Getting Started With Your First Two* Girl Scout Brownie Troop Meetings *PLUS tips on What Happens Next? Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta 5601 North Allen Road Mableton, GA 30126 770-702-9100 www.gsgatl.org 1 Knowledge Management 4/13 Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta
1 st MEETING (SAMPLE) Focus: Juliette ( Daisy ) Low YOU WILL NEED: Name tag supplies An attendance roster or poster An ice-breaker or get-acquainted game to play (one is included here) The Brownie Girl s Guide to Girl Scouting A meeting-time chart or agenda, showing the different parts of a troop meeting, written on newsprint or poster board Optional but useful: borrowed copies of the Girl Scout Brownie Journey books for girls to look through. Optional: A sketch map of your meeting place for each girl. Optional: Healthy snacks - check with parents in advance about any allergies. If girls meet right after school, you can make snack time part of your pre-meeting activities. Girls take turns setting up or serving the snack and cleaning up afterwards. Wear your Girl Scout uniform or a Girl Scout polo shirt, if you have it, and a name tag. Meeting Place Set Up: A welcome sign, plus your meeting time chart, display of Girl Scout books, catalog, and uniform components, if you can borrow them. Chairs set up in a circle (or ready for girls to set in a circle) or a carpeted area or rug where girls can sit in a circle. Table or floor work space with paper and crayons A leader at the door to welcome girls. Pre-Meeting (as girls come in) Greet each girl as she comes in have colorful name tag supplies ready and ask each girl to make a name tag. Ask girls to put a check mark or sticker by their name, if you are using an attendance poster Have sheets of paper and crayons at table(s) or on the floor; ask girls to draw a picture of their favorite thing to do. 2
Girls may also want to look at your display, if you have one. Opening Ceremony (ask girls to leave their pictures on the table/work area and join you in a circle by holding hands.) Leader: Welcome to our first Girl Scout Daisy meeting! Before we begin, I want to teach you the Girl Scout Quiet Sign [below]. When a coach wants your attention, she blows a whistle. When a Girl Scout wants your attention, she raises her right hand, high! If I raise my hand like this [demonstrate] and you see it, you stop talking and raise your hand. As other people see our raised hands, they raise their hands and stop talking too. Before you know it, everyone is quiet, the hands come down, and the meeting or activity can start. Let s try it out [let girls practice] This part of the meeting is called the opening [show parts-of-a-troopmeeting chart.] We get together at the beginning of every Girl Scout meeting and do a special activity that shows the meeting has started. Today we re going to play a game called Brownie to Brownie (or any active/team-building game of your choice.) Brownie to Brownie Game (a fun way for girls to build confidence and troop/group spirit.) One leader is the caller. Each girl finds a partner. The caller chants out different body parts that the paired players must match by touching. Example: Caller chants "knee to knee". Partners touch knee to knee. Caller chants "head to head". Partners touch head to head. (Toes, elbows, etc.) When caller chants "Brownie to Brownie, everyone runs to find a new partner, and the chants start again. If there are an odd number of girls, the odd girl out steals a partner when Daisy to Daisy is called. The new odd girl becomes the caller. After game, ask girls to collect their pictures and join you in a circle. 3
Girl Scout Quiet Sign Brownie Circle/Ring (sit in a circle on the floor or in chairs) This part of our meeting is called Brownie Circle or Ring. [Show meeting time chart] This is our special time to share our ideas and plan activities. Since this is our first meeting, we re going to use this time to get to know each other by sharing our pictures. [Go around the circle; ask girls to say their name, show their picture, and tell what their favorite activity is. Have one adult write down the activities for possible activity planning!] Activity Time Safety Tour Let s look at our troop meeting chart it s activity time. Our activity today is to be sure everyone knows where the restrooms and the exits are. We ll talk about safety rules, too. When Girl Scouts go exploring, they always take a buddy. That means a friend who walks with you, stays with you, and