Are you the leader of a Cadette Girl Scout troop? Here are some resources for you to use as you guide your middle school girls through this level of scouting. Updated February 2022 *This post contains affiliate links. Cadette Leaders Need Practical Resources for Their Middle School Troop How many of you know a girl who was a Girl Scout past the fifth grade? If you are like most people, not many. When girls begin their adventures in Girl Scouting, they are as young as five years old and in kindergarten. Everything is exciting to them, and they are very happy with crafts, field trips and an occasional guest speaker. As the girls become Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts, it becomes more challenging keeping them engaged. They want more outdoor adventures like camping and fun overnights at museums and party places. As their leader, you do your best to comply with what they want while attempting to keep your own sanity. Photo from Pixabay By the time the girls finish the Junior level at the end of fifth grade, there is a dramatic drop in their ranks. As puberty hits full throttle and what other people think becomes more important, the coolness factor of scouting plummets and many girls no longer want to be associated with the movement. For my troop, this has not been our experience. I was the leader for six years, and this upcoming year I am stepping down from that role and moving to a co-leadership position. A friend of mine will be the leader, and ten of our eleven girls will become Cadette Girl Scouts. We are also very fortunate that the principal of our school is a former Girl Scout who earned her Gold Award years ago. She is a positive role model for our girls. The Challenges of Being a Cadette Leader Middle School Girls Are Not the Easiest to Be With! As a mother who has been through the middle school years once before, I can honestly say that I am not looking forward to replaying the drama of these early teen years. Relational aggression (female bullying), cliques, first heartbreaks, and monitoring social media use was challenging. Cadette leaders have to deal with all of this with girls who are not their daughters. Many times, a troop will inherit new girls at this stage because the girls' former troops have disbanded and are no longer viable. The girls wish to remain in scouting, but need someone to take them in. Leaders must be very aware of integrating new girls into their established troop and making sure that they are welcomed and accepted by the others. We are all sisters in scouting, and this is a great opportunity for new friends to be made. Cliques and leaving other girls out is not an acceptable behavior and needs to be thwarted. A Smart Girl's Guide: Middle School (Revised): Everything You Need to Know About Juggling More Homework, More Teachers, and More Friends! (Smart Girl's Guides) from Amazon This book, as well as the original version, has been a source of comfort and an invaluable resource for both of my daughters. The Biggest Challenge Facing Cadette Leaders There is competition for your time! Photo from Pixabay As girls get older, their lives get busier. Once upon a time,dance and athletics were a fun activity. Many girls, including those in my troop, participate on travel teams for sports or competition teams for dance. This means hours of travel and practice that will interfere with Girl Scout activities. In middle school, girls are introduced to after school clubs. These may bring new friends and new interests that will also occupy their time and lessen their involvement with Girl Scouting. Photo from Stoonn via freedigitalphotos.net Then there is homework. Modern society dictates that more homework is good, so teachers pile it on. For high achieving students, this extra workload can be a challenge, but for those who struggle in school, this creates more problems. Homework has to come first, even at the expense of a Girl Scout activity or meeting. Peer pressure is also a challenge. No matter how you slice it, Girl Scouts is not considered a cool activity. Adult leaders need to combat that with activities that the girls vote on and plan. When other middle schoolers find out that the scouts in their grade slept over in a museum, went on a long weekend to a water park resort or saved all their cookie money for a trip to Disney, then the cool factor is upped significantly. A Smart Girl's Guide: Friendship Troubles (Revised): Dealing with fights, being left out & the whole popularity thing (Smart Girl's Guides) from Amazon Online Resources for Cadette Leaders Starting at a new level is always a challenge. As the girls get older, meetings are supposed to be more "girl led", but with cliques, absences and forgetfulness, things might not get accomplished as they would with a responsible adult in charge. Of course, this is a life lesson that needs to be learned. As the leader, you are transferring the role of leadership to the girls. Here are some great resources on how to do that, as well as how to run your meetings, select badges and community service projects, plus how to do a Journey. Girl Scout Leader Blog All the posts from my main blog relating to Cadette Scouts Old Cadette/Senior Ambassador IP's and Badge Thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can get all the requirements for the old program at this link. Cadette Uniform This shows where badges, patches and pins go on a Cadette vest or sash. 6th Grade Cadettes Moving up from Juniors is a big deal. Here is some wonderful and relevant advice from leaders who have already made the transition. Camping With Cadette Girl Scouts One leader shares her camping trip with readers. Cadette First Aid Badge Learn how your troop can fulfill the requirements for this badge. Silver Award These are the directions on how to earn the Silver Award.
