Whether you fell into being a Leader, or have been dreaming about it for years, check out these tips from someone who just finished her first year.

*This post contains affiliate links. Updated August 2019 Daisy Girl Scout leaders certainly have their hands full if they are starting a new troop. Here is a meeting outline for the first half of the year. Remember to be flexible and have fun! Congratulations on becoming a Daisy Girl Scout leader! You have done what many are unwilling to do...step up to the plate and give a group of young girls an opportunity to be a Girl Scout.. Even if you were a Girl Scout as a child, being a leader is a totally different experience, as well as a big responsibility. Besides being concerned with the pre-troop meeting paperwork, you have to plan what the girls are going to do each and every time you get together. The following is a guideline for creating your Daisy Girl Scout meetings, based on meeting twice a week from September to December. Feel free to adapt it to your schedule, as you may find some activities are better suited for your troop to do later in the year. Photo from Pixabay First Meeting Prep Work and Supplies For your craft, you will need to run off this Daisy petal worksheet on cardstock. Have blue tissue paper cut into squares for the promise center and bowls to place them in. The girls will use crayons to color the petals and crumple and glue the tissue paper to the center. Your First Daisy Girl Scout Meeting-September Your first meeting with your Daisy Scouts should involve a "getting to know you" or "ice breaker" activity. It is a good idea to have the parents stay and see how their girls are doing and how a meeting is run. You can also have a short parent meeting while the girls are crafting to discuss the year and to answer any questions.After saying the Pledge of Alligence, the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout law (which the girls will repeat after you), have the girls sit in a circle and introduce yourself and your co-leader. Pass around an object (a silk flower daisy from the Dollar Store would be a fun idea) and have the girls tell their names, their school, and one special thing about them. Girls at this age will want to tell stories...gently remind them to keep it to one thing and then pass the daisy to the next girl. Next, it is time for the craft. First Meeting Prep Work and Supplies For your craft, you will need to run off this Daisy petal worksheet on cardstock. Have blue tissue paper cut into squares for the promise center and bowls to place them in. The girls will use crayons to color the petals and crumple and glue the tissue paper to the center. Make sure you only have crayons that represent the Daisy petals for the girls to use so no mistakes are made. The order they color them in does not matter. Have the girls color first, then glue the blue center so you avoid gluey arms. Take a picture of each girl with her Daisy as a keepsake of her first Daisy meeting.Close with the Girl Scout friendship squeeze and song and take a deep breath! You did it! The Girl Scout Friendship Song This is how you end your meetings. The girls stand together in a circle with hands crossed. The leader gives the girl on her right a gentle squeeze. It is passed around the circle and when it comes back to her, you sing this song.These girls sing it beautifully, and even add the final two lines! Your Second Daisy Girl Scout Meeting-Earn the Blue Promise Center Available on Amazon Before you can earn any of the Daisy Girl Scout petals, you will need to earn the blue promise center first . After all, the petals are centered on the Girl Scout Promise, and they need to be ironed around something. There are many children's books, like Robert Munsch's pictured here, that can help you teach this concept.After reading the story, you can make promise chart. At DKTK's website, you can make a customized chore chart for your meeting.. Ask the girls what they can promise to do at home to help out. Tell them that they have to return the chart to the next meeting and see if they kept their promises. The Daisy Girl Scout Song At each meeting, make a song part of your agenda. Here is an adorable song sung to the tune "I'm a Little Teapot". Start Your Scrapbook! When my troop were Daisies, my co-leader started taking pictures at each meeting. This morphed into our perpetual Girl Scout scrapbook. Now we are Juniors, and the girls love to look back at their Daisy and Brownie years! My daughter's scrapbook has years of memories in it. Now she is a Cadette and it is fun to look back and see how all the girls have grown up! Your Third Daisy Girl Scout Meeting-Earn the Violet Daisy Petal Fostering friendship among your girls is essential to having a successful troop. As the leader, you are volunteering a lot of personal time, and you want the meetings to be something that both the girls and you look forward to attending. Nipping girl drama and cliques from the beginning and being firm about how the girls treat each other will lead to less drama and more harmonious meetings.Earning the violet daisy petal, be a sister to every Girl Scout, fosters this concept. An activity I created and did with my Daisy Girl Scout troop was to make a Daisy chain of friendship. The only materials you need are markers, strips of copy paper, and one stapler per volunteer. It is a very easy and budget friendly petal for your troop to earn. Handy Links for Leaders How to Earn the Rose Daisy Petal Activities to earn the Rose Daisy Petal, Make the World a Better Place. Daisy Girl Scout Activities: Spring is Around the Corner-Time to Plan an Outdoor Field Trip! Planning a field trip to earn a Daisy petal. How to Celebrate Girl Scout Founder's Day and Earn the Orange Daisy Petal Girl Scouts have many reasons to celebrate during the month of October Founder's Day is one of them! Here is how to earn a Daisy petal and learn about Juliette Gordon Low. Earn the Violet Daisy Petal Be A Sister to Every Girl Scout Learn how to earn the Violet Daisy Girl Scout petal! Add a Girl Scout SWAP to Your Meeting! Girl Scout Swaps are tiny crafts that Girl Scouts exchange with one another. For Daisies, they should be simple and easy to assemble. There are many Girl Scout SWAP kits that you can buy for very little money. Daisy Scouts cannot have a very complicated craft. If the degree of difficulty is too great, it will frustrate the girls as they try to make it. No need for tears while you are doing a fun Girl Scout tradition! Your Fourth Daisy Girl Scout Meeting Celebrate Girl Scout Founder's Day! Juliette Gordon Low By Edward Hughes (1832-1908), painter. (Daderot (I took this photograph)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons On October 31, 1860, Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA, was born. Scouts of all levels celebrate her birthday at a meeting during the month of October. "Daisy", her nickname, came from a world of wealth, so she could do anything she wanted. When she began the Girl Scouts, she included everyone, no matter their financial status, color, or religion. In fact, three of the original Girl Scout leaders were Jewish, and this was in the South in 1912. In my article Girl Scout Founder's Day-Activities for All Levels of Scouts, I wrote detailed plans on how Daisy Girl Scouts can celebrate.You can also double up and earn the orange Daisy petal and celebrate Girl Scout Founder's Day. You can accomplish two things in one meeting! Use paint, Sharpies and/or jewels to decorate your pots. Available on Amazon in a 12 pack. This is a simple craft. Buy blue and white paint and a few black Sharpie pens. Girls can write their name in Sharpie on the rim and then paint a picture. While waiting their turn, girls can work on a coloring sheet or another small birthday project you have planned for them, like decorating cupcakes you made for this occasion. Your Fifth and Sixth Daisy Meetings Go on a Field Trip and Earn the Magenta Daisy Petal Photo from pixabay.com Going on a field trip is fun. To earn the magenta Daisy petal, Respect Authority, visit a firehouse or a police station. These trips are free and a great way for these community helpers to interact with your girls. Contact your Service Unit to learn how to fill out the forms and get the needed permission to take a trip. You need to give a minimum of two weeks notice, more is even better. For your sixth meeting, the girls can write thank you cards. This can be tied into "giving thanks" and the Thanksgiving holiday which is right around the corner. Read a book about The holiday and do a fun Thanksgiving craft to finish up the meeting. Field Trip Tips Plan your field trip at least four weeks in advance. Get your trip approval number and the required number of volunteers to accompany your troop. All paperwork should be handed in to you one week prior to the trip. As I tell my girls, "No slip, no trip!" Thanksgiving Crafts Once November comes around, the holiday season is in full swing. Along with your usual festivities, you have added planning Daisy meetings to your personal agenda. You can make meeting planning easier by doing a craft with a ready made craft kit. These can then be donated to a senior center when they are completed. This is an easy service project and is just one to incorporate any of the Daisy petals that inspire kindness and making the world better.These easy to make Thanksgiving crafts are perfect for Daisy Girl Scouts and easy for you, their leader! Your Seventh Daisy Girl Scout Meeting-Do a Community Service Project and Earn the Rose Daisy Petal As you enter the month of December, people tend to be in a jollier mood, as the winter holidays are arriving. Chanukah and Christmas are a time for celebrating, but not everyone is able to due to difficult financial circumstances. These are the items the girls placed in a decorated gift bag along with a card they made. A washcloth, socks, soap and candy were what we included. Photo by Hannah Gold. Before your meeting, find a local charity that needs some help and see what your girls can do to help make the world a better place and earn the rose Daisy petal. My troop made gifts and cards and donated snack foods to a group of homeless men who travel to different churches and synagogues in our area until they are back on their feet. It is a wonderful interfaith project that we participate in almost every year. Girl Scout Law Song Children can remember a lot from a song. Many adults can sing the Preamble to the Constitution because of School House Rock! Your Eighth Daisy Girl Scout Meeting Make Gifts and Have a Party For your final Daisy meeting before the winter break, the girls will be super excited. To keep with the holiday theme, have them make gifts for someone in their family. Be sensitive to what holidays the girls in your troop celebrate. Making ornaments is not appropriate for those who do not celebrate Christmas. What can you make? Any kind of kid friendly craft will work. Some ideas are: Scratch Off Frame Kit from Amazon These eight ideas for Daisy Girl Scout meetings should get your first few months off to a great start. One Final Tip-Shop the Sales The week after Christmas is one of the best times to shop for craft materials for your Girl Scout troop. Holiday items are normally 50% off for a few days after Christmas, then right before New year's they go way down to 75%. Red items can be for Valentine's Day, green for spring projects. Snowmen and snowflakes can be used for winter crafts.

