Girl Led Thoughts....

Our Troop is winding up it's last year of Daisies and working it's way to Brownies.

With the whole "Girl Led" concept, we want to keep it age appropriate and let them make choices on activities.

I whipped up a little survey that they will get at our Bridging Ceremony so they can be empowered to steer our way over the upcoming year.

I already know which Journey book we will do (A World Of Girls) but want their ideas on Tours, Service Projects, and group activities. Yes, I made a list in advance, to narrow things down a bit. We will take the top choices from the surveys and fill in around our Journey for our meetings.

Here is our survey:

Becoming A Brownie!

My favorite thing about being a Daisy was: ___________________________________
I am excited about Brownies because: ___________________________________

Outing
I think it would be fun to tour: (pick 4)

Post Office       Bakery       Costco       A Food Pantry       Grocery Store (HyVee or Copps)     
the Zoo      Hospital      Vet Office       Corn Maze      A TV station
Butterfly Garden      Bread Company       Horicon Marsh

Activities I think it would be fun to have a: (circle 3)
tea party      ice cream social      picnic      mother/daughter party
spa treat      cup cake decorating party

Service Project
I think we should help: (circle 3)

An animal shelter      Homeless kids get ready for their first day of school
A family at Christmas with gifts      Birthday In A Box      The Food Pantry      SunShine Supper        Teddy Bear Drive       Meals On Wheels (napkin rings)       Scarves For Homeless      
"Books On Tape" For A PreSchool


Would you like to make troop t-shirts this year that match?  Yes No

Choose 1 country you would like to learn about for Thinking Day this year:
Japan       Brazil      England       Cananda       Kenya       Peru

Meeting Number 9: Firefly Award!

Our last meeting held a few issues.
Now being a group of 14 girls, it's hard to control the "silly" outbreak. A little silly is OK, but a LOT of distracting silly kind of counter's what we are trying to accomplish. Alright, I don't mean silly, I mean obnoxious grab for attention....

We are going to talk about if FIRST in circle time and then see what THEY think should be done if a girl is totally holding things up. (Girl led choices). I really think that by having their peers make the call, this should streamline a few things.
:)

I have to make sure that everyone gets "their moment"  so no one feels the need to aim for it.

Easter is early this year so... it is an Easter craft!

Early Bird Activity : Spring Coloring Sheets!

Circle Time

Julia Gordon Lowe Says (Like Simon Says) with some jumpin, hopping, etc. to get the wiggles out.
Talk about last meetings distractions and special skills. Why is "silly" not a special skill? How does that help anyone?
Does it cause problems?
What do you expect from us, as your leaders (we will make a list on the white board).

NOW, we get to list what we expect from them, as our troop.
(The girl scout law spelled out...highlighting #5, respect)

If a girl is NOT respecting all of us and kind of crosses that line, what should we do? (Girl led solution).

Just remember, we are a TEAM -- is there an "I" in it?
Nope
:)

Back to business:  Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my rightGirl Scout Promise

Say to each other in Italian, what to say to people when they take a trip (Buon viaggio). Then we all say it together.

Independent Petal Pack Award Pass Out.

Birthday Card/Patch Pass Out

Theme of the day: We have skills and so do plants!During our last meeting,we paid special attention to a sister Daisy's special skills. Today, we will pay attention to our own! Choose a skill that you will use today....let's go around the circle and share which special skill we are going to use. We finished chapter 3 where Lupe and Clover started off talking about their feelings and then they met up with Sunny, who is helping clean the soil in Pittsburgh.
What if Clover hadn't said anything? What if Lupe hadn't said that everything was OK?Now- what do you think of Clover's special skill: cleaning the soil? Most people probably don't know that sunflowers can clean poisons from the soil!

What other plants clean the soil in the US?

Speaking of the US, let's talk about our flag!
Flag etiquette
-The proper way to display, fold and salute the flag. Learn about the history of the flag

Craft time!
-Plastic Easter Egg Necklace!

Snack Time
-Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats.

Circle Time!  Each girl shares how they think their special skill went...What can you do at home to make even more use of this special skill? At School?
Pass out their Firefly award!

Clean Up helpers help pack up cart...

Take home: Their craft, The Firefly award and a reminder for the next meeting to read chapter 4! 

Police Department Tour

We had a tour this week.... of the local Police Department.
It was a more detailed tour than I expected and in the end, the girls all got a neat T-shirt from them!

We looked at patches... 

Saw the bike patrol...

Saw what was in the back of the bullet proof cars...

Checked out the Radio room...

Saw the 911 Call Center

Saw the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) room

And more!
It was a great tour and they got a Police Tour "Fun Patch" for the back of their vests.

(I am still blown away by the great T-shirts!)

