Brownie Badge: Pets

If I had to guess, I'd say the Brownie Pets badge was one of our girls' favorite badges to earn.  In this post, I describe the choices we made to satisfy the requirements for each of the five badge steps.  Please note that I have had two different groups of girls earn this badge, and I have shared all of the activities that were completed by both groups in this singular post.

Day 1:  visit horse stables  (Step 2)
Day 2:  visit pet store and pet groomer  (Step 1, 3, 4, and 5)
Day 3:  t-shirt pet beds  (Step 2)
Day 4:  t-shirt dog toys  (Step 4)

*Based on my experience, you could visit the horse stables, pet store, and pet groomer in one day.
*The t-shirt pet beds will not be finished in one meeting.  The girls will have to work on them on their own at home.  
*I recommend an adult prepares the t-shirts for the pet bed and dog toy projects prior to the meeting.

Step 1:  Find Out What Care Different Pets Need.  To meet the requirements for this badge step, we headed out to a local pet store.  We called ahead to explain why we were visiting and made sure a store employee would be willing to answer questions about pet care.  The girls played Pet Bingo in the store, and they referred to the internet with their parents when they got home for additional information when needed.

From the animals listed on the Bingo game card, the girls chose cat, hamster, and fish.  They asked questions to learn how much it costs to care for each of these pets, how much space and food these pets need, and what kind of human contact these pets prefer.  They took notes, and I typed them up once we got home.

Step 2:  Keep a Pet Comfy.  My daughters made pet beds out of old t-shirts and a plastic sink mat from Dollar Tree to donate to a local animal shelter.  Instructions and photos of the process can be viewed here.  Additionally, the girls visited a horse stable and learned to muck a stall.  They found out why its important to muck a stall twice a day.

 

 

Step 3:  Help a Pet Stay Healthy and Safe.  We visited a pet groomer who allowed the girls to watch her work with this adorable little dog.  She was willing to answer all their questions, and she even gave them pet care tips they could use at home.  When we were at the pet store, the girls asked the store employee about health issues for cats and hamsters.  While they were mucking the horse stall, they asked how they can keep a horse healthy and looking good.

  

Step 4:  Make a Pet Feel Loved.  Our girls made t-shirt dog toys that we donated to a local animal shelter.  While working at the stables, one of the grooms took a few moments to show the girls how horses communicate their feelings.  During our visit to the pet store, they learned how cats communicate their feelings.

  

Step 5:  Feed a Pet.  The girls made a pet budget for a cat and a hamster.  They asked for guidance from the store employee before walking up and down the aisles to find the cost of food, treats, and vitamins their pets may need.  While we were visiting the stables, they made sure to ask how much it costs to feed a horse.  As I mentioned previously, the girls took notes during our trip to the pet store.  Once we returned home, they were able to refer to different websites to answer any follow-up questions they may have had.  

Compared to other Brownie badges our girls have earned, I thought this one required a great deal of work for the girls as well as the leaders.  Maybe it was the activities we chose?  We do not have a family pet.  If we did, the girls could have cleaned the pet's cage or tank, helped the pet get some exercise, make up a game to play with our pet, and make up a feeding schedule.  Completing hands-on activities such as these would provide an entirely different experience for the girls than the activities we chose to complete to earn the Pets badge.  Regardless, they had a lot of fun, so it was worth it!  Thank you for reading. 

Service Project: T-shirt Dog Toys

One of the girls in our troop is very outspoken about her love for animals.  Any time we ask for service project ideas, she asks to do something for our local animal shelter.  She told the troop that she wanted to incorporate volunteer work for the animal shelter into her 9th birthday party, but she was told she has to be a teenager to volunteer.  In the past, we have done projects to help our our local League for Animal Welfare, but I wanted to make sure we planned another service project to benefit the shelter this year.

Over the summer, my daughters read the May/June 2014 issue of American Girl Magazine.  They came across several projects for dogs and cats made from old t-shirts.  What a great way for girls to use their resources wisely!  While out of school for the summer, my daughters asked to make a pet bed out of a sink mat and old t-shirts.  I posted about that experience here.  The girls in the troop decided it would be fun to make dog toys out of those old t-shirts.  Additionally, this service project satisfied Step 4 "Make a Pet Feel Loved" for the Brownie Pets badge.

One of the other troop leaders offered to prepare the t-shirts since she happened to have a pile of t-shirts that she wanted to use or donate.  Upon doing an online search for instructions, we had difficulty finding a tutorial or decent set of instructions for this project.  I located our copy of that May/June issue of American Girl Magazine, and modifying those instructions, I decided to post how we made dog toys out of old t-shirts.