Preparing for our First Daisy Meeting: After completing my official training, and doing lots of Googling, here's what I came up with (in no particular order) to prepare for our first meeting. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. The greatest costs to me were printer ink and time. You can always print things in black and white and have the girls color, etc., or see if one of your parent volunteers has access to a color printer. Find your own way to make it work. This is just one way to do it, and you might find some inspiration here (as I did on other sites, which I've shared below). AT HOME: - Printed out Health forms, Adult Volunteer forms, Attendance sheet, etc., from the Girl Scout CD I was given in my Leader Binder. Basically if a parent didn't fill it out already, I had a copy for her. - Purchased brown manilla envelopes for each girl, wrote her name on the outside and put a Girl Scout sticker on it. (See below for info included in it.) I have since gotten a narrow, portable file box and files for each Scout so I can make sure all badges and information stays organized. If your parents purchase the blue Daisy notebook for their girls, you can use it instead of a manilla envelope. Edit: You don't need a manilla envelope if your girls meet at school, directly after school. You can put take-home sheets in their backpacks (have a parent volunteer handle this while you're leading the meeting). - Emailed the moms about buying uniform pieces (including all the essential pins/badges, and I had them go ahead and buy the Daisy patch as well, since we started working on it at the very first meeting). We recommended the vest over the apron as they seem more comfortable for the girls, from what I've heard. We did not recommend a Journey book purchase yet. That's one of the things the girls will help choose next meeting. I didn't want to overwhelm parents with lots of costs right off the bat, and it depends on your parents' abilities (or your troop's cash on hand) whether you want them each to purchase the blue Daisy book (recommended) and a Journey book. Our service unit has Journey books available to check out from their library. This helps reduce costs to parents. The GS main site also has starter kits available that might help with cost. Not including the books, it was a little over $40 each (for vest and essential patches, including Daisy petals, and the parents were given a reminder in the email about financial assistance; check with your Council for details on this). I added some info and photocopied this Official GS image, and included it in the envelope. (You can always just send them this link instead.) - Also included this sheet in each envelope (obviously you'll have your own version -- some details were removed for our troop's privacy): - And in Photoshop, I made some certificates welcoming the girls to our troop! I used hobo font for the "Welcome" and troop info, ActionIs font for the name, and BoyzRGross for the "we are glad" part (all these fonts are free from fontspace.com and commercial-free-use approved). I printed each on heavy card stock, shrinking to fit and centered for printing: EDIT: I've updated these as the terminology is no longer "Daisy Girl Scouts" but is "Girl Scout Daisy" or "Girl Scout Daisies": Here's the template for you. They turned out super cute! KAPER CHART: Kapers are just special jobs. Some leaders like to do something super fancy (Google and Pinterest are loaded with great ideas!); I needed something that would fit in my bag and be sturdy, since we don't leave our stuff in our meeting place. So I opted for quasi-simple. I printed out a list of jobs (yours may vary -- I tried to have the same number of jobs that we have girls in our troop), glued to construction paper, laminated it with sticky pages I had leftover from some craft project way back when, and glued that to cardboard so it would be heavy enough to hold clothespins. I wrote each girl's name on a clothespin. It's not fancy, but it works and it's small enough to fit in my bag but still be visible when propped on the chalkboard during meetings (reminder to self: I have to add another Kaper because we've had another girl join our troop!). EDIT: While my plan to have one Kaper per girl seemed like a good idea at the time, we ended up with more girls joining the troop as time went by. So I added a "Help As Needed" Kaper with more clothespins. And you don't have to have the same number of Kapers as girls. I think in the end I had too many Kaper jobs on there. Next year we'll pare it down a bit. Do what works for you. The important thing is to cycle through the jobs fairly. We will simply rotate down each meeting, so everyone gets a turn doing each job (names and troop # smudged out for anonymity): TO BRING TO MEETING: I loaded up my bag with the following (you can use whatever craft stuff you have on hand) . . . 1. Washable markers, with a blue piece of paper taped around each (we meet in our school's art room and I wanted to make sure our craft supplies weren't mixed up with the art room's and vice versa. Having the blue on them was a quick and easy reminder for the girls) 2. Glue sticks (same) 3. A small(ish) American Flag -- it's about 9"x 12" on a hand-held wooden dowel 4. Two crafts + a backup coloring page (see below) 5. Child scissors 6. Hole Puncher and blue yarn 7. Crayons (I just labeled the box itself -- it's the one we had at home with a gob of crayons in it -- we've since purchased some caddy-style crayons and markers on the after-before-school clearance) 8. My meeting plan/syllabus/cheat sheet 9. Kaper Chart (see above) 10. Double-sided poster with Promise and Law (see below) 11. Attendance Sheet (you can make your own, graph-style, or use the one in your GS Leader pack) 12. The manilla folders for each Scout 13. Our own small Trash and Recycle containers, with plastic bags in them so I could easily tie them up and carry them out. I wanted to leave absolutely nothing behind (good way to get them started for camping, too!) I just stacked one inside the other for easy carrying. 14. A list of ALL the parents' cell phone numbers (which was handy, as we had one parent who was confused on what time to pick up her child); I have all the parents' numbers programmed into my phone just in case 15. Health forms if you have them (again, in case of emergency) 16. Snacks (well, I didn't have these; Snack Mom did!) 17. First aid kit (which should be brought to every meeting and event) PROMISE AND LAW POSTER: Here's the poster I made. I typed it up in Photoshop, then printed it out, glued to construction paper, and glued to a small (half-size) poster board. Front: Back: Promise Template: Law Template and Daisy Petals: CRAFTS: We had three crafts on hand for the girls to do. The first was a trefoil name tag (printed on card stock. Careful if you have an inkjet printer, because the green will run if it gets wet!). You can cut out green construction paper and print the Promise on white paper, then glue it to the trefoil instead if you like, or handwrite the Promise if your troop is small (we have 15 girls in ours, so I opted for printing). I cut some out myself beforehand, and had other moms cut out the rest at the start of the meeting. Older kids will have an easier time with cutting the shape themselves. One side has the GS Promise. The other was for them to write their names. Punch two holes, string some Daisy-colored yarn through, and instant name tag. They wore it during the meeting, and took them home, so they can memorize the Promise and earn the middle of their Daisy. This was mine: Here are the templates: The hands I found online here. I duplicated it and put on the same page to conserve paper, then printed on heavy card stock. You can use construction paper and have them trace them out, but the construction paper isn't as durable. I cut/separated the hands and we gave one to each girl. After cutting them out, the girls colored them however they wanted -- rainbows and flowers, etc. (we left ours white instead of worrying about skin tones) -- and they used glue sticks to glue the thumb over the pinky. They also took this home to help them remember how to do the Girl Scout Sign. Our backup coloring page (from this site), in case we had more time (but we didn't. Our meetings are 1 hour and 15 minutes, and time flew by! I'm saving it for later): MEETING PLAN: Here was my meeting plan (when you see "Kaper Chart" that's a reminder there is a Scout in charge or helping). I realize the plan sounds awfully stilted. But even so, my main goal is to HAVE FUN. The key is to have a good time while you're doing whatever's in your plan. I used the Raise Hand trick for quiet when needed, but it was fun when I did it, and as each girl noticed, because it was more like a game than an admonishment. It's effective, but fun (I'm totally going to start doing this with both my own kids at home, too). We tried to always praise the girls when they help out and point to different aspects of the Law that they're abiding by without even realizing it, etc. It's a lot to remember, and it's okay to just focus on fun. Which aspects of the Law (and the goals of GS, etc.) that are mixed in, will come. Because, yes, we're teaching them leadership, confidence, and all that great stuff, but the bottom line is we want our kids to be doing something fun in the process. Parents, Volunteers, and Leaders pay for membership, uniforms, and are giving up time to help. We all want our girls to have a good time. :) (And it's reassuring to parents when it's not chaotic and helps reduce any frustrations for leader[s] if things are well-organized ahead of time. After the first meeting we will be focusing a LOT more on girl-led choices. This was an intro to Girl Scouts for nearly all our girls, so it was more information and fun than specifics.) Welcome and potty break. Explain Kaper Chart. Sign in/attendance sheet. Kaper Chart. Explain when I raise my hand it means Quiet, please! And all Daisies raise their hands too. Flag bearer. Kaper chart. All stand, please. Pledge of Allegiance. Kaper Chart. Show them the Girl Scout Promise sign. Kaper Chart. Recite/Read Girl Scout Promise Show them the Girl Scout Law – we will go over this in detail starting next meeting. For now, let's just say it. Kaper Chart. Recite/Read Girl Scout Law Craft set up. Kaper Chart. Our supplies are labeled so we don't get them mixed up. Give out markers and trefoils; have girls write names on one side. "Trefoil" means three leaves. Each leaf in the Girl Scout trefoil stands for a part of the Girl Scout Promise. Punch holes and string yarn through; wear so names show. Parents can do this too. SNACK! Introduce Snack mom. Reminder to parents of notification of allergies/dietary restrictions (we have at least one vegetarian, etc.), and about signup sheet, etc. Kaper Chart for set up and clean up. Start telling them Juliette Low story as they're eating (paraphrased obviously and this was for 2012; you will want to adjust for later years): This is a true story! Once upon a time there was a woman named Juliette Gordon Low. She was born on Halloween, in the year 1860. That was 152 years ago! When she was a baby, her uncle said she was as cute as a daisy, and from that point on, her nickname was “Daisy.” Little Juliette Daisy loved to climb trees, play with her brothers, sisters, and cousins, write stories, draw pictures, and explore places. She especially loved animals, too! When she grew up, Juliette married a man named Willy Low. They traveled many places – far across the ocean, even. They had a wonderful life together, but also some sad times too. But even though some sad things happened to them, Juliette never let that get her down. She still loved exploring and having fun. Juliette had heard about Boy Scouts and Girl Guides from her friend Robert Baden-Powell in Scotland. When she moved back to America, Juliette decided to start something like that for girls here! So she started Girl Scouts, and they had their very first meeting on March 12, 1912. And 1912 was 100 years ago! So this year is very special, because it's the 100th birthday of Girl Scouts in America. And we are called Daisies because that was Juliette's name, too. Clean up from snack! Kaper Chart. EXPLAIN RECYCLE/TRASH. Kaper Chart. Craft time! Kaper Chart. Give out hands and glue. (Backup craft if extra time.) Clean up! Kaper Chart. Girl Scouts always leave a place cleaner than they found it. Daisy friendship circle (right hand over left). Kaper chart. Girl in charge of circle starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the girl on her left until it gets back to her. Song. Doucblecheck room is completely clean. Bag up recycling/trash. On way out, give out envelopes to take home. I know a lot of leaders focus on establishing a set of Rules/Guidelines the first meeting, but I want those to be girl-led, and to be able for us to devote some time to them, and tie it into earning a Daisy petal. So we're crossing our fingers on behavior for now, and will do it next time. :) That's it for now!