I hear all the time from leaders that the new badges are boring — especially for the older girls. Cadettes have limited time and plenty of other activities to choose from besides Girl Scouts. How can we get them to stay with the program if they don’t like the activities? Well, the Budgeting badge is one they will …
If your looking for ideas to make your meeting more fun while discovering more about what your girls are eating and how it affects their body both inside and out, you have come to the right place. Using some of these activities below they will learn how food can affect your mood, body and mind. Below are a few ideas to get you started. Eating For You Activity Booklet Before jumping into a few ideas, do you want to skip all the planning? If so, use this Activity Booklet with activities, games, and worksheets to allow your girls to takeover the meeting and give your girls a better understanding of how nutrition affects your mood mind and body. Your girls will discover how simply choosing the right foods to eat can help your stress level, your skin will be smoother, your hair will be shinier, nails will be stronger and lastly you will sleep better. With a step by step activities, you can’t ask for a easier way to run your meeting. Learn more and get yours today! Be sure to also checkout these other activities your girls will love: Learn How To Draw Like A Comic Artist Activities Living The Life You Want: Finance Your Dreams Activities Debate and Compromise: Finding Common Ground Activities The Mystery Behind The Smile: Science of Happiness Activities It Is Your Turn To Speak: Public Speaker Activities Other Fun Activities To Try MyPlate Builder Game Learn more about portions and what you should eat. A deliciously fun game that supports official MyPlate guidelines! Players try to be the first to build the perfect plate as they answer questions from six categories: Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy/Grains, Protein, Physical Fitness, Physical Challenge. Questions include nutrition and health, language arts and math topics. Physical Challenge and Today’s Special cards add a taste of fun. Order your game from amazon here. Do the MyPlate worksheet After playing the game have girls do worksheet to create their own plate of healthy food and to have a little fun with word searches and puzzles. Click here to get copy Remembering Healthy Foods Have girls get into a circle, Leader start with ball or beanbag says “Fruit are a great healthy food. A Vegetable I like is…” Then pass to next girl she must say what you just said plus add another fruit. So “Vegetables are a great healthy food. Vegetables like are carrots and celery is what second girl would say next girl would add another, if girl can not think of one or forgets order have her sit down, continue around circle till last person standing. Start with a different type of healthy food. Types of food to use are: green leafy vegetables, colorful vegetables, grains, proteins (meat, nuts and beans) fruit and dairy products. Bad Skin and Healthy Skin – Food can affect it Put girls into two different groups; choose one girl to be the human bulletin board. One team will be for bad food, write Bad Food = Unhealthy Skin on post it and put on forehead of girl chosen on team to be bulletin board and on other team a post it that that says healthy food = Healthy skin put on her forehead. Set the time for 10 minutes, and have each team come up with as many foods that fit in that category, put one item of food on each post it and stick to the girl “Human Bulletin board” At the end of time have them take the post its off one at a time reading what foods they wrote down, team that figured out the most types of food wins. TELL GIRLS ABOUT HEALTHY SKIN: The basic diet for healthy skin is as follows: Avoid processed foods, choose natural foods Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables Choose low fat sources of protein such as chicken and fish not steak and hamburger Eat complex carbohydrates are like vegetables, skim milk, and whole grain cereals Drink fresh, clean (bottled if necessary) water Avoid sugar and simple carbohydrates which are things like candy, chocolate, biscuits, whole milk Beyond food that is good and bad for you. Did you know? a lot of ingredients used in skincare products have detrimental effects on the human body. Now, more than ever, it has become crucial for you to check each product