Rainbow Guides
5 to 7 Years Old
The Rainbow Guide section is for the youngest girls in Girlguiding UK, so for many girls it will be their first taste of what Guiding has to offer. A "Rainbow unit" usually consists of 15 girls and their Leaders.
Starting Rainbows
Girls can join Rainbows when they are 5 years old and stay until they are ready for Brownies at 7, although some never want to leave! Rainbows have a range of items they can wear. As all girls wear the same thing they feel as though they belong. No girl is excluded because they do not have the right clothes. Rainbows usually meet for an hour and enjoy a wide range of activities such as crafts, music and singing, cooking, games and much more. Sometimes they just enjoy the chance to share their Rainbow News and tell everyone what's going on with them. A new Rainbow will usually receive a special Rainbow bag soon after joining a unit and begin working on her "Ready for Rainbows" book – a book to help her understand what Rainbows is all about. It contains lots of fun drawing and colouring activities and a story featuring a Rainbow called Olivia. When a new Rainbow is ready, she will make her Rainbow Promise:
“I promise that I will do my best to love my God and to be kind and helpful.”
Girlguiding, in every section, follows what are known as "The Five Essentials."
For Rainbows these can be translated as:
- Rainbows work together in different small groups for activities
- Rainbows make choices
- Rainbows enjoy a variety of activities
- Rainbows care for the individual
- Rainbows do their best
The Rainbow activity programme
The Rainbow programme is based on four pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, Look, Learn, Laugh and Love.
We encourage girls to look around them and learn about their own environment and community. We also help them understand that they are part of a wider world, perhaps through crafts or games from around the globe, or learning about festivals from other cultures.
Rainbows learn by taking part in a wide range of activities such as trying out crafts and recipes, playing games and visiting local places of interest. A representative from the RSPCA might come to a meeting to talk about looking after pets or a police officer might come to explain to the girls about road safety.
Rainbows have lots of fun. Meetings involve games, songs, parties, celebrations and making a mess! Girls love sleepovers too!
Through Rainbows, girls learn about caring and sharing with family and friends, working together, fair play, and being considerate and helpful to others.
There are “Rainbow Roundabouts” to discover and other special badges to work for from time to time. Everything a Rainbow does helps her to develop and to think for herself, in a safe girl-only environment.
Leaving Rainbows
Of course, at the end of a rainbow there's a pot of gold! So when a girl is nearing the end of her time at Rainbows, she may receive her My Pot of Gold book and find out how Olivia prepares to move on to Brownies. A Leader then helps her plan a special Pot of Gold party. Most Rainbows leave at the end of a term, so parties are often shared by several Rainbows.
Enquiries
If you are a parent/guardian who would like to enrol your child into Rainbows, please fill out the Girlguiding Cornwall Joining form to be put in touch with a local unit or telephone 0800 1695901
Are you a Rainbow?
Then visit Girlguiding UK’s Rainbow activity website