Thinking Day Ceremony and WAGGGS Pin

As I wrote in my last post, Girl Scouts around the world celebrate Thinking Day on February 22^nd.  Thinking Day gives us the chance to talk about our similarities with other Girl Scouts around the world.  We are a part of a global community, working to make the world a better place.  The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) announces a theme for Thinking Day each year.  

For Thinking Day 2011, we used the 2010 theme.  We had a tea party with a lesson to help the girls understand hunger and poverty and what they can do together to help others who are suffering.  In 2012, our girls learned about growing up as a girl in Greece (this post is coming soon!).  The theme for 2013 is "together we can change children's lives," and "every mother's life and health is precious."  Our girls have decided to make fleece blankets for Project Linus this year.  Please check back in late February to read a post about this event.

New girls in our troop receive the WAGGGS Pin during our Thinking Day celebration.  This pin shows that the girls are a part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.  It is worn on the Insignia Tab above the Membership Pin.  On it are three leaves representing the Girl Scout Promise, with a flame that stands for loving all the people in the world. The compass needle is to guide you, and the two stars are the Girl Scout Promise and Law. The outer circle represents the World Association, and the golden yellow trefoil on a bright blue background stands for the sun shining over the children of the world.  

When our girls were Daisy Girl Scouts, we had an informal ceremony before the new members were given their pins.  I modified a Thinking Day ceremony from Ceremonies in Girl Scouting:

THINKING DAY CEREMONY

1. On February 22nd, Girl Scouts around the world celebrate Thinking Day.
2. February 22nd is the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell.
3. Lord baden-Powell founded Boy Scouts in 1907.  Lady Baden-Powell started Girl Guides in England in 1909.
4. Juliette Gordon Low was inspired by the Baden-Powells and founded Girl Scouts in the United States in 1912.
5. Today the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) reaches girls in 145 countries around the globe.
6. Thinking Day gives us the opportunity to recognize the similarities we have with Girl Scouts around the world.
7. Thinking Day reminds us that Girl Scouts is part of a global community.
8.  As we "think globally," we must "act locally."  As Girl Scouts, we are building courage, confidence, and character and working to make the world a better place.  

Prior to the meeting, I wrote these statements with a Sharpie on individual index cards.  We asked each girl to stand in a line and read her part loudly and clearly so the rest of the troop could hear her.  The first time the girls participated in the ceremony, they were in Kindergarten.  It was quickly evident that some girls could already read while others were struggling.  They were all quiet and many of them needed help with most of the words on the cards.  The next year we repeated the ceremony for the girls who were new to our troop.  I learned from the past and assigned each girl a specific part.  They were sent home with a copy of their lines so they could practice reading.  They returned the day of the ceremony and read their parts perfectly.  Certainly it takes a little more time for leaders and girls to prepare, but it is definitely worth the effort.  The girls were so much more confident the second year, and they had more fun.  Thanks for reading!

Thinking Day Tea Party

Girl Scouts around the world celebrate Thinking Day on February 22^nd, the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell.  Lord Baden-Powell founded Boy Scouts in 1907.  Lady Baden-Powell started Girl Guides in England in 1909.  Juliette Gordon Low was inspired by the Baden-Powells and founded Girl Scouts in the United States in 1912. 

 

Today the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) reaches girls in 145 countries around the globe.  Thinking Day gives us the chance to talk about how we are like the other Girl Scouts around the world.  Thinking Day reminds us that Girl Scouts is part of a global community.  As we think globally, we must act locally.  This means we take time to think about Girl Scouts around the world, but we work together to make life better for others in our own city.  As Girl Scouts, we are building courage, confidence, and character and working to make the world a better place.

Instead of attending our Service Unit Thinking Day event in our troop's first year, we chose to celebrate on our own by hosting a tea party.  Each girl was allowed to invite one special adult guest.  A month before the tea party, we had the girls make invitations.  Since they were in Kindergarten, I decided it would be easiest to print out the party details on regular printer paper prior to the meeting.  The girls decorated cardstock cards and completed the invitation by adhering the printer paper to the cardstock with a glue stick.  A request for canned good donations was included at the bottom of the invitation.  We later delivered the canned goods to a local shelter.

