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Welcome to my blog! I started it when I was a new Girl Scout leader and needed some kind of organized "to-do" list. I decided the best way to keep things organized was to start a blog. So here it is! My oldest troop has since bridged up to Juniors, and I've taken on a Daisy troop as well, so I will continue updating with new Juniors information and additional Daisy stuff too. My hope is to continue to update with every level as my troops advance. But we'll see.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope it's helpful!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Getting Started with Brownies, Part Four -- Things to Do Before Your First Meeting

Even after you've created an introduction and agenda, and sent out uniform information, you'll still need to do some things to prepare for your first troop meeting.

There are some (hopefully) helpful notes in the Daisy post here that can carry over (I reference this post a lot down below, because I'm reusing a lot of the same ideas. Whatever works!).

But I am changing up a few things from last year. Here's my list, in no particular order:

- The template I created and used for our Girl Scout Promise and Law was Daisy-themed. I've made a new one that's Brownie-themed (plus last year's was on a half poster board and while it worked well, it's kind of beat up looking now. I need a new one). I'm still on the fence about it, but for now, it'll work.

Same thing as last year. Print it out on regular white paper, glue to long construction paper if you'd like, then glue that to a poster board cut in half. 



The correct codes for Girl Scout green are: PMS 355, Hex #00ae58, c94 m0 y100 k0, r0 g174 b88. You're welcome. ;) (While "official" guidelines say to use Arial font, this is not for publication. This is for the troop. So I want it to be clear, legible, and fun. There are a variety of SansSerif fonts that work well for that. It's entirely up to you.)

The template for the Girl Scout Promise is here

EDIT: I've had a request for the Pledge in a printable graphic (so you can print it out, mount to construction paper if desired, and glue to a half-poster like the Promise and Law I've posted). So here it is! 



- The Kaper chart from last year ended up being too complicated. I initially assumed I'd need a job for every girl. Not so. We ended up not referring to the Kaper chart as regularly as we probably should've. So this year I've pared it down a bit. And am putting more focus on Buddies -- so each job has two girls instead of one. By centering the jobs on the page I can use a clothespin on the left and right to indicate buddies. That way we cut down on unnecessary Kaper roles, and reinforce the Buddy System. 

Also, while we have a big troop, it isn't necessary to always have someone doing a job. Plus, there will always be someone who may be out of town or out sick, etc., so be sure to bring along the other clothespins just in case.

Here's the new Kaper chart template:



Super easy. :)

- Double check your First Aid bag! Make sure nothing's expired. Check out this post here for details. Contact your parents ASAP to get health forms in. Look over the contact info on them beforehand to make sure everything's legible. 

- Enter all parents' phone numbers into your cell phone. 

- Start folders for all the girls (be sure to re-use ones from last year -- just flip them inside out and write a new name on the tab, or use the same for returning Girl Scouts). 

- You may choose to do a manilla envelope for each girl to hold her take-home information, etc. I did this last year but it ended up being wasteful, I think, because our school has plastic take-home folders that everyone brings home each day. Since it was difficult for parents to remember to send in the manilla envelopes on troop meeting days, we ended up putting take-home info in the school folders. This year we're not doing manilla ones. Save a tree, etc.

- Make Welcome! certificates for your girls. You can incorporate this into your Bridging ceremony too, if you wish.

Here's a sample of ours:



Here's a blank template you can use:




I used hobo font for "Welcome" and troop info, ActionIs font for name and Date/Leader, and BoyzRGross for the "we are so glad" part. All these fonts are free from fontspace and approved for commercial-free use. I printed each on heavy cardstock, centered, and shrunk to fit. HEX code for green is #00ae58 and I used #663300 for brown (I couldn't find the official Brownie color, and that one matched the hats pretty well).

- Print out an Attendance sheet (create your own or use the one on the Girl Scout leader disc you should've received in your training packet).

- Get a portable file carrier if you don't already have one. Again, this post has more info in it.


I'll be posting a list of everything to bring for your first troop meeting, soon!





3 comments:

  1. Hi! I was just reading through your blog to get some ideas for my first year of Daisies with kindergarteners! Yay! Anyway, I love all of your ideas for achieving the petals but I had a question, did you do any outside outings/field trips? If so, would you mind sharing a few my email is dmwilcox126@hotmail.com Thank you, Deanna

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    Replies
    1. We did some outdoor activities (scavenger hunts, etc.) but did not take any field trips, because we had several girls in Aftercare, and between Service Unit/Council activities and family trips, weekends were pretty full. There are lots of great ideas on Pinterest (and Google, too, of course) for incorporating field trips on the various Daisy petal badges, as well as Journeys (especially with Journeys, I think, which is another reason we didn't do field trips -- Journeys simply weren't a good fit for us. Had I had the troop for the full two years prior to us bridging to Brownies, we would've worked on some Journeys as well, I think).

      I hope that answers your question. :)

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    2. P.S. I would suggest calling your local Council and asking them for input on places in your immediate area that might be a good fit for some activities you're wanting to do -- many places will give discounts to Girl Scouts (and don't forget to bring along your tax exempt forms!).

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Thank you for visiting my blog! Please respect Girl Scout Privacy guidelines and do not leave any identifying information regarding a troop or its members, as this is a public site.

Also, I am happy to respond to comments posted on my blog, but I am unable to respond via personal email. This helps protect not only my own information, but that of my girls.

Anyone is welcome to use the templates I post here. I will always do my best to acknowledge my sources for any artwork or information I post, but I am human and may miss something along the way. Regardless, I strive to ensure that my blog's purpose and all its posts are in accordance with the Girl Scout Law in every way. The purpose of this blog is to assist new leaders based upon my own experience as a volunteer, and is not in any way intended to replace or subvert any information in official Girl Scout leadership training.

Thank you!