Sewing with Girl Scouts--May Meeting

My heart swelled, yet broke slightly, at our monthly Girl Scout meeting tonight.  The girls have been discussing Bronze and Silver Award projects, and they decided to make blankets and pillows for local hospitals.  I could not come up with something "fun" for the meeting, so I decided we would start with the project.  I bought 4 pieces of light fleece to make tie blankets, and Mom found some pieces of material to sew and make pillow cases.  We realized we didn't have the stuffing, but we can do that later.  I showed the girls how to cut and tie the blankets while she showed them how to sew a simple stitch/hem with the sewing machine.  The first girl, who took to it quickly and easily, happens to have the same name as my niece.  All I could think was . . . this should be my niece and her grandmother sewing together.  Maybe some day it will be, but at the rate we are going, it won't.  My heart broke slightly at this sight and thought.  However, I was excited that both of us could share these skills with three (only three came tonight) beautiful young ladies.

April Girl Scout Meeting

Tonight, we finished our Buddy Burners and cooked breakfast burritos.

You just need a large can.  Use a church key or bottle opener to poke three holes along the open end of the can and three more on the opposite side near the closed end of the can.  Light your burner, set your can on top, and cook.

Pics to come . . .

March Girl Scout Meeting

I got the crazy idea to teach our girls how to use Buddy Burners.  I had hoped my cafeteria manager would have the cans I needed to do this, but they weren't ready, so today, we only made the burners.  Next month, we will actually cook.

Buddy Burners are great for Scouts and families to use when at camp or in the backyard.

Tonight, we layered strips of cardboard with dryer lint.  A few layers of each is all you need.  You then roll it so it looks like a spiral and drop it into a tuna and cat food can.  Melt wax on your stove.  Pour it over the cardboard and lint.  Let it dry.

Next month, we will use these as the fire/heat source to cook.

More Girl Scouts--Meetings Fall 2014

October:
We met at the beginning of the month to plan our Bridging and Awards Ceremony.  Normally, we have the ceremony at the end of the school year or during early June, but we put it off this year.  Once the girls decided what they wanted to do for their ceremony, they decorated skulls for Day of the Dead of Día de Muertos.  We discuss what the day was, the Mexican culture and the development of the holiday, and then provided the supplies for them to design their own skulls. One of the most exciting parts of the night was that my niece got to join us via Skype.  I had mailed her the craft supplies, so she joined in the discussion and then got to do the craft right along with us.  All the girls loved that she was joining us.

Two weeks later, we met with their families to perform our ceremony and bridge 4 young ladies from Brownies to Juniors and 3 young ladies from Juniors to Cadettes.

November:
We met twice this month.  The first meeting was spent planning meals and beginning discussions around a Scouts Own for our Service Unit Campout in December.  We finished the night with the girls creating a Thanksgiving craft.

The second meeting began with our Parent Cookie Meeting/Training and then concluded with the final discussion/plan of the Scouts Own we are leading at the campout next month.

1st Girl Scout Meeting of 2014-2015

Tonight, 6 of our 10 girls were able to meet.

 We began with a get-to-know you activity (to just catch-up b/c it has been a while since we've been together).  They chose a Skittle, and each color was assigned a memory--something more precious than gold, something that makes you feel warm, something that makes you cry, something that makes you laugh, etc.  The girls had a great time with this.

We then had them look through ceremonies for Bridging and Investiture and plan their Awards and Bridging Ceremonies, which we will do at the beginning of October.

Finally, they began planning their Bronze/Silver project.  With two levels, we are trying to kill two birds with one stone.  We will have them do one project to accomplish both Awards.

We filled our time together, they had great conversations, and we can't wait to see what this year holds.

What have you done to kick-off the new Girl Scout year?

Gardening, Making Games, and Easter Fun During Girl Scouts

Tonight, we had our April meeting.  It started kind of different because we started with 3 girls.  We've had as few as 5 before, but we've never started a meeting with as few as 3.

One of our Juniors prepared to lead the girls in the Gardening Badge.  She had a PowerPoint with pictures of flowers.  She provided little pots for the girls to decorate with stickers.  We got the Sharpies out too.  (Do you know how often we use those?)  She also provided potting soil and 3 different kinds of flower seeds.  The girls enjoyed getting the dirt and planting the seeds.  We talked about what plants/seeds need to survive as well as their favorite flowers.  We also walked to the edge of my property to look at the neighbor's vegetable garden.

