Happy Holidays!

From our troop to you -- Have the best of holidays!

Caroling...

We were supposed to sing tonight at the local senior center but just one problem:

we got 18 inches of snow!

The blizzard even closed the schools for two days -- we will have to rebook this for AFTER the holiday.

{sigh}

Ringing The Bells...

There are TONS of "fun patches" available.... but everything we do doesn't have to equal one.

Sometimes, it is just OK to have fun together and learn a little about doing something for others - like a simple, one hour shift with a red kettle for the Salvation Army.

That is what we did today, as a troop. We passed out mini candy canes to all who put some money in, no matter what the amount. We also practiced the five songs that we are going to sing next week at the Senior Center. It was truely a fun time, as you can see -

 

Meeting Number 6: Butterflies!

Early Bird Activity: Still working on coloring the boxes for December's Senior Center Visit

Ha Ha Game: The girls lay down, in a circle, with their heads on the tummy of the next girl. One starts and says "ha". The next girl says "ha ha"... and it gets passed along like a friendship squeeze but more "has" are added to each person. I have yet to see anyone get to the end without cracking up...I was down on the ground with them, and it was a HOOT!

Circle Time

·Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my right
 

·Girl Scout Promise

Petal Award Pass out (our first year Daisies are doing an independant study to earn their petals) The 2nd year girls applaud them!

Birthday Award Pass out (A card from me with a patch)

Have a Good Trip: Bon Voyage: Buen Viaje:

Living the Law, and So Many Seeds

-What do you say in Chinese to people taking a trip? (Yi lu shun feng)
They were to read up to page 29 in their books

In the story, Lupe tells Clover that every place is special.

What special places do you know? What makes them special?

When the flower friends got to the Morning Glory Inn, they enjoyed some blueberry pancakes!
Have you ever had them for breakfast?

What did you have for breakfast today?
How did it make you feel?

What do you think makes a good breakfast that gives you lots of energy for your day?

At the last meeting, Zinni was worried about her seeds blowing in the wind...who has ever blown a dandelion?

What happened?

Can you see how, if we are careful with seeds, we are helping to take good care of Planet Earth?

Seeds are just baby plants, waiting to grow and are spread by the wind, rain, animals and bugs - like butterflies!Craft time.

We made butterflies from empty toilet paper rolls. VERY simple craft. Toilet paper tubes, paper, chenille stems, gluesticks.:)

Craft helper passed out craft bags.

Snack Time

·Hand Sanitizer Helper --spritzes, Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. It was the birthday of a girl, so we let her bring cupcakes.

Circle time

·Christmas Song: review: Daisy song, Rudolph, Jingle Bells, Mr Snowman, Echo, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, and the Snowflake Song for singing at the Senior Center in two weeks. We coached them with how to stand, smiling, and all starting at the same time. We also talked about not getting all flustered if one looses their spot, just to jump in where everone else is.
:)

·What is next ?
We ring the bells for the Salvation Army next week! They are going to practice their songs again.

Singing for the Senior Center.
Investiture Cermony in January...if the cookie awards are in. If not, we will push it to February. We want to do both presentations at the same time.
Squeeze helper helped us close.

Clean Up helpers help pack up cart...

Take home: their craft

Cookie Booths: Direct Sales

This year, it was Direct Sales for cookies.

I.N.S.A.N.E.

I can't tell you how many times I went to the Service Center to get cookies, or TRIED to get cookies. At one point, they had 106 troops on the list and were waiting for the baker to deliver to the warehouse so they could get cookies for all of us.

I know it is the best fundraiser for my troop - but it took SO MUCH of my time this year that there simply has to be a better system for this.

It was their first year trying it -- and I KNOW the girls sold more by having them in hand for instant delivery but the suppliers simply couldn't keep up.

A tad frustrating...

However, the girls ROCKED it. They learned about customer service, making change, patience and even how to set up an eye appealing booth. (they colorized the cookies, LOL)

We had seen a lot of other booths set up --no table cloth, messy tables, girls standing in store displays or in their outside flower gardens - all things that made me cringe!

A simple tablecloth makes such a HUGE difference! Add a little seasonal decoration and it really draws the eye....
Our signs were in frames from the local dollar store - for a neater presentation.
Never underestimate the power of pigtails, lol!
They brought their "a' game, used their manners and "worked" on their 2 hour shift. (I split the troop up).
I couldn't be prouder of them!

We made enough troop money for all the things we want to do: service project - events - awards and more...but I already dread this for next year, LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meeting Number 5: Blue Bucket!

We started with Turkey Hand Art!

I made a sheet that had an old poem on the top of it:

This isn’t just a turkey, as anyone can see…
I make it with my hand, which is part of me.
It comes with lots of love, especially to say …
I hope you have a VERY happy Thanksgiving Day!

