Girl Scout Leader-Creating One Meeting at a Time!

Time to Sign Up for Girl Scout Summer Camp!

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

It may be cold in most of the country, but now is the time to think about signing your daughter up for Girl Scout summer camp. Troops do not meet over the summer, and Girl Scout summer camp offers girls different kinds of scouting opportunities.

The all girl atmosphere is conducive to girls developing strong leadership skills. They spend a lot of time outdoors learning about the environment and other outdoor skills. The leaders at camp are CPR trained and background checked.

There are different kinds of camp for girls kindergarten through 11th grade, ranging from day, weekend, and overnight. If this is your daughter's first time away, she can request to bunk with one buddy.

Financial aid is available to those who qualify. Because it is on a first come, first served, basis, you will need to go to your local Council's website and download the necessary forms. Act quickly because scholarships are limited.

You can read more about Girl Scout summer camp and the benefits of having your daughter attend.

Girl Scout Fabric for Sewing Projects

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you are trying to earn the Brownie Girl Scout Stitch It Together Try It,
or you are trying to teach sewing skills to your troop, then I have found some great fabric for you!

Did you know that there is fabric just for Girl Scouts?

Here are some samples...

Daisy Blue Fabric

Brownie Try Its

Thin Mints

Junior Badges

Girl Scout Cookie Assortment

There is so much you can do with this fabric!

Everything Included Girl Scout Mini Scrapbooks 4 x 6 for under 8 Bucks!

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you are into scrapbooking, or would like to get into it with your troop, here is a great offer for little money per girl!

K&CO-Girl Scouts Camping Mini Book Kit has everything you need to create a fun memory book of your scouts. Each kit includes a 4 x 6 inch mini book with 16 pre-printed pages. Five 6.5 x 4.5 inch coordinating papers one sheet of chipboard letters eight journal labels and two die cut sticker sheets. Acid free- archival safe.

This is an all-purpose kit includes EVERYTHING! You can order for each girl and it can be completed at your last meeting or two this spring. This is a great way to capture the memories you had this year!

Snapfish Sale-99 Photos for 99 Cents! Great for Scrapbooking!

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you are into taking pictures at your Girl Scout meeting and making a scrapbook, then head on over to Snapfish! Until January 25th, you can buy 99 prints for 99 cents! Use code 99prints at checkout!

Thinking Day Passports at Makingfriends.com!

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Girl Scout websites is makingfriends.com. For World Thinking Day, they have a whole list of printable passports for you to download.

The countries available are:

Australia
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
China
Egypt
England
France
Germany
Greece
Guyana
Haiti
Hong Kong
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Madagascar
Mexico
Philippines
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
Tunisia
United States of America

Use this link to get to the list and click on the country you want to do!

Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

While my Girl Scout troop does not sell cookies, I know that many of my readers do. I am curious if you could share some of your best selling tips so that other readers could benefit. Since you are putting so much time and effort into doing your sales, sharing your best ideas with each other will help all troop leaders who read my blog or search for cookie selling ideas.

That way you can be a "sister to every Girl Scout leader!"

So ladies, care to share?

How to Earn the Light Blue Daisy Petal Honest and Fair

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to earn the light blue Daisy petal, honest and fair. At any age we want to be treated in an honest and fair fashion, and for kindergarten and first grade Daisy Girl Scouts, it is even more important. How many times have you heard your own kids say, "That's not fair?"

Another important life lesson that needs to be learned is to be honest. Think about it...no one trusts or likes a liar.

To earn the light blue Daisy petal, you can combine a story and a craft to get the point across. Most children have heard the tale of the boy who cried wolf. You can read this to them or a different perspective on the tale, The Wolf Who Cried Boy.

This book is cute because the boy is part of a Boy Scout troop. I read this to my own children when they were little.

You can use a wolf template to make a wolf puppet.

I wrote a new article with much more detail on how to earn the light blue Daisy petal, honest and fair.

Free Card from Cardstore.com Today Through Sunday!