By the time we started getting the soil, 3 more girls arrived.  Those 3 had dance pictures.

One of our Brownies prepared a scavenger hunt to work on the Making Games Badge.  The girls had to find various nature related items.  Funny how it tied to the Gardening Badge, and it wasn't planned that way.

We ended the meeting with foam Easter crafts.  The girls made flowers and rabbit decorations.

December Girl Scout Meeting

Tonight, we had a small group.  We sure did miss all our friends who were sick, in church performances, or having cookies with Santa.  We went Christmas Caroling at two special houses.  The girls did a great job and even inspired a dog to sing too.  They also worked on the Detective Badge, enjoyed hot chocolate and lots of sugar, and created Christmas crafts.

Merry Christmas from our Girl Scout Troop!

Girl Led Girl Scout Meeting

Tonight, our Girl Scout meeting was truly girl led.

One of the Brownies had chosen to lead the other Brownies in the Senses badge.  She brought everything she needed, so I had them work in a separate room.  She did a great job working through the activities.  The girls had a great time!

Our Junior who was going to lead the badge work for her group did not make the meeting, so I had the Cadettes work with the Juniors.  The Juniors chose to work on the Drawing badge.  All the girls chose the parts they wanted to do and began the badge.

All I did was get out Fall/Thanksgiving foam pieces for them to do a craft while we waited for everyone to arrive.  I then went between the two groups monitoring them.  That's it.  Great meeting!

GS: Fall Fun

When I chose dates for meetings, I had to work around my schedule and my co-leader's schedule.  We had no idea that there was a school carnival scheduled for tonight where half our girls attend.  Despite that, we had 6 girls attend the meeting, including one who went to the carnival and then came to the meeting.

No girls had signed-up to lead the meeting, so I planned it. 
1. They began by choosing a meeting date on a wall calendar to lead their chosen badge/activity.
2. We then created a dessert that was layers of sugar free Vanilla pudding, crushed Oreos, and orange sprinkles.  Some liked it more than others.  We sang Happy Birthday to one of the girls and Juliette Gordon Low.
3. The girls were able to make masks with inexpensive plastic masks, Sharpies, chanel sticks/pipe cleaners, pom poms, and feathers. 
4. They ended the night decorating little pumpkins with Sharpies.

The girls had a great time and really got along.  They talked, laughed, and were just silly.  It was a great evening!

First GS Meeting of the Year

We had our first meeting of the 2013-2014 Girl Scout year tonight.  Of our 14 girls, we know one has chosen not to return.  There are two from which we haven't heard. We had one girl join our troop as the meeting began.  Two more girls visited to see what it was all about.  They are friends of one girl and go to school with at least four of the girls.

After a welcome and introduction, we split the girls into their GS levels.  They were given all the materials we had and asked to create a list of events, activities, field trips, and badges they want to do.  Once they created a list, each girl had to take responsibility for at least one item on the list that they will either get the details on and schedule or a badge they can present to the group.

After I study the list, I will send emails to the individual girls/families with directions about gathering details, etc.

We are working very hard to make our troop girl-led, so we are asking the girls/families to do the leg-work. It is our hope the girls come through.  If they don't, we just won't do that activity, field trip, or badge.

Final Girl Scout Meeting of the Year

Tonight, we will hold our final Girl Scout meeting of the school year.  Traditionally, we have a Bridging and Award Ceremony to end the year, but we are doing it differently this year. 

We have 8 girls who could earn their Bronze Award. Each girl has between 7.5 and 13.5 hours left to complete the project.  We will be talking to the girls about what they can do to finish their project and give them a due date this summer to turn in all evidence.  It will be each girl's responsibility to finish.  We have gotten them this far, and now it is their chance to take responsibility and finish.  We will have a special celebration in late August or early September, when we will hold a Bronze Award, Bridging, Awards, and Investiture Ceremony.

We will also give the girls the opportunity tonight to plan next year.  They will work in GS levels to decide on badges they want to earn and what field trips they want to take.  It is our hope that they will have a great plan by night's end.  This is the next step in building leadership skills and giving our girls ownership of their troop.