label in order to steer clear from harmful ingredients. Teach your girls about these 14 toxic ingredients to watch out for in skin care products. Play a game of How High Is the Sugar Content? (Price is Right) Give each girl a pile of sugar cubes, we will line up a number of products, the girls all have to guess how much sugar they think is in that item using the sugar cubes. Once they all have guessed reveal the answer (have cubes hidden under a cardboard piece that has how many grams wrote on it and shows cubes.) Tell the girls that the American Heart Association recommends women only have 26 grams of sugar a day. So make that comparison with some of the items like the pop and cookies. Eating Affects Your Sleeping Poster Create a Poster where one side shows you sleeping perfectly. Use pictures, magazines, and words, whatever you need to show around you what it means to sleep soundly. On other side show yourself not sleeping well and all the reasons why that may be happening around that picture. SHARE THIS INFO WITH GIRLS: Eating right and at the right time is necessary for the good sleep. Our body has its own internal clock, which sets our sleeping, and getting up times. Hormones of the body control and regulate this clock. The secretion of these hormones is effected by the way we eat and think. Helpful tips to get a better night sleep: Never go to sleep with full stomach, as it will cause heartburn and keep you awake. Eat three or four hours before going to sleep. Don’t go to bed with empty stomach, as it will trigger the glycogen to stimulate the brain to produce sleepless hormones. FOODS THAT HELP THE SLEEP: Tryptophan rich food: Tryptophan is the sleep inducing hormone and found in milk, banana, poultry products, oats, and in honey. Snack: boiled eggs or vegetables: Yogurt: It is one of the greatest sleep-inducing product and help for sleep if taken a bowl of yogurt before going to sleep. FOODS THAT AFFECTS THE SLEEP: High fats: foods with high fat content not only cause the increase in weight but also cause sleepless nights. Spicy foods: Cause of heartburn or if you have acid reflux the digestive system get disturb and causes sleepless. Chocolate and caffeinated foods: The caffeine and other stimulants present in coffee and chocolates activate the brain cells and keep the person awakened. High protein foods: source of increasing brain activity and cause the sleepless nights. Before going to bed avoid the proteins snacks and protein foods. Four Corner Exercising Put the exercise type on the wall one in each corner of room, put different workouts on other side of paper for second round. Girls must choose a sign to stand next to. Then draw out one of the exercises, if they are standing in that corner they do not do the exercise, everyone else must do the exercise they are next to, perform the exercise the number of times they are old (Example if they are 10 they do 10 reps) Once done girls choose a new corner to stand at and again choose a exercise. Do three rounds of this exercise and then flip paper over and do 4 different exercises. Then end the game by doing the elimination version, last person standing, if you call exercise they are standing by they are out have them do move before sitting down. Continue till only 1 left standing. ROUND 1: Push Ups, Sit up or crunch, Mountain Climbers, Jumping Jacks ROUND 2: Lunges, Knee lifts, Burpies, Squats After game tell girls to choose healthy snack vs. chips or cookies, to keep your energy up. Glow Sticks Yoga/Relaxation Workouts in the Dark Give each girl two glow sticks and do the below moves and exercises This partner stretch will allow the girls to be mindful of each other while they relax. Have the girls find a partner and sit on the floor. Say slowly and calmly to the girls “Face your partner, open your legs comfortably and touch your feet with your partner’s feet. Tell girls lean forward and grasp each other’s hands. One partner leans back, slowly pulling your partner forward. Now the second partner will lean back and pull their partner slowly forward. This exercise helps girls focus on breathing, helping them achieve rest and balance. Have the girls sit comfortably on the floor or mat. Slowly and calmly tell the girls “In the winter, bears hibernate in caves, sleeping peacefully. Sit up tall, close your eyes, and go inside. Through your nose, breathe in for a count of five, and then hold for a count of three. Breathe