Junior Girl Scouts badge: Gardener Part 1

Last spring, our troop attended a Junior Girl Scouts Flower badge program and a Brownie Bugs badge program offered by the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati.  Time was split between the classroom and the field, and our girls enjoyed the experience.  When I learned about the Junior Girl Scouts Gardener badge program, I immediately placed a call to register.  Our Juniors officially earned the badge while the Brownies enjoyed the fun event.  We used troop funds to cover the cost of the program ($5/girl).  In this post, I will describe how the girls completed the five steps to earn this Junior Girl Scouts Gardener badge.

STEP 1:  Visit a garden.   
The Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati has beautiful outdoor gardens.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, so we spent the majority of our two hours together in the classroom.  The rain stopped long enough for us to take a quick hike to the rooftop, herb, and dwarf conifer gardens located throughout the park.

STEP 2:  Explore garden design.
Another Junior Girl Scout troop had also registered for this program.  The girls divided into teams of three and used a variety of books to research different garden designs.  They were instructed to find five facts about their garden design that they later presented to the rest of the group.  We learned about zen gardens, indoor gardens, butterfly gardens, and a garden designed to attract birds.

STEP 3:  Learn how to choose garden plants.

The girls were given unnamed seasonal growth charts for California (pictured on the left), Alaska (in the middle), and Ohio (pictured on the right).  They worked in their teams of three to match each growth chart to its state.  Then they chose one state and a month and developed a menu using ingredients that were in season.

STEP 4:  Experiment with seeds.

Each Girl Scout was asked to choose four different vegetables to plant in paper pots.  They were instructed to fill the pot with potting soil before dropping two seeds in the pot.  Then they covered the seeds with another pinch of dirt.  The instructor explained that the seeds should be placed at a depth about two times the width of the seeds.  Since many of the seeds were really tiny, they needed to be situated near the surface and not buried too deep where they could not get adequate sunlight.  These paper pots will eventually be planted in gardens throughout the park--another service project!  

STEP 5:  Grow your own garden.  

The girls were shown how to make their own paper pots out of old paper.  They learned to use a PotMaker, but we were told a water bottle and a table works as well.

Fold the paper in half lengthwise.  
Line the fold with the top edge of the PotMaker.
Roll the paper tightly like a sleeping bag.
 

Fold the bottom edges in.
Press down and twist on the base of the PotMaker.
 

Voila!  "An easier, economical and Earth-friendly way to grow plants."






After reusing paper to make some pots, the girls planted seeds to take home.
 
At Open House this summer, our troop held a Bake Sale.  Our troop will use that money to plant flowers in garden boxes later this spring for Veterans and their families staying at the Fisher House in Cincinnati.  This is another great way to complete a badge step while performing a service project!

In my next post, I will share two fun ways to start a garden at home.  I hope you'll check back soon.  Thank you for reading.

Service Project: Knit Hats for Crayons to Computers

Last fall, I stumbled upon a website for KidKnits, and I was intrigued by their mission.  KidKnits was founded in 2011, by a nine-year-old girl named Ellie.  In the summer of 2011, she and her GIRL SCOUT TROOP had learned to knit on a round loom.  She enjoyed making hats for others which gave her a great idea.  She took that idea and ran with it.  Ellie and her family created this organization that sells knitting craft kits.  These kits include yarn that is hand-spun and dyed by women in Rwanda and Chile.  These women and their families benefit from the sale of these kits.  While bumping around the KidKnits website, I decided I would love to receive a KidKnits craft kit for Christmas that year.  I was so excited to open the bag to see the brightly-colored yarn!  A few days later, my daughters and I began knitting our first hat by wrapping the soft yarn around the pegs of the round loom. Before we knew it, we had made a beautiful, warm, winter hat.  We enjoyed this so much that we ran out to the craft store to purchase several more skeins of yarn.  We made several hats that winter—for family, friends, and even baby dolls!
 

When it was time for our Girl Scout troop to decide how to spend their cookie money, we encouraged them to use the money to help others in addition to covering the cost of a fun activity.  When shown the hats my girls and I had made, the troop was excited to use cookie money earned during last year’s cookie sale (2014) to purchase round looms for a service project we scheduled for this school year.  Throughout the summer, the other troop leader and I would occasionally check Michaels for the Loops and Threads 9.5” Round Loom.  This product sells for $8.99, but with our 40% off coupons, we were able to purchase them for $5.75 each.  For the past few years, we have collected $20 in dues from each girl in our troop at the beginning of the school year.  This year, we collected only $15, and we asked the families to purchase two skeins of yarn for this service project.  I had found yarn on sale for $2.50 a skein, and we wanted the girls to be able to choose their favorite yarn for the project.  Our initial plan was to have each girl knit one hat and one scarf for donation. 

