Girl Scout Gab

Girl Scout Gab is an active FACEBOOK leader page that encompasses all things Girl Scout.  You can learn so much about protocols, activities, ideas and virtually anything about Girl Scouting on this page! It is a wonderful resource.  It is also a good place to voice your opinions.  It is my hope that GS-USA reads this page and listens.  Often times leaders voice concerns about occasional issues in Girl Scouting. You can offer support to other leaders all over the country tackling tough situations and offer solutions to common problems.  You can identify similarities and differences amongst the various service units and councils.  My biggest complaint about Girl Scouting is that while we enjoy the freedoms of running our councils, units and troops our own way, there is very little consistency.  And even more willingness to share ideas.  I think state councils would benefit hugely from annual meetings to discuss what works in their area and what doesn't.  For instance most councils have an early pick-up cookie day(s) where girls can get their cookies prior to their initial order.  The San Jacinto Texas Council has a DRIVE-UP cookie pick up day.  This is BRILLIANT!  Girls can come to a location and the 12 cases of cookies are loaded right into their car.  Sure beats our system where we wait in long lines with dollies to transport our cookies back to our cars a 1000 ft away.  What if the council developed an app to check out cookies?  Now this would be cool!  We would save lots of trees by removing the current triplicate paper system.  I am filled with ideas, but actually implementing them is the real challenge.  However, I think with a little ingenuity we could really streamline the cookie business.

GSG is a Closed Group where ADULT Girl Scout Leaders can trade ideas, swap stories, and vent if necessary.

If you are a SCOUT and want to join a group you can swap stories with other scouts, please join Girl Scout Gab - for Girls:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/729863870397439/

Please live by the Girl Scout Law when making comments and posts...


If for some reason you are not directed properly , simply search Girl Scout Gab in the search box.
Furthermore the administrators make this caution:

I love how we all share our opinions -- and yes they are opinions. We should all respect each other, watch our language, speak appropriately, and respect others (including other volunteers). We are all Girl Scouts and should uphold the GS Law and treat others how we would like to be treated. When you get together a group of women (and this group has over 2000) we are never all going to agree or understand how each council works. Isn't that what makes this group unique? We can share ideas, what works/what doesn't work, and discuss it in a polite way without name calling.

As I tell my troop members...in life we may not get along with everyone, we may not want to hear their opinion but we should ALWAYS treat each other with respect and speak appropriately.

It is very easy to become emotionally fueled by some of the posts & responses.  I would like to think this is only the case because we have a  passion about Girl Scouting and we only want the very best for the girls and the organization!

Recently a leader posted a photo of a hand-made shadow box she made for one of her "retiring" ambassadors.  It is so beautiful and a true gift!  The inspirational words are sure to remind this girl scout of her scouting days.  The hand-made nature of the gift makes it even more special.  All too often these days, we run out to "buy" gifts when the best ones still come from the heart!  There is no doubt her leader's kindness, enthusiasm and dedication will encourage this girl to one day become a leader too. And so the circle continues...

Special Credit given to Mary Small Vertanen the author of the beautiful poem above.

Brownie Philanthropy Badge

I think the girls enjoyed earning this badge and from a leader standpoint it was a good teaching moment.  My girls come from a very fortunate area and I think it is hard for them to imagine not having the essentials.  So to introduce them to the fact that many children struggle each day to find a healthy meal, that some children wear used shoes because they cannot afford new and going to school and having enough school supplies is a blessing, was a great learning experience.  

I began my meeting by asking the girls if anyone knew what the word "philanthropy" meant?  No one knew.  So I gave them the long, official definition and received a lot of blank stares.  I broke the definition down to a simple sentence, a "Philanthropist" is someone who makes sure people have what they need.  Then the girls understood and joined in the conversation lending examples to helping others through church, school and the community.  

