24
Girl Scout Brownies It’s Your Journey Choose It! First Four Meetings
Girl Scout Brownies
It’s Your Journey Choose It!
First Four Meetings
Congratulations on deciding to become a Girl Scout Troop Leader! As you’ve probably heard
in your training already, the Girl Scout National Program Portfolio helps girls build leadership
skills they can use to help make the world a better place. We hope that you find this guide
helpful in getting started.
Inside is an overview of four meetings you can use as you begin to meet with your troop.
We encourage you to read through it before you begin. The sessions are designed to offer
girls a sample of the themes of each Journey series. Then the girls choose which series they
want to start using with the troop, all while promoting a girl-led, cooperative and learning
by doing environment.
Like the sample sessions offered in the Journey Adult Guides, these are just a sample of
what your troop can do. You can substitute other activities to meet the needs of the troop.
Some of these specific troop needs might be based on the size of your group, your meeting
space, and the girls’ interests. Local volunteers such as your Mentor, Service Unit Manager
or other troop leaders can help give ideas and tips for working with girls.
If your troop is getting started
near one of the Council’s product
sales (Cookies or Magazines &
Munchies), you will receive
information and activities to
prepare your girls. These
activities will help the girls
develop the skills they’ll need for
successful sales. Learning by
earning is one of the many ways
girls use the Girl Scout Leadership
Experience to build self-
confidence and leadership skills.
Goal: In this session, girls will be introduced to the It’s Your World Change It Journey. Girl Scout Brownies discover and give voice to their special qualities and appreciate the qualities of their sister Brownies.
Today’s Meeting Includes the Following Activities:
Girl Scout Promise Practice Helper Ball Toss: Brownies introduce themselves and name their special skills Girl Scout Law Scavenger Hunt: Brownies will go on a hunt to discover the
parts of the Girl Scout Law
Materials: Girl Scout Promise Practice Helper sheets,
one per girl(see attached for instructions) Markers, crayons or colored pencils Light ball or bean bag
Scissors Glue Optional: Healthy snack Clues for the Search, see instructions below.
As Girls Arrive: It’s important to always have a quiet activity for the girls to do while they wait for the meetings to start. For this meeting, as girls arrive, invite them to sit at the table and work on the Girl Scout Promise Practice Helper. If you have extra parents on hand at this meeting, this is good time to ask them to assist the girls with this project while you greet the girls and parents as they arrive.
Setting up the Search: Write out each of the 10 values of the Girl Scout Law on a sheet of paper and cut into strips. I will do my best to be honest and fair, Friendly and helpful, Considerate and caring, Courageous and strong, And responsible for what I say and do, And to respect myself and others, Respect authority, Use resources wisely, Make the world a better place, And be a sister to every Girl Scout. If you have time, roll up each of the strips like a scroll and tie it with a ribbon, or put each card in a small cup or baggie. A very special part of this session is the search for the values of the Girl Scout Law. You can make this part of the meeting as elaborate as time and resources allow. What matters is providing the girls with the physical opportunity to search. Use your meeting space creatively: Think about how and where you can create a short and fun search for the girls. You or a helper could arrive a few minutes early to hide the clues. Or perhaps a helper can occupy the girls with music or singing.
Opening Ceremony: Bring the girls together in a circle. Go around the circle and ask each girl to say her name and something she likes to do. Once the girls have introduced themselves to each other, introduce the girls to Girl Scouts. Practice making the Girl Scout sign. Ask them to say it aloud with you, reading it one line at a time and having them repeat it after you. Explain that the Girl Scout Law tells all the good ways that Girl Scouts treat one
It’s Your Journey Choose It
Brownie First Four Meetings SESSION 1
another and the world, being kind and considerate, friendly and helpful, caring and thoughtful. Let them know that the law is an important part of Girl Scouting that they will learn throughout their time as Girl Scout Brownies.
Business: This is also a good time to talk about any product sales activities, field trip ideas or other info the group needs to discuss or make decisions about. Let the girls know that they will discuss business at every meeting, as they work together to choose what they will do and when they will do it!
Ball Toss: In this game, girls discover and name some of their special talents or qualities, and then discover and appreciate what other girls bring to the Brownie Circle. Plus they can release a little energy!