Whether this is your first time with a group of Daisies or you’ve been leading Daisy troops for a while, we know there’s a lot to teach these young girls about the wonderful world of Girl Scouting.…

These great ideas for scout crafts for your troop are all quick and easy. They are great for scouts or any group of kids that need craft ideas!

Preparing for our First Daisy Meeting: After completing my official training, and doing lots of Googling, here's what I came up with (in no particular order) to prepare for our first meeting. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. The greatest costs to me were printer ink and time. You can always print things in black and white and have the girls color, etc., or see if one of your parent volunteers has access to a color printer. Find your own way to make it work. This is just one way to do it, and you might find some inspiration here (as I did on other sites, which I've shared below). AT HOME: - Printed out Health forms, Adult Volunteer forms, Attendance sheet, etc., from the Girl Scout CD I was given in my Leader Binder. Basically if a parent didn't fill it out already, I had a copy for her. - Purchased brown manilla envelopes for each girl, wrote her name on the outside and put a Girl Scout sticker on it. (See below for info included in it.) I have since gotten a narrow, portable file box and files for each Scout so I can make sure all badges and information stays organized. If your parents purchase the blue Daisy notebook for their girls, you can use it instead of a manilla envelope. Edit: You don't need a manilla envelope if your girls meet at school, directly after school. You can put take-home sheets in their backpacks (have a parent volunteer handle this while you're leading the meeting). - Emailed the moms about buying uniform pieces (including all the essential pins/badges, and I had them go ahead and buy the Daisy patch as well, since we started working on it at the very first meeting). We recommended the vest over the apron as they seem more comfortable for the girls, from what I've heard. We did not recommend a Journey book purchase yet. That's one of the things the girls will help choose next meeting. I didn't want to overwhelm parents with lots of costs right off the bat, and it depends on your parents' abilities (or your troop's cash on hand) whether you want them each to purchase the blue Daisy book (recommended) and a Journey book. Our service unit has Journey books available to check out from their library. This helps reduce costs to parents. The GS main site also has starter kits available that might help with cost. Not including the books, it was a little over $40 each (for vest and essential patches, including Daisy petals, and the parents were given a reminder in the email about financial assistance; check with your Council for details on this). I added some info and photocopied this Official GS image, and included it in the envelope. (You can always just send them this link instead.) - Also included this sheet in each envelope (obviously you'll have your own version -- some details were removed for our troop's privacy): - And in Photoshop, I made some certificates welcoming the girls to our troop! I used hobo font for the "Welcome" and troop info, ActionIs font for the name, and BoyzRGross for the "we are glad" part (all these fonts are free from fontspace.com and commercial-free-use approved). I printed each on heavy card stock, shrinking to fit and centered for printing: EDIT: I've updated these as the terminology is no longer "Daisy Girl Scouts" but is "Girl Scout Daisy" or "Girl Scout Daisies": Here's the template for you. They turned out super cute! KAPER CHART: Kapers are just special jobs. Some leaders like to do something super fancy (Google and Pinterest are loaded with great ideas!); I needed something that would fit in my bag and be sturdy, since we don't leave our stuff in our meeting place. So I opted for quasi-simple. I printed out a list of jobs (yours may vary -- I tried to have the same number of jobs that we have girls in our troop), glued to construction paper, laminated it with sticky pages I had leftover from some craft project way back when, and glued that to cardboard so it would be heavy enough to hold clothespins. I wrote each girl's name on a clothespin. It's not fancy, but it works and it's small enough to fit in my bag but still be visible when propped on the chalkboard during meetings (reminder to self: I have to add another Kaper because we've had another girl join our troop!). EDIT: While my plan to have one Kaper per girl seemed like a good idea at the time, we ended up with more girls joining the troop as time went by. So I added a "Help As Needed" Kaper with more clothespins. And you don't have to have the same number of Kapers as girls. I think in the end I had too many Kaper jobs on there. Next year we'll pare it down a bit. Do what works for you. The important thing is to cycle through the jobs fairly. We will simply rotate down each meeting, so everyone gets a turn doing each job (names and troop # smudged out for anonymity): TO BRING TO MEETING: I loaded up my bag with the following (you can use whatever craft stuff you have on hand) . . . 1. Washable markers, with a blue piece of paper taped around each (we meet in our school's art room and I wanted to make sure our craft supplies weren't mixed up with the art room's and vice versa. Having the blue on them was a quick and easy reminder for the girls) 2. Glue sticks (same) 3. A small(ish) American Flag -- it's about 9"x 12" on a hand-held wooden dowel 4. Two crafts + a backup coloring page (see below) 5. Child scissors 6. Hole Puncher and blue yarn 7. Crayons (I just labeled the box itself -- it's the one we had at home with a gob of crayons in it -- we've since purchased some caddy-style crayons and markers on the after-before-school clearance) 8. My meeting plan/syllabus/cheat sheet 9. Kaper Chart (see above) 10. Double-sided poster with Promise and Law (see below) 11. Attendance Sheet (you can make your own, graph-style, or use the one in your GS Leader pack) 12. The manilla folders for each Scout 13. Our own small Trash and Recycle containers, with plastic bags in them so I could easily tie them up and carry them out. I wanted to leave absolutely nothing behind (good way to get them started for camping, too!) I just stacked one inside the other for easy carrying. 