2012-01-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Choose from any one of the thousands of cards available on Cardstore.com. Pick a Thank You Card, Photo Birthday Card or plan ahead for Valentine's Day. Get this offer up fast because we are limited to 10,000 Free Cards per day. Offer expires Sunday, January 15th, 2012.

Get a Valentine's Day card for your favorite Girl Scout!

Note: Capacity was reached by 11:45 on Thursday, so today before Sunday's allotment is out! The offer begins at 9:00 am!

Click below to get yours!

Click here for a Free Card from Cardstore.com. Exp 1/15/12. Valid in US and Canada only. Includes Free Shipping. Limit 10k orders per day

Free Card from Cardstore.com Today Through Sunday!

2012-01-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

Note: Capacity was reached by 11:45 on Thursday, so get yours today before Saturday's allotment is out! The offer begins at 9:00 am!

Click below to get yours!

Click here for a Free Card from Cardstore.com. Exp 1/15/12. Valid in US and Canada only. Includes Free Shipping. Limit 10k orders per day

Free Card from Cardstore.com Today Through Sunday!

2012-01-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

Choose from any one of the thousands of cards available on Cardstore.com. Pick a Thank You Card, Photo Birthday Card or plan ahead for Valentine's Day. Get this offer up fast because we are limited to 10,000 Free Cards per day. Offer expires Sunday, January 15th, 2012.

Get your Valentine's card for your favorite Girl Scout!

Note: Capacity was reached by 11:45 on Thursday, so get yours today before Friday's allotment is out! The offer begins at 9:00 am!

Click below to get yours!

Click here for a Free Card from Cardstore.com. Exp 1/15/12. Valid in US and Canada only. Includes Free Shipping. Limit 10k orders per day

Free Card from Cardstore.com Today Through Sunday!

2012-01-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

Do you want to show your favorite Girl Scout how much you love her? Today through Sunday, Cardstore.com is giving away 10,000 free cards each day.

Choose from any one of the thousands of cards available on Cardstore.com. Pick a Thank You Card, Photo Birthday Card or plan ahead for Valentine's Day.

Get this offer up fast because we are limited to 10,000 Free Cards per day. Offer expires Sunday, January 15th, 2012.

Note: Capacity was reached by 11:45 today! You can still try tomorrow!

Click below to get yours!

Girl Scout Scrapbooking Supplies

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this new Girl Scout scrapbooking supply I just discovered.

These glitter rub-ons has 506 acid and lignin free high quality cardstock die-cuts for only $5.22!

That's a lot of pieces for a little price! Even if you do not scrapbook, think of the crafts you can do with these pieces!

When you order it, be sure to save your receipt so you can get reimbursed by your troop's dues.

Girl Scout World Thinking Day 2012 -Start Planning Now!

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Every year on February 22nd, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world celebrate World Thinking Day. It is a day to reflect and think about other scouts around the world. This date was chosen because it is the mutual birthday of Robert Baden-Powel and his wife, Olave. Baden-Powel was the founder of boy scouting and guiding back in the early 1900’s in England.

The official Girl Scouts and Girl Guide World Thinking Day was established in 1926. Troops are supposed to put their thoughts into actions with various activities and think about their sister scouts around the world.

Each year there is a special theme for World Thinking Day. For 2012, it is “We Can Save Our Planet”.

The Girl Scout website has a very detailed list of activities that you can do with your girls at every level, from Daisies to Ambassadors. Check it out here and find something that would work for you!

If you want to learn more about World Thinking Day, you can check out the World Thinking Day website. They have more ideas and information for you.

I also found this website, The Postcard Exchange, that has troops from around the world exchanging postcards with each other.

If you are planning on doing a World Thinking Day activity with your Girl Scout troop, be sure to order or buy your patches in advance. They sell out fast!

My First Guest Post! How Girl Scout Troop 3763 Earned The Bronze Award, Part 2

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the second part of Troop 3763's activities to earn the Bronze Award.

