Girl Scout Ways in April

I've worked with Girl Scouts for over 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!

Have a "Silly Party" to celebrate April Fools Day. Call the girls prior to the party and tell them to wear whatever they have on at the moment (a "come as you are" idea). Have everyone bring something "different" to share as the food part of the party. Then, exchange presents - a totally useless/tacky item from around the house, wrapped beautifully. Play goofy games and sign silly songs.

Talk a walk and notice all the spring time changes. Don't forget to take a trash bag with you to pick up any trash you find along the way.

Celebrate Earth Day. Talk about recycling, cutting up six-pack rings, waste from fast food, etc. Bury different waste products (lettuce, apple, plastic, paper, Styrofoam). Plan to dig them up in six weeks and then again in six months.

Make recycled paper. Tear up paper and put in water in a bowl to soften. (You can add a small amount of colored paper to color your finished product). Put softened paper in blend, pour out onto an open section of newspaper. Place a piece of window screen over it and squeeze out excess water with a board. Let dry for several hours. Make invitations to the Court of Awards ceremony on the recycled paper.

Make "food chain" - paper chains starting with one thing and each ring is something that east that thing. Play some nature games. Another activity that would go with the food chain is to watch The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten (it's on Netflix and SchoolTube). 

Make travel sit-upons for bringing to Camporee. Decorate a square of fabric with markers and laminate with clear contact paper. The sit-upon can be folded and carried in a pocket.

Talk about fire safety and practice fire building with edible camp fires. Have the girls tie back hair and check for clothing that might dangle into the fire. Give out paper napkins (fire circle) and clear clear with a fork (rake). Make woodpile by stacking wood according to size (coconut - tinder, pretzels - kindling, and tootsie rolls -fuel). Fill cup with beverage (water bucket) and have a straw (poker). Check for wind direction (back should be to wind). Add two "mini-handfuls" of coconut tinder. Make an "A" with kindling in center of fire circle. Place red-hot (fire starter) under top bar of "A". Put candy corn (match) on fire starter to light. Add more candy corn (flames) and add more kindling and tootsie rolls (fuel). Put flames out by sprinkling from fire bucket (sip). Eat everything so you leave a clean fire circle.

April 6 is North Pole Day - a celebration of Arctic wilderness. Do some activities with magnets, discovering polarity. Learn how to use a compass.

April 7 is World Health Day. Is there a service project your troop could become involved with that promotes good health? Perhaps you could hold a drive to collect hygiene products to send to people in need. Tuck toiletries such as soaps, shampoos, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, face cloths, etc into a pair of new socks and tie with a ribbon. Perhaps you could even include gift cards for fast food chains as well. Donate to a homeless shelter.

April 14 is National Dolphin Day, to remember all sea creatures. Take part in a beach clean up or learn about sea creatures. Eat goldfish crackers and do a craft with fish.

Celebrate Spring! Decorate a pot with rubber stamps paint and plant a pretty flower.

Make butterflies with tissue paper twisted in the middle with a pipe cleaner or a clothespin.

Have a She and Me game day at a local park. You could have teams of girls and their adults taking part in different activities like three-legged races, egg toss, etc.

Initiate a book swap. 

Learn some simple facts about women scientists, Then put the name of one scientist on the back of each girl and let her go ask yes/no questions to figure out who she is. Only one question asked of each person!

Plant trees for Arbor Day!

Make a collection of tree leaves. Arrange the leaves carefully between sheets of newspaper or blotting paper and press them under bricks or books for several days. Mount the leaves neatly on sheets of poster board or drawing paper. Label each leaf with the name of the tree. Make sets to show which are deciduous and which are conifers or make plaster casts of leaves.

Girl Scout Fun - March 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!