looks out for you. When you go to the restroom, you always take a buddy with you. And you always tell an adult where you are going! Assign buddies. Take girls on a short walk to explore their meeting place. If possible, have a simple sketch map of the building/meeting place so girls can follow along as you walk. Be sure everyone knows where the restrooms are and which exits to use in an emergency. Ask girls to find or identify places on the map. Talk about rules for your meeting place, such as no running in the halls, not going into other rooms, etc. which will depend on your meeting place. Juliette Low Story Game [If time is short, use this as your closing activity instead of the Friendship Circle. End the story by saying Good-by Girl Scouts see you next week! ] 4
Leader: Girl Scouts was started in 1912 by a woman named Juliette Gordon Low. Listen closely while I tell you her story, because you re going to make sound effects and do the actions for the story! Whenever I say JULIETTE - you wave and say, Daisy! [practice] If I say GIRL GUIDES/GUIDING or GIRL SCOUTS/SCOUTING - you give the Girl Guide/Girl Scout sign [demonstrate] and say, Be prepared! [practice] And if I say WORLD - you spin around once and say Wheeee! [practice] Remember: Juliette wave and say Daisy ; Girl Guides or Girl Scouts, make the Girl Scout Sign and say Be prepared ; and when I say world, spin around and say whee! STORY: A long time ago, there was a lady from Savannah, Georgia, whose name was JULIETTE GORDON LOW. Her family and friends all Girl Scout/Girl Guide Sign called her Daisy. Daisy was an artist, but she also loved riding horses, putting on plays, and helping others. When JULIETTE grew up and got married, she moved to England, where she learned about GIRL GUIDING from her English friend Lord Baden-Powell [ BAY-den pole ] who had also started the Boy Scouts. JULIETTE Low became a GIRL GUIDE leader in Scotland and in London. She had so much fun, she wanted to tell the girls in Savannah and all of America and all the WORLD, about GIRL GUIDING! JULIETTE started her first troop in America on March 12, 1912, with 18 girls but soon there were thousands of members! American girls decided they wanted to be called GIRL SCOUTS and JULIETTE agreed - but even with different a name, GIRL SCOUTS are still part of the same WORLD family. JULIETTE Low thought GIRL SCOUTING and GUIDING was such a fine thing, she wanted to see troops all over the WORLD. She knew GUIDING AND SCOUTING would help girls from different countries become friends and would help build WORLD peace and understanding. So aren t you glad that 5
[speed up here] JULIETTE Low from Savannah, Georgia, who was an artist and loved the outdoors, went to England and met Lord Baden-Powell, learned about the GIRL GUIDES, and came home to start the GIRL SCOUTS in Savannah, Georgia in 1912! Safety Note: find out ahead of time if girls will walk home, be picked up by a parent or other approved person, ride a bus or be in a carpool. Ask parents to put in writing who may and may not pick up their daughter, and do not release them to anyone else without permission from the custodial parent(s) or guardian(s). Closing Circle If parents are waiting at the door, invite them to come in and stand by their daughter and join in the closing activity. Girl Scouts like to end their meetings with a Friendship Circle [see below]. It reminds us of our circle of Girl Scout friends all around the world. Each person crosses her right arm over her left and holds hands with her friends on both sides like this [demonstrate]. Find your right hand now hold your right arm out in front of you now hold out your left arm cross your right arm over your left and hold hands with the girls next to you. [Check to be sure everyone is right over left.] I m going to use my right hand to gently squeeze the hand of the person next to me; that s called the friendship squeeze. She ll gently squeeze the hand of the girl next to her hand to pass the Friendship Squeeze on. The Friendship Squeeze should go all around the circle and come back to me. [When the squeeze comes back around the circle]: Good bye Girl Scouts see you next week! [If you like, turn the circle inside out then release hands.] 6