Next we gave 4 examples of how a person or Girl Scout can become a Philanthropist:

1. Give to charities as much as you can, but still providing for your own needs.

2. Get involved in a charity that interests them.

3.  Develop your own Charity.

4.  Volunteer

We discussed the 10 Most Popularly Searched Charities On-Line:

American Red Cross

Wounded Warrior Project

Heifer Project International

Doctors without Borders

World Vision

St. Jude’s

UNICEF

Samaritan’s Purse

Save the Children

I tried to relate charities more to their age level and interests where their "cents" can make a difference:

These charities were suggested by the girls:

Girl Scouts

Children's' Hospitals

Humane Society

Jump Rope for Heart

Rachael Challenge

Angel Tree

Christmas is for Children

Captain Hope

Play it Forward

Cup of Joe

PERSPECTIVE:

Next I tried to give the girls a perspective on what things truly cost these days.

What does a new car cost? about $10,000 Does a used car cost the same? No Why?  

Why do we sell used cars?  prevent them from going to landfill, cheaper for next user

What does it cost for a lunch for a child? $1.27 more for nutritious, healthy food

What does it cost for a dinner for four?  In home? hard pressed to provide dinners less than $5 ($35/week) and would not provide a lot of variety $100/week for all 3 meals is possible with no snacks etc. (rounding out at $400/mo)

Going out to eat?  For a family of 4, would cost a minimum of $20

What regular expenses does a homeowner or renter have?

Electricity - small apartment approx. $125/mo  (Large Home - $300-500)

Water - 

Trash - $15/mo

Phone - $50/mo

Cable/Internet - $30/mo

Alarm Monitoring - $20/mo

Lawn Maintenance - $50-100

ACTIVITY:

We passed out several Sunday ads saved for a few weeks.  We asked the girls to cut out 1 "NEED" item and 1 "WANT" item and glue on 2 separate boards labels appropriately.  This made the girls really think about what items they truly need and what items are simply luxuries or wants.  Then we discussed the completed boards and made sure the items on each board were appropriate.

Supplies:

Tape, glue dots OR glue stick

2 Poster or foam boards

newspaper ads or magazines

scissors

Next I described the difference between "Common Sense" and our play on words "Common Cents"

I shared a story of the day when one of my daughters helped clean out the car:

Taylor accidentally throws out a dime and I told her make sure you pick that dime up and she said why it is just a dime...

Every cent can make a difference, especially if we save our change and use it for something good.  Girl Scouts would be happy to take $5 of change you have saved and will use it to help buy patches for less fortunate girls.  Churches would appreciate this donation and put it to good use as well.

So I posed a question to them, "What can a DIME buy today?"

(This took quite an internet search to find some good examples, but really opened the girls mind to think about the importance of change)

Surprisingly the girls could not think of anything other than maybe candy.

What can a dime buy?

Change is wonderful at a garage sale or thrift store you can often buy scarves, books and trinket jewelry for 10 cents

5 - 2 cents stamps for use in the mail

package of plant seeds on clearance

fish at Pets Mart

remnants of yarn and fabric

school supplies like erasers, pencil sharpeners etc at beginning of school year

candy in the penny isle of a dollar store

10 cents flushes your toilet 

In a 3rd World, poor country your dime can buy a child a meal of rice, oats or porridge 

After this discussion I encouraged the girls to begin saving their change and to consider donating to a charity of their choice.  So we created stained glass banks out of mason chairs to help them collect their spare change.  We labeled the banks: "Common Cent$"

Supplies:

Items:

Mason Jars (Wal-Mart brand has no etching on jars and are cheaper 12 jars/$8)

paint brushes

glass paint (Folk Art Enamels)

paint palettes (Wal-Mart $0.98 nice to have for troops for painting projects)

sharpies

Simple Stencils

card stock for lid (neon index cards)

Duct tape

dixie cups

paper towels

baby wipes

exacto knife to cut change hole (**For Leader use ONLY**)

To Print Notes for this badge for easy reference CLICK HERE

Valentine's Fun!