You can say something like this: When we join in a Brownie Circle, we’re making connections with millions of girls all over the world standing in Brownie Circles just like this one. Imagine 500,000 girls doing this same thing- you ar part of this amazing sisterhood!
Today we are going to learn about the Brownie Quest Journey. A Journey is a special activity that Girl Scouts do together to discover, connect and take action to make the world a better place. The first step is to discover all the skills and talents and qualities each of us bring on our journey. So, as we toss the ball around our circle, say your name, and one special skill, or talent or quality that you can bring into our Brownie Circle.
I’ll start: My name is: ________ and I have a lot of energy, so I never give up!
As the girls toss the ball around, encourage them to describe their qualities and talents. If they get stuck, ask them questions such as “What are you good at” “What you like to do” “Tell me something that is important to you”
When everyone has had a few turns tossing and catching, wind down by summarizing the qualities and talents the girls bring to the Brownie Circle.
Going ELF; The Search to Discover the Values of the Girl Scout Law: In this activity the girls deepen their awareness of the Girl Scout Law by searching for, discovering and then talking about the Law’s values. With the search, the girls also being the tradition of ELF (Explore, Link Arms, and Fly into Action). See attached for instructions.
Optional: Snack
Some troops like to have snack time to give the girls some energy and time to chat. This will depend on your group, when you meet, and the rules of the space you’re using. Use your kaper chart to help select helpers to pass out snack, napkins, and anything else you’ll need. When it’s time to clean up, use the kaper chart to select helpers to help with clean up. Everyone should help clean up, but the clean-up helpers remind everyone that “A Girl Scout always leaves a place better than she found it.”
Closing: Friendship Squeeze
Ask the girls to join together in the Brownie Circle. Explain that they will now join hands for a special closing to their time together. Explain that in a Friendship Circle, everyone gathers in a circle where they cross their right arm over their left in front of them and hold hands with the girls on either side. Once everyone is silent, one girl starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the person to her left. One by one, moving clockwise, each girl passes on the squeeze until it travels all the way around the circle. Finally, thank the girls for a great first Girl Scout Brownie gathering. Let them know that you really look forward to their next time together.
Girl Scout Promise Practice Helper:
Materials needed: construction paper, scissors, glue
Take home to practice making the Girl Scout promise and sign!
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
1. Have girls work with a partner to trace their right hand on construction paper.
2. Girls cut out their traced hand 3. Cut out promise square 4. Glue promise square to palm of hand 5. Glue pinky and thumb down to form Girl Scout sign
Going ELF:
Introduce the search by saying something like this: Now it’s time for our second step! There are some important clues hidden all around this area. (Add a description such as “they are all tied with a red ribbon”). You have to find the clues and put them together to discover what they mean. But, before you start searching, you need to know about an important tradition for Girl Scout Brownies – and that’s ELF. What does that stand for? Explore, Link Arms, and Fly into Action!
Have the girls pair up in twos or threes depending on the size of your group. When everyone has a buddy, tell the girls, Ready, ok, let’s start! As the girls move about, give special “Fly into Action” instructions like skip around with your arms linked while you search, hop around and keep hopping even if you are picking up a clue, flap your free arm, pretend you are flying!
When all the clues have been found, ask the girls to unlink and return to the Brownie Circle. Ask the buddy groups to share their clues so that every girl has one clue in her hand. Or, in larger groups, every team can share a clue. In smaller groups, Brownie helpers can step in to hold clues.
Tell the girls, Now, I am going to call on you based on the clue number you found, ask the girls to come forward to link arms, starting with number 1 and going through to number 10. If the girls are sharing a clue, they can all link arms with together with the group that read before them, and so on until all the girls end up in one big chain. Now you can ask each girl to read her clue aloud, starting with number 1. Work your way up so that the entire Girl Scout Law is read aloud. Then ask the girls, what do all these clues add up to? The Girl Scout Law! (The girls may answer or you may need to tell them).
Goal: In this session, girls will be introduced to the It’s Your Planet Love It Journey. Girl Scout Brownies begin to express what they love about water and start to understand and experience water’s importance in the world.