Friendship Circle Leadership Team Meeting Review What is a troop Leadership Team? It is made up of the adult troop leaders and helpers plus any older Girl Scout mentors (Junior and up.) After each meeting, take a few minutes to evaluate what happened good and bad and review your plans for the next week. Be sure everyone knows what she is responsible for or she will be doing. This includes between-the-meeting responsibilities such as parent e-mails or phone calls. For example, if you were expecting a girl and she did not show up at the meeting, someone on the Leadership Team should give her family a call. Your meeting notes: 7
2 ND MEETING (SAMPLE) Focus: The Girl Scout Promise YOU WILL NEED: Bean bags, Nerf balls, or crumpled up newspaper balls, and containers for girls to throw them into (for Pre-Meeting activity) Sample Kaper Chart Newsprint and markers The Girl Scout Promise written on newsprint or poster board The Daisy Girl s Guide to Girl Scouting Twine/string/lacing cut in lengths one per girl 5 different-colored beads (pony beads or larger) for each girl. Pre-Meeting (as girls come in) Meet and greet girls; involve them in room set up and meeting preps, or Beanbag Toss: set up boxes, bins, bags, or whatever containers you have, for girls to toss bean bags (Nerf balls, crumpled paper balls) into. Girls stand beside a chair or behind a line (jump rope, ruler, other marker) and toss for accuracy. A girl gets three tries then passes the beanbags to the next girl. Opening Bring girls into a circle and teach Girl Scouts Lead the Way (tune: The ABC Song) Girl Scout Brownies lead the way, See us work and see us play. We can camp and we can sing, We can do most anything. We have fun and help each day, Girl Scout Brownies, here to stay! Business/Planning Circle Show a sample or blank Kaper Chart* and explain what it is, and how Girl Scouts use them to divide up jobs. Ask girls to suggest troop 8
meeting jobs while another adult or teen Girl Scout records their ideas. Tell girls the troop leadership team will look at all their ideas and bring the filled- *To see more kaper and kaper chart ideas, download a copy of Getting Started With Kapers and Kaper Charts at https://www.gsgatl.org/getinvolved/volunteer-resource-library/pages/default.aspx. Activity Time (Optional Resource: page 2 of the Brownie Girl s Guide to Girl Scouting) Leader: Did you know that the most important part of becoming a Girl Scout Brownie is making the Girl Scout Promise? The Girl Scout Promise is the way Girl Scouts promise to act every day. It says: [show page in Guide] On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law. Every Girl Scout makes the Girl Scout Promise. It s the center of everything we do in Girl Scouts. Do you know what it means to make a promise? [Give girls a chance to respond] It means that you do what you say you will do. When you know the Promise and are ready to keep it, we ll have a special ceremony where you receive your Girl Scout Brownie pin. We re going to start learning the Girl Scout Promise today, and you can practice at home, too. The Girl Scout Promise has three parts: serving God and your country, helping other people, and living by the Girl Scout Law. When we say the Promise we make the Girl Scout sign. [Demonstrate see picture below] The three fingers help us remember the three parts of our Promise. Let s all practice making the Girl Scout sign. The Girl Scout Sign 9
Leader: Today we are going to use beads to help us learn the Girl Scout Promise. We are going to make a Girl Scout Promise bracelet. [Give out twine or lacing] 1. The Girl Scout Promise begins, On my honor Do you know what it means to promise something on your honor? [It means people can trust you to keep your word, to do what you say you will do.] Here is your first bead. It will help you remember that when you make the Girl Scout Promise, you are promising on your honor. 2. The Girl Scout Promise says, I will try. It s not always easy to keep our Promise; you have to work hard! But a Girl Scout doesn t give up she keeps trying! Your second bead will help you remember to always try to keep your Promise. 3. Girl Scouts promise, on their honor, to try and serve God and their country. Your family or your religious leaders will help you learn about your faith or religion so you can serve God in the best way you know. Girl Scouts also respect the beliefs of people whose religion may be different from theirs. Your third bead will help you remember your promise to serve God. 4. You serve your country by being a good citizen at home, at school, and in your neighborhood. You obey laws. You show respect for the flag. You work hard to make America the best country it can be. Our fourth bead will help you remember to serve your country. 