Meeting 7: December

I had a holiday party, so my lovely co-leader filled in for me. Here's what was on our agenda, though! Update: My coleader wrote about the actual meeting. Her thoughts in italics.

Premeeting: We made "Thank You" notes for customers from the Fall Sale. The girls enjoyed making Thank You cards, but most of them didn't really remember the fall sale. So, they made general TY cards for parents, or cards to give out to people who might buy cookies.

Opening: Pledge, Promise, and Law

Song: Our two choices for the kaper girl were Boom Chicka Boom or I'm a Girl Scout. Nora chose "Boom Chicka Boom" as the song. It was a big hit!! The girls especially loved "loud style" and "slow style."

Circle: We read the girls the Daisy Cookie Story, featuring the flowers from the Journeys. Then, the girls learned how much each box of cookies cost to earn their financial literacy leaf. They also made a group sales goal poster together and set their own sales goals. The girls LOVED the Daisy Cookie story. Lisa and I both read it. The girls really reacted positively -- they remembered the characters throughout the meeting and were able to answer questions about the story afterwards. Making the goal chart was ... interesting. It was a good chance to practice estimation and numbers, but it was hard for them to grasp how many boxes they might sell. Lisa was really nervous about the goal being unreachable and the girls being disappointed, so she encouraged them to aim low. We all agreed that we could re-evaluate and make a new goal if we thought we should later.

Snack Snack was AWESOME. Victoria's mom brought cheese and crackers, gingerbread cookies, tangerines, and cider. Also, there was a class going on in the kitchen, and the teacher of that class was a Girl Scout, so she came and talked to the girls about how much she loved selling cookies. It was so sweet! We also went over how to answer cookie questions.

Activity: The girls practiced answering questions about cookies to earn their financial literacy leaf. Then, they made their own obstacle course together. We did not get a chance to make an obstacle course, so that could be something to do for another meeting.

Game: The girls played Daisy Cookie Bingo. The girls REALLY liked the Bingo game!! Nell was a very good caller, and we had two different winners. They stayed really focused, despite the fact that it had been a pretty low-energy-style meeting. We played two long rounds, and then it was time to wrap up.

Closing: We did the Friendship Squeeze. Fists of Five revealed that the girls liked most of the activities for the day. They also had fun trying to make me fake-sad by rating everything badly, and then yelling about how they were kidding. It was very cute! :)

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?

Meeting 6: November

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!

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!

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?