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Description

Four separate activities on wartime rationing. Mix & match as suits your unit.
Introduction to rationing and food rationing discussion (suggest this one is done, followed by at least one of the other activities)
Clothing rationing activity in patrols (activity could be adapted for food rationing)
Cooking wartime recipe using rationed food
Ration board game from US

45 minutes for basic activities, plus additional time if other activities done

Some activities suitable for Virtual Group Guiding.

Resources

Photos from the internet showing eg women queuing for bread in USSR, refugee camps queuing for water, modern "limit 2 per customer" sign
Food from leader's own fridge/pantry to use as props eg eggs, milk, sugar, tea, bacon, cheese
Printed ration list if doing that activity, or shared on screen in Virtual Group Guiding.
Recipes/ingredients if cooking a wartime recipe.

Website links at bottom of instructions.
Board game attached.

Instructions

Leaders read the information on the NZ website to familiarise yourself with rationing in NZ. Then I like to actually use the UK website as it has more detailed information, explaining to the unit that although quantities were different, rationing was similar in NZ, as a lot of our food was sent to the UK.

Introduction:

Ask what rationing is. Quick discussion. Why do we have rationing? (so there is enough to go around, wealthy people can't buy large quantities leaving nothing for poorer people, people can't hoard etc)
Also talk about other times food/water has been rationed, show pictures: eg in communist Europe, in refugee camps during other conflicts, following natural disasters eg earthquakes, more recently during the Covid-19 pandemic. (This is to make it more meaningful to the girls - rationing isn't something from decades past that will never affect them)


Food Rationing:

Talk about items that were rationed and why. Say WWII finished in 1945, but in NZ rationing continued until 1950. Lead a discussion eg
Hold up a tray or carton of eggs and ask how many eggs the girls' households buy at a time - do they buy a carton, or a tray?
Ask how many eggs do you think each person was allowed each week during WWII.
Hold up one egg.
Repeat for several other food items.


Clothing Rationing:

Then, because girls may not be aware how much food their household consumes, and food rationing may not be too meaningful to them, do an activity on clothing rationing. Each patrol is given a printed sheet listing the clothing items (the women's/girls' list from http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/rationing3.html)
Ask how they would "spend" their 60 coupons on clothing in a year. Stress this only applies to new clothing - second-hand and hand-me-down clothing were not rationed, and so were in addition to their 60 coupons. Patrols discuss to come up with their list, then share with the unit - compare. (If doing this activity during Virtual Guiding, share the photo on the screen and girls complete either individually, and then go into breakout rooms to discuss, or if a smaller unit could discuss as a whole unit as they go. Could also use breakout rooms so that patrols could complete the activity as a group, but can't be sure girls would manage to share the photo on screen successfully.)
As part of the discussion, ask girls who has an older sister - say "your" coupons may have been used to buy clothes for her, you may not have received any new clothes; you might only get to wear clothes she has grown out of.
Tell them they still had to pay money for these items.


Cooking Wartime Recipe: (more time needed)

Each patrol cooks a meal using a different wartime recipe. Try to get at least one recipe using Spam or tinned corned beef, they'll be fascinated by the key to open the tin, and horrified by the look (as they say) of pet food.


Ration Board Game: (more time needed, up to 1 hour additional, could potentially be suitable for Virtual Group Guiding in smaller units, with gameboard shared on the screen)

Download the board game and teacher resource from Eisenhower Foundation "Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without!" and play in patrols. US based, but the same principles as rationing in NZ. Includes posters from the time (eg "Join a car-sharing club. When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!"). Can lead into a discussion about propaganda. The game also mentions Boy Scouts "The Federal Government estimated that 20 million tons of paper would be needed to pack artillery shells, and to make cartons for K-rations, canned food, and many other items. In 1945 the U.S. was facing a paper shortage, so General Eisenhower sponsored a nationwide drive called the General Eisenhower Waste Paper Campaign. A medal created for people who collected at least 1,000 pounds of paper to recycle. Almost 300,000 Boy Scouts took part and earned this award."





Website with info on NZ rationing: https://www.cooksinfo.com/new-zealand-wartime-food/

Website with primary school based information for UK rationing: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/rationing.htm

Specific page with photo of women's/girls' clothing rations: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/rationing3.html)

Wartime recipes from the UK's Ministry of Food: http://recipespastandpresent.org.uk/wartime.php (note no meat recipes in this section, as meat was scarce)

Trench Stew from WWI is surprisingly good: https://the1940sexperiment.com/2014/11/09/trench-stew-recipe-no-137/

Tags

• ANZAC
• board game
• cook
• cooking
• rationing
• war

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