5. Girl Scouts promise to help people at all times. Sometimes you help in small ways, like holding a door open for another person. Sometimes you help in big ways, like cleaning up a park or collecting food for the hungry. Your fifth bead reminds you that a Girl Scout helps wherever she is needed. 6. You promise to live by the Girl Scout Law. [Show Law on page 2] Laws are made to help people get along together and to do the right thing. The Girl Scout Law tells Girl Scouts how to act toward other people and their world. Your sixth bead reminds you to follow the Girl Scout Law every day in all you say and do. Each part of the Girl Scout Promise is important, but when we put all the parts together it makes a strong Promise! When we work together as a team, our group becomes stronger and we get more done. With the help of our friends, we re going to tie the ends of our string together and make a strong bracelet. Ask a Girl Scout friend to tie your bracelet on your left wrist. [Keep an eye out for anyone who may need help] 10
Cleanup (by girls) of craft supplies; get room ready for closing (involve girls) Closing: Let s make a circle. Look at your Promise Bracelet: the beads help us remember the Girl Scout Promise. When you wear your bracelet, it will remind you that a Girl Scout promises on her honor to serve God and her country, to help other people, and to live by the Girl Scout Law. For our closing today, I m going to say one line of the Girl Scout Promise while you listen then you re going to say the line back to me, like an echo! First, let s make the Girl Scout Sign with our right hand. [Do listen-and-repeat version of the Promise.] Good-bye Brownies see you next week! Leadership Team Review Did all/most/some of the girls grasp the concept of the Promise? If not, what can you do next week to clarify or explain differently? Was the braceletmaking about right for their skill level? Too hard? Too easy? (This will help you plan for future activities.) Decide on the kapers for the Kaper Chart and who on the team will make it. (Does she have all the materials she will need?) Decide how you will display the Kaper Chart next week so that girls can see it and start learning about their kapers during the pre-meeting time. 11
What happens next? It s up to you and the girls! For more about what happens at troop meetings, visit the online Volunteer Resource Library [https://www.gsgatl.org/getinvolved/volunteer-resource-library/pages/default.aspx] to read or download Getting Started With Troop Meetings (Girl Scout Daisy.) For more games and activities to help girls learn and reflect on the Promise and Law, visit the online Volunteer Resource Library [https://www.gsgatl.org/get-involved/volunteer-resourcelibrary/pages/default.aspx]to read or download Getting Started With the Girl Scout Promise and Law. (Girl Scout Daisy and Brownie.) Build troop meetings around the Daisy Girl s Guide to Girl Scouting: - Learning the Girl Scout Promise and earning the Promise Center - Learning more about Juliette Low - Learning the special Girl Scout signs (you might use them in a game of Simon Says ) and the Daisy uniform and where things go (you might use a memory game or Pin the Patch on the Tunic/Vest if you have your own daughter s to use in a game.) - Introduce the Flower Friends and begin earning Petals. Build Troop Meetings around a Girl Scout Daisy Leadership Journey and its awards: - Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden is perfect for brand new troops, with lots of Girl Scout traditions and community involvement. - Between Earth and Sky will get you outdoors, with hands-on science and nature fun (environmental awareness.) - 5 Flowers, 4 Stories, 3 Cheers for Animals! Stories and creativity help girls build their confidence as they learn to take care of animals and take care of themselves. To learn more about the Girl Scout Investiture Ceremony (and how to help girls plan one!) visit the online Volunteer Resource Library [https://www.gsgatl.org/get-involved/volunteer-resourcelibrary/pages/default.aspx] to read or download Getting Started With Your Investiture Ceremony (Girl Scout Daisy.) Take advantage of the fall Girl Scout Chocolates and Magazine Program as a way for girls to start earning money for their troop activities and for parents/guardians to become more involved in the troop! This is also a great time for girls to earn the Money Counts Leaf (badge) which can be a prep for the Girl Scout Cookie Program. 12