Do you have a meeting scheduled for Valentine's Day?  Want to give your girls a special little treat in honor of Valentine's Day? Consider one of these cost effective Valentine's sure to be a huge hit!

Print & cut out the logo above. Tie the logo and mustache with a red and white paper straw onto a can of crush using tulle or ribbon.  We included these adorable mustache straws from Michaels.

Print & cut out the logo above.   Place a "Got Milk?" Strawberry Straw and a Michaels Mustache with a red and white paper straw in a cellophane Valentine's bag and close using tulle or ribbon.

Crush Template (12/sheet) - CLICK HERE

Moo Template (12/sheet) - CLICK HERE

These iPod Valentine's take a little more effort, but the girls LOVED them.
Small Box of Conversation Hearts.
Duck Tape Sheet of metallic foil paper (CLICK HERE)
White Pony Beads Lacing (plastic string) found at Hobby Lobby (CLICK HERE)
Avery White Full Sheet 8.5 x 11in labels (CLICK HERE)
Make Ear Buds out of anything - I used heart scrapbook paper and a heart cut-out, glued 2 together to form one ear bud

Cover box with adhesive Duck paper.  Use template (CLICK HERE) and print out on White Avery full size labels.  Cut and adhere to box.  Cut pony lace 7in long and tuck into box opening.  Divide in half at tip to form to ear leads.

Doily Valentine T-Shirt

Supplies:
T-Shirt ($3.00 Michaels, Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's Fabrics)
Several Packages of Doilies
Temporary Spray Adhesive
Acrylic Paint in your choice of colors
Foam Brushes
Paper plates

This is fun for any age and fairly simple.  Purchase t-shirts in pink, red, light purple or hot pink colors. Use temporary spray adhesive to tack the doily(ies) onto the front of a shirt. Allow the girls to squirt 2 or 3 different colors of paint onto a paper plate.  Girls are to dab paint onto the doily avoiding the edges, unless they want to show the edges of the doily.

Glitter Ornaments

In 2013 my girls in both troops elected to do a service project and provide each staff member at their school with a hand-made ornament.  I was able to find clear, PLASTIC ornaments at Hobby Lobby for half off the original price.  Each ornament cost $0.48.  It cost my troops under $50 to make 80 staff members a glitter ornament.  And of course every girl made an ornament to take home as well.  While an easy, fun project this required each girl to make 4-5 ornaments.  We collected our ornaments in a large tub and delivered them to each of the teachers on their party day.  

As I mentioned the project was fun and easy and the teachers were really impressed by the beauty of the ornaments.  Here's how we made the Glitter Ornaments:

Items Needed:

Plastic Ornaments (any shape will do)

1 bottle of Pledge Mop-N-Glow or equivalent (I found a generic floor polish at the dollar store) 

Glitter Packets or dixie cups filled with a small amount of glitter

Dixie Cups filled with small amount of Mop-N-Glow

Stickers

Ribbon

Pour a very small amount of Mop-N-Glow into a Dixie Cup.  Be sure and caution the girls that this is a chemical with a very strong odor.  Girls are not to inhale or smell the product.  They should wash their hands if the Mop-N-Glow comes into contact with their skin.  They should avoid wiping their eyes or mouth during the making process.  My girls were very careful, but for the younger girls gloves might not be a bad idea.  Also I would avoid getting the product on anything.  It will create a glossy surface.  My girls did the entire project standing over large trash cans to collect the spilled Mop-N-Glow and glitter.

Process:  Remove the metal ornament plug.  Simply pour a small amount of the Mop-N-Glow from the dixie cup into an ornament.  Twist and move the fluid around to cover the inside of the ball.  Pour out any excessive liquid.  Pour in glitter and QUICKLY move the glitter to the top of the ornament in a spinning motion.  Replace the metal plug.  You are Done!

Consider adding a sticker to the front of your ornament and a ribbon to hang it from the tree.  I printed out address label stickers that read, "Made by a GS Brownie in Troop #4005, Christmas 2013."

