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Volunteering Activities
Awards Camping Girl Scout Cookie® Activities
Parents
Training Troop/Group Management
Uniforms Activities Q: Where can I get activity ideas? A: Talk with the girls in your group and find out what activities they're interested in. Have them look through the handbook and awards book for their age-level and see what piques their interest. Also share with them upcoming council and service area events and see if they'd like to attend any.
A: Ceremonies in Girl Scouting is a great resource for you and the girls in your troop/group. It's available through your local Girl Scout council, some council shops, and the Girl Scout Shop, or by calling GSUSA Customer Service at (800) 221-6707. You might find special ideas at leader-training and other workshops, your council resource center, and area meetings. Also use the Ceremony Planner form (PDF, 11K) with your troop/group and browse through Ceremonies in Girl Scout Central. Awards Q: Where can I find online Try-Its, badges, Interest Project awards, and STUDIO 2B Focus awards? A: The only official Girl Scout earned age-level awards online are the computer-, cookie-, and safety-related ones found in Girl Scout Central: Insignia Found Online. Other Brownie Girl Scout Try-Its, Junior Girl Scout badges, Interest Project awards for Girl Scouts 11-17, and STUDIO 2B Focus awards are available in Girl Scout age-level books. Also online are some patches given for participation in Girl Guide/Girl Scout initiatives, such as "Our Rights, Our Responsibilities."
A: Visit the Awards, Badges, and Other Insignia section of Girl Scout Central for a list of nearly all the awards. Also check the awards books for particular age-levels, available through your local Girl Scout council, some council shops, and the Girl Scout Shop. Visit the Awards, Badges, and Other Insignia section of Girl Scout Central for a list of nearly all the awards. Check the awards books for particular age-levels, available through your local Girl Scout council, some council shops, the Girl Scout Shop, and the STUDIO 2B Boutique. Camping Q: When can I take my Brownie Girl Scouts camping? A: Take the troop when you feel the girls are mature enough to handle the experience and you have an adult trained by your Girl Scout council to help the girls plan and carry out the trip. Some councils may have restrictions on Brownie Girl Scouts going to council-owned camps because they do not have room to accommodate everyone. If you're camping at a non-Girl Scout facility, check with your council to see if the site meets Safety-Wise guidelines. Begin with some backyard camping or family camping to start the learning progression. Girl Scout Cookie® Activities Q: Why can't Daisy Girl Scouts sell cookies? A: The activities involved in cookie sales include programmatic components that require a range of skills, including arithmetic, reading comprehension, writing, problem-solving, planning, and social skills not typically possessed by girls of Daisy Girl Scout age. Q: Do we have to participate in Girl Scout Cookie activities as a troop? A: No—participation is completely voluntary. However, girls report that they enjoy taking part in cookie activities and they like running a project on their own. Cookie activities are also one of the easiest ways for troops to earn money for trips and events. If you do take part in Girl Scout Cookie activities, keep in mind that, as with other Girl Scout program activities, each girl must have parental permission to sell cookies and the group should follow all council and Safety-Wise guidelines. Check with your council to see what its rules are, as council guidelines must be followed. Parents Q: How can I get parents to pick their children up on time?
Q: What happens if a girl doesn't bring her signed parent permission slip and she comes to the pickup point for a trip anyway? A: Establish the habit of checking with girls before their parents leave. If girls arrive on their own, saying their parents forgot, or they forgot, someone has to take them home or to a place where a responsible adult will watch them. Parents need to know what will happen if their girl comes without a permission slip. It will take only once for both parent and child to learn that the rules cannot be bent. Readying yourself for this contingency is very important—be sure to have additional adults at all meetings and events so you are not left responsible for taking girls home alone. Training Q: Do I need special training to take a nature walk with girls? A: No, but if you decide to cook a meal outdoors or stay overnight, you do need extra training. Outdoor training is enjoyable and enables you to do many fun activities, indoors and out. If you are unable to go for the training, ask one of the parents to help out by taking it.
A: The troop needs a person trained in first aid for camping and certain other activities, as noted in Girl Scouts of the USA's Safety-Wise publication. Girl Scouts recommends that an adult trained in first aid be with your troop/group. Every troop should also have a first-aid kit as well. Troop/Group Management Q: Where can I get help with my troop? A: Parents, other adults, sponsors, your community, and your local Girl Scout council are all great resources. So is LEADER magazine.
