Merry, merry king of the bush is he...Cookie Sales Part 2

In my last post, I described how the girls in our troop prepare for the annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale.  This post will be devoted to sharing how the girls in our troop decide who should receive any donated boxes of cookies and how to use the money they earn during the Cookie Sale.  I will also discuss how I think families should handle selling cookies in the office.  Lastly, I will share how my daughter chose to thank her customers.  Writing a thank you note only takes a minute, and the cost to make copies is minimal.  Many of my daughter's customers were so impressed with this simple gesture that they asked her to remember to visit them the following year.

Girls involved in Girl Scouts have the opportunity to become future leaders as they discover themselves, connect with others, and take action to make the world a better place.  As leaders, we are encouraged to allow the girls to make decisions about troop activities.  We are to provide them guidance and support and serve as a resource for them.  In my experience, most Daisy Girl Scouts don't know what opportunities are available to them.  Knowing this, we chose three possible fun activities and three service organizations for the girls.  We allowed them to vote for their favorites.

The first year, we chose horseback riding (a rope-led pony ride), a dance class, and ice skating as possible fun activities that would be funded by the money earned by selling cookies.  The second year, we chose horseback riding, visiting a pottery studio to paint a piece of pottery, and Coco Key Water Resort.  To vote, each girl was given three game chips.  I borrowed these chips from the Sequence for Kids game, but any small item would do.  I labeled three styrofoam cups with the choices.  As the troop worked on a craft, I pulled each girl into a separate room to allow them to vote independently.  

The girls were told they had three options:

1. to place all three of their chips into one of the cups 

2. to place one chip in each of the three cups

3. to place two chips in one cup and one chip in another cup.

I explained that the cup holding the most chips after every girl had a chance to vote would be the fun activity for the troop.  The first year, I quickly sketched a graph to illustrate how the girls had voted.

We explained to the girls that while they were not officially working to earn any petals from the Daisy Petals Set during our visit to the stables, they were learning to:  be courageous and strong (red), be responsible for what they say and do (orange), be considerate and caring (spring green), respect myself and others (dark purple), and respect authority (magenta).  

We had the girls vote for the organization that would receive any donated boxes of cookies.  In addition, they donated a portion of the money they earned during the Cookie Sale to a local animal shelter.  The girls are being friendly and helpful (yellow petal) and making the world a better place (rose petal) by encouraging their customers to donate boxes of cookies and by donating a portion of their profits to help others.  

The first year they could send any donated boxes of cookies to one of the following organizations:
YWCA House of Peace Shelter--I explained that sometimes mothers and their children have to find a safe place to live.  This shelter provides a safe home and warm meals for them.  
Whiz Kids--This is a tutoring program for at-risk youth.  The kids have a chance to eat dinner with their tutors and to develop a lasting relationship with their mentor.
Ronald McDonald House--I told the troop that when a child is sick and in the hospital for a long time, this organization provides the family a place to stay so they are close to their child.  
Here is the graph I sketched to show the troop how they voted:

  

The second year we allowed the girls to vote to donate the cookies to the troops, to the YWCA House of Peace Shelter, or to the Ronald McDonald House.  They chose the Ronald McDonald House.   When a girl donates twelve boxes of cookies to an organization, they earn a Gift of Caring patch.

As a leader and a parent, we certainly want to see the girls succeed.  However, we must all remember this is a project for the GIRLS.  I encourage the families in our troop to support the girls without doing the work for them.  My husband told our daughter that he would leave a poster in the breakroom at work if she made the poster and answered any questions his coworkers may have.  He stuck to his word by hanging the poster and politely directing his coworkers to the phone number listed on the poster when they had questions.  This worked extremely well for our family, and I would encourage others to give it a try.  Through this experience, our daughter improved her math, communication, and business skills.  Here is the poster our daughter made:

Whether your daughter is selling to family and close friends, door-to-door, or to your coworkers, she should thank each and every customer in some manner.  When she was in Kindergarten, I printed out a coloring sheet from Color A Smile.  She colored the Thank You that ran across the top of the page.  Then she drew each cookie and wrote the name beneath each one.  I made copies of the note, and she distributed the notes when she delivered the cookies.  She and I were bumping around Pinterest one day recently when we came across this idea.  So cute!  We may try something similar this year. 

Thank you so much for reading!

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!

Give the Gift of Sight

Our troop participated in a service project for OneSight.  The girls asked family members, friends, and neighbors to donate gently used prescription glasses and non-prescription sunglasses to recycle and deliver to OneSight patients at Global Clinics around the world.  Each year, OneSight must collect 2 million pairs of used eyewear to support their Global Clinics.  

