Growing Up/Body Changes, Revisited!

Every year we feel like we should revisit the topic of puberty--can you really talk about it too much?!?!  The girls in our group are ages 9-12 and at varying stages of body development.  We want to make sure that they're comfortable with what's happening and have a chance to get their questions answered.  And we want to make it fun!

Before this month's meeting we gave the girls a little quiz, to see which topics needed the most re-visiting.  We were happy to see that for the most part, the girls were comfortable with how their bodies were changing, and knew what to expect.  Whew!  But we still wanted to revisit some issues relating to puberty and offer up another chance to talk about everything again.  We especially wanted to talk about bras, what to do if you get your period at school, and shaving.

Here was our plan for the December meeting:

December TAGG meeting – the body changes/puberty talk revisited!

Open with greeting each other, then a game based on Gobble Turkey Gobble:

Choose one person to be “it” – this person picks up a tampon or pad, and stands with their back to the group.  She tosses it over her head (like a bride tosses a bouquet at a wedding) and then says “Santa, are you coming this year?”  Whoever catches the pad has to say “HO HO HO!  Merry Christmas!”  Then the tosser needs to guess who caught the pad.  Switch kids and repeat!

Next is Team Relays!  Divide the girls into 2 groups.

1)  Grab a bra and some pads.  Shoot 10 pads through the air using the bra like a slingshot – the pads must travel at least 10 feet (count it out by ten big steps).  Each person on your team must shoot at least 1 pad.  Count out loud up to 10 and then gather up your pads.  Turn in 10 pads to Michelle to get your next task.
[The idea here was to get the girls comfortable with handling bras and pads.]

 2)  Choose one member of your team to be the “Period Princess” – dress her up using a combination of toilet paper, streamers, pads/tampons, and tape.  When she’s finished, parade her around the room, and be sure to have Alicia snap a picture.

[Again, a silly way to get comfortable handing tampons and pads.]

Intermission – Mom’s fashion show!

Moms walk through the room with their purses.  Each purse has a ziplock baggie hanging from the OUTSIDE of their purse, or taped to the outside of the purse – baggies will have pads, tampons, underwear in them.  So awful and embarrassing!  Only Alicia will have nothing hanging on the outside – she’ll have a “period pouch” discretely tucked into her purse.  We’ll have kids guess “which one of these is not like the others” – then have Alicia show the “period pouch" -- a small, drawstring pouch that Alicia and her girls made from fun fabrics!

3)  Each girl should choose a “period pouch” and fill it with necessary items –  a couple of pads and extra “underwear” (construction paper underwear—to be replaced with real underwear at home).  Once you have your pouches filled, make up a list of new names for the “period pouch,” and then make up a little advertisement/jingle for this new creation.  Sit down quietly and raise your hands when your team is ready.  Make sure to practice a couple of times.
[Now hopefully the girls feel not so scared about what to do if their first period comes while they are at school -- we also talked about what to do, who they could ask for help, etc.]

4)  Each girl grabs an orange and gets ready to shave it.  Each team will have 1 can of shaving cream and a few razors.  With a volunteer mom’s assistance, each girl should shave an orange – being careful not to zest the orange! – light pressure please!
[We're thinking that some girls might feel ready to shave their legs in the next year, and wanted to get them comfortable with shaving -- not that they have to start anytime soon, but in case they want to.  One girl already had!  And she shared her experience with us, too.]

5)  While you’re waiting for others to shave their oranges, write down a few questions – about body development, puberty, questions you might have, things you want to know but might be embarrassed to ask.   Write your question on a note card and fold it in half to keep it secret.  When your team has at least 7 questions, count out loud up to 7 (or higher) and deliver questions to Tricia.  She will give you supplies for the next activity.
[We like to provide opportunity for the girls to anonymously ask questions, so there's no embarrassment!  And it's always interesting to see how many girls have the SAME question!]

*We ran out of time for this next one, but it sounds hilarious, so we'll save it for another time.
6) Water color tampon painting is next!  Grab a few different size tampons, glasses of water/food coloring/watercolor paints.  Unwrap tampons, dip them in water, and use them to paint a masterpiece – no finger painting or brushes allowed!  When your painting is done, hold it up for all to see, and make sure Alicia takes pictures.

Snack time!  Pretzels, popcorn, carrots & dip, and mini-candy canes!

While we’re having snack, we’ll go through the teams’ questions, discuss some of the activities we’ve done, etc. 

Unfortunately we also ran out of time for the skits, but that's ok, because we spent lots of time talking as a group, going over questions, experiences the moms have had, etc. 