I was lucky enough to find small glitter packets at the dollar store (6/$1) which made this project extremely easy.  I just snipped the edge of the packet and the girls poured in the glitter.  The packets had the perfect amount of glitter to complete one ornament and came in an assortment of amazing colors.

Dotted Initial Frame

Who doesn't like a party?  Sure the girls get parties at school, but during the Holiday Season one more party is just icing on the cake.  So I reserve December for celebrating the Winter Season.  Sometimes this includes decorating cookies with icing, glitter sugar and sprinkles!  You cannot have a Winter Party without Hot Chocolate!  If you have a microwave handy you can boil water and add the inexpensive packets, but next year look into buying a box of hot chocolate from your local donut or coffee shop.  Be sure to call around the prices can vary drastically.  I have bought a box of Hot Chocolate for as little as $12 that can serve 20 girls, cups included.  You can barely beat the price and it is so much easier!  Plus, my parent volunteers usually give me dirty looks by the time they have warmed up the 26th cup of water, added the hot chocolate to the already full cup of water and slurped it over the edges trying to mix it.  Boxed Hot Chocolate is definitely easier!

I have 2 large troops and find that my Holiday Parties run smoother when I break the girls up into stations.  This also gives the added advantage that I can have a parent man each station to assist with the projects.  I am typically rover and help where needed.

This year my troops were set up into 3 stations:

1. Write a Holiday note to a fellow troop - I supplied Holiday Cards from the dollar store (24 in a box)
2.  Make a Christmas Ornament
3.  Make a Holiday Gift for your parents

My girls love to make gifts for Mom and Dad.  I work hard to find gifts that parents can appreciate!  Pinterest has a wealth of ideas for very affordable, USEFUL gifts!  I love to see the girls faces after they have a made a little treasure for their parents.  It gives them a sense of pride that Mom and Dad will have something special to open.  In the past we have created decoupaged clip boards, decorated plate chargers, elastic beaded rings, bottle cap necklaces for Mom, large clothes pin frames, etc.  This year we created a Monogrammed Dot Frame.  Over the Summer I purchased 12 - one inch hole punchers from JoAnn's Fabrics when I had a great coupon.  I was able to purchase each hole puncher for about $3.  Items like these get added to my GS craft closet  and I always find uses for them in the future.  I had my daughters make the test frame and boy am I glad they did!  The original project which I found on Pinterest suggested that we use paint chips from Home Depot or Lowes.  I made a point to pick up 10-20 strips every time I visited for the past 6 months.  I loved the idea of using the free paint strips with literally thousand of color choices, unfortunately my daughters found the cardboard very difficult to paper punch.  So we used colored copy paper instead.  This paper is thin and easy to punch and comes in a multitude of color packs at your local craft store.  The girls punched out 80-100 one inch "dots" in any color scheme they liked and glued them onto a piece of card stock.  Next I printed out every girl's last name initial in a bold font.  I used the color grey and outlined the letter so it would be easier for them to cut out.  Finally they simply glued their initial in the center of the card stock.  I picked up 5x7 frames at the dollar store and the girls simply popped in their art work! Viola!  They had a neat, personalized frame that looks great on a coffee table, in a powder bath or on a shelf in the living room.

This year we simply wrapped and taped the frames in tissue paper.  I gave each girl a pretty Holiday bag from the dollar store.  They had lovely bags 2/$1!  The bags were good for transporting their goodies home as well.  Last year we concentrated on wrapping.  It was a great opportunity for the girls to learn how to wrap.  I incorporated the wrapping table as one of the stations.  I brought boxes of all sizes for the girls to wrap.  I offered them tips and patiently helped them wrap until they felt comfortable to wrap their special gift.  Wrapping is a learned skill.  While practice helps you perfect the art, every girl should be taught how to wrap.  Sadly it is slowly beaching a lost art with all the bags and decorated boxes that are now available.