Then, we painted the girls hands with Tempera Paints and they made a giant, colorful, Turkey hand print on it.
We did this FIRST so they could dry as the meeting progressed.I know from experience that there is nothing more fun that getting a wet, painted item to take home.{not!}

 

THEN... on to the regular meeting...

 

Circle Time

·Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my right

Girl Scout Promise

·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)

Independent Petal Pack Award Pass Out.

Theme of the day:  You, Me, How Different We Can Be - where they learned about other people’s feelings. I went to the board and asked them to describe me. I am a hefty gal and was hoping for someone to hit on that... and they said everything BUT that, I had to prompt them, LOL!
That opened up the door to explain WHY I am a larger woman. I have been cut out of not one, but TWO major car accidents. I have had 18 broken bones, have more arthritis than my grandmother. I was on crutches, had casts, braces and more on my legs. That led into a great explanation on how we are ALL different.
Then, I held up a paper heart... crumpled it up... opened it up again. This was to show how the words you say to someone can hurt them and even, after you say "I'm sorry", the marks can still be there.

Yes, I love visuals.

They already understood this because none of them wanted to pull the fat/chubby card with me. They are AWESOME girls.

{grin}

THEN -- back to our journey books! They were to finish chapter 1 before coming back to a meeting, and they did.

Talk about nature’s colors and how we made the Handprint Turkey Craft.

They earned their Blue Bucket Award.

 

Time to Finish our Safety Badge training!

We tested them on their address and phone number. It was the LAST thing that they needed to know for this. If they passed, they got their pin. They all DID pass and you could see how proud some of them were to get their awards!
-->It was SUPER cute!

Snack Time

·Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. It was Root week... the snack helper brought in little plates of carrot sticks with dip and the beverage helper had juice boxes. Simple and easy -- healthy and still working with our "plant" theme.

Circle time

·Christmas Songs: Rudolph, Jingle Bells, any others?  We came up with "We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Mr Snowman (from kindergarten) and an "echo" song.
That gives us a grand total of 5 songs for our caroling at the senior center in December...that we will practice at the next meeting and sing while they ring bells for our Salvation Army shift.

Clean Up helpers helped pack up cart and clear the message board... A LOT of girls helped clean up - it was super!

Take home: Their craft, The Blue Bucket patches, Safety pin and reminder for the next meeting. It was a lot of fun!
:)

The Brownie Story

This is an OOOOOLD story that goes back as far as the 1200s -- but has been adapted to work with the Girl Scouts. In my Petal Independent Study Pack, I have them read this with their families and then they have a bunch of "A Girl Scout Was Here" slips to leave around the house as they do helpful things.



Once upon a time, there were two little girls who lived in England with their granny and their father. The girls played all day while the granny and father had to work very hard. One day granny told the girls about the Brownies, who used to do lots of things to help around the house. They are gone now, she said, but we were always so much happier when they helped. The girls wanted to know where the Brownies had gone and how to get them to come back. Granny said, "Only the wise old owl knows!"

That night, when everyone else was asleep, one of the girls ran out of the house into the magic forest. There she found the wise old owl. "Please", said the girl, "where can I find the Brownies to come and live with us? The owl said, "I know where two live – right in your house!" She was very surprised! Tell me how to find them, she begged. He told her to go to the pond in the magic forest, turn around three times and say, "twist me and turn me and show me the elf… I looked in the water and saw…….!" The wise old owl said, "When you finish the rhyme, you will see the Brownie in the magic pond."

The girl went to the pond in the magic forest and did as she had been told. She went back to the forest and found the wise old owl and said, " something must be wrong, I did all you told me to do and I only saw myself! And I am not a Brownie!" " Are you sure?" said the owl. To be a Brownie, you must be ready to help those around you, make friends wherever you can, and every day try to discover something new. "I'd like to be a Brownie", said the girl. Then go home and try, the wise old owl said kindly. He touched her hand with his feathers, and suddenly she was back in her house, in her own bed.

Quietly, she woke up her sister, told her all that had happened. Together the girls tip-toed into the kitchen and began to clean the house. In the morning, when granny and father saw the house, they wanted to know what had happened. "Who did this?" said granny and father! The girls danced around and shouted,

"It's the Brownies!"

And from that day on, theirs was a very happy house near the forest, all because of the Brownies!

Meeting Number Four: Happy Birthday Juliette!

We had two girls as guests tonight - they decided to join our troop!

We are up to 13 girls now - yippee!
We are also now a very full troop - and I am telling the council that we are full.