The girls spent one entire meeting focusing on learning how to knit on the round loom and perfecting the technique as they started their first hat.  They found out quickly not to wrap the yarn too tightly around the pegs.  They took their projects home, and we asked family members to help them finish if they asked.  I received some feedback from a few parents—some of the girls required a great deal of help, and a couple needed to run out to buy new hooks.  Once the girls figured it out, they all decided they want to knit hats to give as Christmas gifts this year!

            

Knowing we would have all these items to donate, I did a quick internet search to find out where we could take them.  I discovered an organization called Crayons to Computers that "operates a free store for teachers from nearly 600 greater Cincinnati area schools in 16 counties (in Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana), offering new and gently used school supplies, educational tools, and incentive items."  Crayons to Computers also promotes a program called Keep Our Kids Warm.  They welcome donations of hats, gloves, and mittens that teachers can take back to give their students in need.  Perfect!  I spoke with the Volunteer Coordinator and scheduled a time to visit on a weekday evening, our typical meeting time.  I also asked if there was anything the girls could do to help out while we were there.

The girls in our troop are proudly showing their donations.

See the shelves of hats, gloves, and mittens in center of photo.

 Upon our arrival at the store, we were given a tour.  There were quite a few teachers bustling about, pushing carts full of school supplies and essentials for their students.  We learned that there are companies in our city working hard to be Zero Waste companies, and they donate many different items to Crayons to Computers.  Staff and volunteers at Crayons to Computers find creative ways to use the donations from these companies to benefit teachers and students.  During our tour, we saw numerous examples of how these companies can reduce, reuse, and recycle to benefit our communities.  The girls really enjoyed seeing this in action.

Repurposed packaging tubes make great tools for practicing math facts.

After the tour, the girls were asked to assemble packages of award certificates that will be made available for teachers to take back to their classrooms.  Our girls are eager to please, and they all enjoy earning awards in school.  They understand how much it will mean to the students who would eventually receive these awards.  They truly enjoyed working on this project together.

 Crayons to Computers is a wonderful organization to visit!  Girl Scout troops of all ages can volunteer to help with various projects that need to be completed to ensure the sustainability of this organization.  Depending on the project, troops could easily satisfy steps toward earning several different Daisy petals or Girl Scout badges.  Thank you for reading!

Feed My Starving Children 2014

For the past few years, a nearby church has hosted a Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Mobile Pack Event.  FMSC is fighting to eliminate starvation in children throughout the world. They team up with churches, colleges, and other large groups, inviting people in the community to work a two-hour shift.  Volunteers work together to pack a special food product that was designed specifically to meet the nutritional needs of starving children.  They scoop rice, soy, vegetables, a vegetarian-based chicken flavoring, and a vitamin and mineral mix into a funnel which is dumped into a plastic bag.  Each bag hold six meals.  The bag is weighed and sealed.  These bags are then packed into a box that is loaded onto a truck.  Each box holds 36 bags.  These boxes are shipped out to starving children all over the world.  In a previous post, I described our family's experience working with FMSC.  

Our Brownie troop voted on the service projects they would work on this year.  They agreed they wanted to pack meals for hungry people.  Knowing how much my daughters loved serving with FMSC, we arranged for our troop to volunteer.  While FMSC holds weekend-long packing events throughout the country, Kids Against Hunger has a permanent site in Cincinnati.  The Volunteer Coordinator at Kids Against Hunger was willing to work with our group as well.  If you are in the Cincinnati area, check them out!

Upon arrival for the shift, we were handed a hairnet and instructed to remove all jewelry.  After signing in, we took a seat in a meeting room and listened to a brief orientation which included a short video.  We saw many children on this video who have been receiving meals from FMSC for quite some time.  They are no longer worried about their next meal.  They have food, clothes, and shelter, so now they can focus on their education.  We listened as many children shared their dreams of becoming engineers, flight attendants, teachers, journalists, and doctors.  These dreams are not much different from the hopes our Girl Scouts have for the future.  During our two-hour shift, we joined 100 volunteers to pack enough meals to feed 80 children for a year!  In addition, this troop donated $80 of their cookie money to FMSC.  This money will pay for the meals to feed one child for an entire year!  Not only were these girls fulfilling a service project requirement, they completed a couple of steps toward earning the Philanthropist Badge.  Most importantly, they were helping to make a difference in the lives of others...and they had fun in the process!  Thanks for reading.