14. A list of ALL the parents' cell phone numbers (which was handy, as we had one parent who was confused on what time to pick up her child); I have all the parents' numbers programmed into my phone just in case 15. Health forms if you have them (again, in case of emergency) 16. Snacks (well, I didn't have these; Snack Mom did!) 17. First aid kit (which should be brought to every meeting and event) PROMISE AND LAW POSTER: Here's the poster I made. I typed it up in Photoshop, then printed it out, glued to construction paper, and glued to a small (half-size) poster board. Front: Back: Promise Template: Law Template and Daisy Petals: CRAFTS: We had three crafts on hand for the girls to do. The first was a trefoil name tag (printed on card stock. Careful if you have an inkjet printer, because the green will run if it gets wet!). You can cut out green construction paper and print the Promise on white paper, then glue it to the trefoil instead if you like, or handwrite the Promise if your troop is small (we have 15 girls in ours, so I opted for printing). I cut some out myself beforehand, and had other moms cut out the rest at the start of the meeting. Older kids will have an easier time with cutting the shape themselves. One side has the GS Promise. The other was for them to write their names. Punch two holes, string some Daisy-colored yarn through, and instant name tag. They wore it during the meeting, and took them home, so they can memorize the Promise and earn the middle of their Daisy. This was mine: Here are the templates: The hands I found online here. I duplicated it and put on the same page to conserve paper, then printed on heavy card stock. You can use construction paper and have them trace them out, but the construction paper isn't as durable. I cut/separated the hands and we gave one to each girl. After cutting them out, the girls colored them however they wanted -- rainbows and flowers, etc. (we left ours white instead of worrying about skin tones) -- and they used glue sticks to glue the thumb over the pinky. They also took this home to help them remember how to do the Girl Scout Sign. Our backup coloring page (from this site), in case we had more time (but we didn't. Our meetings are 1 hour and 15 minutes, and time flew by! I'm saving it for later): MEETING PLAN: Here was my meeting plan (when you see "Kaper Chart" that's a reminder there is a Scout in charge or helping). I realize the plan sounds awfully stilted. But even so, my main goal is to HAVE FUN. The key is to have a good time while you're doing whatever's in your plan. I used the Raise Hand trick for quiet when needed, but it was fun when I did it, and as each girl noticed, because it was more like a game than an admonishment. It's effective, but fun (I'm totally going to start doing this with both my own kids at home, too). We tried to always praise the girls when they help out and point to different aspects of the Law that they're abiding by without even realizing it, etc. It's a lot to remember, and it's okay to just focus on fun. Which aspects of the Law (and the goals of GS, etc.) that are mixed in, will come. Because, yes, we're teaching them leadership, confidence, and all that great stuff, but the bottom line is we want our kids to be doing something fun in the process. Parents, Volunteers, and Leaders pay for membership, uniforms, and are giving up time to help. We all want our girls to have a good time. :) (And it's reassuring to parents when it's not chaotic and helps reduce any frustrations for leader[s] if things are well-organized ahead of time. After the first meeting we will be focusing a LOT more on girl-led choices. This was an intro to Girl Scouts for nearly all our girls, so it was more information and fun than specifics.) Welcome and potty break. Explain Kaper Chart. Sign in/attendance sheet. Kaper Chart. Explain when I raise my hand it means Quiet, please! And all Daisies raise their hands too. Flag bearer. Kaper chart. All stand, please. Pledge of Allegiance. Kaper Chart. Show them the Girl Scout Promise sign. Kaper Chart. Recite/Read Girl Scout Promise Show them the Girl Scout Law – we will go over this in detail starting next meeting. For now, let's just say it. Kaper Chart. Recite/Read Girl Scout Law Craft set up. Kaper Chart. Our supplies are labeled so we don't get them mixed up. Give out markers and trefoils; have girls write names on one side. "Trefoil" means three leaves. Each leaf in the Girl Scout trefoil stands for a part of the Girl Scout Promise. Punch holes and string yarn through; wear so names show. Parents can do this too. SNACK! Introduce Snack mom. Reminder to parents of notification of allergies/dietary restrictions (we have at least one vegetarian, etc.), and about signup sheet, etc. Kaper Chart for set up and clean up. Start telling them Juliette Low story as they're eating (paraphrased obviously and this was for 2012; you will want to adjust for later years): This is a true story! Once upon a time there was a woman named Juliette Gordon Low. She was born on Halloween, in the year 1860. That was 152 years ago! When she was a baby, her uncle said she was as cute as a daisy, and from that point on, her nickname was “Daisy.” Little Juliette Daisy loved to climb trees, play with her brothers, sisters, and cousins, write stories, draw pictures, and explore places. She especially loved animals, too! When she grew up, Juliette married a man named Willy Low. They traveled many places – far across the ocean, even. They had a wonderful life together, but also some sad times too. But even though some sad things happened to them, Juliette never let that get her down. She still loved exploring and having fun. Juliette had heard about Boy Scouts and Girl Guides from her friend Robert Baden-Powell in Scotland. When she moved back to America, Juliette decided to start something like that for girls here! So she started Girl Scouts, and they had their very first meeting on March 12, 1912. And 1912 was 100 years ago! So this year is very special, because it's the 100th birthday of Girl Scouts in America. And we are called Daisies because that was Juliette's name, too. Clean up from snack! Kaper Chart. EXPLAIN RECYCLE/TRASH. Kaper Chart. Craft time! Kaper Chart. Give out hands and glue. (Backup craft if extra time.) Clean up! Kaper Chart. Girl Scouts always leave a place cleaner than they found it. Daisy friendship circle (right hand over left). Kaper chart. Girl in charge of circle starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the girl on her left until it gets back to her. Song. Doucblecheck room is completely clean. Bag up recycling/trash. On way out, give out envelopes to take home. I know a lot of leaders focus on establishing a set of Rules/Guidelines the first meeting, but I want those to be girl-led, and to be able for us to devote some time to them, and tie it into earning a Daisy petal. So we're crossing our fingers on behavior for now, and will do it next time. :) That's it for now!

