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Friday, October 8, 2010

Brownies Rule!

Brownies rule! (Actually I prefer ice cream...)


And that's exactly what this shirt says from Old Navy! Perfect as we are now a part of the Girl Scout family! Technically it's only Kailani but of course Momo wants in on the action. One of the troop mother's found the shirt and suggested that all the girls have one as part of their "uniform."  Too cute to resist. And guess what? It's a "scratch and sniff" shirt! The shirt smells like chocolate brownies!
Kailani's troop is a small one with only six girls. Four of the six moms are leaders and take turns leading the group. Of course I volunteered and was thrown into the rotation. My teaching/leading day came fast and I was assigned to practice for the Investiture ceremony. 

The what? Investiture? I don't even know what that means! And I'm a newbie, remember? How do I prepare for a lesson that I know nothing about? "Google" and Facebook friends to the rescue!
I quickly learned what the ceremony was about: to recognize the newly joined Girl Scouts as well as the returning members that have moved up to the next level of scouting. In preparation the girls are required to memorize and recite Girl Scout Promise and be familiar with the Girl Scout Law.


After some brainstorming here's what I did:


First, I made some luggage tags for the girls. On one side I printed the "Promise" and on the other side I printed the "Law". I laminated it and tied a green ribbon onto it:



After the girls practiced reciting the law (all the girls did great!) I had them create a "Girl Scout Garden" with each of the laws being represented by a different seed/flower. Here are each of the laws with the flowers I chose to represent (and the reason why. I know, I know....some of the reasons I'm stretching it a bit!)


Girl Scout Law:


I will do my best to be:
  • honest and fair, (forget-me-nots - sign of faithfulness and enduring love)
  • friendly and helpful, (purple coneflower - also known as echinacea which is used to care for colds)
  • considerate and caring, (zinnia - thinking/thoughts/goodness)
  • courageous and strong, (foxglove - produces a drug to help your heart) and
  • responsible for what I say and do, (sweet pea - say and do sweet things) and to
  • respect myself and others, (carnation - flower of friendliness, be kind to youself and others)
  • respect authority, (lupine - grows tall)
  • use resources wisely, (cactus - uses little water)
  • make the world a better place, (sunflower - often used to represent green ideology) and
  • be a sister to every Girl Scout. (daisy - the Daisies are the youngest of the Girl Scouts)
I gave each of the girls a seed carton with 10 compartments (perfect as there are 10 laws) and they planted the seeds one at a time. The girls also put little tags in each compartment that identified the seed/law:


To avoid an even bigger mess I had the girls wait till they got home to water their plants: 



And guess what? Only three days later we have some sprouts! You can tell it's the sunflower!


Exactly a week later we have even more!


*Hopefully* when they tend to their garden they will be reminded of the laws they are supposed to abide by! The activity was super cool and super fun!

5 comments:

  1. OK, scratch and sniff t-shirts? brilliant! i have to go see if they have those here in canada. i'm thinking probably not.

    and the ceremony idea is AWE-SOME! mind if i forward it along to a friend of mine that is just starting to be a sparks leader (like daisies). i was involved in guiding for over 20 years. i hope your girls get as much out of it as i did.

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  2. Julie - of course! Please share! I didn't get much help in the feedback department when I was coming up for ideas so if I can be of assistance/inspiration to someone else I'm all for it! :) Thanks!

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  3. Can you send C&M one of those shirts they are to die for..lol Love the luggage tag and plant idea. Can't wait till my girls are old enough to join the Girl Scouts. Your one awesome mama!!

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  4. A creative and fun way to remember something so long. The girls were lucky that you got that day in the rotation.

    Brownies Rule! (That is because I used to be one!)

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  5. You both will have fun with Brownies. This is my fourth year co-leading my daughter's troop. With all your ideas, you will be great at helping lead the troop. Six is a very nice sized troop. You can do so much more with them.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!