Meeting Number 8: Catchin' Up, Chapter 2

So, we are now playing catch up with our Journey book as the blizzards of Wisconsin had thrown us off our planned pace. I was pretty sure the girls had earned their other finance leaves from selling cookies and we reviewed it. Even though you were supposed to earn only two a year, we did all four this year because we didn't really sell cookies last year.

Making Choices:

·    Find out the difference between wants and needs

·    Try setting a goal to save for what you want

·    Help others with what the need and want.

Count it Up:

·    Fine out what cookies cost

·    Learn about different kinds of cookies

·    Set a sales goal

Talk It Up:

·    Decide how to use your cookie money

·    Talk about how to use your cookie money to help others

·    Inspire your customers

Yup. Yup. Yup.
They have done it all!

OK, back to our meeting...

Early Bird Activity is our craft for the meeting: St Patrick's Day print using green paint and a cut up bell pepper to make the Shamrock stamp! They stamped on sheets that said:

I am so lucky to be a Daisy Girl Scout!

This way, the prints were dry when the meeting was over.

Circle Time

-Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my right

 

  Start with a song: The Daisy Song!

 

My assistant leader put the following on cute paper for all of them to take home:

Sing:

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver, and the other gold. 

A circle’s round; it has no end.

That’s how long I want to be your friend. 

A fire burns bright; it warms the heart.

We’ve been friends from the very start.

You have a hand, and I have another.

Put them together, and we have each other.

Across the land; across the sea.

Friends forever we will always be.

Girl Scout Promise

Tour Around Deeds Review -- from our Investiture Ceremony, the girls had to do three good turns to turn their pin around. We went from girl to girl to learn what they did to turn them around.

-Say to each other in Japanese, what to say to people when they take a trip (Itterasshai). Then we all say it together.

Independent Petal Pack Award Pass Out.

Birthday Card/Patch Pass Out

 

Theme of the day: Special Skills and Textures Too

During our time together tonight, you are all going to pay special attention to the girl on your left. Does everyone know which way is left? Pay attention to what she says and does so you can learn what special skill she shows tonight. Is she good at speaking up? Good at helping others?
At the end of our meeting, you tell her what you think her special skill is and we will see if she agrees with you. J

We finished chapter 2 where the flower friends visit Jasper Beach before heading to the Lupine Festival.
What did you think about the flowers seeing so many shapes or colors at the beach?
Have you ever been to a beach like that?
Can you imagine going to a beach like that?

So – it’s Science Time! 
Here is a way to see some shiny stones and pebbles, just like the flower friends saw when they visited Jasper Beach!

Why do you think the water makes the stones brighter?

When stones get wet, they act like a mirror – the water lets more light reflect off the stone.

More light means you can see more of the stone’s color, so the stone looks brighter.

Over time, water and sand can make stones so smooth and shiny that they look polished – like our flower friends saw at Jasper Beach.

Compass Lesson.

North – East – South – West is drawn on the white board. Let’s all face North. Which way do we turn to face West? South? (switch it up a bit and have fun)
YOU ROCK!

Finish our Finance Leaves

-We will review each of the leaves with them and see if they understand how /what we did.

Snack Time

-Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. It is seed week!  The snack helper brought popcorn in cutely decorated bags.

Circle Time!

Everyone in the same order that they were at the beginning of the meeting…each girl shares what they think the special skill is of the girl on their left. We keep a written list going for the next meeting.

Clean Up helpers help pack up cart...

Take home: Their craft, The Finance Leaves and reminder for the next meeting!
 
**Note:
We had a tough time tonight with a few girls... it cost us about 10 minutes of our meeting. When special skills were talked about at the end, 6 girls were called "silly". Not the best special skill to have.......
So, we are starting something up for the troop at the beginning of the next meeting.
Stay tuned...

World Thinking Day: International Bazaar

Our area group (consists of several different troops) put this together...an International Bazaar!

The concept is simple, each troop picks a country and makes a table display. They share what they learned with other scouts and possibly sell something country related (like jewelry, food, etc). The money raised gets donated to the fund that helps girls be able to afford being a scout, if they don't have the means.

This is our first year and we are NOT adopting a country but ARE attending. We will see how it all works and then, adopt a country next year. I am leaning towards an African theme as I scored a one gallon bag full of wooden beads that would make for amazing bracelets to sell....or Japan as several girls have access to a kimono and we could face paint ladies like a Geisha?

Here is an example of a table display and a Daisy (my daughter) holding their passport:

Girls looking for the trivia answer of the booth for their passport...then that country "stamps" it.

My Assistant Troop Leader and I, decked out with mustaches from "France" ... they sold them for $.25 each

Italy had a Mona poster that became a photo op. This is the Mona Sarah...

Australia had aboriginal face painting for a quarter. Simple, two colors and it used just one Q-tip to do! Simple, yet brilliant - no?

Hong Kong had paper fans for a quarter (or maybe it was $.50?)