How We Earned Our Bronze Award, Part II

By the Girl Scouts of Troop 3763

To earn our Bronze Award, we performed a Variety Show at a senior living center. See Part I for details on the beginning phase of our journey.

The girls singing "Loverly"

With date, time, and needs coordinated with the senior living center, we dove into action creating our Variety Show. During our earlier meeting, we learned the residents at the senior living center loved to gather and watch the show, Dancing with the Stars, so we created a skit based on this show. We selected our parts (there were three judges, one snarky, one super friendly, and one in the middle, and there was a host, and two dancing pairs). We wrote our own scripts, and planned our routines.

"Dancing With the Stars skit

Our Variety Show began with the Dancing with the Stars skit, and followed with two solo songs, a violin/cello duet, a piano performance, and a final group song. The show was a hit. The seniors’ excitement began a week before the show when we came to practice staging. On the night of the performance the seniors waited patiently in their seats, thirty minutes before the show was to begin, and they lingered long after the show’s end. The seniors enjoyed the attention as much as they enjoyed the entertainment.

Violin/cello performance of "Arabian Nights"

From this project we learned a lot about ourselves. “We’re good at acting and singing,” said one Girl Scout. “We all have different talents,” said another. We also learned about working together, since we had to cooperate to make the script. We learned we had to speak up if we had an idea or opinion, and to not be afraid to stand firm on our ideas. We shared our talents with each other, teaching each other songs, dance moves, and how to properly bow. We learned about responsibility, since we had to prepare our individual parts and had to practice inside and outside of the Girl Scout meetings. We learned about stage presence, about facing the audience, and speaking more slowly, loudly, and clearly.

One of the announcers of the variety show acts.

We also learned about the management of creating a show such as this. For example, we learned to pay attention to our audience. “We thought of what the seniors liked,” said one Girl Scout, referring to our appealing to the senior’s appreciation for the show Dancing with the Stars. “We chose songs they liked, such as The Trolly Song, and Over the Rainbow,” said another Girl Scout. However, if we had it to do again, we would like to cater to our audience even more. When asked what else we would change if we could go back in time, we all agreed we would practice more. We did an outstanding job, but the show could have had fewer glitches if we had had a little more practice.

A solo song, with the seated Girl Scout acting as a prop.

We had a great experience performing a Variety Show for a senior living center, and we recommend this type of project for other troops looking to earn their Bronze Award, which is the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can achieve. Whichever project your troop chooses for a Bronze Award; check out this handy link from the Girl Scouts of America website which lays out the required steps.

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Ladies, BRAVO! A job well done! Thank you for enriching the lives of others and helping to make the world a better place. I am sure the seniors were talking about your show for several days afterwards.

If any other leaders have any other activities they need to share, just email me at the "Contact Me" email address.

My First Guest Post! How Girl Scout Troop 3763 Earned The Bronze Award

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow Girl Scout leaders!

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from a Girl Scout troop leader in California. Her girls had one more step to earning the Bronze Award...they needed to share what they did. I happily told the leader that she could share it how her girls achieved the award here!

While these girls are Cadettes now, their leader explained this to me in her email that they began as Daisies in the middle of kindergarten, so the fall is really a "catch-up" season. Although they had already bridged from Juniors to Cadettes the previous spring, they had to complete this activity for the Bronze Award in order to officially move on to Cadette activities.

How We Earned Our Bronze Award, Part I

By the Girls Scouts of troop 3763

We began our Bronze Award journey by choosing our troop of eight girls as our team (though there are many options for choosing a project team, including joining with other troops, or even with friends). As a team, we worked through the Junior Journey, It’s Your World—Change It! This journey workbook guided us through community discovery, helped us plan our Bronze Award project, and earned us a tri-circle leadership award patch.

With our eyes opened wide from the journey book, we were assigned to search our community and share our thoughts. We came up with many ideas, but decided by vote to perform a Variety Show at a senior living center. We felt this would be a great way to directly affect our community: “We focused on the seniors in our community who might be lonely, because of this time of year,” said one Girl Scout.