Today’s Meeting Includes the Following Activities:
Favorite Water Activities Thinking About Water Around the World Making Rainbows Water Painting
Materials: Water Wisdom Survey Sheets Small stickers, bingo daubers, markers, or
crayons Light ball or bean bag Optional: Water filled food snack such as
fruit or veggies
Cooking pot, wash cloth, tooth brush If meeting is in daytime; a glass of water and
white paper. If meeting is in the evening, a mirror, a glass of water, a shallow bowl, and a flashlight
Water color paints and brushes Water color paper
In Advance: Prepare the Water Wisdom Survey by cutting the Water Wisdom Survey slips(see attached), and mounting them on a poster or other large paper.
As Girls Arrive: It’s important to always have a quiet activity for the girls to do while they wait for the meetings to start. For this meeting, as girls arrive, invite them read over the Water Wisdom Survey sheets. They can use a sticker, bingo dauber, marker or crayon to vote for their answer. If you have extra parents on hand at this meeting, this is good time to ask them to assist the girls with this project while you greet the girls and parents as they arrive.
Setting up the Water Wisdom Survey: The focus this session is on water, how we use it, where it comes from and how it’s part of our everyday life. Hang the sheets you made in advance on a wall. Set out some stickers, bingo daubers(a water based tool!), or crayons. The girls should read the question, and then mark the page that is their answer. If they have another idea, they can add it to the last sheet. You or a helper could arrive a few minutes early to hang the sheets. Or perhaps a helper can occupy the girls with music or singing.
Opening Ceremony: Bring the girls together in a circle. Go around the circle and ask each girl to say her name and her favorite water activity. You can start by naming your favorite water activity, whether it’s drinking a cool glass of water on a hot day or ice skating on a frozen pond in the winter. You can add some fun by using a light ball or bean bag to toss to each person as they have their turn.
Once the girls have introduced themselves to each other, introduce the girls to Girl Scouts. Practice making the Girl Scout sign. Ask them to say it aloud with you, reading it one line at a time and having them repeat it after you. Explain that the Girl Scout Law tells all the good ways that Girl Scouts treat one another and the world, being kind
It’s Your Journey Choose It
Brownie First Four Meetings
SESSION 2
and considerate, friendly and helpful, caring and thoughtful. Let them know that the law is an important part of Girl Scouting that they will learn throughout their time as Girl Scout Brownies.
Business: This is also a good time to talk about any product sales activities, field trip ideas or other info the group needs to discuss or make decisions about. Then, talk about the activity the girls did while they were waiting for everyone to get here tonight. Let the girls know that 30 drops a minute can add up to more than 2 gallons of water wasted each day. Leaks are some of the biggest wasters at home. Review the ideas the girls added and discuss as a group whether or not they would help make a difference, ask for suggestions from the girls on how to improve them.
Thinking About Water Around the World: Next begin a discussion about how important water is to all the activities the girls talked about. You might say “Those of you who said that swimming is your favorite activity; How would you feel if there wasn’t enough water to fill any pools or lakes for you to swim in?” Give the girls plenty of time to answer.
Let the girls know that the way they experience water isn’t the way everyone in the world experiences water. In some parts of the world, people don’t have a lot of water. They don’t have water flowing from a faucet any time they want it. Then ask “What can we do that will help conserve water for others?” If we can do those things, we can help to make sure there is enough water for everyone.
Making Rainbows: See attached sheet for instructions. To introduce this unique phenomenon of light and water, invite the girls to describe any rainbows they have seen.
Water Painting: Invite the girls to create a water inspired drawing to reflect on what they’ve learned today.
Optional: Snack Some troops like to have snack time to give the girls some energy and time to chat. This will depend on your group, when you meet, and the rules of the space you’re using. Use your kaper chart to help select helpers to pass out snack, napkins, and anything else you’ll need. When it’s time to clean up, use the kaper chart to select helpers to help with clean up. Everyone should help clean up, but the clean-up helpers remind everyone that “A Girl Scout always leaves a place better than she found it.”