Jeweler Badge

Tonight, we had a special guest teach our Girl Scouts how to make bracelets as part of their Jeweler Badge.  The girls learned how to choose one special bead to be the focal point and then how to choose beads to accent it. They learned to keep their beads/string on the table as they worked so they didn't drop the ends and lose their beads.  When they finished beading, we tied the ends, and our guest put a special clamping bead over the knots so they didn't unravel.  The girls made bracelets for themselves and one for their mothers for Mother's Day.  They were so excited, and their bracelets looked great.  Now they can make necklaces too.

World Thinking Day and Bronze Award Project Update

On Friday evening, our troop met to cover two major topics.  First, the girls who chose to participate, presented their World Thinking Day projects.  The girls were given the choices of Jordan, Malawi, Pakistan, Venezuela, Russia, Japan, and Ireland.  They were asked to tell us what Girl Scouting is like in the country, what the Girl Scout uniforms look like, and what life for a young girl is like in the country.  The girls did a great job!

The second part of our evening was spent on their Bronze Award project.  The girls decorated white coffee mugs with sharpies for Valentine's Day.  (I put them in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes to set the color.)  They also decorated the gift bags.  We will fill the mugs/bags with sugar free hot chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolates or cookie, and a book of poems/quotes for women or a tie for men.  The bags will be taken to the church by the weekend and then delivered before Valentine's Day.

Bronze Award Project

Our January 25th meeting was all business.  We don't like to do an "all business" meeting, but we had to have discussions that needed to lead to a decision and then planning for the Bronze Aware project/award.  The girls had created a list of ideas a few months ago.  Last night, we broke them into two groups.  Each group was asked to narrow the choices down to their top three.  Once both groups had three, we discussed them and then narrowed them down to one.  Both groups chose two that were the same and then each had a different one.  After discussing projects other local troops have done and some future projects, the girls decided to make bags/baskets for church shut-ins for four holidays between now and the end of May.  They chose Valentine's Day, a Girl Scouts themed one to deliver on Girl Scout Sunday, Easter, and Spring.  Once they had their concept and four holidays, they brainstormed a list of items to give elderly church members for each theme.  J and I bought the items for the Valentine's gifts based on their lists and a few things we know about the church members.  The girls will spend the February 1st meeting putting things together.

Meetings and Giving Continue

In November, we rediscussed plans for the spring.  The girls voted to spend the night at a local zoo and visit a local aquarium and possibly do badge work.  Looks like we are not old enough for badge work at the aquarium, so we might do a badge workshop while at the zoo. We shall see.  The girls also created a list of interests to help us get started on their Bronze Award project. We will revisit their list, narrow it down, and get started in January. They ended the meeting making crafts to show what they are thankful for or to represent Thanksgiving.

Our December meeting brought fewer sweet faces due to recitals, Christmas programs, visiting relatives, and more, but those who were at the meeting created two ornaments and went caroling.  We forgot that since we meet on a Friday night, many people are not home, but one wonderful family opened their door to hear their sweet voices.  The girls also voted to spend $100 on coats to purchase for a local coat drive.  We were able to purchase 5 coats to donate.  Our girls have such sweet, giving hearts!

Our first meeting in January will be a parent meeting to get our cookie information.  Be ready!  Our cookie sellers will be out and about the second weekend of January!

Kicking Off a New Year

We held our first meeting of the 2012-2013 year this past Friday night.  We met with Brownie parents as the girls brainstormed what they want to do this year.  The girls enjoyed a dinner of soft tacos, chips/dip, and fruit while chatting about their first week in school and what they did this summer.  After dinner, we discussed their ideas. Camping, archery, and skating (roller and ice) were at the top of their list.  We already have a camping trip planned that includes archery, so two down and two to go. :-)  While we met with Junior parents, the girls created foam picture frames as their craft.  All in all, it was a good meeting to get us started.

What did you do during your first meeting?
What do you have on your schedule for the year?

We are about to launch a troop website.  Any pointers?
It will be private and only viewable to those we invite.  Privacy is huge with me.  I've been uploading pictures from last year before sending it to everyone. We hope that it will help with reminders and other valuable information. We'll see how it goes.