My co-leader and I always like to give the girls a small gift for the Holidays.  Lat year we found elf hats 2/$1 at the dollar store.  This is our "Look there is Santa!" photo:

This year we found reindeer head bands (2/$1) and gave each girl a microwavable popcorn pouch labeled with a sticker that read:  "Hope you Holidays Pop!"

Cadettes Business Plan: Marshmallow Shooters

Recently my girls earned the "Business Plan" badge.  Girl Scouts designed this badge to be related to cookie sales, but my girls after selling cookies for the past 6 years groan any time I create meetings around cookie sales.  By Cadette level most girls have the concept of cookie selling down.  So in true Shannan fashion my concept for the "Business Plan" badge is a little less orthodox, but in no way any less rewarding, fun or educational.  In fact, this may have been their most favorite meeting to date!

I knew this badge had been successful when I had another leader contact me a few short hours after my meeting to tell me her girls were jealous of what we did at our meeting.  That tells me the girls were talking and excited!

Over the summer, while visiting our little lake place in Austin, we went to an old fashion soapbox derby.  While watching the races my girls saw a man selling marshmallow shooters simply made from PVC pipe.  He was selling the smaller guns for $10 and the more intricate, larger guns for $15.  The guns had been rudely painted with spray paint.  My girls were enamored by the guns.  Kids were shooting off mini marshmallows and having a grand time playing with the shooters.  My girls begged me to buy a gun and I told them, we could easily make one of our own for half the price.  At that moment I realized what a great GS project this would be for the older girls!

In my view, the Business Plan badge is all about creating a product or service and developing a business plan for marketing it.  When I began creating my schedule for this school year I remembered the Marshmallow Shooters and the Business Plan Badge seemed the perfect fit for this project.  Here is how I ran my meeting:

I asked the girls if they ever dreamed of making a product, marketing it and watching the millions of dollars stream in.  Next, we talked about young entrepreneurs and I asked the girls to name products that have been produced and marketed by young girls.  The girls mentioned silly bands, bottle cap necklaces and the bacon maker, all produced by young girls.  I then told the girls we are going to hypothetically market and design a business around Marshmallow Shooters.  We will build and test the product and look at ways to best market the product and discuss the barriers to sales.

I found a great Business Plan Worksheet (attached) on line which I tweaked a bit to make it more applicable to my girls and a detailed description on how to build the Marshmallow Shooters.  I purchased 5 - 10 foot 1/2 white plastic PVC piping from Home Depot and begged an employee to help me cut 15 - 8 inch sections and 90 - 5 in. sections.  (He was an extremely patient and kind man!  I plan to return to Home Depot with a photo of the girls and their completed project).  The shooters require 1 - 8in piece of pipe, 6- 5in pieces of pipe, 2 - end caps, 2 "T" connectors and 2 - elbows.  I also purchased 6 decorative rolls of duct tape to allow the girls to personalize their guns.  Duct tape is all the rage right now and was an easy, quick, inexpensive, non-messy way to customize the shooters.  Plus, it is essential that you buy a pair of goggles for safety ($1.99 Wal-Mart or $2.50 Home Depot).  The marshmallows are soft and harmless for the most part, but the guns have a surprising amount of projection and force.  The total cost of the project was about $5.00/girl.

As you work through the plan with your girls you will find that they are quite innovative and resourceful.  I asked the girls where they would sell their shooters?  Some suggested Wal-Mart, toy stores, internet and even "As Seen on TV" infomercials.  One girl suggested that the guns could be sold in crafts stores as a "do-it-yourself" project.  She noted it would take less packaging, less employees and factory work, could be sold cheaper and we could market accessories like, paint, duct tape, stickers, and/or adhesive gems to personalize the shooter - BRILLIANT!!!   A future fortune 500 business owner in the making!  So then we talked about making money from other products related to the shooters and a girl suggested we could sell targets like bulls-eyes or different colored chalk or paint which the marshmallows could be dipped in to see where the marshmallows hit on the bullseye - GENIUS!  We talked about our competition like Nerf guns and the reasons why the shooters might not sell.  The girls were well aware that guns have a bad stigma and they hope to diminish this parental concern by selling the product with goggles and writing the word "SAFE" in large print on the box.  They also wanted to capitalize on the fact that the bullets are marshmallows, easily found and soft.  We talked about how much we would sell the guns for and what our profit would be.  We created a company goal and talked about investors and what it might cost to "start" the business.

