A Calendar of Meetings for Second Year Daisy Scouts from January to May

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Updated October 2019

With school once again in session, it is time to plan and prepare for the next season of Daisy meetings that will prepare your troop to bridge to Brownie Girl Scouts in just a few short months.

Photo from Canva

As a leader who has never been fond of the Journeys program, you will not find any plans for them here. With cookie season, World Thinking Day, Girl Scout Week, field trips and bridging, not to mention any community service you have planned, there really is no need to add in a Journey.

January

Your Ninth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up Leaf

If you did not sell Girl Scout cookies last year and want to take a gentle plunge into the world of selling them, then now is the time to get things started. Many Councils have sales during the winter months, so if this is the case for you, the time for cookie selling preparation is now.

Photo by By Dsafdy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons and altered by the author in Canva

The first thing you need to understand about selling cookies with Girl Scout Daisies is that they have a limited attention span and all sales are dependent upon parental participation. Over the years I have spent a lot of time writing blog posts about this, but a leader needs to accept the reality that if a girl does not sell cookies, either individually or at a booth, it is TOTALLY OUT OF HER CONTROL. Let it go, and she can help with cookie selling prep to make her feel like she is part of the troop team. You will not change the minds of non-committed parents, and troop money is troop money. 

Meeting Prep

Before your meeting, you will need to know how much per box of cookies your troop will be earning so that you can create a visual for the girls for your next meeting.

Ask the girls what kinds of trips and activities they would like to do. Write down these ideas and tell them that at your next meeting, you will share how many boxes THE TROOP needs to sell in order to make these activities happen. You will make a visual on a chart. 

For example, if a trip to Build-a-Bear costs $20.00 per girl, and each box sold earns 50 cents, and you have six girls in your troop, then the troop needs to sell 240 boxes so that the trip can take place (40 boxes per girl). Of course, these costs are made up, but your chart should have the Build-a-Bear Logo the number 240 next to a picture of a box of cookies. Do your chart from cheapest idea to most expensive.

On another chart, make a bar with the different goals labeled and pictured. At each meeting, tally up what the girls have sold AS A TROOP. They can see that the more they sell, the bigger the trip...and there may even be money to do more than one adventure! Whatever you do, comparing girls is wrong and please do not do it. Keep charts solely for the purpose of TROOP GOALS.

You can read how to earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up Leaf in this blog post with a detailed meeting plan.

January

Your Tenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Making Choices Leaf

The Girl Scout Daisy financial literacy leaves tie in together nicely, so if there is some overlap, that is fine. Repetition is a good way for kids to learn and it certainly helps!

During this meeting, if you have time, have the girls make posters and signs for their cookie booth.

Photo from Canva

Go over any cookie sale updates that you have. If a goal has already been met, celebrate with a special treat. It can be food, a fun patch, or a special sticker or pencil from the Girl Scout Shop.

For a complete meeting plan on earning the Girl Scout Daisy Making Choices, this blog post gives all the steps.

February 

Your Eleventh Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Money Counts Leaf

Photo from Pixabay

With two financial literacy leaves down, there is only one more to go. Start your eleventh meeting with a cookie selling update and cheer on your girls as they reach their goals.

For a complete meeting plan on earning the Girl Scout Daisy Money Counts leaf, you can read this blog post.  

February

Your Twelfth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Celebrate World Thinking Day (February 22nd)

As a Girl Scout, World Thinking Day is a holiday that comes once a year and is an easy one to insert into your long term planning. Since this may be your first cookie selling season, you do not need to go overboard with planning.

I created a very basic and simple five step meeting plan for your Daisy troop to help you plan your day. You can find World Thinking Day plans here.

If you want more World Thinking Day ideas, you can find them here.

March

Your Thirteenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Girl Scout Week

Right after World Thinking Day is another Girl Scout holiday, Girl Scout Week. Celebrated during the week where March 12th falls, this is a fantastic opportunity for girls to use some of their earned cookie profits to help others. The very first Girl Scout meeting took place on March 12, 1912, and every year this is remembered by doing things for others.

By North Charleston from North Charleston, SC, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Here are some ideas for you to incorporate Girl Scout Week into your meeting this month. The images have lots of information without being overwhelming. Make sure you do something at your meeting that can be checked off on your list.

March

Your Fourteenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Go on a Field Trip

This is the time to go on a field trip since the weather is getting nicer and spring fever is starting. Since you will not have all of your cookie money, try to take an inexpensive or free field trip. The police station, the firehouse, or a local business like an ice cream store or supermarket may be able to take your troop on a tour. 