This project involved two steps:

1. Coordinating the project with the senior living center.

2. Creating the Variety Show.

We chose a nearby senior living center and contacted the Director. Our Leader introduced our troop and our plan and purpose, explaining that we were earning a Bronze Award, building leadership skills and a sense of community. Our Leader then scheduled a meeting between the Director and our troop. Before the meeting, we discussed the goals of the meeting. We considered questions to ask to determine the seniors’ needs and interests, and we thought about how we could meet those needs. We also discussed sensitivities regarding the elderly, considering how they are different and how they are the same.

During our meeting with the Director at the senior living center our Leader acted as facilitator, letting us do most of the talking. During this meeting we were introduced to the environment of a senior home, and we gained a sense of the senior community. We set an appointment for the event, examined the stage space, and inquired about equipment like microphones, chairs, and a piano.

With date, time, and needs coordinated with the senior living center, we were ready for the second step, to create and perform our Variety Show. We will share this phase of our journey in Part II of this post series, How We Earned Our Bronze Award.

I will post part two tomorrow!

Learn How to Make a Daisy Mini Korker Hair Bow

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about having a Daisy Girl Scout for a daughter is dressing her up for the meetings. There are some great Girl Scout accessories to jazz up the tunic, vest and sash.

One of my fellow writers on Infobarrel.com is Cosmopinkice. Not only is she a talented writer, she is a master at making hair accessories! She has her own Etsy shop and has created this tutorial on making your own mini korker hair bows for your Daisy Girl Scout.

Read this great tutorial over at her blog Mini Korker Hair Bows.

Target Has Jeans for Girls 50% Off!

2012-01-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year dear leaders!

I wanted to share this bargain with you, although it is not directly related to Girl Scouts, as moms, we all want to save some money.

My daughter's troop uniform consists of jeans, a white shirt and their Brownie vest. I had to make a return to Target today, and I saw girls jeans marked down 50% off! They had all sorts of funky embroidery, peace signs, and color-all of the things tween girls love! They were $7.49!

Enjoy the last day home with the kiddies! Tomorrow I will be getting all of the scrapbook items I bought together so I can have our scrapbooking meeting organized for this Friday.

Staples Clearance for Scrapbooking Needs!

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of the best places for clearance items is Staples. If you go to the back of the store, they have several endcaps of seriously marked down merchandise.

For my perpetual Girl Scout scrapbook project, I was able to score Halloween computer paper reams for $1.50 and $2.50. The more expensive one already had glitter bats, so no need for stickers on those! They even had a special kind of clear view binder for 50 cents!

Next time you venture into Staples, peruse the clearance endcaps. You may be able to find useful items for your troop!

End of Year Sales at Makingfriends.com

2011-12-29T05:14:00.000-08:00

I have often written about one of my favorite websites for Girl Scouts, makingfriends.com. It is full of wonderful printables, crafts and activities.

If you are not on their mailing list, you should be! I received one this morning that had a bunch of special offers I wanted to share with you.

They have two new Badge in a Bags:

Brownie Bug Badge in a Bag -- Free Paint and Brushes until Dec 31st
Junior Flower Badge in a Bag -- Free Glue Set until Dec 31st

Both available in single packs or bulk packed for savings.

Limited Time: All Patches $.75 each
Thinking Day Passports $.89 each

You can still get a free holiday gift for every girl in your troop!
Order one of our new Badge in a Bags (not close outs) and choose a free gift for your girls:

-- Macrame Peace Sign Bracelet
-- Felt Lollipop Cover

Do you have a Girl Scout Journey Leader's Guide you are no longer using? Send it to MakingFriends.com and get $7.50 store credit! As we build our library books, will become available for leaders to borrow for a $5 deposit.

Here's your FREE SHIPPING coupon for our email subscribers:

Get free shipping with your order of $50.00 or more! Just
enter the coupon code DEC2011 in the coupon box when you check
out. Select our $6 shipping option and shipping is completely free!
If you prefer, you can select a faster option and receive $6 towards
that option. Coupon expires Dec. 31, 2011. Everyone still
gets a free gift!. (Offer good for new orders only, cannot be
combined with any other coupon offer.)