Overall this was a great activity and very educational.  The girls were extremely motivated to get involved.  We spent about a half hour discussing our Business Plan in an open forum and the girls wrote down their answers on a take-home worksheet.  We spent about 15 minutes building the shooters, I did not print out directions, I simply made a prototype and let them figure out how to build their own guns.  I think they enjoyed the challenge or puzzle of creating the guns from the prototype. The girls spent another 20 minutes decorating their shooters and then we went outside to play!  The meeting was over in the blink of an eye.  I did make time for them to help pick up the marshmallows.  I don't think the marshmallows would be good for birds and probably could create an ant fest!  Cleaning up is important and begs the reminder, "Leave No Trace," that all Girl Scouts leave their area better than when they arrived.  Just an FYI to leaders:  it takes a few tries before the girls figure out how to shoot the marshmallows and in the process you will need to sometimes take apart the guns and use a pencil to push out stuck marshmallows.  The humidity from the girls' breath and spit make the marshmallows very sticky!

How to make the shooters - very colorful, easy instructions:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Marshmallow-Gun

Tweaked pdf version of the Business Plan in an easy to hand-out worksheet

or you can make your own here:

http://www.entre-ed.org/_teach/busplan.htm

If you download my files please list your troop #, council and state in the comments area.  I love for readers to see all the active leaders in the area looking and sharing resources! Also this keeps me inspired to continue updating my posts!

Brownies: Pets Badge

My girls recently earned the Brownie Pet Badge.  I don't think there is a troop out there that does not enjoy earning this fun badge.  We did not do anything unusual earning this badge, but we did create a super easy dog toy craft and cat pouch that was easy for the girls to make.

In order to earn this badge I invited a pet trainer to our meeting to talk to the girls.  She talked about all sorts of things and answered oodles of questions.  She talked about dog and cat behavior and proper pet manners which included safety.  The pet trainer also works at the Humane Society of North Texas in Keller where the girls will visit this week for a field trip, so she prepped the girls for what they can expect to see.  The facility is small and with my large troop we had to be creative on how we intend to manage all these girls and PARENTS.  This was the most heavily volunteered field trip to date, I think I have 8 parents going.  We plan on having one group in the puppy and kitty room, one group touring the facility and one group outside viewing the gazebo area an eagle scout built.  I included hand-outs and activities from a great Girl Scout packet I found on the internet from the Broward County Humane Society in Florida.  This site has a packet for every GS level and is a wonderful resource.
https://humanebroward.com/programs/education-partnership/girl-scout-patch-program/https://humanebroward.com/programs/education-partnership/girl-scout-patch-program/

CRAFT:  The girls created Braided Fleece Dog Pulls.  I used these internet instructions:
http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/how-to-weave-a-fleece-rope-dog-toy/index.html
I had all the fleece pre-cut so the girls could just choose 3 strips in neon colors.  I had left-over strips so we cut them in half vertically and made smaller dog pulls, so each girl got to make 2 dog toys.  I was a bit leery that the girls might not be able to braid well, but was happily surprised that nearly all the girls in 3rd grade could braid easily!  Also the girls who knew how to braid, which was well over 3/4 of the troop, helped the girls who were just learning.  I did have to remind them frequently to pull the braids tightly.  Here are 3 completed toys the girls made and our bucket full of goodies!

We did not want to exclude or feline friends so we also made little kitty pouches full of catnip.  I filled baggies full of catnip and handed each girl a baggy of catnip, colorful ankle sock, small rub band and ribbon.  The girls then filled the sock with catnip and tightly sealed with a rubber band and decorated with a colorful bow.