out for a count of five, then hold for a count of three.” Repeat this instruction 5 times. Then say, “Open your eyes and notice how you feel.” Be sure to allow girls time to finish each step after you say it. Have girl spread out so they can make big movements without hitting anyone. Explain that you are going to call out natural phenomena’s. As each word is called out, the girls should use there body and their voices to act out the word however they choose. They should continue making the movements until you call out the next word. You can call out the words as slowly or quickly as you like. Natural phenomena: storm cloud tree rainbow tornado waves fire river Food Sorting Game Knowing which foods are only good to have occasionally and which ones to eat regularly is one of the first steps to healthier eating. Help your kids learn which foods are daily foods and which foods are sometimes foods with this fun sorting game. Here is a free printable for this sorting activity. Beyond just eating better its a good idea to stay active. To help you out, Bestow created these fun printable games and activities designed to get your girls on their feet and playing outside. If you don’t want to spend the time planning, our Activity Booklet has step-by-step instructions with activities that don’t require any planning other than gathering supplies and printing booklets. What do we do after your girls complete the activities? Well of course give them the badge to display proudly on their vest, they earned it! Additionally If you are like many leaders we want to award our girls when they complete something even beyond just the patch. One great way to show achievement is with a certificate. Don’t worry you don’t have to make them, I found a resource that has done all the work for you and all you have to do is print them and customize the certificates with each girl’s name, badge or award earned, date, and troop leader. Editable certificates perfect for awarding girls after earning a badge. More Resources For You Beyond This Site I get asked a lot what other resources are out there on the internet for Leaders. I have done some digging over the years and have used many of the resources myself. I compiled a list of some great companies that sell patches, programs and also other bloggers offering amazing resources that may fit your needs even better than my site did. Checkout what I found. Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!
PLEASE NOTE: This item will be shipped from the local council separately from other Girl Scout Merchandise items. This Council Own Product cannot be shipped to an international address and will ship via domestic standard shipping methods only. These items are not eligible for expedited shipping services such as 1, 2 or 3 day shipping. Item may take 5-10 days to ship.
Can be done in 7 meetings, a weekend or one day. With the Peace Adventure Badge in a Bag® from MakingFriends®.com your troop of 12 can complete their Cadette aMaze JOURNEY* for less than $2.00 per girl per meeting! # OF GIRLS PRICE /GIRL TOTAL PRICE # OF GIRLS PRICE /GIRL TOTAL PRICE 1 $31.00 $31.00 10 $17.50 $175.00 2 $25.50 $51.00 11 $16.91 $186.00 3 $23.33 $70.00 12 $16.33 $196.00 4 $22.00 $88.00 13 $16.27 $211.50 5 $21.00 $105.00 14 $16.21 $227.00 6 $20.17 $121.00 15 $16.17 $242.50 7 $19.43 $136.00 16 $16.13 $258.00 8 $18.75 $150.00 17 $16.06 $273.50 9 $18.11 $163.00 18 $16.06 $289.00 Looking for bags for additional girls? Click here. Select your quantities below and add one to cart. Example: For a troop of 12 girls, select 1 troop box and 12 girls then hit "Add to Cart." Save Save Save Save Save Save Save…
Updated September 2022 What is the Cadette Girl Scout Silver Award? There are three levels of Girl Scout Awards-the Bronze (earned when girls are in Junior troops), the Silver (earned when girls are Cadettes) and Gold (an individual project girls must complete before they graduate high school). While leaders do have a hand in helping the girls earn the highest award at this level, they are truly a guide at the side. Image Created on Canva First, the girl must complete at least one of the three Journeys at this level. Then the girls have to pick a project that they want to work on alone or with a group. There is a lot of planning that goes on with this, but as an older girl, she needs to stand on her own two feet to figure out what will work and what will not. These projects are meant to "make the world a better place", an integral part of the Girl Scout Promise. Once the plan is complete and put into action, then the girl has to fill out paperwork, give it to her leader, and then celebrate her accomplishment! Please note that every Council is different. What may be approved in one Council may not be in another. Each finished project has had the paperwork signed and completed, and what you are reading are the results of those efforts. Cadette Silver Award Ideas If your troop wants to earn this award, here are dozens of ideas for you to try. Clothing Giveaway This is what one troop did after their aMaze Journey to earn their Silver Award. 