Learn how your troop can earn more than one Girl Scout Daisy petal during one meeting.

Explore all of the ways you can help your girl scout earn the Gloria (purple) petal. Browse the list or bring it to your next troop meeting and receive your "Respect Myself and Others" badge.

While we may be in the weeks before Halloween and Girl Scout Founder's Day, it isn't too early to think about thinking about and planning your November meetings. Image created by the author on Canva With Thanksgiving only a month away, this is a good time to think about having a Girl Scout Friendsgiving meeting with your troop. You can these earn up to three Daisy petals while during this meeting Green Daisy Petal-Use Resources Wisely Rose Daisy Petal-Make the World a Better Place Yellow Daisy Petal-Friendly and Helpful Because every Council has different Covid safety rules about where your can meet and the activities you can do, you might have to tweak some of the ideas here. Hosting a Girl Scout Friendsgiving If you are planning to serve food, you will have to consider the following: Does it need to be individually packaged? Do girls in your troop have dietary restrictions due to allergies or religious beliefs? What will you be serving? Bite sized items or a complete meal? Whatever you decide to do food-wise, a SignUp Genius is my favorite way to get help, stay organized, and keep everyone in the loop. You can also ask for paper goods and beverages as well on your sign up. Girl Scout Friendsgiving Crafts for Daisies Image created by the author on Canva Earn the Green Daisy Petal In order to earn the Green Daisy petal, Use Resources Wisely, you can do a toilet paper tube turkey craft. There are many ways to create one. Here are some images and sites for you to use. Earn the Rose Daisy Petal During your meeting, girls can make Thanksgiving cards to be distributed to a senior citizen facility. Earn the Yellow Daisy Petal If you are able to serve Thanksgiving fare, ask families to bring a traditional favorite food that is on their holiday table. Girls can help their parent prepare the dish (helpful) and then share it with the troop (friendly). The girls can also have a chance to speak and explain a bit about the dish that is being served. Another way for your troop to earn the yellow Daisy petal is to make an edible cornicopia. Get enough supplies for them to make two-one to eat and one to share with someone in their family. The girls can help clean up, which is helpful, and another way to earn the yellow petal. What are you doing with your Daisy troop this November?

The “Use Resources Wisely” Daisy petal may be one of the most creative petals your Daisy Girl Scout troop will earn. But sometimes, because it’s so open to interpretation, it̵…

These great ideas for scout crafts for your troop are all quick and easy. They are great for scouts or any group of kids that need craft ideas!

Your very first Girl Scout Daisy meeting does not need to be stressful. Here is a quick and easy idea for new leaders to use. *This post co...

What are your favorite ideas for earning Daisy Girl Scout Petals? I led my daughter’s Daisy Troop the past two years, with lots of help from a co-leader and some other parents, and we had a g…

Learn how your troop can earn more than one Girl Scout Daisy petal during one meeting.

A place for leaders to find ideas to use at your events and meetings. Ideas for Girl Scouts, or other organization inspiring girls to be leaders of tomorrow.

A place for leaders to find ideas to use at your events and meetings. Ideas for Girl Scouts, or other organization inspiring girls to be leaders of tomorrow.

*This post contains affiliate links. Updated October 2019 Before you earn any of the ten Daisy petals, it makes sense to earn the blue Daisy Promise Center. Photo from Pixabay This should be your second meeting, as your first should have been devoted to meeting the parents and getting to low you ice breakers and activities. Now that you have met once, it is time to get down to the business of learning about the Girl Scout Law. Here is an easy and straightforward lesson plan on how to run this meeting. After saying the Pledge of Allegiance and the Girl Scout Promise and Law, gather the girls together on the floor so you can have a talk about what a promise is. Ask them: Has someone ever broken a promise to you? How did it make you feel? Do you make promises? How do you try to keep them? Materials Pinkalicious Pinkie Promise book Daisy petal outline run off on card stock for each girl (run off a few extras) Find it here at Twisty Noodle Glitter watercolor paint Blue construction paper Newspaper Plastic or styrofoam bowls for water Paper plate to carry picture out at the end of the meeting Finished product that you did at home so the girls can see what it should look like Pinkalicious from Amazon Then it is time to read Pinkilicious Pinkie Promise by Victoria Kahn. Most girls will be familiar with the character, who is all about the color pink. In this story, Pinkilicious borrows paint from her friend, Allison. When Allison asks her not to use it all up all the pink, Pinkilicious promises that she won’t. Well, she not only used up all the pink, but also the red and white, which also make pink. Pinkilicious apologizes, but Allison is very angry because she broke her promise. Allison will not each lunch with her, so Pink paints her a blue picture in an attempt to make amends. it works, and the two are best friends once again. You can ask the girls if they think this was a good way to apologize and stress the importance of making amends if a promise is broken, even if it was done accidentally. Watercolor Glitter Paint Available on Amazon Now it is time for the activity. While your were reading, your co-leader and parent volunteers should have set up the art area for the activity. The girls are going to use watercolor paint (paint ties in with the story) to paint the Daisy petal. As they paint, talk about what colors to use, as well as the importance of sharing because of what happened in the story you just read. When each girl is done, staple or glue the picture to a piece of blue construction paper. Place it on a paper plate so it is stable and can be carried out at the end of the meeting. If you find yourself with extra time, you can teach the girls some new Daisy Girl Scout songs! Finish the meeting with the Friendship Squeeze and Friendship Song.

*This post contains affiliate links. Updated October 2019 Are you a brand new Daisy Girl Scout leader getting ready for her very firs...

Join us on our Daisy Girl Scout journey as we plan a meeting for each petal. We are sharing our tips for Mari's petal: Responsible for What I Say and Do.

Celebrating Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday in October was a great way for our Brownie troop to earn their Girl Scout Way badge and help Daisies meet their bridging requirements.

Find Snacks, Crafts, Activities, Printables and Books to support your first steps as a Daisy Girl Scout!

This activity to earn the red Daisy petal is fun for adventurous young girls.

How fun! We earned our first petal: Mari the Marigold~ Responsible for what I say and do. Here is a link for our Daisies who missed...

Dozen of page links help new troop leaders learn the ropes and manage troops with ease.…

A troop leader shares how your girls can have fun earning the Good Neighbor Badge. Our Daisy troop is a Kindergarten troop in Maryland Heights, MO (a suburb of St. Louis). We earned the Good Neighbor Badge. We always start our meetings with an activity that the girls can start on while the other girls …

This Girl Scout Bridging ceremony guide 2024 will help leaders plan this important scouting milestone.

