Pre-Meeting: I had our own version of "Will It Float?" set up. I had 10 small bowls filled with water, and each had an object. The girls had to write down a guess about whether or not it would float. The 10 objects I used were a box of floss, a screw, a cork, a magnetic dart, a measuring spoon, a toothpick, a small screwdriver, a contact lens case, a plastic bracket, and an earring.
Opening: We said our promise, pledge and law. The girls were excited to check out what their jobs were on the kaper chart!
Song: I offered the Song chooser either Father Abraham or the Jo and the Button Factory song.
Circle: In our circle, the girls shared what their good deed was since the Investiture and Rededication ceremony. The girls mentioned everything from helping up her brother after he fell, to bringing in supplies for her teacher, to changing the channel for her sister. Then, we did an energizer. Finally, I explained the three Journeys to the girls and had them do a secret vote. Surprisingly, they were pretty equally split between the Between Earth and Sky (science) and Three Cheers for Animals (animals). The tiebreaker went to Three Cheers for Animals--I can't wait to get started next time!
Energizer: For an energizer, we played the "Zoom" game. They had a pretty good time screeching to "put on the breaks" of the car. They weren't so good at being quick though, since they were goofing around :).
Activity: For our activity, we did a math chart. The girls each brought in a paper where they had written down the number of pets they had, the number of siblings, the number of closets in their house, the number of doors in their house leading to the outside, the number of TVs they had, and the number of people who were living in their house. Then, we did some comparisons: Who had the most TVs in the group, who had the most pets, what was the most common number of siblings, who had more TVs than people, and other questions.
Game: The game we played today was a Right/Left game. The girls put their chairs in a circle, and I read a short story. Each time they heard the word "right" or "left," they had to move that direction in their chairs. Then, since we had some extra time, we played The Wind Blows (the girls asked to play it!).
Closing: For our Closing, we sang "Good Night, Daisies" and did the Friendship Squeeze. We also did Fists of Five--everyone really liked all the things we did today! Win!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Meeting 5: October
It's time for our Investiture and Rededication Ceremony! We started our ceremony with light refreshments--the girls had voted on having cupcakes, so the two parents who signed up for snack brought cupcakes (red velvent, chocolate, and vanilla--yum!). They also brought cider and lemonade. I made some flavored popcorn to balance out the sweetness factor.
While everyone was eating, I had the girls vote on what song they wanted to sing. They chose "Make New Friends." Our ceremony was pretty short. I said a few words about Girl Scouting. We said our Promise and Law, and sang the song. Then I called each girl over to receive her Daisy pin (for the new girls) and a welcome certificate. The girls who came to apple-picking also got a fun patch!
I'd love to make our next ceremony a little longer and a little more interesting. Any suggestions about how to add more oomph to our ceremonies? Leave a message in the comments section!
While everyone was eating, I had the girls vote on what song they wanted to sing. They chose "Make New Friends." Our ceremony was pretty short. I said a few words about Girl Scouting. We said our Promise and Law, and sang the song. Then I called each girl over to receive her Daisy pin (for the new girls) and a welcome certificate. The girls who came to apple-picking also got a fun patch!
I'd love to make our next ceremony a little longer and a little more interesting. Any suggestions about how to add more oomph to our ceremonies? Leave a message in the comments section!
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?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Meeting 4: October
Pre-Meeting: I made an indoor obstacle course out of some everyday items I had at home. First, the girls crawled under two chairs set together. Then, they walked a "balance beam" made out of a strip of painters' tape. Next, they had to toss a bouncy ball into a box. After that, they did 10 jumping jacks, then jumped over two rulers laid on the ground. Next, I had two hand weights set up about three feet apart; the girls had to carry one weight over to where the other was, then carry the second weight back to where the first had been. Then, they had to jump back and forth over a line of tape. Finally, they had to stand on one foot for 10 seconds. The obstacle course was pretty popular! I think I will have them create their own obstacle course in the coming meetings ...