Closing: Friendship Squeeze
Ask the girls to join together in the Brownie Circle. Explain that they will now join hands for a special closing to their time together. Explain that in a Friendship Circle, everyone gathers in a circle where they cross their right arm over their left in front of them and hold hands with the girls on either side. Once everyone is silent, one girl starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the person to her left. One by one, moving clockwise, each girl passes on the squeeze until it travels all the way around the circle.
Before ending, let the girls that at the next meeting you’ll be talking about and thinking about stories, so invite the girls to bring in their favorite book to share with the group.
Finally, thank the girls for another great Girl Scout Brownie gathering. Let them know that you really look forward to their next time together.
Making Rainbows!
You might say “Do you remember a time when you saw a rainbow? What was the weather like? As each girl tells her story, guide the group to see what their stories have in common. Ask the group “Is there anything that all these rainbow stories have? Is it something that we’ve been talking about? (Answer: Water! And light! Rainbow stories all have water and light, even if the water comes from a garden hose or sits in a puddle and the light comes from a flashlight.)
Explain that there are ways to make a rainbow indoors and that’s what they are about to do!
Method 1: If your meeting room gets sunlight:
Fill a glass or glass vase with water. Place the glass on a table in front of a sunny window. Invite one of the girls to place a sheet of white paper on the floor in front of the table and window. Ask the girls to arrange themselves on both sides of the paper without blocking the light from the window. If no rainbow appears, invite the girls to assist you in adjusting the glass and paper until a rainbow is
visible.
Method 2: If your meeting room has white walls and can be darkened:
Place a mirror inside a full glass of water. Place the glass either on the floor or on a low table. Ask the girls to stand around the glass. Invite them to take turns shining a flashlight into the water, moving it around until a rainbow can be
viewed.
Method 3:
Fill a shallow pan with water until it is three-quarters full. Place a mirror at the pan’s edge. Invite each girl to shine the flashlight directly into the mirror, while another girl positions a sheet of white
paper so the reflection of the light shines on it. (You can advise them to move the piece of paper until it “captures” the light. You may also need to adjust the mirror until the girls can see the watery reflection on the paper).
Regardless of which method you use; Invite the girls to look closely at the edge of the reflection and describe what they see.(They should be able to see all the colors of the rainbow). Invite them to explain what is happening. Here’s the science behind rainbows: When light travels in a straight line, it is known as white or clear light. When light is bent by water or water vapor, it breaks into the seven colors of the rainbow. The colors always appear in the same order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Water Wisdom Survey Slips
You notice the bathroom faucet is dripping. What do you do?
Put a pan under the faucet and use the water to fill your dog’s bowl.
Observe the drops. If there aren’t that many, don’t
worry about it.
Tell your parents so they can get it fixed, and put a pan under the faucet
and use the water to fill your dog’s bowl until the faucet is fixed.
Another idea:
Goal: In this session, girls will be introduced to the It’s Your Story Tell It Journey. Girl Scout Brownies use their growing awareness about all stories that can teach us to explore how they can create new stories through their actions.
Today’s Meeting Includes the Following Activities:
Favorite stories Circle Round a Story Story Relay Make your own story book
Materials: Travel books, magazines, etc.
Index cards
Small stickers, markers, or crayons
Optional: healthy snack
Make your own story book sheet, one per girl
Make your own clip art sheet, one per girl Scissors Glue sticks
In Advance: Prepare Story Relay game with index cards and markers according to instructions, see attached.
As Girls Arrive: It’s important to always have a quiet activity for the girls to do while they wait for the meetings to start. For this meeting, as girls arrive, invite them look through the books on the table. Girls can read to a partner or alone, or just look at the pictures!
Opening Ceremony: Bring the girls together in a circle. Go around the circle and ask each girl to say her name, her favorite character from a story and why she likes that character. You can start by naming your favorite character, such as Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie, because she had determination and stood up for what she believed in. You can add some fun by using a light ball or bean bag to toss to each person as they have their turn.
Once the girls have introduced themselves to each other, introduce the girls to Girl Scouts. Practice making the Girl Scout sign. Ask them to say it aloud with you, reading it one line at a time and having them repeat it after you. Explain that the Girl Scout Law tells all the good ways that Girl Scouts treat one another and the world, being kind and considerate, friendly and helpful, caring and thoughtful. Let them know that the law is an important part of Girl Scouting that they will learn throughout their time as Girl Scout Brownies.
