...and Patches

Our Daisies LOVE to earn extra patches.  We don't purchase fun patches for every activity and outing, but many troops do.  (Most fun patches cost $1 each).  At the beginning of the year, I picked up a catalog of fun patches from our Council Shop.  Prior to the girls' arrival at the meeting, I cut out pictures of the patches from the catalog and taped them to a piece of paper.  Each girl was taken aside and asked to pick her favorites.  I kept tally on a separate sheet of paper.  After the vote, I circled the winner.  The girls were excited to see the fun patches they would earn throughout the year.  

We bought blue canvas bags from Hobby Lobby with money the girls earned during cookie sales last year.  The bags were either on sale or purchased with a 40% off coupon for less than $2 each.  I wrote each girls' name and our troop number along the top edge of each bag with white puffy paint.  I was also able to use a coupon to purchase the puffy paint.  (Saving pennies is important when you are working on a budget, especially when you are first starting out with your troop).  I purposely included photos of the bags without our troop number in this post, but the troop number is written to the right of the name.  The girls' parents are responsible for sewing on the patches or adhering them to the bags with fabric glue.  In these pictures, you can see the friendship pins that were given out during our Ice Cream Social (please see my previous post).  

There are many community activities that host Scout Night and offer a patch with attendance (Disney on Ice, for example).  I always pass the information along to the troop; however, a Girl Scout does not often have to attend the event with her troop.  Our family has enjoyed some of the Scout Night events that just didn't work with the schedules of the other families.  I occasionally "quiz" our girls to make sure they remember what they did to earn each patch.  All of the girls in our troop may not have all of the same patches, and I think that is okay.  They all earn the same petals that are displayed on their uniform.  Speaking of the uniform...I have a cute an inexpensive alternative to the official Daisy uniform.  Please stay tuned to learn more...