Updated October 2019 There are many places to find free field trips for your Daisy troop While meetings with the girls are fun, it is a nice change of pace for everyone to get out of the building where you meet and go on a field trip. There are many free field trips for your Daisy troop to go on if you just do a little research. Your best local resource for finding free field trips for your Daisy troop is to send an email out to your Service Unit team. In your note, ask them to send out an email to all the leaders asking them what kinds of free local field trips other troops in the area have gone on successfully. This can be compiled into a list for all leaders in your Service Unit to use. There are places in your area that you may not be aware of! I should know...this happened to me! Image from Pixabay and altered by the author in Canva There is a nature preserve about ten minutes from where our girls live that led free nature hikes for local Girl Scout troops. I only knew about it because my co-leader had taken her older daughter's troop there years ago. The trip was arranged, the paperwork was filled out, and the girls had a blast! Another place to find free field trips for your Daisy troop is to ask on your leader Facebook page. When I was a Daisy leader we did not have a leader page, but now we do. You may get answers there if it is an active page. Your co-leader and you can also brainstorm a list of ideas for places to go. Find some potential dates, split the list, and start calling. Place to Visit Police and Fire Stations Within your community, you can visit your local police and fire stations to earn the Magenta Daisy petal, Respect Myself and Others. You are certainly not the first scout troop to call and ask to visit. When calling, ask how long the tour will take so you can give parents a time for pick up. Image from Pixabay Fitness Studios Another place for a potential free field trip for your Daisy troop is a dance, yoga, or fitness studio. Call and ask if the girls can take a free class. This is great advertising for the studio and the girls can get in some exercise and earn their fitness badges! If you know someone who is a personal trainer, she can come to a meeting and teach the girls a class at no cost. When my troop was second year Brownies, we took a free karate class because one of the parents took her children there and she asked for us. Another great trip that did not cost a penny! Image from Pixabay Supermarkets Many supermarkets will give the girls a "behind the scenes" tour of where their families shop for their weekly groceries. It may amaze them as to how food is prepared-especially the fish department! Along the way, free samples are given out to the hungry girls. Banks As part of learning about Financial Literacy, many banks across the country offer free tours to schools, youth groups, and scouts. Retail Stores Retailers are another great source for free field trips. Along with asking your local mom and pop stores, there are several major retailers that offer badge earning workshops and tours for all levels of Girl Scouts. You can read about four of them here on my all level Girl Scout website. Image from Pixabay and altered by the author in Canva Planning the Trip After you have chosen the place and the date for your free Girl Scout Daisy field trip, you need to fill out all of the necessary paperwork. Let your Council contact know when you are going and all of the details so you can get your trip approval number. The Girl Scouts are very strict with field trip rules. If you take a trip without permission and something happens, you are not covered by Girl Scout insurance. All girls need to have their permission slips to go. When you send these home, ask for parent volunteers, especially if you have a young Daisy troop. Parents need to be background checked and a registered volunteer in order to be a driver. Having a small budget does not mean you cannot take field trips with your troop. Doing a little bit of homework will yield great results.

Welcome to the Daisy Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting! The main focus of this book for our first and second year girls is the Daisy Petal Patch. Unlike the badge work for older girls, there are not a whole heck of a lot of guidelines for the petal patches. Petal Activity #1: Enjoy Mari's story, and talk about it. Mari's story is in the Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. Mari the Marigold is the fifth petal of ten that you will learn about in this guide. Mari's petal is about learning what being responsible for what I say and do means. If you don't have the Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting, you can hear it read here by Troop #5007. Petal Activity #2: Act out ways to be responsible throughout the day We had a lot of fun with this one. When I did this badge, I had first year daisy's, so they were 5 and 6 years old. The first thing we did was an open discussion. We talked about responsibility, and what it means in general. Responsibility means that you have a job or obligation to take care of something or someone. It means you can be trusted to do what is right. It means you are accountable for what you say, do - your behavior and actions. It means you take ownership in your life. Can you give me examples of what being responsible means? Some of the answers I got were: I take care of my brother I don't lie When I say I am going to clean my room, I *actually* clean it After this, I separated them into to two groups, and each group talked about responsibility. We asked them these questions: What are some ways you are responsible every day? What does being responsible for your words mean? Can words hurt people? Is it important to keep your promises? Why? How are you responsible for your actions? What new thing could you do to show you are responsible? Petal Activity #3: Practice being responsible For this petal activity, we chose to do a craft. Our girls, like I noted earlier, were 5 and 6 year old kinder's, so I chose something simple and easy to understand. I came across this blog post - with a GREAT tutorial - my blessed life: Door Hanger Chore Charts. This tutorial is on a door hanger chore chart, and it very simple. Photo from: my blessed life We did modify this a bit - we used foam door hangers from walmart. They came in a pack of 10 for about $4, and they did not require any painting. We also divided it horizontally, instead of vertically. Lastly, we only had four or five chores, simply because our girls were little. This was a really excellent craft for our girls - it was simple, easy to understand and use, and really got them excited about pitching in at home. My little lady still uses hers now, over a year later! We had a great time with this - not many things cuter than 5 and 6 year olds learning about girl scouts! Tell me how your Mari the Marigold earning went!

