February Field Trip

For February, we donated our Cookies for a Cause to the Jeanne Jugan Residence, a local nursing home. The girls sang some songs for the residents, then made Valentines with them and ate Girl Scout cookies. Such a fun time!

September Field Trip: Cancelled!

We were supposed to have our first field trip yesterday to go apple-picking. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs all morning, so we ended up cancelling at the last minute. Darn!

Have you taken a field trip with your Girl Scouts? How did it go?

January Event: Bakery

For our January event, we thought it would be fun to give the girls a behind-the-scenes look at a bakery to correspond with their cookie sales. We went to Hi-Rise Bread Company, and they were fantastic!

The staff showed us how they make cookies, adding the ingredients to a giant mixer. Then, they pulled out the mixed-up dough already shaped into cookies and put them in the oven. We got to sample the fresh-baked chocolate chunk cookies! Yum!

Did you go on a field trip this month? Where did you go?

December Event: Birthday Wishes

Making birthday cards

For our December event, we focused on a service project. There's a great program in Massachusetts called Birthday Wishes, which provides birthday parties for homeless children. Since kids have to be at least nine to volunteer at a party, we decided to create a birthday in a box--purchasing all the items needed for a party. The child we were helping was a four-year-old girl hoping for a Disney Princess party--perfect!

We split the girls into two teams; each team had a list of items to find at Target. The lists included items like cake mix, frosting, plates, napkins, juice boxes, decorations, a tablecloth, and two gifts each. My team had a blast picking out a princess tablecloth and plates and napkins, plus a birthday banner, wands for party guests, and bracelets. Purchasing the gifts took some major direction. To encourage the girls to meet our budget (about $10/gift), I kept directing them to look at the price to stay on budget. In the end, we got a Disney princess Polly Pocket toy and a cute ABC book.

Our finished box! So pretty!

After both teams were finished shopping, we checked out, then went to a space to wrap the box. The girls (with some help from the adults) wrapped up the box and each made Happy Birthday cards that we included in the box.

All in all, the girls seemed to really enjoy this activity. Fists of Five showed that they all had fun, and they all liked helping other people. Hooray!


Have you planned a service project for your Daisys? Leave a message below!

November Event: Movie Night

For our November event, we had a make-your-own pizza party and a movie night! The girls came to my apartment (you could also have it at your meeting place--have the girls bring sleeping bags and pillows) dressed in their PJs. Each girl got a sticky note when she arrived to stick on the move she voted for. We ended up watching The Princess Diaries.

After the girls voted, we said our Promise and Law, then had pizza stations. The girls each could make two halves of an English muffin into a pizza. I had sauce, cheese, and pepperoni for toppings. This is a great activity for young scouts because they get to customize their dinner (girl led and learning by doing). We put the pizzas in the oven, and then it was movie time!

We had an intermission where we played "Tiger, Cowgirl, Princess". And at the end of the meeting, we played "Daisy to Daisy" and did our friendship squeeze.

Overall, this field trip only cost us $40 in supplies/food, so it could be a great option for your troop for those cold winter months!

Have you gone on a field trip this month? What did you do?

October Event: Apple-Picking

For our October event, we went apple-picking with our sister Brownie troop! The leader of the Brownie troop planned the event, but she ended up spraining her ankle the day before, so I had to step in last-minute and improvise. We had nine girls and seven parents come along. When we got to the orchard, I divided the girls into three groups and bought them each a peck bag. The plan was to meet up in 45 minutes; one group was done in 10! In future, I think I'd talk with the girls about how to pick good apples (e.g., without worm holes, bright colors, etc.) to better fulfill the "discover" and "learn by doing" parts of the GSLE. I think it would also be a good idea to talk about what we could make with the apples, and which apple varieties would be the best for that recipe.

After picking apples, the girls looked at the animals in the petting zoo while I bought cider donuts, apple cider, and waters (the place was packed!). We ate our foods, and then went on a hayrack ride around the property. So fun! All in all, the field trip took about five hours, including driving back and forth.

Have you ever been apple-picking with your troop? What would you recommend to make it fun and interesting?

September Event: Teddy Bear Tea Party

As a way to recruit new Scouts and kick off the new year of Scouting, we held a Teddy Bear Tea Party in conjunction with a Brownie troop. The event was based off a GSCNC program, but you can find more ideas here. Our event was 2 hours long, but I'd recommend keeping it shorter, about an hour and a half.

Pre-Meeting: As the girls came in, they sat at the table and colored a picture of their teddy bear (or other stuffed pal) while I checked them in, had parents sign permission slips, etc.

Opening: We said the Girl Scout Promise as a group, teaching the girls who didn't already know it.

Circle: We sat in the Friendship Circle, then went around and introduced ourselves, plus our bears, telling everyone something we liked to do and something the bears liked to do. A lot of girls said their bears liked to sleep! One girl said she and her bear friend liked to snuggle--adorbs!

Song: The girls voted between the Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear song and The Bear Song. After we sang their choice (Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear), the girls sat down for storytime. I read Three Stories You Can Read to Your Teddy Bear, which is a really sweet story about a bear who figures out how to walk when his friend isn't around--though he falls on his nose quite a bit!

Snack: It's tea time! We had lemonade and apple juice to drink, Teddy Grahams, grapes, and chocolate-covered strawberries. I also made cucumber sandwiches and PB&J sandwiches as an alternative (I cut them all into triangles, like tea sandwiches. Surprisingly, I had a few girls who didn't like PB&J or the cucumber sandwiches. Luckily, we had enough other food that they didn't feel left out, but it might be worth sending a menu to parents to avoid any potential problems. (Note: When parents RSVP'd, I asked them to note any potential food allergies. Nobody in my group did, but make sure the menu is safe for everyone to eat!)

Game: Since "Tiger, Cowgirl, Princess" had been such a hit at my last meeting, and because we had quite a bit of extra time, I decided to have the girls play again at the tea party. The girls who didn't know how to play were able to catch on right away, and they seemed to enjoy it as much as everyone else! Then we played Mrs. Bear, Are You Awake? which got a bit too loud, considering we were meeting in the library's meeting room.

Closing: For closing, we did the Friendship Squeeze.

We had some extra time still left over, so thankfully one of the mothers stepped in and taught the girls how to play Human Knot. Yay, moms!

What other ideas would have been fun for a Teddy Bear Tea Party? Did you have a recruiting event? Leave a message in the comments section!