At the time, we held our meetings in a workroom at the school.  Expenses for the party were kept at a minimum.  We decorated the space with items we had on hand.  We used disposable tablecloths and napkins left over from a birthday party as well as our personal china teacups and saucers.  We also included globes on the tables to remind us of our Girl Scout sisters living around the world.  I made cheddar rosemary scones (by modifying this recipe) and fruit kabobs while the other leader made chocolate chip scones and tea.  One of the girls brought mini cupcakes as a special birthday treat.  We also served pink lemonade.  Not surprisingly, the girls all chose pink lemonade over the tea.  Since Girl Scouts like to try new things, the girls were asked to taste at least one bite of everything on their plate.

While we loved spending time with our special guests, we devoted a little time during the party to a lesson.  I felt it was important to discuss that year's theme for Thinking Day:  "Together we can end extreme poverty and hunger."  I created two posters on 12"x12" cardstock to illustrate the problem for this group of Kindergartners.  We talked about the price of a pack of gum, a loaf of bread, and a gallon of milk.  They seemed to understand that people around the world can not live very long on $1.25 a day.  We mentioned that poor people do not only live far away or even as close as "downtown."  The girls learned there are some needy families in our community and possibly even in their classrooms.  They understood that our tea party canned goods collection would help our neighbors.

We ended the lesson by reading a book by Ann McGovern titled THE LADY IN THE BOX.  It is a story about two children who help a homeless woman and make a difference in her life.  Before reading the book, I made sure to tell the girls that it is a sad story, but it does have a happy ending.  When the story was finished, we reviewed the importance of not talking to strangers.  The characters in the story mention their mother's rule against talking to strangers, but it definitely needed to be stressed again.  While my younger daughter's Daisy troop will not enjoy such a tea party this year, she has asked that I read this book to her troop when we celebrate Thinking Day.  Even though they are young, these Daisy Girl Scouts recognize when people need help.  Whether it is collecting canned goods, serving food at a soup kitchen, or packing meals for starving children around the world, these young girls can help make the world a better place.  We just need to give them the opportunity to do so.  Please check back to see how we celebrated Thinking Day last year.  Thanks for reading!         

Additional Kaper Chart Ideas

In a previous post, I provided a detailed description of the kaper chart we used when our girls were Daisies.  Our kaper chart needed to be changed to better meet the needs of our smaller Brownie troop. 

To make this kaper chart, I used a glue stick to adhere an 8.5x11" piece of cardstock to a thin piece of cardboard.  The white tags originally came in a package from a craft store, but they could easily be made from cardstock by cutting a rectangle and snipping the two corners off one end.  The kaper titles were cut using the Cricut Simply Sweet cartridge.  I purchased some Brownie Girl Scout stickers from Michaels.  We used the stickers to decorate the pill bottle first aid kits at camp.  There were plenty of stickers remaining, so I used them to decorate this kaper chart.  The clothespins are the same ones we have used for the past two years.  (I did write the names of the girls on the flip side of each clothespin so their names would be facing the right direction when clipped to the left side of the chart.  Unfortunately I thought to do this after I had taken this photo). 

We will recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the Girl Scout Promise, and the Girl Scout Law at every meeting.  We will have someone perform the closing before we dismiss each meeting.  We may not have a craft, sing a song, or play a game each time we are together.  We decided that the girls who do not happen to have an assigned kaper are helpers for that particular meeting. The kapers are recorded along with attendance to ensure everyone has an opportunity to do each job.

In late September of this year, we had our first camping overnight trip.  I wanted to create a kaper chart specifically for use at mealtime while we were at camp.  I looked at different images of kaper charts online for inspiration.  This was the final product:

I used a glue stick to adhere a 12x12" piece of cardstock to a thin piece of cardboard.  I realize this chart is rather busy.  Looking back, I should have probably used a larger piece of posterboard and cut it to down to 15x15" or even 18x18".  The title was cut using the Simply Sweet Cricut cartridge.  The critters were created using the Give a Hoot Cricut cartridge.

The kapers are listed down the left side of the chart.  Those assigned to be the HOSTESS set the table and made an announcement to everyone that it was time to wash hands and find a seat at the table.  Those assigned to be SERVERS passed out drinks and delivered individual plates to each girl at the table.  Those assigned to CLEAN UP cleared the table and tossed garbage into the trash can or recycling bin. 

We divided our girls into equal groups (we have six girls, so we had three groups of two).  Two girls were assigned to be hedgehogs. Two other girls were assigned to be owls while the remaining two girls were in the peacock group.  For example, The hedgehogs were hostesses at dinner.  They served the meal at breakfast.  They would have cleaned up at lunch if we had eaten lunch at camp.  This chart met our needs.  The girls remembered their groups, so meals went rather smoothly.