Recently I started teaching the girls how to sew. First up? Making Sit-Upons! My girls are second-year Brownies, and were able to do this project in one troop meeting, though we did run over about 15 minutes. Count on it taking roughly an hour from start to finish, not including any coloring/decorating. This can be done at any level, but the younger the girls, the more adult assistance required. It was a perfect craft for my third graders. If you have a smaller troop, and are able to find some of these retired Try-Its on eBay, you can work on the "Stitch It Together" badge! (Remember, they need to complete four steps to earn this badge.) Our troop is fairly large though, and it's tough to find affordable Try-Its in bulk, so I've opted for a cheaper generic fun patch instead. More to come on that! What Are Sit-Upons, and How Can They Be Used to Learn to Sew? Sit-Upons are a proper Girl Scout tradition. They're inexpensive, fairly easy to make, and a great way to introduce the concept of sewing (without a machine). There are lots of different approaches, and not a lot of wrong ways to go about making a Sit-Upon, but the basic gist is: - Waterproof material exterior - Padded interior - Some form of water/weatherproofing for exposed seams/edges . . . and that's pretty much it! Anything else is just gettin' fancy. ;) Some leaders prefer to make these out of bucket lids, so the girls don't have to sit on the ground (plus, they can carry things in their buckets!). But keep in mind it can be tiring for little ones to carry big 5-gallon buckets everywhere when at camp. The smaller square versions can also be used at camp, sporting events, wherever, and are more easily portable than the bucket versions. But they can't be used to carry other items in them, like you can with a bucket. Because I wanted this to be the introduction to sewing for my Brownies, we went with the square versions instead of buckets. As with all my posts, go with whatever works best for your girls. :) To make a traditional Sit-Upon, you will need: 1. Waterproof Reusable Shopping Bags (it's okay if the handles and sides are a mesh material (this material is called "non-woven" even though it looks woven. The key is the front and back of the bag need to be laminated. You can use vinyl-type tablecloths cut into squares instead, if you prefer. Some people use the "non-woven" bags and cover completely in duct tape for weatherproofing. But it can get expensive). One for each girl, plus one for you (not a bad idea to get a spare to experiment with, if you're new to sewing) 2. Hole Puncher (regular size -- don't get the 1/8" confetti size. Those holes aren't big enough) 3. Yarn (pre-cut strands, prepped with masking tape on both ends; bring your skein to the meeting, along with the roll of tape, as well; see below for details) 4. Masking Tape 5. Adult-Sized Scissors (don't use your expensive sewing scissors. The ones you use will end up with lots of duct tape residue on them) 6. Duct Tape (bring more rolls than you think you'll need) 7. Padding (I used an old, old mattress pad, cut into 10" squares. These are some super comfy Sit-Upons! You can use newspapers, but keep in mind you'll need to ensure ALL the edges/seams are sealed well, because wet newspaper gets kind of gross. Packing foam works well too. Bubblewrap? Not so much, unless you have Girl Scouts who never bounce. Because otherwise bubblewrap will pop and flatten pretty quickly. Magazines can work, but may not be big enough. Be sure to remove staples if you use magazines). As with everything else, get creative, and use your resources wisely! 8. Sharpies (optional) 9. Adult Volunteers, especially if you have a large troop Dollar Store Score! These polypropylene bags cost $1 each, and are laminated on front and back, to make them durable and waterproof. The sides are non-laminated polypro and not waterproof, but we're going to cover that bit up, so that's okay. How to Make a Sit-Upon: Step One: Flatten your bags and measure the padding to go inside. Be sure to leave room for the edges to be sewn together easily. My padding was ~2" smaller than my bags, so roughly 10" square. Keep your bags flat throughout this process. Once you open them up, it's a lot harder to keep the padding in place, and to stitch/seal. Step Two: With the padding tucked securely inside the bag and centered, flatten the edges of the bag with one hand, and use the hole puncher to go through ALL edges in one punch, all the way around the bag. Do not punch through the padding. I punched my holes about 1-1/2" apart, roughly. Don't punch too close to the edge, as it won't be as reinforced when stitching and will tear easier. You'll be punching through many layers at once, in some parts of the bag. You can sharpen a dull hole puncher by snipping through layers of sandpaper, if need be. If you have a ton of bags to do, wear a glove to protect your hand from the pressure of repetitive hole-punching. Step Three (for You): Measure and prep the yarn. When you're making your sample one, don't tie off the yarn when you begin. Run it through with masking tape on one tip only, leaving the yarn connected to your skein at the end. Once you've stitched all the edges, and have enough left to tie off (~4-5" inches on each end), then snip the end connected to the skein. Carefully pull the yarn out of your Sit-Upon, and measure the length of your yarn. Cut strands that length, one for each girl (I actually made them a couple inches longer than mine, just to be safe). Then immediately apply the masking tape to both ends of the strands (otherwise it will fray and you'll have to trim the yarn before taping the ends). Your masking tape tip should be at least 1-1/2" long. Easy-peasy! Step Three (for the Girls): Hand-stitch ("sew") using classic overcast stitch (continuous loops around the edge). Start up at one corner near the top, so when you're finished, you can tuck the ends of the yarn down into the bag easily. Don't aim for perfection. This is all about function, not form. Reassure your girls that it's okay if they make a mistake. It'll be covered with duct tape anyway. Leave 5" or so as a tail for your yarn (you shouldn't need to anchor your yarn or knot it. It should stay put as is, but you can do a small overhand knot if you like, at the beginning) so you have something to tie it to once you're done. Pull it taut (carefully) all the way around, so the edges are snugly together as you go. If you pull too tightly though, it may rip the fabric slightly. Which is no big deal, because you're covering it up with duct tape! Don't be intimidated by the handles. You can stitch in between if necessary. The point is to try to keep the edges as flat as possible, and the holes lined up fairly well. But don't fret if it gets a little off-kilter; you're going to cover it all up. Be sure to have adult volunteers on hand for this project, as the girls are not only learning how to hand stitch, but also how to do it effectively. And the bags can be unwieldy when you begin. Your adults don't need to know how to sew in order to help. They just need to be on hand to assist the girls as needed, especially when it comes to cutting the duct tape! Bring extra yarn and the roll of masking tape, and plenty of scissors (child-sized ones are too small to cut duct tape effectively, so I asked my adult helpers to bring along a pair of regular scissors with them). It is possible the yarn might break, especially for very enthusiastic seamstresses! :) If that happens, tie off the broken part, then prep a new strand on the spot with masking tape, tie it through a hole onto the broken part, trim the broken part, or tuck it inside the bag, and continue. When finished, tie the yarn ends together (remove any slack in your stitches), and tuck the ends down into the bag. Step Four: Once the edges are nice and snug (so you've hidden ALL of the "non-woven"/non-weatherproof bits, except for the handles and trim), cut a piece of duct tape that is slightly longer than the length of the bag, and place along one side, covering the holes and stitched. Fold the tape over carefully, so that both sides of the bag have all holes covered, for weatherproofing. Don't worry if there's some hanging at the ends. You can fold it over and cover with duct tape when doing the top/bottom edges. Cover up everything you just did. The duct tape will be folded over to cover both sides of holes/stitching, and will effectively prevent moisture from seeping in through the holes. Do the same on the other side, and then along the bottom of the bag. Taping the top can be tricky, because you want to seal the holes, but still leave the handles accessible. First, cut two small lengths of duct tape to go on the outside of the handles. Apply as you've done with the side edges. Then take a third strip of duct tape and place in between the handles. Adhere to one side, then fold over, between the handles, to cover those holes. Top edge, with three separate pieces of duct tape. Once you've done all this, and all holes/seams are taped, you are going to use four additional strips of duct tape, cut slightly shorter than the length of each side (cut as you go, otherwise the duct tape will stick to itself and become a wadded up mess). Use two per side, at the top and bottom. One goes on the front/top, covering the exposed edges of your three pieces, but is not folded over the edge. The other goes over the bottom folded tape, but flat on the front side only. Using additional strips of duct tape reinforces the folded/seam tape, and helps keep it in place. You may need to do the same to the sides as well, or just certain areas (corners, etc.) and that's okay. It's better to have a little too much tape than not enough. And some of the girls may need extra tape -- let them do as much of this as possible. Now, flip the bag over and do the same on the back side. Reinforce corners as needed. Fold any overlapping bits and tape over them. Anything left hanging will eventually start to come unstuck, so tape it well. You do not need to duct tape the whole bag, unless you're using the "non-woven" bags, which are too breathable to be waterproof, and are also pretty hard to clean. Non-woven bags are made of polypropylene, and are very lightweight, but not terribly durable, or weatherproof. It can be costly to completely cover a bag in duct tape -- more so than buying the laminated bag, or using laminated tablecloths, etc. Step Five (Optional): Use Sharpie to write names on the bags, and/or color the bags, if desired. Please note, regardless of the material used, if the surface is laminated/waterproof, Sharpie will rub off onto skin, especially if you've applied lotion or bug spray, etc. To prevent this, apply a sealant over the Sharpie. Test your sealant first, as it may cause the Sharpie to run or fade. Generic permanent markers seemed to fade more than Sharpie brand, but your mileage may vary. My Sit-Upon! I love it. :) I decorated one side only, with a mix of Sharpie and generic, let it dry completely, then coated with waterproofing Mod Podge. It took several days for the surface to dry completely, and the generic markers did fade slightly, but it turned out great! Next up? A Fun and Easy Way to Learn Basic Sewing Stitches!

