Guides when I was a girl was 11-15. And when my mother was a girl, 11-16. Now with my daughter it's 10-14, with a tail off at 13.
When I was a Guide, as a patrol, we took weekly subs, kept a fraction of it as patrol funds, and used that for patrol activities. We did all sorts - but I do remember for eg cooking a whole three course meal on a very low budget in a patrol cooking competition (from memory, we did oxo and onions for soup, a cheapie bolognese, and then scrumped blackberries and apples with custard. We didn't win).
The girls now coming into Guides mostly couldn't do that. Did I mention we did it outside, on wood fires, with wood we'd gathered on the way to the meeting?
They can't do that today because the wild space beside our hut is now fully developed. And there isn't space in the garden, and the neighbouring yo of hang around outside with lazer pens, and it scares the girls
Now subs are paid termly, and patrols are reorganised termly because the girls can't seem to cope with a more rigid structure - and, because we'd rather keep the girls than subject them to the torment of being in a patrol who apparently hate them. Turns out the old way might not have been quite so character building after all.
They don't have patrol funds; they or their parents buy whatever they need, pass the leaders the receipts, and it's reimbursed that way. There's a shop over the road; it isn't onerous, although you wouldn't believe that when you hear some of the parents complain about how much time it has taken them to source cocoa powder and milk as their girl's contribution to the milkshake madness taste test challenge they've got going on that week (hint: they could have bought it over the road in less time than they've been berating one of the leaders about having to do it).
There are still cooking competitions. But in recognition of the fact most ten year olds haven't yet been taught how to use a sharp knife of strike a match, we either take a day out to an outdoors centre to do the whole thing more slowly, or we break it down into smaller chunks of time. So one week it might be making crudités and different dips. Another week it might be kl having a go at pancakes. That kind of thing.
I highly doubt the entire evening was spent on a cupcake mix. What was the activity? It may have been part of a Go for It; it may have been a 20 minute task alongside other things, it may have been thinking about ways to treat yourselves or others, it might just have been a last meeting before half term, let's have fun thing.
And yes, do, if you've got any particular skills or interests in anything you think it would be good for the girls to learn, go and offer your services to the leaders. We/they really love that!
Case in point - we had a cake decorator come in which was fab. We also messed around making sweets and chocolate for a few weeks. But another parent was a dental hygienist; she came in the same term and talked about oral care, brought in disclosing tablets and floss, and challenged them to bake something with xylitol!
And in the interests of balance, the next term we did healthy eating, and a sponsored swim.
No snark intended. Genuinely, if you think it's important the girls should learn something, go and offer to teach it. New leaders always needed, but it's recognised most people can't give that level of commitment. But one or two evenings maybe?