Color Me Pretty

When a Daisy Girl Scout earns the dark purple petal in the Daisy Petals Set, she is showing that she has learned what it means to respect herself and others.  Our Daisy troop spent part of a couple different meetings focusing on this component of the Girl Scout Law.  In a previous post, I described in detail our version of the Everybody Counts program.  We provided the girls an opportunity to experience how it may feel to be physically challenged.  While I believe all components of the Girl Scout Law are equally important, we chose to spend extra time on this one because we wanted the girls to recognize that their differences make them unique...that people love them for who they are and because they are special.

We began this meeting in typical fashion, reciting the Girl Scout Promise and saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  After finishing troop business, we asked the girls to play the "Mirror Game."  They passed a handheld mirror around the Daisy Circle.  With the mirror in her hands, each girl had a chance to share something she likes about herself that we could all see.  Then she shared something she likes about herself that we can not see.  It was fun to learn that one girl in our troop loves her feet!  This game is really effective if the girls take turns sharing what they like about each other.  

After this exercise I read a passage that is used with the Girls on the Run program.   I made some changes to meet the needs of our group.  Here is script I read to our troop:

GIRLS ON THE RUN VISUALIZATION

adapted for Daisy Girl Scout dark purple petal

           We are going to do a visualization.  A visualization is where you envision something in

            your imagination. It is almost like you are actually experiencing it just as you are thinking

            about it or “seeing” it in your head. We are going to do a visualization together.

First of all picture a bright white light that rests just on the inside of your body—maybe right where your heart is. That light is so bright and when we are feeling good about ourselves it just shines out of us—through our eyes, our fingertips, in the way we walk and stand up tall and straight. That white light is the very essence of who we are. It is what makes us special, unique and beautiful on the inside.

Now picture a large socket in the top of your head. It is like a socket that is in the

wall where you plug in an electrical appliance. Can you see it in the top of your

head?  Now, imagine a huge cord going into that socket.  This cord is really

yucky—it has gooey, sticky very slow-moving mucky liquid flowing through it.

And also coming in through this cord are some messages we might get

sometimes.  Some of these messages are  “you are not pretty enough”, “you are

not sporty enough”, “you don’t have cool clothes”, “you are not very smart” or

“you shouldn’t ever get angry” or “it is not okay to cry”. When this brown stuff

and these messages go into our brains and oozes down into our body we feel

yuck. The brown stuff begins to put out that bright light, like syrup oozing down

on your pancakes in the morning. When this happens, we do not stand up as tall,

we might feel sad a lot or might not try some exciting activities we are interested

in. We just don’t feel good about ourselves with this brown cord coming into our

spirits.

Now, here’s the fun part. We each need to take our right hand and gently pull that

cord right out of our heads. Pull it out and throw it right behind you, somewhere

far away. Now I want you to plug in the Daisy Girl Scout cord.  I can see into this

cord and it is bright, multi-colored and sparkly. The liquid in it is bubbly and

moves freely down into your body and makes the light inside of your heart…the

light that is YOU…sparkle, glitter and become brighter and stronger…so strong

that you begin to have light coming out of your fingertips, your mouth, your nose,

your toes and your eyes!  The Daisy Girl Scout cord helps us stand up tall and

believe in ourselves. We express everything we are feeling. We know that we are

wonderful. We can look all people right into their eyes and we feel absolutely NO

shame about who we are!  We know that “we are perfect just the way we are!” 

This is what Girl Scouts is all about!  Helping all of us, including ME, realize how

special we are, each as individuals, but also as a wonderful team together!!!

So anytime we are having a brown, murky chord kind of day we need to promise

to each other that we will ask each other to help us unplug from those negative

messages and feelings and let the colorful, sparkly, positive light in each of us

shine.  Can we promise this to each other?

With the lessons finished, we were ready to have fun!  Knowing we were going to have a manicure party, we asked the girls in advance (with a parent's permission, of course) to bring any supplies they would like to share with the troop.  We explained that by using supplies we already have, we are using our resources wisely.  So not only were they working on the dark purple petal, they were earning the green petal as well.  The girls arrived at the meeting with fingernail polish in every color imaginable.  They also brought nail polish remover, cotton balls, lotions, nail clippers, nail files, and electric nail dryers! 

 

The girls chose their polish colors...I say colors because they couldn't possibly choose just one.  We had requests for polka dot nails, striped nails, and nails each painted a different color.  I was happy I had arranged to have another mother stay to help us apply the polish!  The girls patiently waited their turn, and they were all excited to see a friend's finished fingernails.  

 

While she was waiting for her turn, or when her nails were dry, the girls were able to work on the Girl Scout Promise Puzzle on their own or with a buddy.  At the end of the meeting, the girls couldn't wait to show their families their fingernails.  They all felt so good about themselves--such a big step toward earning that dark purple petal.  It is only when you can respect yourself that you can truly respect others.



Thanks for reading!