Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Petal Independent Study Packs

I have half a troop that is new to scouts this year. They did NOT earn the Daisy Petals like the other girls did last year and have a big old blank spot on their vests!

Independent study to the rescue!

I have been working on several packs, that they can work on in their own time, and bring back to a meeting to be recognized.

That way, the "new" girls will earn their petals and fill out their vests like the other gals.

First of all, I needed 11 of them per girl.
**I would LOVE to give credit to the person who created the coloring sheets but they were Google images. I apologize now to the person who should get the praise - I think they are perfect for this age group!  






  1. Daisy Blue Center= Promise
  2. Light Blue= Honest & Fair
  3. Yellow= Friendly & Helpful
  4. Spring Green= Considerate & Caring
  5. Red= Courageous & Strong
  6. Orange= Responsible for what I say and do
  7. Purple= Respect Myself & Others
  8. Magenta= Respect Authority
  9. Green= Use Resources Wisely
  10. Rose= Make the world a better place
  11. Violet= Be a sister to every Girl Scout
I plan to give them clusters of packs at a time. When they finish all, they get the NEXT set.  This means I don't have to make all 55 packs before I start this program.
:)

So, what is in the packs?

#1 Daisy Blue Center - Promise
1. Make a Girl Scout Law bracelet using the colors of the petals. Beads and cord included.
2. Learn the promise -- same circle from our first meeting is included. (We say it at every meeting so this is pretty easy).
3. I did it sheet.

#2 Light Blue - Honest & Fair
1. Girl Scout Coloring Sheet
2. Have a game night with the family and talk about how it's not fun to play with someone who doesn't play by the rules and tries to win without playing correctly. (cheating).
3. I did it sheet.


#3 Yellow - Friendly & Helpful

1. Girl Scout Coloring Sheet
2. Read the Brownie Story. (next post)
3. Enclosed are 10 little sheets of paper that say, “A Girl Scout was here”. Each time they do a good deed/chore without being asked, they can leave a slip of paper.
4. I did it sheet.
#4 Spring Green - Considerate & Caring
1. Girl Scout Coloring Sheet
2. Send "thank you" cards right after the holidays to say thank you to some of their relatives that spoiled you rotten.
3. I did it sheet.
#5 Red - Courageous & Strong
1. A Girl Scout Coloring Page
2. It is sometimes scary to get up in front of people and that it takes "courage" and "strength". Signing at the Sr Center earns this petal too!
3. I did it sheet.


#6 Orange - Responsible for what I say and do

1.Girl Scout Coloring Page
2. Make a promise to always wear their seat belts when in a car.
3. I did it sheet.
#7 Purple - Respect Myself & Others
1. Girl Scout Coloring Page
2. The easiest way to show respect is to use manners. Please, Thank You, Yes Sir, No Mam. Also, to never call an adult by their first name, unless they told you to.
3. Respecing yourself is simple: personal hygiene. Brush your teeth, brush your hair, take a bath -- all without having your parents tell you to.
4. I did it sheet.
#8 Magenta - Respect Authority
1. Girl Scout Coloring Sheet
2. As a troop we are taking a field trip to our local police station for a tour. The officer gave an age-appropriate tour, including the holding cell, the firing range and the motorcycle garage. It earns everyone a "fun patch" but will let these gals "double dip" on the activity.
3. I did it sheet.
#9 Green - Use Resources Wisely
1. A Girl Scout Coloring Sheet.
2. Make something out of an old toilet paper roll and bring it to a meeting to share.
3. I did it sheet.
#10 Rose - Make the world a better place
1. Girl Scout Coloring Sheet
2. There are animal that are at the Humane Society, waiting for families to adopt them. Make a stuffed toy from the enclosed kit and take it to them (kits are for stuffed catnip mice -- sewn but not sealed. They stuff it, and pull it closed.
3. I did it sheet.
#11 Violet - Be a sister to every Girl Scout
1. Girl Scout Cookie Sheet
2. We have Troop Pen Pals -- that let's them Double Dip on this!
3. I did it sheet.
What do they get when they complete each petal?
I found this on Pinterest and it was only an image -
I would LOVE to give credit to the genius that created it!
 
I learned a long time ago to "sell the sizzle": 
make it special, important and then, it is a higher percieved value!
We will have a special section of our meeting for this -- to recognize them.
 
The best part?
We will have the 2nd year girls stand up and clap for them.
THAT is the powerful part - getting recognition from their peers.
:)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Meeting Number Three: Slightly Organized Chaos

We had a girl as a guest tonight - she decided to join our troop!
We are up to 11 girls now - yippee!