Brownie Badge: Letterboxer

I had never heard of letterboxing until our Brownie troop voted to work on the letterboxer badge this year.  While the Brownie Girl's Guide to Girl Scouts provided some information about letterboxing, I decided to do a quick online search to learn about it in more detail.  These two websites were incredibly helpful:  letterboxing.org and atlasquest.com.  Wikipedia defines letterboxing as "an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's 'visitors' book' or 'logbook' — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. "  In this post, I will describe how our troop chose to complete the five steps required to earn the Brownie letterboxer badge.  We finished Steps 1, 2, and 3 during our first meeting.  Steps 4 and 5 were completed during the following meeting.

Step 1:   To get started, I described letterboxing to the girls.  We reviewed some basic letterboxing terminology because this game has a special language of its own.  We discussed how they could search for letterbox clues by bumping around the websites (mentioned above) with parental supervision.  We reviewed what supplies they would need before setting out to find a letterbox.  The girls then worked together to brainstorm 10 different hiding places for a letterbox.  Two of my favorite suggestions included hiding a letterbox in an empty bird's nest or burying the letterbox in a sandbox.  

Step 2:  The girls had the opportunity to make their own stamp.  There is a fantastic tutorial on letterboxing.org that shows how to carve a stamp out of an art gum eraser.  We decided to make our stamps by using the lids from orange juice containers and adhesive foam squares.  The girls were each given two 2.5" foam squares that had been cut prior to the meeting.  They were instructed to peel the backing off one of the squares and to adhere that square to the top of the second square to give the stamp some thickness.  We asked the girls to flip the foam square over and draw a shape on the paper backing.  Some of the shapes included a heart, a star, and a Mickey Mouse head.  They cut out their foam stamp.  After peeling off the paper backing, they pressed the adhesive side onto the orange juice lid.  Once the stamps were assembled, the girls each decorated a personal record book that was constructed prior to the meeting.  I cut white cardstock into a 4.5"x9" rectangle that I folded in half vertically to make a 4.5" square cover.  I then cut white cardstock into 4" squares, adding three squares of paper to each cover.  I punched two holes along the folded edge of the cover through all of the sheets of paper.  I used yarn to tie the book together.  The girls used Brownie stickers, markers, and crayons to decorate their books.

Step 3:  The Brownie Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting provides several different ways to practice solving clues for the letterboxer badge.  The girls loved creating a number code clue.  For example, letter A corresponds to 1, B to 2, C to 3, and so on.  The girls are given the numbers, and they have to figure out what the word is.  For example, "16, 1, 18, 11" is "park."  There is an activity on page 5 of this badge outline that the girls worked on individually.  They really enjoyed completing this step. 

Step 4:  This step was by far the troop favorite.  We leaders went online and searched for some letterboxes in our area.  We decided on two letterboxes that were not far from each other.  We went out a couple of days prior to the meeting to make sure the boxes were active.  I typed out the clues to find these letterboxes so that each girl in the troop would have a chance to read a clue and lead the troop closer to the hidden letterbox.  

At both locations, each girl took a turn leaving an impression of her own stamp in the letterbox logbook and then pressing the letterbox stamp into her personal record book.

 

Step 5:  Once the girls returned the letterboxes to the spot exactly as they had found them, we headed to a nearby park to hide our troop letterbox.  The letterbox included a logbook, a store-bought stamp, and a pen.  Here are photos of the items we hid.  Each girl took a turn writing one clue that others could follow to find the hidden letterbox.  We posted the clue on atlasquest.com. 

The girls asked if we could go on another hunt again sometime.  As they left the meeting, we provided a clue to an additional letterbox in our area, hoping they would continue searching for letterboxes with their families.  This is a fun hobby for people of all ages and groups of all sizes.  I would love to hear about your adventures.  Thank you for reading!

Team Banner: I Can't Wait to...

While on our first camping overnight last year, our troop worked on the Girl Scout Way badge.  To fulfill one of the badge requirements, the girls made a team banner.  The girls each traced their hand print, cut it out, and decorated it with crayons.  We glued these colorful hand prints to a piece of white poster board.  The team banner has been displayed during many of our meetings.