Here's what we had planned:

A couple groups of Moms will perform a sample skit – something about a girl getting her period, needing assistance, and friends coming to help her.  The skits must be 1) creative, 2) discrete when dealing with the issue, and 3) show girls supporting each other in a caring way.  Of course they can be funny, too!  The skits are designed to show the girls that all women can think of each other as sisters – and look for ways to support & help each other.

Time Management

After another summer off, we gathered together on a warm fall day to start up our beloved TAGG meetings once again. It felt so good to be together, and the room was buzzing with conversation, laughter and excitement for the year to come.

For many of the girls, this would be their last year in elementary school. Given all the opportunities and responsibilities middle school can offer, managing time and commitments could become an issue for our daughters. Thus our time management theme was created. We used a couple of games, pie charts and calendars this month to tackle this topic.

We started with a little ice breaker to get everyone loosened up...we made our own summer-themed cards for the game Headbanz. Each mom stood in front of the girls (one at a time) wearing the summer word. The girls tried to get the mom to guess what word was on their head -- only yes or no questions allowed! We encouraged the girls to incorporate some of their summer memories whilst playing. Once the mom guessed, another mom took her place. We had words like water, camping, mosquitos, sand toys, etc. It was a hit! Once all the cards had been used, we all grabbed a snack and chatted a bit.

Coming back together with a "Tag -- you're it! Ooommm...," we then reminded everyone about the topic and introduced a time management game. Here's how it's played:

Divide participants into teams of five or so. Unveil the numbered list of tasks (see below -- these should be written on poster board). Explain the teams have ten minutes to collect as many points as possible. They must be safe and again, they only have ten minutes. The leaders (Michelle and myself) will check off each item the teams have done and award them the points earned in the allotted time. Each group gets a copy of the tasks posted on the wall. 

After the activity, discuss learning points. How did you decide which activities to prioritize? Would this have been easier by yourself? Why or why not?

Activities: 

1. Do a lap around the room (5 points).
2. Create something for a mom to wear, such as a hat or tie (10 points; bonus 5 points if the mom actually wears it!).
3. Find out something unique about each person on the team (5 points).
4. Sing a song together (15 points).
5. Make a paper airplane and throw it from one end of the room to another (10 points).
6. Get everyone in the room to sign a single piece of paper (5 points).
7. Stack up 20 chairs, then put them back where you found them (20 points).
8. Assign a fun nickname to each member of your team (5 points).
9. Create name cards for each team member (5 points; bonus 5 points if you use your team nicknames).
10. Do 25 jumping jacks while singing the ABCs (10 points).
11. Name your team and come up with a rhyming cheer (5 points for the name, 5 points for the cheer).
12. Create a human pyramid (10 points).
13. Form a conga line and dance from one end of the room to another (5 points; bonus 10 points if anyone NOT on your team joins you!).

You could imagine how much fun this was! Michelle and I had a bin of supplies needed for this activity, so everything was readily acceptable if needed. The conga line was my favorite, hands-down. The insightful debriefing afterwards noted that some of the girls thought working together proved very efficient, while others bemoaned that it made everything slower. But they all had to admit it -- this game made them manage their time.

We headed back to tables and our respective families. Michelle and I had requested that the moms bring their daughters' schedules -- ballet, hockey, music lessons, etc. We hoped to help them look at their time and take ownership of it. I knew I wasn't the only one who just reminded my child of obligations every week! Michelle had printed out a couple of calendars/pie charts to help the girls visualize how they spend their time. The blank pie charts had 24 pieces to represent every hour of the day. The girls worked with their moms to see what they did on average every day. Sleep was the victor, with school a close second. But how they did they fill all those other hours? This proved eye-opening for those girls who would often say, "I never have enough time for x, y, z!" Turned out that if you manage your time wisely, you may find extra time for that project or game you wanted to play. 

We took another little break to play a round of "Would you Rather?" We used these scenarios:

1) Bake cookies OR do dishes?

2) Make a birthday card OR clean the house for a party?

3) Go grocery shopping OR go out for dinner?

4) Organize the game closet OR play a game?

5) Cuddle with your pet OR scoop their poop?

6) Do homework OR read a book?

7) Run through a sprinkler OR take a shower?

8) Paint a picture OR put away your laundry?

9) Clean the bathroom OR play a game of kickball?

(If you haven't played this before, it's super simple! Just have the caller say the two choice out loud; choice 1 kids will move to the north wall, choice 2 to the south. Easy peasy!)

This game gently reminded the girls that while we'd all rather just have fun, we have responsibilities to tend to as well.

We finished the night with more calendars and scheduling with daughters/moms groups. We circled up at 8:30, gave our neighbor to the right a compliment, and said good night. Another year is off to a great start!