4 More Ideas from Girls Working on Their Own or in Pairs 50 Silver Award Ideas Give your girls this list and they should be able to find something that speaks to them. Girl Empowerment Camp Creating a Golf Program for Kids Creating a Family Space in a Hospice Center Outer Banks History Center Project for Cat or Dog Lovers Another Animal Lover Project Making a Cat Tree Image created by the author in Canva Project for a DIY'er Creating a Gaga Pit Food Allergy Awareness Building a Bird Garden Creating Good Night Blankets Girls Health Project Creating a Living Wall (Vertical Garden) Creating a Buddy Bench Anti-Bullying Project Improve Math Skills for Kids Domestic Abuse Shelter Library Project Bilingual Readers Resource Database One Girl Scout created a database of over 1,400 Spanish language books for her local library system Kitchen Renovation This trip of Cadettes helped renovate a church kitchen Literacy and Displaced Persons Silver Award Project How one girl created a library cart of school supplies and books for displaced people. Real Troop Ideas This is a listing of real Silver Award ideas that other Girl Scout troops have accomplished. 34 Silver Award Ideas from one YouTube video 10 Ideas from the Girl Scout of Western Washington 8 Silver Award Projects With a Twist This post is from the Girl Scouts of Western Washington shares the actual projects of eight different troops or girls.
Need help getting started on the LIA Award? Planning your first meeting for Brownie Girl Scouts can seem like a daunting task. But our troop has designed a meeting plan and activity sheets to help …
Hosting a Girl Scout Friendsgiving is a fun way to do badge work and celebrate Girl Scout Sisterhood!
The Girl Scout Cadette Breathe Journey is one that the girls can learn a lot from. Here is a list of resources for them and for you, their leader, to use. *This post contains affiliate links. Updated February 2022 When I was growing up, there were public service announcements from Woodsy Owl that told us to Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute! In the 1970s, this was a crunchy granola way of thinking, as we were not as enlightened to the perils of air pollution like we are today. The quality of the air can have a direct effect on how we are feeling. As the mother of a son with asthma, air quality is very important to me. Image Created on Canva It isn't just pollution that affects the air we breathe. As a writer, I truly need absolute silence to get my mind in the zone and do my best work. When my kids are home, all hope of doing any research and writing original content just flies out the window. Fighting, having the television on, or having their friends over to play are much too distracting for me.People who have had careers where noise levels are too high risk having permanent damage to their ability to hear. Rock stars such as Phil Collins, Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton have all admitted to having hearing loss after playing their loud music on stage for years.In the Cadette Breathe Journey, girls will learn how the air around them impacts the Earth and their lives. Breathe Journey Guide for Leaders Photo from Pixabay Having internet resources is a good thing-I wish we had them back when I was a full time elementary school teacher back in the day! However, because I am also old school, I like to hold a book and have a hands on resource that I can pull of the shelf without having to turn on the computer.This adult leader guide for Breathe can be paid for with troop funds, since the girls are benefiting from it. Do not feel guilty asking for the money-after all, you volunteer many hours of your time for free! Girls Book from Amazon Adult Guide also available Other Kinds of Pollution In addition