To prepare the t-shirts:

 

Lay t-shirt out on table.  Use scissors to cut 

across the shirt below the arms.  The collar 

and sleeves will not be used in this project.

 Use scissors to cut off the bottom hem of the t-shirt.  

Save this strip to use as a tie to finish the dog toy.

 Use scissors to cut up the side seams of the t-shirt.

 

 Use scissors to cut strips every 1.5" to 2".  

Our co-leader started by cutting strips the width of the t-shirt (about 16" for an adult t-shirt).  As she worked, she found it was easier to begin the cut with scissors, and then she ripped the shirt the rest of the way.  Some of the strips may have been 1.5" wide while others may have been 2" wide.  The variance in the width of the strips did not affect the finished product.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, our troop is comprised of second and fourth graders.  Though these girls could have cut and/or ripped the t-shirt strips on their own, we decided to have the strips ready for them.

To make the dog toy:

Choose 9 t-shirt strips and tie them together.  The issue of American Girl magazine mentioned above says to tie the strips together in a knot, leaving a 1" tail.  We used an extra strip of t-shirt to tie off the top of the dog toy.  The hem strips that were saved when preparing the strips worked well for this step.  We wrapped the 9 strips with a hem strip and tied a double knot on the front side of the dog toy.  Then we wrapped the hem strip again and tied a double knot on the back side of the dog toy.
 

The American Girl magazine suggests separating the t-shirt strips into 3 sections (3 strands per section) and then braiding them together.  We separated the strips into 3 sections (3 strands per section) and braided each of the 3 sections individually before braiding all 3 sections together. The magazine suggests tying the strands in a knot when there are a few inches of t-shirt left.  We used the hem strip to tie off the dog toy as described in the step above.

We had the girls work in pairs.  One girl held the end of the dog toy while her partner braided the strands.  They worked together to finish one dog toy.  Then they switched positions and the worked on another dog toy.  The finished dog toys look great!

WARNING:  The magazine strongly suggests readers be sure to supervise pets when they play with these toys.  They advise readers to throw the dog toy away if it starts to shred or fall apart.  This warning definitely applies to the dog toys we made since we did not tie the strands in knots but used an additional t-shirt strip to secure the strand on both ends.

We hoped to stop by the animal shelter during the last part of this meeting.  That didn't work out, so we plan to stop by the shelter at the end of our next meeting to deliver our donations.  Thank you for reading!

Craft: Pet Bed

Earlier this summer, my friend shared that she had learned a local animal shelter had a great need for pet beds.  My daughters heard the news and immediately wanted to help.  They remembered seeing a DIY rag rug that could be used as a pet bed in the May/June 2014 issue of American Girl Magazine.  Coincidentally, my husband had sorted through a pile of t-shirts to donate to the Vietnam Veterans earlier that weekend.  The girls went through the pile and chose five t-shirts (men's size large) to use for this project. 

  1.  We purchased a sink mat from Dollar Tree.  

  

2.  We cut the shirts into 2"x5" strips.

3.  We used five men's size large t-shirts to complete two mats.  We cut about 100 strips from one shirt.  UPDATE:  We ended up using half of a sixth men's size large t-shirt for an additional 44 strips.

 4.  We tied the strips, working horizontally and vertically to make sure all of the white plastic was covered.  The magazine instructed us to tie the strips in double knots.  The result felt hard, and the girls didn't think a puppy would find the mat very comfortable.  We decided to cross the left and right ends of the strip and then pull the left end under the right end to secure it tightly (no knot).  We also found the process moved much faster when we flipped the mat over to the back side.  We threaded both ends of the strips through the mat, working down an entire row.  Then we flipped the mat back over and tied the entire row. 

5.  Well on their way!  This sink mat is only 12.5"x11"--fine for a small dog.  My girls wanted to tie their mats together with extra strips or yarn for a larger dog. 

6.  As you can see, we occasionally skipped a horizontal or vertical row.  The rug still looked full and felt comfortable on the top. 

 The finished product ready for donation!

Girl Scout troops of all ages could make these rag rugs for their own pets to use or to donate to local animal shelters.  Not only could this craft satisfy a service project requirement, but it could be tied in with the Brownie Pet Badge (Step 2:  Keep a Pet Comfy) and the following Daisy Petals:  considerate and caring (spring green petal), friendly and helpful (yellow petal), using my resources wisely (green petal), and make the world a better place (rose petal).  If the girls enjoy projects that involve cutting and tying, maybe they would like to make a blanket for Project Linus?  Just a thought.  If you are interested in seeing how our troop got involved with Project Linus, check out this link.  Thank you for reading!