"In 2012, we will conduct 12 Clinics in 6 countries. To date, OneSight has completed more than 200 Clinics in 37 different countries, helping more than 3.5 million people."

The girls in our troop spent part of a meeting decorating shoe boxes with Collection Kit materials we printed from the OneSight website.  Prior to the meeting, I wrapped the shoe boxes in plain wrapping paper I had on hand. 

After asking permission, we placed a collection box in each of the Kindergarten and first grade classrooms.  Boxes were also placed in the teachers' lounge and workroom.  At the end of our drive, we donated 20 pairs of eyeglasses to OneSight!

We were fortunate to have a guest speaker attend one of our meetings to deliver a presentation on behalf of OneSight.  Our girls had a chance to try on glasses that altered their vision so they could experience what it would be like to have poor eyesight.  They also learned how donated eyeglasses are recycled and distributed to those in need in the United States and around the world.  

  
This collection fulfilled one of our service project requirements, but we informed the girls they were also working on earning petals to complete their Daisy Petals Set.  For example:  Rose--make the world a better place.  Green--use resources wisely.  Dark Purple--respect myself and others.  Orange--responsible for what I say and do.  

It should be noted that OneSight offers tours of their recycling center in Mason, Ohio.  Visitors must be at least seven years old.  At the time, our troop consisted of primarily five and six-year-olds, so this tour remains on our To Do List.  

Thanks for reading! 

Everybody Counts

When I was in grade school, I remember participating in the Everybody Counts program.  Parent volunteers assisted program leaders to help young students experience what it is like to be physically challenged.  I vividly remember trying to tie my shoes while wearing mittens.  I was fascinated to learn about Braille and sign language.  The program was successful, for me anyway, since I recall these lessons some 25 years later.

As I was brainstorming ideas for the "Respect Myself and Others" lesson (dark purple petal), I thought it would be great to recreate the Everybody Counts program for our troop.  We divided the troop into two groups.  At one station, the girls tried to button my coats while wearing gloves.  This task proved to be challenging, and I was proud to see how determined the girls were to succeed.

The second station involved gently placing cotton balls in their ears.  I read parts of a book, whispering to exaggerate the effect.  To be honest, the girls totally called me on this one.  They knew I was whispering.  It was not as effective as trying to hear a story while wearing noise-cancelling headphones.  However, we chose to use cotton balls instead of having the girls share headsets.  

I would have loved to have the girls walk on crutches or allow a friend to guide them around the house while wearing a blindfold.  We did not have time, but I thought I would offer these activities as suggestions for your meetings.

One of our troop moms is a Sign Language Interpreter by profession.  We were able to have her teach our troop how to sign everything from their names to numbers to colors and favorite animals.  They even learned to sign the first verse of the song "Make New Friends."  It was a really fun meeting!  

By exposing the troop to a few of the hardships that challenge many people on a daily basis, they learned the importance of respecting others.  This was the first step they took toward earning their dark purple petal.  The girls also had a manicure party that served as a dark purple petal activity.  Please check back as that post is coming soon.  Thanks for reading!

Feed My Starving Children 2012

For the past few years, a nearby church has hosted a Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Mobile Pack Event.  Three of our very close friends call this church home.  This year they invited our family to join them to work a 2-hour shift during the three-day event.  After registering for a shift, I read about this nonprofit Christian organization online.  I learned they are fighting to eliminate starvation in children throughout the world.  My husband and I believe we were put on this earth to love others.  We encourage our young daughters to serve others by participating in service projects together on a regular basis.  Having the opportunity to serve with our friends promised to be a great experience for our family.

When we arrived for our 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.  I struggled not to cry as we listened to a story about a young girl who had traveled a great distance to a medical clinic for treatment.  Her belly was incredibly distended, and she was in a great deal of pain.  Doctors thought she was pregnant until they discovered her belly was full of 8 pounds of pebbles.  She was starving, and the only way to disrupt the hunger pains was to put something in her mouth.  Anything.  And rocks were plentiful.  This gut-wrenching story was followed by many stories of hope...stories of children who were saved by the hand-packed meals provided by this organization.  During this introduction to FMSC, we learned it only costs $0.22 to produce a single meal.  Of all donations received, 93% goes directly toward the food program.  We were full of love and ready to work!