April
Your Fifteenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting 

It's Time to Think About Bridging

If your calendar is like mine, then April is a month where we have always had one meeting due to Spring Break. With this being your second year as Daisy leader, it is time to start planning your bridging ceremony and have the girls as involved as possible.

I have always been of the opinion that bridging should be at the last meeting of the year. This time slot has been carved out for the girls and the parents as well. If you meet after school and have parents who work outside the home, giving them a heads up about bridging one month in advance will permit them to clear their work calendars so they can attend. 

At this meeting, talk about what bridging is and have them make the invitations to send home.

I wrote a complete guide to Daisy to Brownie Bridging here, which will help you plan it all out. 

May

Your Sixteenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Bridging Practice

This is the big time ladies! The bulk of your meeting time should be devoted to practicing the ceremony and songs in the order that they will be done.

May

Your Seventeenth Second Year Girl Scout Daisy Meeting

Bridging Ceremony

This is the time to enjoy all that you have accomplished. The ceremony will be adorable and the celebration afterwards will be your reward for all of the hard work you have done.

Rainbow Centerpiece and Other Rainbow Themed Supplies 

Available on Amazon

Now that your second year of leading a Daisy troop is over, it is time to think about leading your troop of Brownie Girl Scouts. My website How to Earn Brownie Try Its is ready and waiting to help you with meeting plans for every badge.

Photo created by Hannah Gold on Canva

Daisy Petal Earrings for Girls

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Updated October 2019

Do you have a Daisy Scout in your life that has pierced ears? The here is a wonderful gift that she can proudly wear to meetings. 

Available at Target

These earrings are 1.31 Total Weight multi-color flowers in Cubic Zirconia in Sterling Silver. They are the perfect size for little ears and will match a variety of outfits. You can buy them at Target or Kohl's.

Daisy Girl Scout Troop Gift Idea Mouse Scouts

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If you are a troop leader in need of a gift for your troop, here is another great idea that does not cost a lot when the price is split with your co-leader. It is a book from the series Mouse Scouts.

Written by Sarah Dillard, these books share the adventures of a Mouse Scout troop as they earn badges and learn lessons.  Here are the titles in the series.

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Personalized Gifts for Girl Scouts

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Updated October 2019

As a Daisy leader, what you do your first year will set a precedent for the rest of your years in leadership. Once you do something, it is hard to undo it without a ripple effect.

One of those things you need to decide whether or not you and your co-leader are going to do is give a holiday gift to your troop. If you decide that you will, then discuss your budget together so you are both on the same page. 

You should consider a non-denominational gift that the girls can all use and appreciate. Giving a child who does not celebrate Christmas an ornament is not appropriate.

So what kinds of gifts can you give your Daisy troop that will not break the bank and that everyone will enjoy receiving?

You can give the girls in your troop an inexpensive personalized gift that will be fun for them to have.

In my recent blog post on my main Girl Scout blog, I have posted a selection of gifts that young girls would love to have. You can read it here.

Need more personalized gifts for Girl Scouts? Here is a big selection for you to peruse.

How to Earn the Purple Daisy Girl Scout Petal Respect Myself and Others

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Updated October 2019

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Earning the purple Daisy Girl Scout petal, “respect myself and others” is a real life lesson for the girls in your troop. This part of the Girl Scout Law is important because in order to get along in life, you need to get along with others. It is also healthy for people to a have healthy self-esteem.

Image created by the author in Canva

This petal stands for “respect”, this is an abstract concept for kindergarten and first grade girls who are between the ages of five and seven. The girls will need a concrete lesson in order to earn this part of their Daisy. Because the girls are young and unable to write, having an extra volunteer or two will help this meeting go more smoothly.

The materials you will need for this Daisy Girl Scout activity are:

Available on Amazon

I’m Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis

9 x 13 white construction paper

Crayons or markers

Glitter glue in assorted colors

Glittery stickers or peel and stick on rhinestones

A healthy snack

You can start off your meeting by reading the book I’m Gonna Like Me. This book tells the tale of a little girl who likes herself. Laura Cornell’s delightful illustrations really hammer the point home.

After reading the book aloud, ask the girls to think about three things they like about themselves. Talk to them about the things they can do to keep liking themselves, like being clean, exercising, and eating healthy foods.

Then have them share those things. For the craft, you can use 9 x 13 paper and have them draw a full body picture of themselves. They can then dictate to you and your volunteers the three things they like about themselves that they shared earlier.

