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.