Opening: As usual, we said the Promise, the Law, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Song: I had two songs for the kaper girl to choose from; she chose the (adorable!) "I'm a Little Daisy" (to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot"):
I'm a little Daisy (hands together at side of face, head tilted)
Dressed in blue (pick up hem of uniform)
I am a Girl Scout (make Girl Scout sign)
And you are too (point to neighbor)
When I go to meetings (hands out, palms up)
I sing and shout, (hands cupped around mouth)
I love being a (hands on heart)
Daisy Girl Scout! (clap once on each word)
Circle: We talked about how they felt when the completed the obstacle course (mostly "good" and "happy"!). We also talked about what we should do at the Investiture Ceremony next time. The girls voted to have cupcakes for the food, and to hang up the troop mural we made last time on the front door so parents could see it when they came in. I also taught them the Girl Scout handshake. Finally, I checked in with them about how the Fall Sale was going.
Energizer: Since we had a couple new girls joining us, and a new assistant troop leader, we played the Name Train game. I started as the engine, with the girls spread around the room as "stations." When I got to a station, I said "Hi, I'm Jacy" and the girl said "I'm [name]!" I then said "It's [name]!" to the person behind me, who passed it to the "car" behind them, until it got all the way to the person in the back, who said "Hop on, [name]!" That girl then became the caboose of the train until we got to the next station.
Snack
Activity: The girls made invitations for their ceremony next time.
Game: As a fun way to reinforce the Girl Scout handshake, we played the handshake game (the "It" Girl helped me demonstrate). Each time I called out a new handshake, they had to find a new buddy to shake hands with. Besides the Girl Scout handshake, we used:
Farmers' handshake: One person interlaced their fingers, pointing the thumbs down. The other person pulled on the thumbs like they were milking a cow.
Ankle shaker: One person held out her leg; the other person shook it.
Lumberjack handshake: The girls made fists, sticking their thumbs up and grabbing the thumb sticking out (so there were four fists on top of each other). Then, they sawed back and forth like they were cutting down a tree.
Walleye handshake: The girls put their hands on the inside of their partner's forearm, then slapped their hands back and forth like a fish.
Cowgirl handshake: The partners made pretend shooting gestures with both hands.
Milkshake handshake: Groups of three piled up their fists and moved their hands around in a circle, like they were swirling the milk.
Closing: We did fists of five again; most girls had a good time, but I can tell I need to find something besides arts and crafts to keep them interested for the rest of the year! We also did the Friendship Squeeze. Great meeting!
Opening: As usual, we said the Promise, the Law, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Song: I had two songs for the kaper girl to choose from; she chose the (adorable!) "I'm a Little Daisy" (to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot"):
I'm a little Daisy (hands together at side of face, head tilted)
Dressed in blue (pick up hem of uniform)
I am a Girl Scout (make Girl Scout sign)
And you are too (point to neighbor)
When I go to meetings (hands out, palms up)
I sing and shout, (hands cupped around mouth)
I love being a (hands on heart)
Daisy Girl Scout! (clap once on each word)
Circle: We talked about how they felt when the completed the obstacle course (mostly "good" and "happy"!). We also talked about what we should do at the Investiture Ceremony next time. The girls voted to have cupcakes for the food, and to hang up the troop mural we made last time on the front door so parents could see it when they came in. I also taught them the Girl Scout handshake. Finally, I checked in with them about how the Fall Sale was going.
Energizer: Since we had a couple new girls joining us, and a new assistant troop leader, we played the Name Train game. I started as the engine, with the girls spread around the room as "stations." When I got to a station, I said "Hi, I'm Jacy" and the girl said "I'm [name]!" I then said "It's [name]!" to the person behind me, who passed it to the "car" behind them, until it got all the way to the person in the back, who said "Hop on, [name]!" That girl then became the caboose of the train until we got to the next station.
Snack
Activity: The girls made invitations for their ceremony next time.
Game: As a fun way to reinforce the Girl Scout handshake, we played the handshake game (the "It" Girl helped me demonstrate). Each time I called out a new handshake, they had to find a new buddy to shake hands with. Besides the Girl Scout handshake, we used:
Farmers' handshake: One person interlaced their fingers, pointing the thumbs down. The other person pulled on the thumbs like they were milking a cow.
Ankle shaker: One person held out her leg; the other person shook it.
Lumberjack handshake: The girls made fists, sticking their thumbs up and grabbing the thumb sticking out (so there were four fists on top of each other). Then, they sawed back and forth like they were cutting down a tree.
Walleye handshake: The girls put their hands on the inside of their partner's forearm, then slapped their hands back and forth like a fish.
Cowgirl handshake: The partners made pretend shooting gestures with both hands.
Milkshake handshake: Groups of three piled up their fists and moved their hands around in a circle, like they were swirling the milk.