It’s Your Journey Choose It
Brownie First Four Meetings
SESSION 3
Business: This is a good time to talk about any product sales activities, field trip ideas or other info the group needs to discuss or make decisions about. Let the girls know that they will discuss business at every meeting, as they work together to choose what they will do and when they will do it!
Circle Round a Story: Next continue the discussion about stories. Ask the girls “What makes something a story?” (possible answers include “interesting characters” and “lots of things happen.”) Get the girls talking about how stories are all around them. You might mention the fun of gadgets having stories or favorite objects having stories(like when we bring home a souvenir from a trip, or find a seashell at the beach). Guide the girls to see that stories usually have a beginning, a middle and an end, and a challenge that the characters have to overcome.
Two Story Relays: See attached for instructions.
Create Your Own Story Book: Give each girl one of the create your own book sheets. Follow the instructions printed on the back to fold and create the book. The girls can use the picture sheets to cut out and glue pictures to their story book or draw their own. If there is time, girls can volunteer to share their creations.
Optional: Snack Some troops like to have snack time to give the girls some energy and time to chat. This will depend on your group, when you meet, allergies and the rules of the space you’re using. Use your kaper chart to help select helpers to pass out snack, napkins, and anything else you’ll need. When it’s time to clean up, use the kaper chart to select helpers to help with clean up. Everyone should help clean up, but the clean-up helpers remind everyone that “A Girl Scout always leaves a place better than she found it.”
Closing: Friendship Squeeze
Ask the girls to join together in the Brownie Circle. Explain that they will now join hands for a special closing to their time together. Explain that in a Friendship Circle, everyone gathers in a circle where they cross their right arm over their left in front of them and hold hands with the girls on either side. Once everyone is silent, one girl starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the person to her left. One by one, moving clockwise, each girl passes on the squeeze until it travels all the way around the circle.Finally, thank the girls for another great Girl Scout Brownie gathering. Let them know that you really look forward to their next time together.
Two Story Relays
Prepare Games cards in advance: Use index cards and markers to draw out the game pieces with the following:
For Relay 1- write the words from each part of the Girl Scout Promise on an index card: 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. For Relay 2- write these words onto an index to help form a story: Once, Upon, A, Time, A, Group, Of, Brownies, Found, An, Old, Witch, When, By, Cabin, Went, Bon, A, Hike, Made, Met, New, Friends, Was, In, The, Woods, They, Asked, Where, Saw, Deer, Fox, Waterfall, Built, Fort, Finally, Got, Back, Home, Adventure, The, Trail, Gave, It, To, The, Woman, Her, She, Smiled, They, Wearing, Swam, In, Pond, Felt, Good, At, The, End, Of, The, Day, Ran, Jumped, In, Hat, Shoes, Purple, Golden, Cold, The, Beautiful, Mysterious, And Begin the Game: Next we’re going to play some story games. To start have the story relay sheets cut out or two sets of hand written cards, with a word on phrase on each card. Have a table at one end of the room and a cleared space for running. Relay 1
Ask the girls to form two teams Distribute the sets of cards to each team, one card per girl, and ask them not to show their cards to
anyone. At Go! The first girl in line runs to the table, places her card word side up, runs back, and tags the
next girl. With every new card that gets laid down, the next girl can see how the Girl Scout Promise is
forming. Each girl gets one minute to try to complete one line of the Promise; then she runs back to tag the next girl. If a girl can’t see a solution to make a line or is stumped, she must pass and run back and tag the next girl. The team that gets the words in the right order firms wins.
Relay 2
In this relay, the girls try to create a story from a set of words- any story that makes sense!
Form the girls into two teams and explain these instructions:
This time, the girls run to the table one at a time and draw two cards from the shuffled deck. The first girl places her two words on the table and then runs back, tags the second girl, who runs
to the table, chooses two cards and has 15 seconds to place her words with the first two words to start creating a logical story.
