut pictures of different people from magazines. The pictures are then gathered on a table or on the floor for everyone to see after which the whole group settles around the pictures to look at them.

Next you analyse and discuss how the media’s image and reality differ from each other and what are the consequences for this.

In the end the group thinks about how people should be presented in an ideal world. The trackers make a poster which will then be hung on the wall of the meeting place or the hut.

Questions to support the conversation:

• What kind of female and/or male image is transmitted by the media?
•  Is gender diversity taken into consideration?
• How does the media define gender?
• What qualities are linked or not linked?
•  Who defines the way a person should and should not be and from what point of view?
• How does a certain media or a magazine (for example a women’s magazine) influence the image?
• Is the media diverse enough?
• What kinds of negative and positive consequences can the media image have?
• What is the reason for these descriptions?
• How well does the media image reflect reality? How does it differ?

Compulsion: Voluntary

Before instructing the activity, please remind yourself of the #NMSD - leader’s guide’s instructions and go through the #NMSD - ground rules. This way you will ensure a safe, considering and pleasant environment for scouting.

Objective: The adventurer understands what kind of effects menstruation can have on school attendance and this way to their future. The adventurer realizes that there are things regarding menstruation that we can identify with regardless of our origin, but also notable differences that are pronounced between high income countries (e.g. Finland) and low income countries (e.g. Uganda).

Description: The board game illustrates the life of Ugandan school children and the effect of menstruation on attending school. The aim of the game is to try and get through a school year and move onto the next grade. However, school attendance and success can become disturbed by unexpected situations, and at worst they can force one to drop off from school. After the game it is important to have a conversation about the emotions and thoughts raised during the game. If needed, the group can do some of the relaxation exercises presented in the #NMSD - leader’s guide.

You will find the #NoMissedSchoolDays - board game, game cards and the instructions for playing in the Material bank - page #NMSD-game board.

Move like… (5-10 minutes)

The group should have enough space either inside or outside for moving around freely, and agree on the area within which one can move. The leader challenges the participants to imagine themselves outside the limits of their own bodies, focus on what they are doing instead of following others, and move in the space in specific ways the leader instructs. Before moving to the next movement, the leader should allow everyone enough time to carry out the current move the way they prefer. The leader can take part by setting an example of the movements. If there are two leaders, the other one can act as an example and the other can focus on leading the exercise.

• Run in the space like an olympic athlete who’s just won the 100m sprint
• Fight like an oriental warrior
• Soar gently like a feather
• Build a gate for campsite like a scout
• Move around like a professional dancer
• Cheer like you would when Finland wins the ice hockey World Championships
• Stand in the space solid as a rock
• Box in the space like a professional boxer
• Move around just the way that feels good in this moment

Tag - toilet seat edition

The chaser tries to tag the others within a predefined space. When the chaser tags a player by touching them, the player freezes in knee stand position, lifts their other arm up and shouts ‘toilet seat’. The players who are still free can save the player in toilet seat position by sitting on their knee like they would sit on a toilet and ‘flushing the toilet’ by lowering their arm down.

The menstrual cycle

Supplies needed: Pack of menstrual pads

The game is a modified version of the traditional Finnish game ‘tervapata’. The players stand in a circle, facing the centre of the circle. The players in the circle place one hand behind their back, palm facing upwards. One of the players remains out of the circle. This player gets a pack of menstrual pads and begins to go around the circle. Once in a while they touch a hand of a player in the circle and say ‘this is not for you’. After touching a few hands, they suddenly leave the pack in one player’s hand and say ‘this is for you’. Then the two players begin to run the opposite directions around the circle, and the one who makes it back to the empty spot first gets to keep the spot. The one who got back to the spot last continues to move around the circle with the pack of menstrual pads, repeating what was done before.