In early August, I attended a Fall Kick-Off Meeting at our Council Office.  I learned the theme for the Girl Scout membership campaign this year is "I Can't Wait to be a Girl Scout."  I came up with an idea that would not only tie this campaign in with our team banner, but it would serve as a good ice breaker during our first meeting.  At this point, I must provide some context:

Last spring, we asked the girls in our troop to vote on the badges they would like to work on during their second year as Brownies.  We gave the girls a handout to take home to review the badge names and a brief description of the requirements for each badge.  They were asked to mark down the badges that interested them and to indicate their top three favorites with a "1," "2," and "3" in the margin of the paper.  The girls turned in their papers before the end of the school year, giving us (the leaders) a good deal of time to prepare for this school year.  Please note that these girls have been together in the same troop for the past three years.  When a new girl joins the troop, we provide many opportunities for her to voice her opinions and vote when our troop needs to make decisions throughout the year.

To begin the first meeting of this school year, we had the girls read a list of all the badges, service projects, and events they had voted upon last spring.  Each girl was given a small slip of paper that read "I can't wait to..." across the top.  They were instructed to write something they are excited to do this year.  It had to be related to Girl Scouts, but they were allowed to write down an idea that was not listed on the paper.  We glued the papers to the hand prints. We are pleased with the result.  (Please excuse the white spots on the photo.  I wanted to respect the privacy of those in our troop). 

Whether or not your girls are Brownies working on the Girl Scout Way badge, making a team banner can be a great way to get your troop working together right from the start.  Maybe you have the girls share what they can't wait to do this year as a Girl Scout?  Maybe you choose a different question to break the ice?  The team banner can serve as a visual reminder that the girls don't have to be best friends outside of troop activities, but they are Girl Scout sisters.  They must respect and encourage each other.  They are there to support each other when and if someone needs a helping hand.   Thank you for reading!

Brownie Badge: Snacks

Three years ago, when the girls were in their first year of Girl Scouts, we held our meetings in a room at the school.  We developed a rotating schedule, and each family was asked to provide a snack for the meetings.  For the past two years, we have met at my house.  The girls have had the opportunity to eat a snack at home before the meeting, saving our precious meeting time for business and fun.  The girls do love a special treat every now and then.  The snack badge gave them a chance to make a typical meeting a little more exciting.  While the Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting provides guidelines for Brownies who are working to earn the badges, I feel it is acceptable to think outside the box when it comes to meeting the required steps.  

Step 5, for example, is called Slurp a Snack.  The Guide gives three choices:  make your own milkshake, make your own fruit smoothie, or make your own party punch.  We decided to make our own slushies.  While a slushie is not a milkshake or a smoothie, it is a snack you must slurp.  Our family purchased a Ninja blender from Kohls, using a 30% off coupon, of course.  This blender crushes ice remarkably well.  Perfect for slushies.  This treat is relatively low cost especially when you consider how much it would cost to buy your troop a frozen drink at Dairy Queen or all the ingredients required to make a fruit smoothie.

Step 4 is called Snack For Energy.  We created a snack for a group when we were at camp this past fall.  We enjoyed trail mix while we were on a hike.  Please note that I like to plan ahead with help from the girls.  If we are doing an activity for one badge that can also satisfy a requirement for another badge, we recognize this.  No need to make more work for ourselves.  Snacking on trail mix during our hike allowed us to complete Step 4 for the Snacks badge and Step 4 for the Hiker badge (also called Snack for Energy). 

Step 3 is called Try a Sweet Snack.  Our troop planned a Christmas Party for the Daisy troop.  We asked the girls to bring snack ideas to the planning meeting.  The girls voted and decided to serve North Pole Cupcakes and Santa Brownies.  The cupcakes were prepared prior to the party, but we allowed the girls to assemble their own strawberry Santa hat on a brownie.  We spooned Cool Whip into plastic baggies, and we snipped off a corner so the girls could pipe the Cool Whip with minimal mess.  

I would like to end this post by describing how we completed Step 2 which is called Make a savory snack.  While driving to one of our events, we discussed the difference between a sweet snack and a savory snack.  The girls provided examples, and after the event they each enjoyed some cheddar crackers.  One of the choices provided for this step in the Girl's Guide is "make a savory snack from a different country."  This is one of those times when we took some creative liberties when it came to satisfying this requirement.  We took our girls to the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant in Cincinnati.  We listened to a short presentation on the history of fondue, learning how others around the world enjoyed fondue and how it became popular in America.  Then we enjoyed an amazing spread of sweet treats.  At just $3 a person, this is a reservation you certainly want to work into your schedule.  Just make sure to have a lot of napkins!

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!