Have a cookie booth sale! Be sure to contact your association booth manager to schedule the place and time. Plan for potty breaks, and rotate the girls if you have more than one location. The girls usually have a great time working at booths, and you can have a treat for them afterward like pizza, ice cream, or whatever they have voted on. If you have younger girls, you might consider letting them bring their own money and going for fast food and letting them order their own food. Many young girls may not have had that experience before!

Learn knife safety. Practice on soap bars or peel carrots for snack.

Tie some knots. It's fun to practice with licorice ropes.

Make plans to celebrate the Girl Scout birthday with another troop. Make and decorate cupcakes to share. If you have candles, remember fire safety (put hair up or down the back of the shirt; stop, drop, and roll demonstration; etc. They can't hear this stuff enough!) Make friendship bracelets - two identical: one to keep and one to give to a friend. You can have the five colors of their worlds of Girl Scouting (World of the Arts - Violet, World of the Out of Doors - Gold, World of of People - Blue, World of Today and Tomorrow - Orange, World of Well-Being - Red) plus green and then use three colors at a time. The bracelets could be braided or just knotted at intervals depending on their ages. When they exchange bracelets, have them describe why they chose those colors (my favorite World of Girl Scouts, or my favorite colors, etc).

Make a time line of events in the Girl Scout Movement on a piece of big butcher paper. You can get all of the dates in the handbook. Then let the girls add in their birthdays. Have the girls make their own life-lines with major events in their lives.

On March 3, Japanese Children's Day and Doll Day are celebrated. Fifteen special dolls are arranged in a ceremonial fashion with the Emperor and the Empress in a place of honor. Artificial cherry and orange trees and household utensils are included. Girls dress in formal kimonos and serve tea and cakes to friends. Perhaps you could sample some Japanese food or do origami.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17. Have a green meeting where you make green/shamrock crafts or eat green food. Eat potato soup, Irish stew, or make Irish soda bread or even baked potatoes. Have a potato toss.

Learn about snakes. (St. Patrick allegedly chased them out of Ireland.) [Note that in this myth "snakes" were a derogatory term for Pagans living in Ireland at the time. If any families in your troop are practicing Pagans, this could be a touchy holiday for them.] How many kinds of snakes are there? How many are poisonous and how many are beneficial?

Have a shamrock relay by making two large shamrocks out of green paper. Divide into two teams of equal players. Each team receives two shamrocks. At a signal, the team moves forward by stepping on the shamrocks. While standing on one, they must move the other one forward  for their next step. If you take a step off the shamrock before getting to the finish line, that player must start over. The first team with all the players across the finish line wins. 

Have a potato relay. Make a a line on the floor with masking tape for each team. The object is to roll the potato down the line with a a shillelagh (or a fairly thick, knotted stick). The player then runs the potato back to his team for the next player to use. The first team to get their potato over the finish line wins.

Beginning on March 21, Iranians celebrate the twelve day festival of No-ruz (Noh-rooz). This Muslim festival is symbolic of new life and growth, and the goodness of Allah. The festival table is spread with seven foods, all beginning with the letter "s" plus symbolic items. There is a legend that the earth trembles as the new year begins, so an egg is placed on a mirror and when cannons are shot, the egg trembles. Gardens of Adonis are grown with quick-growing seeds such as lentils and wheat. 

Plant some seeds and watch them grow, or plant some seedlings or plants. you could do some beautification at a local park or open space, or even join an effort to rid an area of non-native plants.

Passover is celebrated, which commemorates the Israelites' departure from Egypt and the first barley harvest. This is a family feast of Thanksgiving and freedom, with unleavened bread and many other traditional foods. Sample some of these foods and learn about the traditions.

Talk about good outdoor manners and conservation skills. Know how to protect and appreciate the natural world.

Take part in a conservation service project such as planting seedlings on a hillside to prevent erosion, repair trails, clean fire circles at a park, organize a newspaper or aluminum can recycling project at the girls' schools. Trim bushes to keep paths open, adopt a highway, take down old yard sale signs or flyers posted in the neighborhood. The possibilities are endless!

