Brownies: Girl Scout Way -- Part Two

This week we finished up working on our Girl Scout Way badge. Please keep in mind that the two approaches I took in terms of activities/crafts are not in any way the only things you can do! There are so many ways to approach this badge, but I felt the best way for our troop was to reaffirm the Promise and Law, and have our five steps be primarily discussion with crafts as back ups for them to keep as daily reminders for the Promise/Law.

So, last time we made bracelets using colors from Daisy petals. This time we made wall hangings for the girls to keep.

This craft was pretty time-consuming, both in terms of preparation (for me, ahead of time), and doing it in the meeting. I'd hoped we would've had time to play on the playground afterwards, but it ended up taking up most of our meeting time. That's okay! Our next meeting is going to be a lot looser, with plenty of free-play time. :)

I found the idea for this week's craft here. But (of course) I altered it a little. ;)

Here's what you will need:

1. Regular printer paper (white)
2. Some card stock paper (any color)
3. 13 popsicle sticks per girl (available at any craft store, or big box store -- or, you can use "craft sticks" which are fatter. The template below is for popsicle sticks, though, because that's what I had on hand. We save our popsicle sticks, wash them in a basket in the top rack of the dishwasher. So I had a lot. My kids love popsicles. Ha!)
4. Ribbon (any color)
5. Scissors (and/or preferably a paper cutter for you at home)
6. Glue sticks (easier for the kids)
7. Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
8. Some kind of pre-printed or written Girl Scout Law for the girls to use as reference
9. Hole puncher

Print out enough of these to have one page per girl. You can print them out on regular printer paper (but note the glue instructions below if so), or on white card stock. They stay glued better on regular paper, in my experience:

Cut out each tiny strip. This takes a while, depending on the size of your troop. It is much easier if you have a paper cutter tool. See?

Count out 13 popsicle sticks (I used a combination of the plain recycled ones, and colored purchased ones -- we have a big troop!), and put 13 sticks and the 13 strips (includes all aspects of the Law, plus the beginning header, etc.) in a small Ziploc, along with a strip of ribbon about a foot long.

Take your card stock paper and turn it sideways (landscape). Cut it into thirds (about 3-3/4ish" wide or so). Punch two holes at the top of each strip (vertical). That's where your ribbon will go, to hang it.

Now, other tutorials I'd found suggested glueing the strips to popsicle sticks, the glueing those to strips of ribbon. I found some issues with this. Regular glue stick glue wasn't strong enough. Liquid Elmer's glue took too long to dry, and when using colored ribbon or colored popsicle sticks, it smeared stain onto the paper. That's why I went with white card stock instead as the backing for this (plus I always have a big box of card stock. I buy that and other supplies whenever they're on clearance, just to have on hand). But just because this is the way I did it, doesn't mean it's the "right" way. You may find a much easier way to do it! Like not having the strips with Law separated by outlines. Try just creating your own template in a Word document and cutting out the strips without surrounding white space. Could save some time! I just wanted to make sure mine would fit popsicle sticks, because the link above didn't.

Once you have all your popsicle sticks, ribbon strips, and pieces of Law in baggies, put your white card stock rectangles with them (they will be too tall to fit into a sandwich Ziploc).

Then you'll need to create your own sample piece for the girls to see.

Here are the steps:

1. Use glue stick on a popsicle stick. NOT on the paper strips, which are too small to be able to do without potentially tearing them (again, my Law template is for popsicle, not craft sticks). Do it one at a time. Glue the stick, then put a Law strip on it. Press hard. Move on to the next. Doesn't matter what order you go in. Here's my four-year-old helping:

2. After you have all your Law pieces glued to popsicle sticks, get out your card stock rectangle. Place your popsicle sticks in order (here is where the pre-printed Law will come in handy for your girls to use as reference. You don't need one per child. Let them all share, or use your poster board Law for reference for the whole troop).

3. Glue the popsicle sticks onto the card stock. Press hard. (Some of mine loosened overnight and I had to re-glue them. No biggie. Just mention to the girls as they're making it that if one piece comes loose, they can re-glue it at home with Elmer's, etc.)

4. Once you have all the pieces in place, loop ribbon through the top two holes, and tie at the tip, for a hanger.

5. Color in the white space. Decorate however you want. This is the last step, because if you use crayons, for instance, it can prevent the glue from adhering well. So you want to save the coloring part for the end. (Plus if you were to run out of time, since this is a long craft, the girls can do the coloring at home.)

Ta-da! You have a Girl Scout Law wall hanger! Super cute, too!

Here's my sample:

Next up: Celebrating Juliette Low's Birthday!