Final Ceremony

We had our final ceremony in June. Our sister Brownie troop had their ceremony at the same time, so it was really fun to get all the girls together. We had a potluck, which is always a good idea. As the girls came in, I had them put up decorations. We made a "bridge" out of chairs, crepe paper, and rainbow paper fans. They also taped up their animal mural they had been creating all year, plus other things we had done--cookie sales goal chart, the chart we made for the "3 Cheers for Animals" Journey and more. They really enjoyed participating in the event!

We also created a "photo booth." Basically, the girls cut crepe paper and taped it up to the wall. They LOVED doing this--and it kept them busy until we were ready to start! You can kind of see it in the background of the photo above.

Our ceremony was pretty simple. The girls all received their one-year membership pin, their Tula Award from the Journey, and a certificate. The girls who were bridging up crossed our bridge, and the Brownie leaders gave them their rainbow patch! My coleader had gone to the 100th Anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C., so she had swaps to give each girl as well--it was such a great idea and the girls were very excited about it!

Thanks to all the parents who helped out this year; I couldn't have asked for anything better! I'm looking forward to the summer off, but I will be posting some ideas for the "3 Cheers for Animals" Journey for leaders who are thinking about doing it next year, so stay tuned!

Assignment: Plan Your First Meetings!

It's time to start planning your first few Daisy meetings. While it's easy to get overzealous and want to plan the entire year out, resist! You'll want to leave room for the girls to add their own ideas about what they want to do in Girl Scouts, and it's much easier to do this if you haven't already decided what all the activities are.

I've found that Daisy Scouts need quite a bit of structure and adult guidance in their meetings. By breaking each meeting down into several sections, you'll be able to keep up with their short attention spans--and make planning easier! The sections I plan on using this year are

Pre-Meeting 5 to 15 minutes
Opening 5-10 minutes
Song 5 minutes
Friendship Circle 15 to 20 minutes
Snack 15 to 20 minutes
Activity 20 to 30 minutes
Game 10 to 15 minutes
Closing 5 to 10 minutes

Our group meets every other week for 90 minutes; you can adjust the time spent on each section to fit your needs. I've planned out our first five meetings, which include an Investiture and Rededication Ceremony.

Next week, I'll talk about the Pre-Meeting, Opening, and Song parts of the meetings, with some ideas for making them interesting and exciting for the girls.

How do you organize your Scout meetings? Have you begun planning for the fall yet? What do you have planned? Leave a message in the comments section!

Get Ready For Summer!

With the Girl Scout year now over, it's time for Volunteers to kick back and relax ... right?

Well, sort of. I'd recommend taking the month of June to organize your materials, as does Girl Scout Leader-Creating One Meeting at a Time! By taking a few minutes to do this now, you'll be able to see what supplies you have left over from last year, and what you'll need to purchase to start the new year off.

I used the cheapest system available, shoeboxes. While you may opt to buy more attractive organizers, shoeboxes are easy to label and stack. Below, I've listed the organizational categories I created. What categories would you use? Leave a comment below!

Beads and String
Scissors and Glue
Tissue Paper
Construction Paper
Paint and Paintbrushes
Crayons and Markers
Miscellaneous Craft Supplies
Plates and Cups


Tune in next week, when I'll make recommendations for planning the first few meetings!