Hold a "Baby Shower" to benefit babies born to mothers in shelter or jail.

"Adopt" a grandparent at an eldercare home.

Make and fly a kite.

Go on a nature scavenger hunt. Have the girls find (but not pick - just show somebody else [or take a photo]) a smooth edged leaf, a Y shaped twig, something alive, a smooth rock, a pebble smaller than a pea, a pebble as big as a grain of rice, something that looks like something else, something prickly, somebody's food, a dark green and a light green leaf, a pinch of dust, a pretty thing besides a flower, something with more than four legs, something you pick things up with, a leaf with symmetrical veins, something dead, something yucky, something bumpy, a seed that travels by wind, something soft, and something furry.

February Fun for Girl Scouts

 

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!

Keep working on Thinking Day activities. Have an imaginary trip around the world and play songs or games or have food from different parts of the world. Make Thinking Day paper chains  to count down to Thinking Day. On each chain, write one good deed or nice thing they should do for someone.

Celebrate Lunar New Year. Do some origami or calligraphy. Sample foods, learn about customs, try chopsticks, etc.

Have a "loud singing" contest - especially good for a rainy day when everyone feels cooped up.

Spend time going over personal safety - calling 911. fires, strangers, how not to get lost (and what to do if it happens), etc. There are patch programs that help with teaching these topics - if your council doesn't have one, check out other councils' owns.

Celebrate Valentine's Day. There are lots of crafts, foods, etc. to try. Have the girls bring Valentines for each other, or have them write positive notes about each girl in the troop to exchange. Or, have a Valentine, cookie, sticker, or other exchange.

Discuss that our founder, Juliette Gordon Lowe, was def. Learn the alphabet in sign language. Learn how to say your name. See if you can have a person visit who knows sign language. Perhaps they could teach you to sign a favorite song or the Girl Scout Promise.

In February, The French people have a lemon festival in the town of Menton. A parade of lemon-filled wagons in the lemon parade travels through streets lined with lemon, orange, grapefruit, and tangerine decorations. Make a lemon meringue pie, lemonade, or a lemon tart to celebrate. To learn more about the festival, you can visit this link.

Hold a coat or blanket drive in your community to benefit a homeless shelter.

Learn how to jump rope. Play Double Dutch.

Attending the Thinking Day event is a must! This a great chance for the girls to participate and know that they are part of a larger organization thank just their own troop.

Celebrate Lincoln's birthday with building log cabins or making old-fashioned vegetable or stone soup. Celebrate Washington's birthday - anything with cherries seems to work. Or, get a copy of the children's book George Washington's Breakfast and make food from the book. Or, talk about the presidents in general. How many have their been? What are the requirements for becoming president? Make silhouettes of the girls' heads by shining a light past their profile and tracing onto a piece of black construction paper. Mount on a circular piece of paper. How do the girls think they would look on a coin?

Much of the world celebrates Shrove Tuesday or Carnival, or Fat Tuesday. In South America, there are parades, tricks and revelry, masks and games, and feasting. Cut mask shapes out of fun foam and decorate, make parade floats out of shoe boxes, share Mardi Gras beads, and feast on Cajun food or a king's cake.

First Aid - work on your First Aid badge (each age level has their own) - teach some simple First Aid skills such as what to do for a nose bleed or a knocked out tooth. 

Sew dunk bags. These could be made out of open weave dish rags or have duty lace curtain material or any kind of heavy (not tulle) netting material you can find. Sew two pieces of fabric together around three sides. Sew a casing around the top, and insert a drawstring. Practice proper dish washing techniques for camping.

Play the feelings game. Start the discussion by relating an incident where someone's feelings were hurt because of something someone said. Ask the girls to name some feelings. As they name them, write them down on strips of paper (e.g. happy, sad, scared, proud, mad.) Have the girls take turns taking a strip and acting it out without words or sounds. Discuss how you can tell how a person feels by looking at her.