to noise pollution, your senses can also be assaulted by smell. If you have ever had to change a dirty diaper, you know what I mean! There are scents which are pleasing to the nose, while others are quite offensive.In fact, people with severe allergies can have significant breathing problems when they are near a person or a group of people who are heavily perfumed. My synagogue politely requests that during the High Holy Day services of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that we refrain from wearing perfume because of this problem. There is a sign in my son’s allergist’s office to please not come into the office wearing perfume. Relax-It's Good for You! To make the Journeys Program more interesting and fun for the girls, each one includes activities to help the girls learn the objective of the meeting and the overall goals of the Journey. For one meeting, the troop can make something that they can take home to help them relax and find time in their busy day to have a few minutes of downtime. These kits come in handy for this project. Available on Amazon Girls Need to Breathe! Finding time to decompress from the stress When life becomes overwhelming with work, family, chores, and everything else, some people find it hard to breathe. The stress gives them anxiety, and they begin to breathe in a shallow manner. They cannot relax and this exacerbates the problem even further. Stress begets more stress! Bath Bomb Kit from Amazon Another aspect of the Breathe Girl Scout Journey is to teach the girls how to breathe-take a moment and relax. The middle school years present all kinds of challenges-more homework and projects, sports, and other activities become more competitive and time consuming, and relationships with peers and are also changing. On meeting can focus on having the girls find a time and place to just relax. Put on some relaxing music and do some breathing exercises or practice some simple yoga poses. Fun Craft Girls can find meaning and inspiration from these beads. They can make necklaces, keychains, or put them on a piece of cardboard that has been covered with felt and glue them on. Inspiration Beads Available on S&S Worldwide Cadette Breathe Resources for Leaders The following links will be beneficial to leaders as they plan the Journey. Girl Scout Troop 340 This group of Cadettes shares what they did to accomplish the goals of Breathe. Troop 1445 Breathe Journey in a Weekend Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital Online Guide Earn the Breathe Journey on a Camping Trip Girl Scouts of River Valleys has resources for leaders. Image created by the author on Canva Take Action Projects for the Breathe Journey Girls have taken to the internet to share with their sister scouts what they have done to Take Action for the Breathe Journey. Let these girls help guide your ideas or help spark some new ones. There are dozens more of these videos. Here is just a sample.
Can be done in 7 meetings, a weekend or one day. With the Peace Adventure Badge in a Bag® from MakingFriends®.com your troop of 12 can complete their Cadette aMaze JOURNEY* for less than $2.00 per girl per meeting! # OF GIRLS PRICE /GIRL TOTAL PRICE # OF GIRLS PRICE /GIRL TOTAL PRICE 1 $31.00 $31.00 10 $17.50 $175.00 2 $25.50 $51.00 11 $16.91 $186.00 3 $23.33 $70.00 12 $16.33 $196.00 4 $22.00 $88.00 13 $16.27 $211.50 5 $21.00 $105.00 14 $16.21 $227.00 6 $20.17 $121.00 15 $16.17 $242.50 7 $19.43 $136.00 16 $16.13 $258.00 8 $18.75 $150.00 17 $16.06 $273.50 9 $18.11 $163.00 18 $16.06 $289.00 Looking for bags for additional girls? Click here. Select your quantities below and add one to cart. Example: For a troop of 12 girls, select 1 troop box and 12 girls then hit "Add to Cart." Save Save Save Save Save Save Save…
Here is a complete list of resources for Junior Girl Scout leaders to use while planning their Junior to Cadette Girl Scout bridging ceremony.
Add a personalized touch to your Girl Scout Treats and Reads orders with this thank you card/receipt. This listing is for a digital download that you can print and cut at home, or take to a local print shop. Each tag is 3.5" x 5" There are 4 tags on a page. THIS IS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY. Refunds will not be issued.
A 1950s Christmas candy recipe from Girl Scout leader magazine
This 2021 Girl Scout bridging guide for all levels will help leaders plan , with ease, this important scouting milestone.