The dog trainer stayed to help with this project and repetitively told me how grateful the shelter will be to receive so many wonderful toys for the animals!  Every shelter has a needs or wish list.  I e-mailed this to my parents and girls and requested donations.  I think when we attend the shelter this week we will bring lots of goodies to share.  Often times shelters need more than just dog food, they appreciate old linens, towels, office supplies, detergent, shampoo and soap.  Nearly everyone has these items in their house so it is not a huge inconvenience for parents to donate.

Update:  I decided to do a similar tour with my Cadettes this year since the Brownies had such an amazing experience at our local shelter.  We made the fleece dog pulls, but I decided to make small felt mice and fill with catnip for the older girls.  I cut out a simple half heart shape pattern, placed the pattern on fold line of grey felt and cut out the shape.  Then I sewed a pink nose and zig-zag stitched a grey string tail in the center of the fabric, when laid out flat.  I folded the fabric right sides together and tucked in the tail and sewed the edges together leaving a small hole to turn inside out.  I am a sewer so this did not take me very long.  I made about 20 mice in about an hour.  I left them right side together and had the girls turn them inside-out.

The girls used dixie cups 1/4 of the way filled with catnip to fill the mice.  If you squeeze the cardboard dixie cups the catnip falls nicely into the hole.  They then stuffed the mice with white filling and sewed the hole shut.  I had needles pre-loaded with grey thread and knotted for each girl, but of course you can allow your girls to thread.  I showed them how to sew a blind stitch on a demo mouse, some caught on quickly and others did not but, my girls did a nice job of sewing them together.  

Finally the older girls wanted to make pet tags for the shelter cages.  So I brought some craft paper, contact paper, markers, glue dots and index cards.  I had a few clever sayings for them to use, but was pleasantly surprised that they enjoyed coming up with their own "catch phrases"!

To PRINT out mouse pattern CLICK HERE

To PRINT mouse instructions CLICK HERE

To PRINT Pet Tag 1 CLICK HERE

To PRINT Pet Tag 2 CLICK HERE

Go to Activity

If you have not had the opportunity to have some fun with Thumbprint Art, make it a priority this year! Also this is a great diversional activity when it rains or your original schedule does not pan out.  You know... we have all had those weeks when the best laid plan falls through and you are worried you will be left with a group of girls staring at you.  After all games are great, but it is nice to have other diversional activities.  Well... thumbprint is art is simple, inexpensive and really a lot of fun!

Several years ago I purchased this book, Ed Emberely's Complete FunPrint Drawing Book.  It has been invaluable in the course of leading.  The girls love sifting through the book for ideas and often I make copies to distribute to the girls making it very easy for them to reproduce some of the designs.  They can use the designs to embellish a book or journal cover or they can create a landscape picture.  A couple of stamp pads in fun colors, paper and thin markers and BAM!  Instant Fun!

Making Flower Barrettes

My Brownies LOVED this activity, but I think any age would find this fun and easy.  It would be a great party activity as well.  We created flower barrettes for the old Brownie "Art to Wear" Try-It badge which I adapted to the new "My Great Day" badge.  This was a fairly simple project for the girls and a learning experience on how fun and clever crafting can be.  What I liked most about the project is that we created a useful end product.  I love going to school and seeing the girls sporting their new barrettes in the hallways. 

Caution:  This craft requires an electrical glue gun.  I use a product called the Cool Tool.  This is a great investment for leaders, but because of the cost must be shared. This product remains cool and is battery operated.  You can certainly use a traditional hot or cool glue gun, but it will need to be plugged in and the girls may need help using the gun depending on their age which means YOU may be building or gluing the flowers.  Also hot glue guns can easily burn a young child.  You may be able to use the heavy duty E-6000 craft glue, but I have not tried it.  If you get a chance please let me know if it works well or not in the comment section below.  It might be helpful to other leaders.