Available on Amazon

Once the dictation is done, have them use glittery glue to highlight their hair and glittery stickers and rhinestones to decorate their clothing.

Available on Amazon

For the second part of the meeting, you will need to do a demonstration with your co-leader. Respecting others means protecting their feelings and being kind-acting towards them like you would want to be treated.

Have your co-leader say something to you that would not be kind. For example, she could say, “Your hair is a mess” or “I do not like the shirt you are wearing today”. In response, you act sad.

Ask the children what did your co-leader do that was disrespectful. Have a brief discussion.

Now re-enact the scene, but this time your co-leader acts kindly and says, ‘Gee, your hair look great today!” or “I love that new shirt you are wearing!” Talk with the girls about the difference between the two episodes. How would they want to be treated? You can also do another reenactment with each of you telling the other one thing they like about the person.

To close this activity, break the girls into pair or triads. Ask them to find one or two nice things to say about each other-not necessarily about their appearance, but how they like the way they tell a joke or share the craft materials. Your co-leader and you should mediate what is being said.

At the end of the meeting, hand out the healthy snack, making sure that the girls take the time to wash their hands.

Earning the purple Daisy Girl Scout petal, “Respect Myself and Others” is an important life lesson that you and your co-leader can impart to the girls.

Free Printable Daisy Girl Scout Petal Certificates

At some point during the scouting year, your troop will finish earning all of their Daisy petals. If you wish to have a mini celebration, then you can have a small ceremony (no parents need to be there, just do this during your meeting) and hand out this free Daisy Girl Scout printable from Jamie at My Fashionable Designs. Her site is full of Girl Scout free printables!

Photo from Pixabay

Need some more free Daisy Girl Scout petal printables? Jamie has more.

For each petal, you can print this set. Cut, insert petal in a snack bag with the girl's name on it. This is much easier to find in the girl's responsibility bag than a random petal. It also looks much nicer, too! If you want, you can take a picture of the girl holding her petal bag and use it for her Girl Scout scrapbook.

Don't want to use your own ink? Print off one copy and then take it to your favorite home office store to print out. Save the receipt and you will get reimbursed.

More Easy Girl Scout Founder's Day Crafts for Daisy Scouts

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UPDATED OCTOBER 2019

Whether this is your first year as a leader or your second, Founder's Day kind of sneaks up on you with the busy-ness of back to school and back to troop. If you are into Halloween, your mind gets focused on that and the next thing you know, it is almost time for this important Girl Scout holiday and you have a meeting to plan!

Photo from Pixabay

Here are two easy craft kits that your troop can use to celebrate Girl Scout Founder's Day. A Daisy can give the item away to be Considerate and Caring or Friendly and Helpful. It can also be given as part of the Birthday in a Bag service project, like a little gift, or just given away as a gift itself.

Available on Discount School Supplies

Pictured above is a set of 12 durable paper mache flower pots that can be decorated with markers, paint, buttons, ribbon, stickers and rhinestones. They are 4" high and the top has an opening of 3.15" in diameter. If you use a liner, you can plant seeds in this. For a service project, you can fill these with wrapped candies or travel size lotion, soap and hair products. I bet if you ask around, parents, grandparents and friends probably have these in their homes from previous hotel stays.

Available on Discount School Supplies

If you are looking for something to paint, then this set of 12 ceramic flower pots will work. They are smaller than the paper mache pots and measure 2-7/8" in height x 2-3/4" in diameter. These would only fit some small candy or you can plant daisy seeds in soil. 

Both of these crafts are easy to do and will make your Founder's Day meeting go more smoothly.

The Perpetual Girl Scout Scrapbook

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Create a Girl Scout Scrapbook That Will Be a Memory for Years to Come

To preserve your troop's memories of their years in scouting together, you can have them create a perpetual Girl Scout scrapbook.

Photo by Hannah Gold

If you are going to do this activity, your co-leader and you need to decide early in the school year so you can take pictures at every meeting (or else you will have nothing to put in the scrapbook!) These are the pictures we took at each meeting:

-The girls working at the tables as a group
-One group shot at the end with all of the girls holding the craft
-Individual shots of each girl 

By doing this, you can take advantage of photo printing sales online or in camera stores.

 

Walgreens has great photo specials every week. 

By deciding early in the year that you will be making a scrapbook, you can get the stickers you need while they are in season.

Buying the Materials Cheaply

The cost of doing a scrapbook is prohibitive if you use what is sold in craft stores. For our scrapbooks, we used Avery Clear View binders.

