Some Craft and Activity Ideas for GOTA/TODA

QSL Card

CLARA QSL cards

 

To print out your CLARA QSL card right click on the image above and save to your PC and print or to download in PDF format please click HERE 

The best activity for girls waiting their turns at the microphone, or listening in the background is to decorate QSL (confirmation reply) cards, and to write messages on the cards for the girls to whom they have talked. A QSL card should show the call sign of the station you are operating from, the call sign of the station you talked to, the date, and the time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) also called Greenwich Mean Time, as well as a return address. The Callsign of the station could be printed on each card ahead of time by computer. To download a template for a QSL card for your station, please click here QSL card. Copy shops can photocopy QSL cards on to heavy stock, & you can get 4 on a sheet. . If you cannot make cards ahead of time, bring index cards to create your own QSL cards. You do not need to print them on card stock – plain paper will also do.

Radio Rita

 Radio Rita

 

You  will need:

      • 1 medium pompom, 1 very small pompom, 2 eyes, 3 inch piece of insulated wire
      • Ear phones: cut 4 ovals of fun foam
      • Feet: cut from fun foam
      • red chenille / pipe cleaner about 2- 3 inches
      • black pipe cleaner for Microphone (the kind that is fat, thin, fat, thin, is good) about 1 inch
      • hot melt glue & glue gun

    To make:

    Cut feet out as two feet joined together on one piece of foam. Curve 3 inch piece of pipe cleaner into 2 arms, glue between head & feet. Glue large pompom on to feet. Make microphone by cutting a small piece of black pipe cleaner and curving the end into a microphone shaped lump, with a handle. Wrap "hand" around end of microphone. Glue nose & eyes in place on head. Using insulated wire, form a curve to arc over head. Curl each end around in a small circle. Glue foam earphones to curled ends of wire. Glue headphones on to head.

    Now you have a warm fuzzy who is holding a microphone & wearing headphones. Obviously she is all ready to talk on the radio!

    Credit: Guiding in Australia Magazine September 1995.

girl guide trefold
Phonetic Friends

Phonetic Friend

 

You will need:

      • 1 - 10 inch pipe cleaner (Chenille stick)
      • 1 pompom – about 1 ½ inches for head
      • 2 tiny pompoms for headphones
      • 1 Q-tip or cotton bud for microphone
      • 2 google eyes or beads for eyes
      • Felt for facial features
      • Craft Glue of glue gun

      This friend is made using a long pipe cleaner (you may call them chenille sticks) twisted around the end of a pencil.

      To make:

      You may need a little glue to keep the centre coils fixed to the end of the pencil.At the top, part is then opened out to make a loose spiral. Add head – see below:lower part is straightened out to become a hand, which holds a microphone (half a cotton bud or Q-tip).

      Head:

      A pom-pom (approx. 4 cm 1 1/2 inch diameter) is glued towards the top of the spiral with the last coil wrapped across the head to look like headphones. A bit of jiggling and twisting is required to get the right angle! Very small pom poms are glued either side of the head to make the "headphones" look more realistic. Your Phonetic Friend then only needs googly eyes and maybe some felt facial features to be complete.

      Operators use phonetics (special words) to represent the letters of the alphabet (Oscar, Juliet, Charlie, Romeo, Victor etc.). This aids communication – many letters sounds alike on the air – C,D,E,G, etc.He/she bounces around on the end of the pencil as you write, and looks quite cute! Use him/her when you fill out those QSL cards!

      Heather Minol

Morse Code Chart

CODE CRAFT

Did you know that pre World War 2, many Guides in Britain learned Morse code for a badge. When the war broke out, many older Guides joined the armed forces and made use of their code skills.

The idea of this craft is to teach the girls about Morse code. Give them a chart with the dots and dashes, then have them make a bracelet with their name on it in Morse code beads.

Materials:

    • Wire for stringing beads – each girl needs a length long enough to go around her wrist & then twist together.
    • Round beads in one colour for dits
    • Tube beads for dahs,
    • Small round beads, in a second colour or another shape of beads for spaces
    • Diagram of Morse code characters – see above

Using the Morse code character chart, have the girls each write the Morse code symbols for the letters in her name on a piece of paper. Remember that the spaces between letters are as important as the letters. Depending on how long the name is, cut a piece of gold wire. Knot or loop one end to prevent the beads from falling off. Beginning with the first letter of the name, thread beads onto the wire with the beads corresponding to Morse code.

Phonetic Alpabet

For dots, use the round beads of one colour. For dashes, use the long tube beads. To separate one letter from another, use the round beads of a second colour. Once the letters of your name have been completed, knot or loop the wire to once again prevent the beads falling off, and attach to your camp hat or, join the ends together to make a bracelet or necklace. You should also have a way to mark the beginning and the end, since your code will read differently backwards and forwards!

Meantime, note that ham operators don't use Morse code by drawing out the characters. Morse code is all about listening. Some ham operators don’t like the idea of doing Morse code visually because it can actually make learning the code by ear more difficult. However, I asked a friend who was a radio instructor during World War II and she told me she learned Morse Code using visual aides, and she keeps a Bristol Board Chart of Morse Code characters in her kitchen.

idea courtesy of:

Dooreen Rousseau (Tiger) goldtiger@videotron.ca
International Morse Code chart:

Laurie Schultz

round = dot; gold tube = dash; clear small round = space

Big loop is at end.

 

 

Word Search

Y A R X F R I E N D S R
W Z R E K A E P S A I C
R U E D D D D A B T Y H
E L N O G I I T A A S A
T U O C S O U O D S A L
T C H A B C G G E I M L
I I P M O G N L N G A E
M T O P N I E A P N T N
S E R Q K R M A O A E G
N N C N I E G H W L U E
A O I W A P A P E S R K
R H M N G I S L L A C I
T P S P E N P A L H A M

 

This is an old word search that I made.

In 2011, Alberta Girl Guides produced a GOTA challenge which included a new Word Search. Contact Alberta Girl Guides for the challenge and the word search.

Find the secret "word" (Hint - it is not a real word, unless you are a Girl Guide!).

ALPHA, AMATEUR: BADEN POWELL: CALLSIGN, CAMP, CHALLENGE, CODE, CQ: FRIENDS: GGC, GOTA, GUIDE, GUIDER, HAM: KNOBS: MICROPHONE, MIKE: NAME: PAPA, PENPAL, PHONETIC: RADIO, RITA: SCOUT, SIGNALS, SPEAKER; THINKING DAY, TRANSMITTER

 Please click Click HERE for a printable copy.

Helen, VA1YL

GOTA BADGES

 

GOTA/TDOTI* crests have been available from the Alberta Girl Guides for a cost of $0.75 CAD each.

Girl Guides of Canada - Alberta Council
Office hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Mountain time. Thank you, Alberta for making these available for years. Call or email to see if Alberta continues this service.

11055 - 107 Street NW
Edmonton AB T5H 2Z6
Phone: 780.424.5510
Fax: 780.426.1715
Alberta Girl Guides

GOTA badges