Meeting 11: When the Flowers Meet The Trees

Early Bird Activity : Mother's Day Cards! (We will put these with the craft project from our next meeting for their mothers)

Sticky Popcorn (great to get the wiggles out)
1. The game leader tells the girls that they are popcorn kernels. They start out by “popping” or jumping about slowly, and as the heat is increase (the game leader can call out “hotter”),
they hop faster.
2. This is special “sticky” popcorn. When the girls bump into each other, they stick together and continue to hop.
3. They can continue to grow into a giant popcorn ball.

Circle Time

Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my right

Girl Scout Promise

Independent Petal Pack Award Pass Out.

Pass out patches for those who helped at the Cat Show

Birthday Card/Patch Pass Out

Theme of the day: When the Flowers Meet the Trees – learn about different kinds of trees (Spruce, Pinion and Chestnut – then classifying them into deciduous and conifers),

Story Time :Read, or have the Daisies take turns reading, Chapter 5 of their books.

This is the 3rd tree we leraned about on this Journey - first we learned about spruce trees, the pinon trees and now chestnut trees - and we have one more tree to learn about later in the story! Can anyone guess what that will be?

Let's talk about the trees in Wisconsin, which trees give us shade? Which ones are good for climbing? Did you know that Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low liked to climb trees as a young girl?

Clover Project: We talked about a few things last time and we are going to do it for the next meeting...A few of you mentioned picking up garbage, etc at a park - how about the grounds of this church?

 

That is a GREAT way to take care of the planet, now let's talk a minute about taking care of YOU.

**A girl in our community, the same age as our troop, was molested this past week. We are not telling our troop that but ARE covering a few more things to help prevent it in their lives. Just look at your troop: one out of every four women is assulted in some way, in their lives. That would mean 3-4 of our girls as we have a troop of 13. Usually it is from someone that the person knows...so we want to give an age appropriate reminder.

 

We talked about Stranger Danger when you all earned your safety award... we just want to remind everyone about a few things:

• First of all, this is a SAFE place for you girls and you can come to us about anything. We are here to help you, even if it isn't part of our meetings.
• Secondly, it may be called "Stranger Danger" but it could also be someone we know. The bottom line is to trust your instincts. If you get that funny feeling in your tummy that something isn't right - it probably isn't. We have talked about yelling, running away, etc - that is OK.
• Sometimes, people who want to hurt us, lie. We talked about people who ask you to help them find their missing dog, who talk about giving you a ride home, who offer you candy. There are also people who say that your parents will get in trouble if you say anything or that they will be mad at you if you tell.
  They are LIARS.
• If something ever happened, tell an adult that you trust, right away. You will NEVER get in trouble, it is NEVER your fault, and we can help protect you.

Smart
Actions
For
Everyone
(Safe)

Craft time! We are making Sit Upons for the overnight area campout!

Snack Time

-Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats.

Daisy Clean Up Song (sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells”)
Leader: Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Let’s tidy up the room.
Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Time to go home soon.
( Girls Reply: )Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
We’re picking up our things.
Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Hear our voices sing!

Circle Time!

Squeeze and goodbye

Cat Show!

Our troop was offered a fun opportunity for a Cat Show on April 6th.

They would be stewards at a cat show and the troop would get paid $300!!

Stewards help out in the cat show rings and get to see lots of kitties! The cat show as at the County Fairgrounds...and ran from 9-5. The girls were supplied a FREE lunch too....all they really did was sanitize the cages between judging rounds. Keep in mind, if a cat "messed" the cage, the cat's owner was responsible for cleaning it. 

Of course, "fun patches" were in order for the event....but do you know how hard it is to find a "fun patch" for a cat show? I had do come up with something else for the event..."Fundraiser" patches.

Fund-Raising -- we made enough to cover the cost of all our "Bridging Kits" for the girls next month, Yippee!

Meeting Number 10: In The Land Of Milk and Cheese

Our last meeting was GREAT!
Our ideas for respect worked
:)

Early Bird Activity : Farm Coloring Sheets!

Sticky Popcorn (great to get the wiggles out)
1. The game leader tells the girls that they are popcorn kernels. They start out by “popping” or jumping about slowly, and as the heat is increase (the game leader can call out “hotter”),
they hop faster.
2. This is special “sticky” popcorn. When the girls bump into each other, they stick together and continue to hop.
3. They can continue to grow into a giant popcorn ball.

Circle Time

We talked about the Girl Scout Law last time and having Respect for all of us during our time together.  What if we have a girl NOT showing respect. What should we do?

 (Girl led solution).

Back to business:  Review Caper Chart. Leader Helper sits on my right

 

Girl Scout Promise

Review all ways to say “Have a Good Trip” that we have learned

Independent Petal Pack Award Pass Out.

Nut Sale award pass out

Birthday Card/Patch Pass Out

Theme of the day: In the Land of Milk and Cheese – the Flower Friends Visit Wisconsin (yippee!)

Story Time :Read, or have the Daisies take turns reading, Chapter 4 beginning on page 53 of their books.

So, we know the Great Salt Lake is special in Utah....if the flowers came to our town, what would they want to see?
What would be the best thing to show them?

What foods would the want to try?

When they visited this special place in our town, would they see any special skills at work - people skills or plant skills?

( This will help our group begin thinking about their Clover project). (a play, posters for a school or library, a community planting project, litter pick up at a park, etc)

Craft time! - stuff blessing bags for the Homeless

Snack Time: Celebrating Local Foods
CHEESE! (String cheese)
Learn about how different foods affect our bodies (sleeper foods like milk/cheese/turkey and wake up foods that they share from their experiences) talk about textures. Start thinking about their Clover Project.

-Snack and beverage helpers pass out treats. (String Cheese)

Daisy Clean Up Song (sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells”)
Leader: Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Let’s tidy up the room.
Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Time to go home soon.
( Girls Reply: )Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
We’re picking up our things.
Daisy Scouts, Daisy Scouts,
Hear our voices sing!

Circle Time! 

Invite the girls to talk about their favorite foods and where they might come from.

Squeeze and goodbye

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...