Happy shopping!

Girl Scout Bridging from Brownies to Juniors-Get Green Paper Goods Now!

2011-12-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

If your Girl Scout troop is bridging from Brownies to Juniors this spring, head over to Target or Walmart today and stock up on green paper plates, cups, and napkins. I got beautiful green "crystal" cups from Chinet and green plastic plates from Solo, and I used Sunday insert and printable coupons to stack up on more savings to the half price sales. Look for anything else green, like icing, for decorating cookies or cakes.

Happy shopping!

Girl Scout Crafts and Activities-Time to Shop Those Holiday Sales!

2011-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed a happy holiday with your friends and loved ones.

While you are not meeting with your girls this week, you can still get some Girl Scout stuff done. The craft stores are going to be giving away their Chrismas and winter items. This is the time of year I get my red paper for my Valentine's Day pages for our Girl Scout scrapbooks. There will be lots of snowman stickers and snowflakes for our December and January scrapbook pages.

Red and white paper can also be used for any patriotic projects. Green can be used for Saint Patrick's Day projects or something for spring.

Look around the store and think ahead. This is a great way to save your dues money!

If you want to stay inside the house all warm and cozy, you may also want to check out the great deals at Create for Less. Save up to 70% off closeout craft supplies at the CreateForLess Clearance Sale. Quantities are limited - shop today!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kwanza!

2011-12-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

To all of my wonderful Girl Scout leader readers, no matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope it is full of love, joy, peace and blessings.

Enjoy your time off and recharge your batteries for the second half of the scouting year!

Gifts for Girl Scouts-Girl Scout Cookie Flavored Lip Smackers and Lip Gloss!

2011-12-16T06:22:00.000-08:00

I was cruising around Pininterest and discovered that Bonne Belle Lipsmackers came out with a set of Girl Scout cookie flavored lip balms! They are supposed to be sold for five dollars a set in Walmart and Claire's. My Walmart had none, and I will call my Claire's today and see if they have any they can put aside for me.

Picture courtesy of colorandflavorshop.com

If you cannot find it in your stores, you can find it here at the Lipsmacker website. The price is higher, but at least they have it! You can also buy individual flavors if you do not want to purchase an entire set.

They also have Girl Scout cookie lip gloss for older girls.

Picture courtesy of colorandflavorshop.com

This set is a great stocking stuffer for your favorite Girl Scout! Leaders, you can break up the set and give it as a gift to your girls.

Let us know if you have found it in your stores!

Ten Tools for a Successful Girl Scout Leader

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

There are at least ten things that a successful Girl Scout leader needs.

1. A sense of humor

2. A supportive co-leader(s)

3. Parent volunteers

4. A routine for the girls to follow

5. A bag of tricks to fill in unexpected gaps of time

6. A Girl Scout binder with all of the girls' information

7. An up-to-date First Aid kit

8. A network of other Girl Scout leaders to share ideas

9. A "troop box" of materials that you use a meetings, such as arts and crafts

10. Resources, like books and online articles and forums to share ideas.

This article entitled "Ten Things Every Girl Scout Leader Needs to Be Successful" elaborates more on each topic.

What do you think a successful leader needs?

Do You Give Your Girls a Holiday Gift?

2011-12-05T06:00:00.001-08:00

I was wondering if any of you give the girls in your Girl Scout troop a holiday gift. Because the girls in my troop get plenty for the holiday season from their families, I do not give them a present. And from my previous post, you know my feelings about Pollyanna gift exchanges.

Instead, we always do a Girl Scout community service project that focuses on those less fortunate. We have made presents and given food for the homeless who live in our local churches and synagogues during the month of December. This year, we baked cookies for our troop serving overseas. It was fun and messy, and very much worth the effort! I will share more about it in an upcoming post after the holiday season.

If you do give your girls a gift, what do you give them?