Our neighbors at the lodge happened to be a troop of seventh graders.  They were finishing their dinner while we were sitting down to eat.  We invited the older girls to teach our Brownies a grace to sing before dinner. The older girls jumped at the opportunity and immediately began singing the "Superman" grace.  I found this rendition on YouTube. 

When searching online, I found that there are many variations of this grace.  The lyrics we were introduced to went something like...
     Thank you God for giving us food.  
     Thank you God for giving us food.  
     For the beautiful day. 
     For the friends that we make.  
     We thank you, God, for giving us food.

Please feel free to share any of your variations of this grace.  I would love to hear them and share them with our girls.  Thanks for reading! 

"Brownies" Hike

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, our Brownie troop went on our first overnight camping trip at the end of September.  We had planned activities that would fulfill the five steps required to earn the Hiker badge.  A scavenger hunt happened to be an activity that would satisfy one step for both the Hiker and the Senses badges.  I had found a Nature Scavenger Hunt on Pinterest.  I had also heard of the "ABC Hike" where you search for natural items that resemble or begin with the letters of the alphabet.  Our co-leader took this "ABC Hike" one step further.  She suggested we take a "Brownies Hike" which she explained to the girls as a shortened version of the "ABC Hike."  We gave our girls the opportunity to vote, and the "Brownies Hike" won by a landslide.  We set off into the woods.  

B:  bridge

R:  Rock (just happens to be in the shape on an "O")

O:  knot in this fallen tree branch

W:  the tree branches in the center form a "W"

N:  Nuts

I:  the stick is dotted by the rock (lowercase "i")

E: egg? They thought this GIANT mushroom was an ostrich egg.

S:  Spider Web (extends from the left top corner of the photo)

The girls had such a great time on our hike that they wanted to go back out the next morning.  Everyone participated, and we were really impressed by their discoveries.  Super creative!  

Taking a different trail or spelling a different word (like "Girl Scouts," "Campfires," or "Kapers") would produce different results.  The opportunities are endless.  I hope you have as much fun as we did!  Thanks for reading.

Pill bottle First Aid Kit

Last weekend our Brownie troop went on their first overnight camping trip.  We had a fantastic time together, though I feel like I am still trying to catch up on my sleep!  To earn a Brownie badge, girls must complete five steps.  They have a choice of three tasks for each step.  Details for each badge can be found in The Brownie Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting and in the three additional Badge Activity Sets.  During our overnight camping trip, our troop earned the Hiker badge.  They also completed some of the steps for the Senses badge, Snack badge, Girl Scout Way badge, and First Aid badge.

One required step for the First Aid badge involves making a first aid kit.  The Co-leader of our troop was a Girl Scout when she was younger.  She remembered making a pill bottle first aid kit.  I had also come across this pill bottle first aid kit while I was bumping around Pinterest.  It seemed like a perfect project for our camping trip.

I stopped by the pharmacy at our local Sam's Club to ask if they would donate pop-top pill bottles for our troop project.  I was hoping to reuse some empty pill bottles I had collected, but the child-proof lid would obviously have been too difficult for the girls to get on and off quickly.  The pharmacist happily donated the pill bottles.  He also gave us some literature that included a Child ID kit with a place for a photo and fingerprints.  I thought that was quite generous of him.  

I left the store and headed out to collect the rest of the supplies we would need.  Here is a list of what we included in our pill bottle first aid kits:
     whistle
     bandaid
     alcohol pad
     hand sanitizing wipe
     safety pin
     peppermint
     cotton ball

We only have six girls in our troop, so we did not need great quantities of the supplies.  Most of the items I already had on hand.  I would like to thank my mom for the alcohol pads, and Kristie (one of the moms in our troop) for the hand sanitizing wipes.  I did have to purchase the whistles which were found at Party City ($2.99 for 12).  My husband offered to drill a small hole in the middle of each pill bottle lid.  The whistle string was fed through the hole, allowing the pill bottle first aid kit to be worn as a necklace.  We discussed what should go into a first aid kit and why the items might need to be included.  We let the girls decorate the outside of the pill bottles with Brownie stickers purchased from Michaels for under $2 when a 40% off coupon is used.  The girls were really happy with the finished product.

As an afterthought, our Co-leader suggested adding a cough drop to the kit.  I thought that would be a good idea, so I wanted to be sure to mention it here.
Thanks for reading!