Begin by asking the girls to cut out 2 pieces of felt slightly larger than the size of a quarter.  I like to use the stiffer heavier felt often found with glitter embedded in the felt.

 Next, hot glue the barrette to one piece of felt.

 

Then cover with the other piece of felt.

Next remove stem and green back of Gerber daisy flower and throw away.

After removing green back, the front center of the petal can easily be removed as well (throw away).

 

Now glue all the piece of the flower back together.

Add a pretty gem of your choice to the center of the flower.

Glue the felt barrette to the back of flower.

Easy... Peasy!

You can even allow the girls to easily embellish the flowers with a clear glitter paint.  Just hand them a small paintbrush and let them go to town.  Caution:  some girls cannot get enough BLING!

Decoupage Necklaces

This is my second go around for Brownies.  I have made every attempt to use many of my activities from when my oldest daughter was a Brownie, but the changes in the program have made this difficult giving me far more work as a leader.  Nonetheless, when possible I do the same field trips and activities I completed with my older girls.  So recently I received a call from our art teacher that she would be unable to teach the pottery class this month because her mother is ill, so I had to get inventive at the last minute.  I remembered my Brownies favorite Try-It Badge was the Art to Wear so I decided we would enjoy these activities and earn the "My Great Day" Badge.  It's a bit of a stretch, but I am firm believer Girl Scouts is about having fun and not about earning badges.  Besides my girls love crafts of any kind and if you asked them, a fun-filled day of crafts would be a GREAT DAY!
So I broke my troop into 8 girls in each group and we had 3 stations.  The girls created decoupage necklaces (as I describe in this blog), flower barrettes and Best Friend Socks at the different stations.  I also hired a fantastic face painter to paint the girls faces.
The first station the girls created simple decoupage necklaces.  Prior to the meeting I glued stamp blanks, using E 6000, on the back of Rummy-O tiles. You can find stamp blanks at almost any craft store in the jewelry department.  I purchased these stamp blanks at Hobby Lobby, 5 stamps came in one bag (to the left) for about $3.  Square or Circle will do.

Rummy-O is a tile game much like dominoes.  The Rummy-O tiles are lightweight resin, plastic tiles and the perfect size for a girl's necklace.  You can purchase the game at any toy store or in my case I bought the game at Wal-Mart for about $10.  The game includes 104 tiles.  

  

I have also used the tiles for Kaper Chart chores.  I simply write the names of the girls on the tile using a fine marker and place them in a cloth bag.  The girls can then randomly choose names for various activities, reciting the law or pledge, dividing into groups and chores.

I love E6000!  It is a very strong glue perfect for jewelry crafts.  It is about $6.00 a tube and can be purchased at craft stores.  It dries clear and creates a heavy duty bond which means it is better used by adults.  The girls could potentially stick their fingers together :-)

Next, I scoured the internet for fun pictures and scaled the pictures down to fit the tiles.  I printed the pictures out on glossy brochure paper to give the most professional look.  I created Girl Scout, Best Friends and cute Doggy and Kitty pictures.  The animal photos seemed to be the biggest hit.  The girls had to cut the photos out and make sure it will fit their tile just right.  Then they simply decoupaged the photo, using Modge Podge and a foam brush, to the front of the Rummy-O tile.  Finally they must decoupage the front of the photo to seal it creating a water-proof surface.  

Then the girls simply strung the necklace pendant with 20 inches of elastic cording that come in several fun neon colors.  We just tied off the ends and the girls simply slipped the necklaces over their heads.  I like the elastic component to the cording, it seems safer and less potential for a choking hazard.    I have included my necklace photos to make your job easier.  Feel free to use these pictures to create your own troop necklaces.  This craft is really very simple and enjoyed by virtually any age.

To print these sheets please click this link:

 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-hGKwG6UQEXM2tOMnFwQ0twb0E/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-hGKwG6UQEXUVktVXM5TGNvUHc/edit?usp=sharing