Closing: We did fists of five again; most girls had a good time, but I can tell I need to find something besides arts and crafts to keep them interested for the rest of the year! We also did the Friendship Squeeze. Great meeting!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Meeting 3: September
Pre-Meeting: For the pre-meeting, I had a little packet of activities for the girls to do. They all related to the Fall Sale--a nut search, a maze, and some magazine-related activities.
Opening: We said the pledge, the promise, and the law. The girls were really excited to look at the kaper chart to see what their jobs were!
Song: I gave the kaper girl 2 choices: the Daisy Gathering Song and Have You Ever Seen a Daisy. She chose the first one.
Circle: For the first part of our circle, we played a guessing game with the collages the girls had made last time. I showed them the collage, and they had to guess who it belonged to. I had asked the parents of the girls who weren't there last time to have their daughters make a collage so that nobody felt left out. They guessed them pretty quickly. Then we played an Energizer called Boom!--We went around the circle counting up, and each time a girl was supposed to say a number with a 3 in it, she shouted Boom! instead. The second part of the circle we used to talk about the Fall Sale. I tried to keep it pretty simple. I showed the girls the incentives they could earn and asked them which candy/chocolate/nuts they'd like to try. Then we made goals. Our troop goal was to sell 200 items.
Snack
Activity: For our activity, we made a tree mural. Everyone participated in drawing the tree trunk, the leaves, and the roots. In the roots, we wrote down things we like to do. We also decorated foam hands to glue to the tree (though some girls wanted to take theirs home instead!). We'll use the tree for decoration during our Investiture Ceremony.
Game: We played The Wind Blows. The girls seemed to have fun, and nobody got too excited or got hurt, so I'm counting this as a win!
Closing: For the Closing, we sang Make New Friends, then did Fists of Five: I asked a question, and the girls rated their answers from 1 to 5. Right now, it looks like I have one girl who doesn't really like arts and crafts, and one girl didn't like the game we played today. And nobody really liked the song today. But overall, everyone seemed to have fun! We did the Friendship Squeeze--one of our kapers is to start that--and that was it!
P.S. The girls' parents are amazing this year. While I try to have the girls clean up after themselves--and there's 2 spots on the kaper chart for clean-up--they of course don't get everything all put away. But the parents have been so helpful at finishing up the cleaning, which saves me soooo much time. So thank you, parents! I really appreciate it!
Opening: We said the pledge, the promise, and the law. The girls were really excited to look at the kaper chart to see what their jobs were!
Song: I gave the kaper girl 2 choices: the Daisy Gathering Song and Have You Ever Seen a Daisy. She chose the first one.
Circle: For the first part of our circle, we played a guessing game with the collages the girls had made last time. I showed them the collage, and they had to guess who it belonged to. I had asked the parents of the girls who weren't there last time to have their daughters make a collage so that nobody felt left out. They guessed them pretty quickly. Then we played an Energizer called Boom!--We went around the circle counting up, and each time a girl was supposed to say a number with a 3 in it, she shouted Boom! instead. The second part of the circle we used to talk about the Fall Sale. I tried to keep it pretty simple. I showed the girls the incentives they could earn and asked them which candy/chocolate/nuts they'd like to try. Then we made goals. Our troop goal was to sell 200 items.
Snack
Activity: For our activity, we made a tree mural. Everyone participated in drawing the tree trunk, the leaves, and the roots. In the roots, we wrote down things we like to do. We also decorated foam hands to glue to the tree (though some girls wanted to take theirs home instead!). We'll use the tree for decoration during our Investiture Ceremony.
Game: We played The Wind Blows. The girls seemed to have fun, and nobody got too excited or got hurt, so I'm counting this as a win!
Closing: For the Closing, we sang Make New Friends, then did Fists of Five: I asked a question, and the girls rated their answers from 1 to 5. Right now, it looks like I have one girl who doesn't really like arts and crafts, and one girl didn't like the game we played today. And nobody really liked the song today. But overall, everyone seemed to have fun! We did the Friendship Squeeze--one of our kapers is to start that--and that was it!
P.S. The girls' parents are amazing this year. While I try to have the girls clean up after themselves--and there's 2 spots on the kaper chart for clean-up--they of course don't get everything all put away. But the parents have been so helpful at finishing up the cleaning, which saves me soooo much time. So thank you, parents! I really appreciate it!
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