We ended with a flag ceremony, Girl Scout promise and law, and then called all troops/countries up one-by-one to donate their earnings. All troops were clapped for as they did a SUPER job on their countries!

If you don't have anything like this in your area -- I hope it gives you enough ideas to get one started!

All girls had a BLAST, learned a lot and it was cool to have a little "down time" in the event to "network" with other girls from different troops.

 

Happy World Thinking Day!

Investiture Ceremony

We are a second year Daisy Troop but never have done an Investiture Ceremony. So, we made a BIG deal out of this, to make it special for the girls.

At our last meeting we had the girls decorate the invites for their parents...after all, you need someone to clap for you when you earn something, right?

First things first.
The order of the ceremony.

Everyone will do the Pledge of Allegiance.

Leader Says: You are all Daisy Girl Scouts but we are "officially" stating that tonight. Together we will
explore all the fun and adventure of Girl Scouting. Let's look at some of the things we have done and might do.

(This is where the girls start to come up, one by one. They got a numbered index card when they arrived)

 #1 GS: The lady that started Girl Scouts was Juliette Gordon Low, her nickname was "Daisy". We are named after her.

#2 GS: Together we will learn more about Girl Scouting.

#3 GS: The Girl Scout Promise is the pledge that tells us how to live our lives. 

LEADER: In Daisy Girl Scouts, girls earn 10 Learning Petals. Each petal is a different color, which represents a different phrase from the Girl Scout Law. Our law starts out : I will do my best to:

#4 GS: Be honest and fair

#5 GS: Be friendly and helpful

#6 GS: Be considerate and caring

#7 GS: Be courageous and strong

#8 GS: Be responsible for what I say and do

#9 GS:   Respect myself and others

#10 GS: Respect authority

#11 GS: Use resources wisely

#12 GS: Make the world a better place

#13 GS:   Be a sister to every Girl Scout.

LEADER: In Girl Scouting, we have lots of fun things to learn. We will learn how to be safe and healthy. We will learn how and why things work. We will sing, dance, make things and put on plays. We will have fun outside and learn how to care for our world. We will learn how to be helpful people on this earth. The Girl Scout Promise tells us to help others. The Girl Scout Law tells us how to be good to each other and our world. Most important we have fun!
Let's all repeat our Girl Scout Promise.

It is now time to pin our girls! All of our girls have already worn their Daisy Pin.  

The daisy is a symbol of dedication to the Girl Scout movement, which was started by our founder Juliette Gordon Low and began in our country on March 12, 1912. Juliette Low’s nickname was Daisy. You are following in her footsteps as you become a unique and caring influence in today and tomorrow’s world.

Today, we are turning it upside down. It can be turned right side up by a parent after the Daisy Girl Scout has completed three good deeds.  We look forward to hearing all of the good deeds at our next meeting!  

 

We are also pinning on this year's membership stars!

In alphabetical order, please come up.
A, A, A, D, E, J, K, K, L, L, M, S, T
(each one pinned, Daisy pin turned upside down and handed a certificate)
These were the certificates I made in Publisher. It has 13 Daisy flowers on it because we have 13 Daisies in our troop!

Please welcome Daisy Troop #1123!

Now, it's award time!
All cookie awards passed out, along with a certificate.

Let's all join together for the Friendship Squeeze!

Refreshments.
(simple punch and Girl Scout cookies)

Daisy Meeting Number 7: Valentine's

 Early Bird Activity: Working on the Investiture Ceremony Invites.(Our next normal meeting date is going to be our Investiture Ceremony)

 

Circle Time

We started with the Girl Scout Promise.

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

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

Review the bank field trip -- what did we learn about money? We had everyone who made it to the field trip share something that they learned so the girls who couldn't go learned too!

 

Pass out Finance Leaf! We are doing all FOUR leaves this year as they didn't really sell cookies last year. They have done almost everything for all four and at our next "normal" meeting, they will get them.

 

What is an Investiture Ceremony? They have never been to one before so I explained what they could expect. We would do the pledge of allegiance, the promise, the law, get pinned and receive the cookie selling awards.

 

Valentines time!
They all got a craft kit that contained a foam heart, puffy heart stickers in different colors, lips confetti and a picture of them. They got to use markers too and make them as fancy as they wanted to.

 

Snack. We kind of mixed things up a bit here and deviated from our normal "healthy" treats. Candy bracelets, Capri Sun, Fruit Roll Ups and Fruit Chewies...yes, they got sugared up {sigh}.

 

Circle time 

Talk about Magazine sale. We did VERY well on cookies and didn't really need to do the magazine sale this year. I explained that if everyone fills out the post card packs and turns it in, we make $2.50 each. That is an EASY $35 for us! They also get a cute chalkboard and patch...which they got excited about.

We then ended with the Friendship Squeeze.