Early Bird Activity: Still working on coloring the boxes for December's Senior Center Visit                 
To Welcome the new girls: the song was Make New Friends. Then, we introduced the two new gals and the leader helper gave them their Journey books and Welcome Certificate!

We talked about ALL the new girls to the troop this year and kick off the Petal Independent Study Program! (Separate Post Coming)
Circle Time

· Review Daisy Wheel. Leader Helper sits on my right
 
· How do we think the gal on our left feels today? Go around the circle and ask - as we are working on feelings (Blue Bucket)

Theme of the day: Our Road Trip Begins:
-What do you say in French to people taking a trip? (Bon Voyage)
            Read pages 13-18 together (not everyone had their books yet)
-Learn about different types of soil. - Sand, black dirt, clay
-Talk about littering and taking care of the planet (recycling or repurposing stuff)
-Role play on how I help my friends: choking (part of Safety Award)

· Girl Scout Law or Promise
Safety Badge training
· I Am Lost sheet (safety) We are covering WHO it is safe to talk to when we are lost and making sure all know their address and phone number. They practiced yelling:
"You are not my mom or dad!!" at the top of their lungs -- as we covered Stranger-Danger too!
We are also talked about the fire burn demo that they saw at the Fire Department, and how they need to practice a Fire Drill at their home. Their entire family.
Craft time.
We didn't get to this as we lost about 10 minutes to "silliness". They got to take it home to assemble. Our next meeting will talk about crafts, ask if they like them and mention how we have to do our "business" first... I know I packed a lot into this meeting, but the craft was SIMPLE and we should have been able to get to it.
:) 
Craft helper passed out craft bags. We were going to make Frank- CAN-stein cans to talk about repurposing items. Each craft bag had green paper (cut), black paper cut for the bangs, two sets of eyes. They were going to glue them to the cans, after I removed the sharp edges.  They would then also draw in the rest of their face. Good learning experience for me: less "work", keep them focused and get that craft in.
Snack Time
· Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. It was Leaf week - and my daughter was the snack helper this time. We made Kale Chips
Circle time

· Christmas Song: Rudolph (practice for the Senior Center in December)
· What is next: Halloween! Be safe and smart! Our next Meeting we will finish earning the Blue Bucket award and Money leaf...yipee!
· Leader Helper passed out Library and Fire Station patches, cookie pins for the two that didn't make the Cookie Carnival, and birthday cards with birthday fun patch.
· Squeeze helper helped us close.

Clean Up helpers help pack up cart... A LOT of girls helped clean up - it was super!
Take home: Safety Sheets, their craft, a few patches and reminder for the next meeting!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fire Station Open House

Did you know that you only have 60 seconds to get out of your house safely, once a fire starts?

Did you know that smoke alarms should be
replaced every 10 years?

Did you know that 4 people died in fires,
just last week, in our area and the youngest victim was just 7 years old?

THAT is why Fire Safety is so important!

To help our girls earn their Safety award - it only made sense to hit this event at our local station!
The award has three parts:
  • What to do when you are lost
  • What to do in a fire: stop, drop and roll
  • What to do if a friend is choking
So, this was PERFECT timing for our troop!

Every year, our volunteer fire department has an open house.

They have a FREE pancake breakfast from 8 am - 11 am (they ask to please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the local Food Pantry), fire truck rides, ladder rides, fire hose bowling, vehicle extrication demonstrations, a live fire sprinkler demonstration, visit with Smokey Bear, practice STOP, DROP, & ROLL with the firefighters, build a pop-up fire truck, visit with local Police and EMS, local Utilities, local County Sheriff, watch Med Flight land and check out the helicopter, talk to representatives from the local Emergency Center, jump around in a bouncy house, and much more!  It is held - rain or shine.
Our troop helped clear off the tables for a bit, and then, took part in the other activities. (They earn a FUN Patch from the troop for the volunteer/community service part)

They learned the Stop, Drop and Roll for their award

Then, they were free to do other things, like hit the bounce house:
Or try on real gear:
 
They also, all watched the burn demonstration.
This is a fire in less than 3 minutes from starting in a waste basket:
At that point, there would be NO survivors...
SO, at the next troop meeting, we are going to check off the other two items to finish their award -
and will also send them home with a sheet to help plan a family fire drill.
Easy, peasy.
 
Knowledge is power - right?
No more 7 year old victims.
Ever.
Right?

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Cookie Carnival!