There were 102 volunteers working our shift.  For two hours, we worked in teams to pack a special food product that was designed specifically to meet the nutritional needs of starving children.  We scooped rice, soy, vegetables, a vegetarian-based chicken flavoring, and a vitamin and mineral mix into a funnel which dumped into a plastic bag.  Each bag held six meals.  The bag was weighed and sealed.  These bags were then packed into a box that would be loaded onto a truck.  Each box held 36 bags.  These boxes were shipped out to starving children all over the world.  

 

Here are some surprising statistics:

•    102 volunteers packed 121 boxes of food in a two hour shift.
•    As a group we packed 26,136 meals which is over $5600 of food.
•    We packed enough food to feed 72 children for an entire year!

And this was just our shift.  The church "had over 1,000 volunteers take part by packing some 256,000 'MannaPack' rice meals to help feed starving children around the world."

 
Our daughters really enjoyed this experience.  Five minutes into it they asked when we could do it again.  They have mentioned going somewhere to pack meals on a few occasions since then.  I know Kids Against Hunger has a permanent food packing satellite in our area.  I would love to involve our Girl Scout troop and their families in a meal packing event.  Maybe the troop would vote to donate a portion of their cookie sale profits next year to FMSC or Kids Against Hunger?  Daisy Girl Scouts could participate in a service project such as this and receive a petal.  They could choose between earning the rose (make the world a better place), spring green (considerate and caring), or dark purple (respect myself and others) petals just to name a few.  Coincidentally, I have read that "The World Thinking Day theme for 2013 is based on two of the WAGGGS global action themes ‘girls worldwide say: together we can save children’s lives and every mothers life is precious’." Hmm...that gives me an idea... Thanks for reading!

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!...Our Near Sleepover

I have fond memories of sleepovers with my friends once I reached junior high. I loved lying on the floor in my sleeping bag, watching music videos on MTV and talking with my friends about cute boys. When I was younger, though, I was the kid who often cried and asked to go home when it was time to go to sleep.  I remember Girl Scout Camp being especially stressful for me--not only was I not sleeping in my own bed, but I was bunking in an unfamiliar lodge or platform tent.  Our troop is planning our first overnight lodge camping trip for this fall.  The girls in the troop are in first grade, and most of them have never been to a sleepover.  I thought it might be best to invite the girls to my house for a "Near Sleepover" to practice for our big overnight.

Since this was a Pajama Party, we decided this was a fantastic opportunity to participate in a service project.  Our girls and their families went through closets and drawers to find gently-worn pajamas they could donate.  Our troop collected 71 pairs of pajamas that we delivered to Matthew 25 Ministries.   

Girl Scout Law ribbon flip flops

The girls arrived at my house at 6pm.  They were instructed to wear their pajamas and to bring their sleeping bags.  Special stuffed animals and blankets were welcome, of course.  When the girls arrived, they made a friendship pin that they each got to keep.  I had asked the parents to purchase a pair of flip flops the girls could decorate during our party.  These flip flops were available at many stores for around $2 a pair.  Prior to the event, I bought spools of 1/4" ribbon in each of the Daisy Petal colors, including royal blue for the Promise Center.  I cut four 6" pieces of ribbon in every color for each girl and placed them in a plastic baggie.  The girls tied the ribbons in knots onto the flip flops.  I explained that each color ribbon represents the Daisy petals and corresponding component of the Girl Scout Law. 

We surprised the girls with Strawberry Facials.  I pureed the strawberries and milk before the party.  Moments before we were ready to apply the mask, I added the cornstarch.  The girls wore the mask for about 10 minutes, and we continued our program that focused on the dark purple petal (respect myself and others). 



I read the "One-of-a-Kind Body" chapter out of Joy Wilt's You're One-of-a-Kind to the girls which explained that every person's body is unique and special.  Then I read Zink the Zebra  which is a story about a zebra with spots instead of stripes.  It was written by a young named Kelly Weil who was battling cancer.  "Zink questions why she is treated differently by others just because she looks different on the outside."  I came across a Zink the Zebra Leader Guide that proved to be an amazing resource for this program.  Our girls made Zink Storybooks that can be found on pages 21 and 22 in this guide.

After the lesson, the girls made banana boats.  They filled their bananas with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and marshmallows.  We wrapped them in foil and popped them into a 325-degree oven for about 10 min.  Gooey and delicious!

The girls settled into their sleeping bags around 8pm to watch Dolphin Tale.  This movie tells the story of the relationship between a boy and a dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap.  It tied in perfectly with our lesson for the evening.  Parents picked up their daughters around 10pm.  All of the girls were asking when they could come back to stay until morning.  The night was certainly a success!