Are you the leader of a Cadette Girl Scout troop? Here are some resources for you to use as you guide your middle school girls through this level of scouting. Updated February 2022 *This post contains affiliate links. Cadette Leaders Need Practical Resources for Their Middle School Troop How many of you know a girl who was a Girl Scout past the fifth grade? If you are like most people, not many. When girls begin their adventures in Girl Scouting, they are as young as five years old and in kindergarten. Everything is exciting to them, and they are very happy with crafts, field trips and an occasional guest speaker. As the girls become Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts, it becomes more challenging keeping them engaged. They want more outdoor adventures like camping and fun overnights at museums and party places. As their leader, you do your best to comply with what they want while attempting to keep your own sanity. Photo from Pixabay By the time the girls finish the Junior level at the end of fifth grade, there is a dramatic drop in their ranks. As puberty hits full throttle and what other people think becomes more important, the coolness factor of scouting plummets and many girls no longer want to be associated with the movement. For my troop, this has not been our experience. I was the leader for six years, and this upcoming year I am stepping down from that role and moving to a co-leadership position. A friend of mine will be the leader, and ten of our eleven girls will become Cadette Girl Scouts. We are also very fortunate that the principal of our school is a former Girl Scout who earned her Gold Award years ago. She is a positive role model for our girls. The Challenges of Being a Cadette Leader Middle School Girls Are Not the Easiest to Be With! As a mother who has been through the middle school years once before, I can honestly say that I am not looking forward to replaying the drama of these early teen years. Relational aggression (female bullying), cliques, first heartbreaks, and monitoring social media use was challenging. Cadette leaders have to deal with all of this with girls who are not their daughters. Many times, a troop will inherit new girls at this stage because the girls' former troops have disbanded and are no longer viable. The girls wish to remain in scouting, but need someone to take them in. Leaders must be very aware of integrating new girls into their established troop and making sure that they are welcomed and accepted by the others. We are all sisters in scouting, and this is a great opportunity for new friends to be made. Cliques and leaving other girls out is not an acceptable behavior and needs to be thwarted. A Smart Girl's Guide: Middle School (Revised): Everything You Need to Know About Juggling More Homework, More Teachers, and More Friends! (Smart Girl's Guides) from Amazon This book, as well as the original version, has been a source of comfort and an invaluable resource for both of my daughters. The Biggest Challenge Facing Cadette Leaders There is competition for your time! Photo from Pixabay As girls get older, their lives get busier. Once upon a time,dance and athletics were a fun activity. Many girls, including those in my troop, participate on travel teams for sports or competition teams for dance. This means hours of travel and practice that will interfere with Girl Scout activities. In middle school, girls are introduced to after school clubs. These may bring new friends and new interests that will also occupy their time and lessen their involvement with Girl Scouting. Photo from Stoonn via freedigitalphotos.net Then there is homework. Modern society dictates that more homework is good, so teachers pile it on. For high achieving students, this extra workload can be a challenge, but for those who struggle in school, this creates more problems. Homework has to come first, even at the expense of a Girl Scout activity or meeting. Peer pressure is also a challenge. No matter how you slice it, Girl Scouts is not considered a cool activity. Adult leaders need to combat that with activities that the girls vote on and plan. When other middle schoolers find out that the scouts in their grade slept over in a museum, went on a long weekend to a water park resort or saved all their cookie money for a trip to Disney, then the cool factor is upped significantly. A Smart Girl's Guide: Friendship Troubles (Revised): Dealing with fights, being left out & the whole popularity thing (Smart Girl's Guides) from Amazon Online Resources for Cadette Leaders Starting at a new level is always a challenge. As the girls get older, meetings are supposed to be more "girl led", but with cliques, absences and forgetfulness, things might not get accomplished as they would with a responsible adult in charge. Of course, this is a life lesson that needs to be learned. As the leader, you are transferring the role of leadership to the girls. Here are some great resources on how to do that, as well as how to run your meetings, select badges and community service projects, plus how to do a Journey. Girl Scout Leader Blog All the posts from my main blog relating to Cadette Scouts Old Cadette/Senior Ambassador IP's and Badge Thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can get all the requirements for the old program at this link. Cadette Uniform This shows where badges, patches and pins go on a Cadette vest or sash. 6th Grade Cadettes Moving up from Juniors is a big deal. Here is some wonderful and relevant advice from leaders who have already made the transition. Camping With Cadette Girl Scouts One leader shares her camping trip with readers. Cadette First Aid Badge Learn how your troop can fulfill the requirements for this badge. Silver Award These are the directions on how to earn the Silver Award.
Need help getting started on the LIA Award? Planning your first meeting for Brownie Girl Scouts can seem like a daunting task. But our troop has designed a meeting plan and activity sheets to help …