Hiking is a fun outdoor activity that takes your troop into the great outdoors! Here is how your troop can earn the Daisy Trail Adventure badge. *This post contains affiliate links. One of the goals that the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA was to give girls from all backgrounds experiences to make them confident and independent. Taking your troop out on a beautiful day is something every leader needs to experience. Earning the Daisy Trail Adventure Badge is an easy one for your troop to do any time of year. Image by MaBraS from Pixabay Step 1 Choose Your Outdoor Adventure For this step, there are two choices...go for a jog or go for a hike. I think that the vast majority of girls would enjoy a hike over a jog, so that is what the requirements are going to focus on. Hiking is a part of going camping, so this is an appropriate badge to earn as your troop gets older and starts to camp. Tell the girls that they are going to go on a hike in the future. Do they know what a hike is? Do they know where to hike locally? Talk about what kinds of things they can see while hiking. Give the girls crayons and paper and have them draw a nature scene of what they think they will see on their hike. Image by PublicDomainImages from Pixabay Step 2 Prepare for Your Adventure Materials Nylon Drawstring Bags 10 Pack of Nylon Bags Available on Amazon Sharpies Available on Amazon Baggies Assorted food items to make trail mix For this step, your girls are going to decorate a nylon drawstring bag to hold all of their hiking supplies. Before you do this craft, you will need to talk to the girls about things they are going to do to prepare for the hike. That includes the place you will be hiking, items for their bag, and the proper shoes and clothing to wear. A discussion about safety rules and staying with their grownup and their group is also essential for this step. After your discussion, let the girls decorate their bags. Be sure to have them remove their tunics and vests since Sharpie is permanent. Before the girls are allowed to create, they must write their initials on the bag so everyone knows which bag belongs to which girl. It is for safety that the girls do not have their names for anyone who is hiking to see. Step 3 Go On Your Adventure Photo by Susanne Jutzeler from Pexels Before the hike, hand out to the girls the trail mix and a water bottle. Then have the girls do some simple stretching before you begin. Here are some engaging activities that you can do with your girls. 1. Go on a Scavenger Hunt Pinterest is full of ready made scavenger hunts for your troop. Find one that suits your needs or you can make your own based on what is native to your area. You can also do a scavenger hunt based on the alphabet or by colors. This is a ready made scavnger hunt game that contains 50 cards. You can share the cost with another Daisy troop. Available on Amazon 2.Go on an Artist Hike Give the girls a small sketch pad and crayons and take periodic stops for them to draw what they see. 3. Go on a Collection Hike Give each girl a plastic bag to hold their items. Then hand them a pictoral list of things to find while hiking, like a pine cone, a leaf, a twig, etc. At the end, the girls can empty their bag and share what each of them has found.

Here are some ideas to engage girls as they learn to be courageous and strong.

Inside: Over 20 ideas for earning the Honest and Fair Petal. Crafts, Activities, Printables, Books and Sample Meetings.

Bridging ceremonies are an important part of celebrating your troop’s accomplishments as they go through Girl Scouts. Check out these tips, ideas, and resources to plan your next bridging cer…

*This post contains affiliate links. Updated October 2019 You did it super leader! You managed to get through your first year ...

*This post contains affiliate links. Updated March 2022 At the end of first grade, Daisy Girl Scouts who choose to continue their scouting experience will become Brownie Girl Scouts in second grade. A bridging ceremony to celebrate this Scouting milestone is typically held during the last meeting, although it can take place over the summer or even at your first meeting in the fall. While I highly recommend having the ceremony at the end of the year so it feels like an accomplishment after a year (or two) of earning petals and doing service, you, as the leader, need to figure out what is best for your troop. This is an important event in the life of a Girl Scout, parents are invited to witness their daughter's transition from Daisy to Brownie. Here is my updated guide for planning your Daisy to Brownie bridging ceremony. Photo from Pixabay Important Decisions to Make Before Your Daisy to Brownie Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony Time and Date There are several things your co-leader and you need to discuss and decide before your bridging ceremony. The first is the place and the time. Since meeting dates are known in advance, this would be the best time, in my opinion, to have your ceremony. After all, this time slot is already carved out in the child's weekly schedule. If your meeting time is after school, then parents should be notified of the bridging ceremony about two months beforehand. This is necessary because parents who work full-time will need to be able to arrange their work schedules to attend. It is also necessary to give ample notice so parents with other children can arrange for childcare for them if they are young and may disrupt the bridging ceremony. New Uniforms Once you have established the time and date of the bridging ceremony, then you need to decide who is going to buy the vest or sash, pins and patches...will it be the parents or the troop? I am firmly against troop funds being used to buy these items, as time and again, I have read in Girl Scout forums and Facebook groups how leaders buy them, as well as the tabs, pins, and patches, only to have a girl not return in the fall. Your troop has now lost this money, which could have been used for earning Brownie Badges or taking a field trip. Parents need to have some skin in the game. It needs to cost them money, the same way a sport or dance class costs them money. Dance studios do not buy each child's costume for the year end recital, parents do. Teams do not buy cleats for the team, parents do. While I understand that some leaders want their girls to be self-sufficient and pay for all troop related costs, it is not wise to spend money on an unknown. I did have one girl bridge from Daisies to Brownies, only to have her not return in the fall. Her parents bought her vest for the bridging ceremony, so they were out the money, not my troop bank account. Even if a girl loves your troop and being a Girl Scout, schedules change. What was a free time in first grade many not be free time in second grade, and therefore she will not be able to continue with your troop or with scouting at all. If you want to give the girls something when they bridge that does not cost a fortune from your troop account, here is a site where you can download a free printable Daisy to Brownie Bridging certificate. But if you feel strongly about buying the girls their new Brownie uniform, email the parents asking for the size their daughter needs (I suggest going up one size as girls will grow in two years). Then you can make your life easier and buy most of the uniform online. You can find all your Girl Scout supplies, except for your local Council ID badge sets, (they do have a few of those on the site), here at Boscovs. Brownie Girl Scout Uniform from Boscov's Brownie Girl Scout Tab from Boscov's Bridge to Brownie Arc from Boscov's What to Serve Since this is a celebration, of course you will be serving food! Create a Sign Up Genius event (my PTA and synagogue use this for organizing their events and it rocks!) and then put enough items on the list so that everyone is able to sign up to bring something. On your sign up list, make sure there is a place for parents to RSVP how many guests they will be bringing so people know how much to buy or make. Keep it simple; finger foods work best with younger children. Here are some ideas: Plates Napkins Plastic Table Covering Juice Boxes Pony sized water bottles Donut holes Cookies Hershey Kisses Mini cupcakes Veggies and dip Fruit (grapes, strawberries, bags of pre-sliced apples) Hummus and pita chips Brownies (of course!) Before you make your list public via a troop email, be sure that your co-leader and you sign up for what you want to bring. Make it easy on yourself! Personally, I always brought the paper plates. The theme for bridging is a rainbow. Here are some fun party goods for your celebration. The Daisy to Brownie Girl Scout Bridge One of my mottos in life is to keep it simple. Complicated is too...complicated! When my troop bridged, I took two large pieces of oaktag, cut them in half, and taped them together to look like a bridge. Then I made "steps" on green construction paper and wrote one word on each...."Now I am a Brownie Girl Scout." The girls walked along it and crossed over to my co-leader, their parents, and myself. The Ceremony Remember that your girls are only in first grade. Keep the ceremony short and simple! You will want to spend your meeting before the bridging ceremony practicing what will happen so girls will not be surprised. Young children like to know what to expect. We had the girls do the Pledge of Allegiance, the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law. Then I said a few words about what we had done with the girls over the past two years. The girls sang "I've Got Something in My Pocket" and used the word "Daisy" for "Brownie". Then we called each girl one at a time. Her parent helped her put on the Brownie vest, and I pinned on her pins while my co-leader took a picture. We handed each girl a bridging certificate and a baggie with her bridging patch in it. After each girl crossed the bridge, we sang "I've Got Something in My Pocket" and said "Brownie smile" extra loud. Then we took hands with the parents, did our friendship squeeze, and sang "Make New Friends". Then we had our refreshments. Here are some other Daisy to Brownie bridging ceremonies to inspire your own. This easy Daisy to Brownie bridging ceremony is one your co-leader and you can easily put together. It is a great way to end this chapter of your Girl Scout leadership!

Checklists below include badges released as of July 2024! If you'd like checklists for the retired 2001 set of badges, please scroll...

The Get Moving Journey is part of the "It's Your Planet—Love It!" series. Get Moving Journey as a Sleepover Take the Energy Hog Challenge. This workbook includes a lot of information, including information on different types of energy, a quiz for auditing your home, an energy journal, and suggestions for family Hog Buster energy pledges. A LA Times article highlighted the impact Girl Scouts can have on energy conservation using the Girls Learning Environment and Energy (GLEE) program: Science pr