Hello February!

The February sunshine steeps your boughs,
And tints the buds and swells the leaves within.

- from "Twenty Second of February"
by William Cullen Bryant

Monthly Celebrations
African American History Month
American Heart Month
National Children's Dental Health Month
Love the Bus Month
Library Lovers Month
Youth Leadership Month

Weekly Celebrations
First Week: National New Idea Week
Third Week: Random Acts of Kindness Week

Daily Celebrations
February 01: World Read Aloud Day
February 01: Imbolc
February 02: Groundhog Day
February 02: Candlemas
February 03: Elmo's Birthday
February 04: Charles Lindberg - 1902
February 04: Homemade Soup Day
February 04: Thank a Mailman Day
February 05: National Girls and Women in Sports Day
February 05: National Weatherman's Day
February 06: Ronald Reagan - 1911
February 06: Waitangi Day - New Zealand made part of the British Empire 1840
February 07: Laura Ingalls Wilder -1867
February 07: Charles Dickens - 1812
February 08: Boy Scout Anniversary
February 08: Jules Verne - 1828
February 09: Tu B'Shevat (Jewish festival celebrating New Year for trees)
February 09: National Weather Bureau Established 1870
February 10: Umbrella Day
February 11: Make a Friend Day
February 11: Inventor's Day
February 11: Thomas Edison 1847
February 12: Abraham Lincoln 1809
February 13: Library Lover's Day
February 14: Ferris Wheel Day - 1859
February 14: Read to Your Child Day
February 14: Valentine's Day
February 15: Galileo Galilei - 1564
February 15: National Gumdrop Day
February 17: President's Day
February 17: Random Acts of Kindness Day
February 19: Nicolaus Copernicus - 1473
February 20: Love Your Pet Day
February 22: George Washington - 1732
February 22: World Thinking Day
February 24: Wilheim Carl Grimm - 1786
February 25: Mardi Gras
February 25: International Pancake Day
February 25: Pierre Auguste Renior - 1841
February 26: Tell a Fairy Tale Day
February 27: International Polar Bear Day
February 27: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - 1807
February 28: National Tooth Fairy Day
February 29: Leap Day

Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service

We enjoyed an all day program at the Club this week for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I love all day program days because I feel like it really gives us a chance to bring in some cool extras that we don't get to provide for the everyday after school program.

This year we celebrated with having Miss Huckleberry read with the kids to emphasize the importance of learning and education and to also share her experience of becoming Miss Huckleberry (a local contest that is a step toward Miss Oklahoma).

Adam from the Cherokee Area Council of Boy Scouts visited (side note: if your Club isn't having visits your local Scouting groups, you're missing a great opportunity) and taught our kids about American symbols, flag etiquette, and basic citizenship. I have to give a shout out to Adam - he always has come and provided great programming for our long days and he's a true Boy Scout - he always leaves our place better than he found it.

I wanted to be sure that we also talked about the famous I Have a Dream speech made by Dr. King and what it actually meant. We started out by learning who Dr. King was and I pulled in one of my favorite video presenters - Kid President.

We then watched a short video of the actual speech and we talked about what our dreams are - our dreams for our own lives, our community, and our world. We prepared the space for this discussion by cutting out three large clouds from butcher paper and labeling each one My Life, My Community, and My World. I had the kids each write at least one dream for each category on sticky notes and then put their sticky notes on the appropriate cloud. Then we shared some of the dreams we all had.

After the I Have a Dream activity, there was a bit of time left in the rotation period so we played the Human Knot game as a lesson in cooperation. The kids loved it!

Of course, the day would not be complete without a service project or two. We had some great volunteers from our local Junior College come in and work on creating hundreds of boxes for our annual Love the Club chocolate covered strawberry fundraiser. Some of our kids couldn't resist jumping in and helping with the boxes too!

Another great project we did was a Valentine for a Vet. We made valentine cards to send to a very special vet (but I'll post about that later this week). Each one of our kiddos made a valentine card to share.

All in all, it was a great day - full of community building, service, and learning disguised as fun (my favorite kind!).

Girl Scout Fun Ideas - January Edition

I've worked with Girl Scouts for nearly two decades (it really doesn't feel like that long!) and one of the things I loved most about having a Girl Scout troop was our holiday and seasonal activities. The ideas I share in these monthly posts are from a New Leader Booklet that was shared with me when I started leading Girl Scout troops in the early 2000s. Since our council (and as far as I know any other) no longer shares this information, I want to make it accessible on the internet. Enjoy!

Start thinking about Thinking Day. Check out the GSUSA Thinking Day page to learn more about the special Thinking Day Award your girls can earn. Find out about your association's event and if your troop will be representing a country it's best to pick this as early as possible. You can often take several meetings really concentrating on your special country.

In the early days of Girl Scout cookie sales, troops make their own cookies to sell. Imagine how much work it would be if we not only had to sell cookies, but bake them too! Try the recipe for the original Girl Scout cookie.

Celebrate the New Year with noisemakers. You can usually find inexpensive party "kits" at dollar stores. You can also make your own noisemakers very inexpensively. Here's a short video to give you some ideas.

Paper-Bag Dramatics: Split the troop into groups and provide each group with a paper bag of props to use in a play. Items might include: a flashlight, a spoon, gloves, a cowboy hat, a vegetable peeler, etc. Give groups a chance to plan before performing for the rest of the troop OR perform puppet shows or drama plays with their own ideas, or provide some well-known children's stories to get them started. 

Make puppets for a puppet show. There are oodles of ideas on Pintrest to spark your imagination. If you would like some great printable choices that your girls can color and assemble, one of my favorite sites is Red Ted Art where she has a variety of different puppets.

Commemorate Martin Luther King Day. Talk about drams, hopes, and wishes. Talk about having convictions. You might want to complete a council's own patch program. You can find a Civil Rights History patch from Southern Alabama Council or the requirements for an older Council's Own from Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast (this patch does not seem to be available on their website - you can purchase substitute patches from Advantage Emblem).

Spa Night. Who says Girl Scouts has to be all about roughing it? Pamper yourself with an evening of beauty treatments. Make homemade bath salts, do facials, and mani/pedis.