Here we go again!

I am getting ready to start my second girl scout troop, another daisy troop, for DD2. DD1 bridged to Brownies and it was such a wonderful successful 2 years.

Here is how I've begun planning out meetings and dues. At our parent meeting I like to hand out parent packets with as much information as possible.

First of all, a calendar of the whole year with the disclaimer that we try our best to stick to it!

1) I figure out which days we will meet on. We will meet every other week. I wrote all these down then checked our school calendar for school holidays.

2) Count up how many meetings we will have and multiply by $3.00 (or however much your dues per meeting will be) This is to cover meeting supplies. I chose $3.00 because that is about how much a fun patch is. We try to give out at least one fun patch per month after our outing. We don't necessarily purchase craft supplies for each meeting, but sometimes we have a more expensive craft... like a bird bath or stepping stones.

3) Go on the girl scout website and look to see what kind of activities they will hold this year that you might want to attend. Girl Scout howl out, Jamboree, Girl scout camp, and anything else that looks fun. :)

4) Since it's not the new year Scouting year yet, there are not a lot of dates out, but I do know the general time frame for cookie season, so I try to gather a page on cookie season. explain how it works and what our goals are. We most definitely will have a parent meeting before cookie season, usually just a day or two before we can begin taking pre-orders. Parents have to sign release forms and have all information before they can take orders so I've found it's best for *me* to have a parent meeting and give all the information out at one time.

5) I print off all release forms and membership forms that parents need to sign.

6) A quick overview of awards earned and insignia placement. As a second part of that I have a printed off list of the cost for the uniform and all other expenses they should anticipate during the year.

7) Snack sign up sheet

8) I explain how our meetings are structured, go over some girl scout rules and general expectations.
I am the sort of person that does not like to go into things blind, so I try to give as much information as possible. I also really like to have things planned ahead and to be clear. My goal is to always be transparent and clear with our parents. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY!

Here is the clip art I'm planning to use this year, I love that it all "matches" and that it is super cute. :)
There are a lot of free printables and she also has an etsy shop you can purchase additional printables from.

Here are a couple links:

Daisy Scrapbook pages
https://www.etsy.com/listing/181004100/daisies-scrapbook-pages-11-unique-pages

Daisy Certificates
https://www.etsy.com/listing/191519460/daisies-certificates-pack-instant?ref=shop_home_active_16

I'll print the certificates on card stock.

Here are a couple free printables too!

A welcome banner:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-BnXMbOyHAtQk5jOWthaFJ1NUk/edit

Supplies Drive note cards
http://fashionablemoms.blogspot.com/2014/03/girl-scouts-free-printable-daisies.html

Name Tags (I'll print this on sticker paper and cut each out!)
http://fashionablemoms.blogspot.com/2014/01/girl-scouts-daisies-name-tags.html

A calendar I will hand out monthly:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-BnXMbOyHAtVUQzcTNGMTVHS1k/edit

Operation Christmas Child

We had our first service project tonight!

The girls each brought 8 items to put in a box to send in a shoe box to Operation Christmas Child.  The boxes are due the second week in November for time to deliver across the world. The girls put the boxes together and then gathered for a group photo to put in each box. I delivered them to our council who was paying for shipping. The girls each received a patch from Operation Christmas Child, though the patches came in January. 

Afterwards we gathered in our circle and I read from the journey book. The girls had a hard time paying attention, and when we were done they had an even harder time answering the questions since you had to write them down. I'm not sure about the writing part (they're kindergartners!) but I did find now (a year later!) that it's best for the girls to read the chapter at home and come to girl scouts to fill in the blanks and do an activity related to the page. 

Lupe the Lupine

Gathering Activity: Coloring the Lupe sheet

We gathered on the carpet and I read the Lupe booklet from the Daisy's Guide to Girl Scouting. We talked about what it means to be fair and what it means to be honest. We acted out the story and then we played duck duck goose.

During our Snack I read the Wolf Who Cried Boy! It was a cute book!

The girls tore up bits of yellow tissue paper and glued them to a cut out of a daisy flower, then they did the same to the stem only with green tissue paper and afterwards we taped their faces in the middle. I WISH I had a picture because they were SO cute!! I got the flowers from Joanne's in the teacher area.

We gathered in our Daisy Circle at the carpet again and handed out awards. The girls received their light blue petal.

I also handed out their first journey, "Welcome to the Daisy Garden", which they put in their bags to take home.

We held hands, said our favorite part about the meeting and spun out.

Investiture Ceremony

Upon arrival girls colored the first picture in a series. I found the picture at Makingfriends.com, which has a lot of great resources. 

When everyone arrived we went to the carpet area where I had set up a small table. I had set 3 candles up and told the girls when we have a ceremony it is to be completely silent. We dimmed the lights, and began our ceremony.

I read the story of Juliette Low. After the story, I called each girl by name and they came forward and received their smocks. I had taken the time to sew on all the troop numbers, council patch, american flag, and pinned on their insignia tab then shook their hands. After everyone had their smocks on we lit the candles and recited the girl scout promise while holding up the girl scout sign. 

Next we went to the table and we made bracelets. Each girl took one color of beads, there were 8 girls so each girl had 8 beads. We then went in a circle and said something about ourselves and handed a bead to each girl and then put it on a string. After everyone had a turn, we tied the two ends together and voila! Bracelets! 

We had snack while I read the Promise Center booklet from the Daisy Guide to Girl Scouting.

Our second craft was making bags to bring for girl scouts. I purchased canvas bags from Hobby Lobby. The girls got to use oil pastels and create a scene and write their name on their bag then my co-leader used wax paper, waxy side down, and ironed the top over. This transfers the wax onto the bag, essentially "sealing" it. 

At the end of the meeting we went back to the carpet, talked about our outing, which was scheduled for the next week, handed out books, and then each girl received their award card with the Blue Daisy Center patch and the Investiture patch.

I found this award card on Girlscoutdaisymom.blogspot.com. They also have some great ideas! I simply printed this on card stock and cut it out then stapled the promise center on and wrote their names, signed it, and added the date.