To help get the scouts excited about cookie selling time they put together four different "carnivals" in our area. They filled up quickly - there were almost 450 girls at the one we went too!

Here is the promo info that they out out:

Your group will rotate through 10 Cookie College stations and 10 Cookie Carnival stations.  Girls will earn and receive their Cookie Activity Pin for doing all of the Cookie College stations then will enjoy 10 cookie themed carnival games.  We will also have prize drawings at the end of the night and lots of fun.  We will serve pizza for the whole group at 12 PM. 

Event Schedule
11:45-12:15   Check-in and Pizza
12:15-2:45      Activities
2:45-3:00       Prize Drawings and Closing

Please come with the following items:
·         Your group should attend with proper girl to adult ratios, see Volunteer Essentials for these ratios.
·         A blanket to sit on while eating pizza.  We will be eating picnic style!
·         Sturdy, comfortable shoes to run and play in – no sandals please!
·         We will be doing activities both outside on the grass and inside the building.  Please dress for the weather.

All 9 of my girls were signed up - and all but one made it. The poor kiddo was crying in the back ground when her mother called me - she was simply too sick.
:(

We had excellent ratios for our troop -every Mom stayed!

I brought a few blankets so the girls had somewhere to sit when they ate their pizza - and also brought a few supplemental yummies like veggies and graham crackers.
There were 10 "college" courses where the girls learned everything from
safety to what they can earn from selling cookies.
 Then, there were the big games outside - simple fun things like throwing "darts" or jumping in a ball pit to find pictures of cookies.
Every girl got a passport where they checked off all 20 stations.
Then they got 10 tickets for the Chinese Auction and their Cookie Activity Pin.
Here was the hard part...over 400 girls and only 20 prizes.
We explained to the girls that there weren't enough prizes for everyone
and that we would be delighted if ONE person won from our troop.
 
They seemed to understand so we ended up OK when none of them won a prize.
They DID have fun though -- just look at their faces-

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Meeting Number Two: Cookie Kick Off!

We had a girl as a guest tonight - she decided to join our troop!
We are up to 9 girls now - yippee!

Early Bird Activity: Still working on the Boxes                 
To burn off a little energy: NEW Song – I’m A Little Daisy!
(sing to the tune of Little TeaPot)
We are Daisy Girl Scouts, short and sweet (they frame their faces and smile)
Here are our hands and here are our feet (wiggle hands and stomp feet)
If you need a helper just give a call (hold up fake phone)
And we’ll come running one and all. (run in place)
Circle Time

·       Review Daisy Wheel. Leader Helper sits on my right

·       How do we feel today? Go around the circle and ask - as we are working on feelings

·       Theme of the day: Getting Ready For The Road

o   Have A Nice Trip! (Work with Journey book) I bet they didn't read the 6 pages, so I might read it to them...

o   Leader helper pass out trip  base patch for their vests.

o   How do we resolve conflict? (Caring Bridge)

·       Girl Scout Law or Promise
Craft time
·    Craft helper pass out craft bags. We are making book marks for our Journey books. I have large orange paint chip strips from the local hardware store and they are challenged to draw leaves on them. Green ribbon added to the punched hole on the end.
Cookie Kick Off

Why are we selling? What is the troop going to do with the money? (Part of Finance award)
What can we earn? Review the gift chart - and tell them they will actually SEE some of the awards at the cookie carnival on Sunday.     
What are we selling? Flavors and info on the 8 different kinds        
Coins! They need to know MONEY as part of the Finance Awards so I have a bag of coins for each of them with the money poem inside. I will teach it to them and send them home with it. The next meeting, we will talk about dollar bills.
Penny, penny, easy spent,
Copper brown and worth one cent.
 
Nickel, nickel, thick and fat,
You’re worth 5. I know that.
 
Dime, dime, little and thin,
I remember—you’re worth 10.
 
Quarter, quarter, big and bold,
You’re worth 25, I am told.

Sample one! They gave us a box of the new flavor to sample: Mango Creams! (They LOVED it)

Snack Time
·       Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. It was Stem week - check out what she did!
Circle time
      ·       Christmas Song: Jingle Bells (practice for the Senior Center in December)
·       What is next: Cookie Carnival on Sunday!!! Pumped them up a bit!
      ·       Leader Helper passed out Fly Up patches earned for everyone registering early!
      ·       Squeeze helper

Clean Up helpers help pack up cart! A LOT of girls helped clean up - it was super!
Take home: cookie coloring sheet, 2 patches, bookmark, coins and reminder for the Cookie Carnival!