Happy New Year!

It has been a while since I last posted.  Time flies when you're having fun!  How is your Girl Scout year going?

Ours has been busy, but not so busy all at the same time.  A Junior Troop was disbanding, so the remaining girls joined us in September.  These girls have been a wonderful addition as we had two Juniors in our troop.  They have been able to focus on the Agent of Change Journey and discuss ways that lead them to more leadership roles.

In November, members of a disbanding Brownie Troop joined us to add to the fun, friendship, and experience.  The Brownies have been working on their Brownie Quest Journey and have all but finished.  With all the new girls, they have earned the new Making Friends badge.

In December, those interested walked in our local Hometown Christmas Parade and helped pick two tags from the local Angel Tree.  Our girls are so kind and giving.   After donating blankets, comforters, etc. for the Share the Warmth campaign and gloves, hats, and scarves for Warm Hands, Warm Hearts, they voted to adopt an Angel from our community.  The girls chose two.  For those who were available, we met at our local superstore and purchased two shirts/blouses, two pairs of pants, and items related to their wish list.  What a great experience!

Our January meeting brought us cookie training and COOKIE Sales!!  The girls are out and about selling away.

February is going to be a fun month, and I hope March tops it.

What are you doing to celebrate the 100th Anniversary?

We have some extra Brownie Try-Its from the old program.  If you are in need or are interested in earning some, let me know.

Journeys

Have you gotten the new Girl Scout materials?  I am waiting on mine to arrive.  I am anxious to see what has been developed and how we will implement it with three Girl Scout levels.  I know that there are 5 badges linked to each Journey.  

We have decided that we are doing the Daisy Flower Garden, Brownie Quest, and Junior Agent of Change this year.  Did you know there are meeting plans created for the Journeys that include the badge work?  Check out this site.  
http://gsnetx.org/Default.aspx?tabid=463 
Click on the one you need, and it downloads in PDF.

We would love to hear how your meetings are going and what ideas you have for implementing the new materials, Journeys, and fun additional events.

First Meeting of the Year

Have you had your first meeting yet?  We did at the beginning of September, and it was so much fun.

We began our meeting with a "get to know you" activity.  Another troop disbanded and the girls wishing to stay in Girl Scouts joined our troop.  We were so excited to meet 4 new girls.  The girls had fun getting to know each other and the leaders.

GSNETX had shared information about 9-10-11, a service project.  We discussed ways to help end world hunger and conserve energy while at the meeting.  We communicated with the girls beforehand, so they each brought their 10 food items.  We will weigh our food and then donate it to our local Food Pantry.

We enjoyed nachos and fruit before ending the night with two ceremonies.

We never held a Bridging Ceremony at the end of last year for our two girls going to Juniors.  The new girls joining us never had a ceremony either, so we held a Bridging Ceremony.  It was a simple ceremony with speaking parts by the "Brownie Leader" and the "Junior Leader," the girls crossed an imaginary bridge, and ended with everyone singing "Make New Friends."

We then had a Rededication Ceremony so our girls who are remaining as Daisies and Brownies could take part as well as our new Juniors.

What did you do for your first meeting?

Meeting with a Daisy Troop

Last night, our Brownie Troop met with a local Daisy Troop to meet their requirement for Bridging.  It was so much fun! 

After introducing ourselves and sharing how long we had each been in Girl Scouts, the Brownies shared various activities, projects, and service projects we have done over the past 3 years.  We answered questions for the Daisies before teaching them the Brownie Smile Song.  We worked on the Sounds of Music Try-It the majority of the evening.  We made instruments and discussed sound, vibrations, and sound waves.  I am sure their parents are really thanking me today.  Ha ha! Straws, plates, boxes, rubber bands, bottles, and more make great music.  We taught the girls Amen before enjoying pizza and cupcakes for dinner.  Before concluding the night, we taught the girls Bazooka Bubble Gum and Hi, My Name is Joe and I Work in a Button Factory.  The final activity of the night was singing Make New Friends and doing the Friendship Circle with the Friendship Squeeze.  Lots of fun was had by all! 

We wish our young friends good luck next year as Brownies, and we are here to help in any way.