The relay continues with each girl running to the table, choosing two cards from the deck, and working to arrange the laid out cards and her cards into a logical story. She can either add to the sentence that is forming on the table, or rearrange it to create something else.
The relay continues until each girl on the team has had at least two turns at choosing cards and building the story.
Then, call “time” and ask the girls to read the stories aloud. Get the girls talking about what was hard and what was easy about putting a story together?
Goal: In this session, girls will choose the journey they want to work on first. Girl Scout Brownies discover what they care about and team up for a great adventure!
Today’s Meeting Includes the Following Activities:
• Stamp of Approval • Tally Up the Votes! • Leaders Like You
Materials: • Journey Quiz(one per girl)
• Small stickers, markers, or crayons
• Voting Ballots(see attached) • Optional: Snack
As Girls Arrive: It’s important to always have a quiet activity for the girls to do while they wait for the meetings to start. For this meeting, as girls arrive, invite them to read through and complete the Journey Quiz. Let them know that this is not a quiz they will be graded on, but a quiz that gets them to think about what they like and what they want to do in Girl Scouts. If you have extra adult helpers, this might be a good opportunity to have them work with the girls while you talk to parents or set up for the meeting.
Setting up the Voting Station: Hang the vote sheets on the walls low enough that the girls can see them. Place stickers or markers nearby. You or a helper could arrive a few minutes early to get this station ready. Or perhaps a helper can occupy the girls with music or singing.
Opening Ceremony: Start the discussion by inviting the girls to say the Girl Scout Promise together. You might tell the girls, “Before we begin to talk about and choose our journey, let’s start our meeting with the Girl Scout Promise just like we have been doing at our meetings.”
Talk to the girls about all the fun things they’ve done together so far in Girl Scouts. Allow each girl to talk about something that they’ve done so far in your meetings or something they hope to do with the group.
Business: This is a good time to talk about any product sales activities, field trip ideas or other info the group needs to discuss or make decisions about. Let the girls know that they will discuss business at every meeting, as they work together to choose what they will do and when they will do it!
Investiture: Your first order of business for this meeting is to talk about and plan your troop investiture ceremony. An investiture is when new members say the promise and commit themselves to the Girl Scout Movement. There are no formal requirements for this ceremony, but it typically includes an opening, the group recites the promise and the girls receive their Daisy Girl Scout pin. Often family and friends are invited to share in this special tradition.
Here are some tips for working with the girls to plan a ceremony:
It’s Your Journey Choose It
Brownie First Four Meetings
SESSION 4
1. Devote sufficient time to planning the ceremony. Good ceremonies have a clear purpose and enrich the meaning and mood of the ceremony.
2. Use Journey adult guides and The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting to help girls plan their ceremonies.
3. Take safety precautions when using candles or fires, or when the girls construct bridges or platforms. Refer to Volunteer Essentials and the Safety Activity Checkpoints (available through your council) for specific advice.
4. Add personal elements to traditional ceremonies. Use favorite poems, songs, stories, and sayings, or have the girls write something new.
5. Consider the role of colors and symbols that the girls might use in their ceremony. 6. Observe flag etiquette when the girls hold flag ceremonies.
When working with girls at this age level, you might find that you need to decide most of the logistics but with your help the girls can make decisions about whether to offer refreshments, choosing a song or poem, or displaying some of their work. Once you know when and where the ceremony will be, and what support you will need, be sure to share that information with troop parents so everyone is prepared and feels welcomed.
You can find inspiration online or via Pinterest or by asking other leaders in your service unit. SU Facilitators, Recognition Committee or a GSWNY Program staff member can also be a good resource when looking for ideas.
It’s Your Journey Choose It!: Let the girls know that we’re ready to start a Girl Scout Journey but first we have to choose it! Explain to the girls that a Journey is an adventure we’ll have together during our Girl Scout activities. Each Journey focuses on different topics, and we’ll also earn badges, go on field trips, make art projects, play games have lots of fun!
Remind the girls about all the exciting things they can do in each of the journeys:
• Who am I and what do I value? When we take the Brownie Quest Journey, we will play games, read stories, learn about ourselves and others. When we know what we care about, we will search for three clues and put them together to solve the puzzle, and team up to make the world a better place!