This meeting was the day after Juliette Gordon Low's birthday (10/31) so we made it a festive occasion! It was more of a party than a traditional meeting.

I hit the local dollar store and got daisy balloons (enough so each girl would have one to take home) and they were hanging over our craft/snack tables. I LOVE our dollar store -- filled helium balloons for $1.00 instead of $7 at the local card or floral shop! I wanted it to be fun to walk into - what could be more fun than balloons?

Early Bird Activity: Still working on coloring the boxes for December's Senior Center Visit

Circle Time

·Review Daisy Wheel. Leader Helper sits on my right. This is the last meeting for the Daisy Wheel - it only had 8 petals and we are now at 13 girls. I have to make a kaper chart. {sigh}

·Theme of the day: Happy Birthday Juliette!
 

Old business first: We ran out of time last meeting and couldn't do the craft because of all the silliness. Don't get me wrong, we like fun, but it was NOT Girl Scout behavior and I shared with the girls that we can do a LOT in our meeting or we can wait for everyone to be ready to listen/participate. We are guests in a local church and need to respect the room as well as the other people in the building that are having their own meetings.
:)

Then, we passed out any patches that were due, saw if anyone had earned any of their petals from the independent study packs (everyone clapped for them), passed out birthday cards/patches for anyone that had a birthday close. It seems like all my girls were born June-December, LOL!

We tested if they remembered their address and phone number - an assignment from the last meeting to earn their safety award. If yes, they were going to get their pin. They were SOOOOO close!! I am sure they will get it by the next meeting.
 
We talked about cookie booth expectations as it was our first year selling cookies and we have seven booths set up for November:

• Wear our vests
• Bring our smiles
• Use our manners: Please and Thank you.
• Customer's come first. (in case it gets slow and they were coloring, etc)

Then we did the Girl Scout Promise.

PARTY TIME!

Parties come with games so we did this one. It had them all cracking up!

THE JULIETTE LOW AND GIRL SCOUTING GAME
(An Action Story) As the story is read, players do the following actions when certain words are said. Practice the motion first so everyone understands. This is easier to play standing up.

"JULIETTE LOW" - Join hands with persons on right and left

"SCOUT’ OR SCOUTING"- Smile and salute
"WORLD" - Spin around once
“FUND” - Punch a button with one finger and say “cha-ching”

In 1912, Juliette Low became interested in scouting while visiting her friends, Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, who lived in England and who started Boy Scouting and Girl Guiding in their part of the world.

When Juliette Low came back to America, she thought scouting was so wonderful that she decided to start the first Girl Scout Troop in her own home town of Savannah, Georgia. This she did on March 12, 1912 and this first little troop of eight girls was the first Girl Scout troop in this part of the world.
 

This first Girl Scout troop was so successful that Juliette Low wanted to see Girl Scout troops all over the world. She knew that Girl Scouting would help girls all over the world become friends and to help build world peace and good will.

Girl Scouting grew and grew until now you are not only a member of your own little troop, but also a member of the Girl Scouts of the USA and the world Association of the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Juliette Low died in 1927 and her friends wanted to pay her a great tribute. They knew that her greatest dream was of world friendship and of world peace and that she hoped to accomplish this through Girl Scouting. So her friends started a memorial fund in her honor and called it the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund and each year all Girl Scouts in the United States contributed to this Fund which helps Girl Scouting all over the world.

Your contributions to this Fund will travel to all parts of the world and help Girl Scouts in many ways; maybe it will help to send older Girl Scouts from our country to Our Chalet in Switzerland, where Girl Scouts from all over the world get together to exchange ideas and to help build world peace.

We have no way of knowing how far our contribution may travel; we have no way of knowing what ways it may be returned to us in new friendships and world peace. But we do know that the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund is doing a lot of good. We do know that we are helping the fund to spread Girl Scouting around the world when we make our contribution to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund.
 (They loved it and we all were laughing)

Craft time!
As Juliette sold her treasured pearl necklace to start the Girl Scouts, we let them make their own with pearlish plastic beads and string. Each girl had 5 pearls and clear cord - the 5 pearls were for being able to start scouts when you are 5.

Gift time!
I picked up fun patches for each girl that had Juliette on it. They were wrapped up like little gifts.

Snack time!
We have been doing healthy snacks all year and this time, we made an exception: cupcakes. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Juliette before enjoying them with the juice boxes.

Circle time
Leader Helper passed out Juliette coloring sheets and then we did the friendship squeeze.

Clean Up helpers helped pack up cart... A LOT of girls helped clean up - it was super!

Take home: Their craft, a Juliette fun patch and coloring sheet

Next meeting - we will finish our Blue Bucket award, safety award and do a Thanksgiving craft!

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.

:)

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!

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?