A: Have a non-confrontational meeting with her. Note the behaviors that are causing a disruption and ask her to help you find a way around them. Many girls who act out need to learn appropriate ways to express their energy, much understanding, and the chance to feel part of the group. Find out what her interests are, and give her troop responsibilities that match them. If the girl has no friends in the troop, you might ask your most mature girl(s) to take the lone one under her wing. Try for some one-on-one time with the girl and be her friend. Help her to understand how she can be part of the group and focus her energy in a positive manner.
A: Many activities require little or no money. As the girls decide the kinds of projects they want to do, make a list of what is needed. Find a troop sponsor to help finance public transportation or admission fees for a field trip. Use recycled materials for projects. Involve the families and neighborhood in collecting aluminum cans for recycling to provide funds for the troop treasury. Give girls a scavenger hunt list for basic items around the house, like scissors, string, glue, pieces of fabric, and foil. Look for projects you can adapt. Start early in creating a goal and budget for the troop's Girl Scout council-sponsored product sale/cookie activities. See if you qualify for financial aid from your local Girl Scout council. Check out the council's guidelines for distributing the funds so you can request aid for what you need most.
A: If you are in a situation that is uncomfortable for you, chances are it is the same for her. Communicate with each other. You might ask your service unit manager or council area manager to sit down with both of you. Find out what each of you expect from the other and from the experience of leading a Girl Scout troop/group. Find ways to incorporate more parents in troop leadership.
A: While many mothers become leaders to be closer to their daughters, it is good that you recognize she has a need to grow on her own as well. What's most important is to treat her as you would any other girl in the troop. Family misunderstandings need to be resolved outside of the troop. When dividing up girls into groups, try to have your daughter work with another adult as much as possible.
A: One of the safety guidelines in Girl Scouts of the USA's Safety-Wise publication clearly states that smoking is injurious to girls' health and that adults working with girls should not smoke at Girl Scout activities. Discuss this situation with your area manager if you feel uncomfortable talking with your co-leader about it.
A: She needs to find child-care so that she can concentrate her attention on the girls when she is there. You might ask your area manager to recommend a Girl Scout 14-17 who is willing to assist with child-care once a month or ask another parent for child-care help.
A: No, a girl should never be left alone to supervise younger girls. It is unfair to her, the girls, and the parents, who expect adult supervision. Although she may seem as mature as many adults and may be close to her 18th birthday, she is still a girl member and not legally an adult. Q: Some of the girls want to do STUDIO 2B, others want to earn IPPs and Leadership Awards. Do we have to split up the troop/group? A: There is no need to split up the troop/group. A diversity of interests will help it thrive. Within one troop/group, some girls can be using the Interest Project Book and others can be using the STUDIO 2B Focus Books. Some girls may consider themselves Cadette Girl Scouts and some girls can call themselves STUDIO 2B members, depending on what they choose. Or, girls can consider themselves both and work on all different types of projects. They can all co-exist. You don't have to pit the "old" against the "new." Just help girls mix and match based on their interests—that's the STUDIO 2B approach in a nutshell. Q: Does a leader need to wear a uniform? A: No, but it makes you easily recognizable by both girls and their parents and it shows that you are proud to be a Girl Scout. You will need a uniform or uniform component if you appear with the girls at a public event or if you decide to be a trainer or a council delegate. For adults, as well as for girls, Girl Scouts has a variety of uniform components for both active and formal occasions. Visit your local Girl Scout Shop or the online Girl Scout Shop to find a uniform option that works for you.
A: Starting with the first Girl Guides in Savannah in 1912, each patrol or troop was named for a flower, tree, shrub, or bird as a form of identification. The first two patrols were called the White Rose and Carnation patrols, followed by the Red Rose and Poppy patrols. Each troop selected its own crest, and this emblem identified the troop. Every girl in a troop wore the same troop crest. Girl Scout records indicate that an art teacher stenciled the first crests for Girl Scouts in 1912. Manufactured embroidered troop crests were made available in 1913, and starting in 1918, blank crests could be purchased by troops that wanted to embroider their own designs. Girl Scout shops sell a variety of troop crests so girls can carry on this tradition. However, doing so is not a requirement. |
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