• What is so great about water? Lots of things! On the Wonders of Water Journey, we’ll discover all the ways we love water, save water, and share water! We will explore the science of water and how we can share what we know with others. Plus we’ll have a chance to explore the great outdoors!
• Stories and clues are everywhere! When we go on the World of Girls Journey, we learn about girls our age, how they are like or unlike us, and how other’s stories can inspire us to make the world better. We might hear stories, change stories, or write our own stories. And at the end, we’ll all have a story to tell about our journey!
Give your stamp of approval: It’s time to give your stamp of approval. Invite the girls to use their stickers to vote for the one(s) they most want to try out first. If you gave them more than one sticker, they can divide their votes based on multiple interests. Or the girls can draw a heart or star or a smiley face on the sheet for the Journey they want to vote for. The Journey with the most votes will be the one the troop begins.
Tally up the votes! : Once all the girls have had a chance to put their stamp on the journey they chose, count up the votes for each one. Once the votes are tallied, the winner can be announced, but also let the girls know, there will be opportunities to choose to learn about other topics, so if their first choice was not selected, there will be times when
the troop will do other things that are of interest to them(Learn more about the ELF friends, take field trips, do art projects, play games, and earn badges!)
Leaders Like You: Let the girls know that Juliette Low founded Girl Scouts in 1912 so that girls like them would have a chance to try new things and make their world a better place. They’re already acting as leaders when they worked together to try new activities and choose their journey. Let’s celebrate Juliette Low and Girl Scouts with the Juliette Low Story(see attached)
Optional: Snack Some troops like to have snack time to give the girls some energy and time to chat. This will depend on your group, when you meet, allergies and the rules of the space you’re using. Use your kaper chart to help select helpers to pass out snack, napkins, and anything else you’ll need. When it’s time to clean up, use the kaper chart to select helpers to help with clean up. Everyone should help clean up, but the clean-up helpers remind everyone that “A Girl Scout always leaves a place better than she found it.”
Closing: Friendship Squeeze Ask the girls to join together in the Brownie Circle. Explain that they will now join hands for a special closing to their time together. Explain that in a Friendship Circle, everyone gathers in a circle where they cross their right arm over their left in front of them and hold hands with the girls on either side. Once everyone is silent, one girl starts the friendship squeeze by squeezing the hand of the person to her left. One by one, moving clockwise, each girl passes on the squeeze until it travels all the way around the circle. Finally, thank the girls for another great Girl Scout Brownie gathering. Let them know that you are really excited to begin the Journey they chose tonight, and congratulate them for working together as a team!
The Story of Juliette Gordon Low As leader reads the story, girls perform the sound effects and actions as listed below. You may have to pause for a moment while the girls perform their part.
Sound Effects:
• Little Girls - Stand and giggle • Juliette Low - Curtsy and say, "Be my friend" • Georgia - Wave and say, "Hey y'all" • Horses – Stomp feet and Say, "Neighhh" • Lord Baden-Powell - Bow formally and say, "How d'ya do" • London - Sing first line of "London Bridge is Falling Down" • Boy Scouts - Make Boy Scout sign(2 fingers instead of 3 as Girl Scout sign) and say, "Be
Prepared" • Girl Scouts – Make Girl Scout sign and say “On My Honor”
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Juliette Low who lived in Georgia and loved to ride horses. After she grew up she went to London where she met Lord Baden-Powell, who founded the Boy Scouts. She was fascinated by the work he was doing. She studied with him awhile, and decided to start a troop of Girl Scouts for little girls in Georgia who also liked to ride horses. So, Juliette Low said good-bye to the Boy Scouts in London, and came home to Georgia with the idea that Lord Baden-Powell gave her. She formed a group of little girls, who liked to ride horses and do other interesting things, into a troop of Girl Scouts. They all loved it so much that the idea spread and now there are Girl Scouts all over the United States.
(Speed up here)
Aren't we glad that a little girl named Juliette Low from Georgia, who liked to ride horses and do other interesting things, went to London and met Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and came home to start the wonderful world of Girl Scouts!
Brownie Quest
Wonders of Water
World of Girls