For this activity, you will also need scissors, glue sticks, and markers. Fancy edging scissors are not necessary for the scrapbook, but if your Girl Scouts want to use them, ask parents if they have any you can borrow.

We also asked for donations of stickers and invested in some themed ones, like Daisies and holidays. The holiday stickers are always on sale right before and right after the holiday is over. Stock up when you see them!

These and more are Available on Amazon

  

Prep Work Before the Meeting

Using the Cheri Liney font, a cover was made for our Girl Scout scrapbook. The girls colored them in any way they wanted. Leaving a space at the bottom permits the girls to glue an individual photo or a troop photo. Always run off a few extra, in case one of the girls makes a mistake.

The troop photographer needs to be in charge of organizing the photos. This task is made simple if she does it on an ongoing basis and not all at one time, when it can become an overwhelming job. Each girls' photos need to be put into a plastic bag with her name on it for distribution at the troop meeting.

The stickers need to be cut and clipped together for each girl so everyone gets the same amount. I put them into a plastic bag with for each girl.

If you are doing this craft with Daisies or first year Brownies, I strongly suggest you have a few volunteers to help out. Young girls are apt to cut too much from the photos or put way too many stickers on one page, leaving very few for the other pages.

At the Meeting

Have the girls create their own cover and slide it into the front of their scrapbook.

The next steps depend on the age of your troop. While older girls can be given all of the materials at once and left to their own devices, Daisies and Brownies need to do this one step at a time. That way they are glued and inserted into the binder/scrapbook.

Photo from Pixabay

For example, we had the girls take out the field trip pictures and put them on the autumn themed paper we purchased. We did the same thing for the Halloween dance pictures. Since we are Daisies, we did one page at a time. For meetings that had no paper theme, we had the girls use white copy paper and draw the motif. For our Saint Patrick's Day craft, the girls drew clovers, rainbows and leprechauns and glued their pictures around them.

If you are saving all of the photos for the end of the year, it will take at least two meetings to finish your Girl Scout scrapbook. An easier way to do it is every two to three months, make the meeting a scrapbook meeting.

Once the perpetual scrapbooks are completed for the year, have the girls put them away until fall. Purchase new plastic inserts for the papers and at a late fall meeting, have a scrapbook craft time. Over the course of a few years, the girls will have a keepsake of their time as a Girl Scout.

Free Girl Scout Rewards Program Now at JoAnn Fabrics

Joann Fabric now has a Girl Scout Reward Program! 

Updated October 2019

JOANN is partnering with Girl Scouts to help inspire and unleash the power of G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ in every girl. In addition to offering a space for Girl Scouts in their stores, the company is going to donate to the Girl Scouts of the USA 2.5% of the purchase price on  all eligible transactions. 

Photo from Pixabay

But wait, there's more! 

Once you get your card via email, you can print it out and save 15% on your total eligible purchases, whether you are shopping online at Joann's  or going to the store to buy your troop supplies (and you can shop online and pick your purchase up at the store as well! How great is that?) 

Hold on, JOANN's is not done yet! 

You can still use a coupon on your single item purchase with the 15%! (total purchase coupons cannot be combined with the 15% discount). This program will be in effect until August 31, 2020! Once you are registered, download the JOANN app with the same email you use to apply for the Girl Scout Rewards card. If you already have the app, sign out and then log back in. Your rewards card should be under the "My Coupons" tab. Leaders of all levels should sign up for this card, as there is nothing to lose and everything to gain! I've already signed up for mine! 

To find out more about the Girl Scout Rewards Program at JOANN's, go to this page on their website to find out more.    

Girl Scout Meetings Four Easy Steps for Success for New Leaders

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Updated August 2019

Girl Scout meetings are simple to run if you follow these four easy steps to success. You've gone through the training, your paperwork is completed, now it is time to actually meet with your girls! Before a sense of panic sets in and you begin to wonder why you did this to yourself, take a deep breath. The key to a successful and smooth running troop meeting is all about preparation. 

Image from Pixabay and altered by the author in Canva

Here are guideline for running your meetings.  

Step One Be Prepared

The first easy step for a successful Girl Scout meeting is to be prepared. Any good teacher knows that when you work with children, especially young children, it is best to establish a routine. All scouts, especially the youngest kindergarten and first grade Daisies, thrive when they know what to expect. Your meeting routine should look something like this:

• Have the girls put their coats and bags in the same place every time you meet
• Say the Pledge of Allegiance, the Girl Scout Promise, and the Girl Scout Law
• Do a short circle time (group discussion) to discuss the badge or petal you will be earning
• Craft time
• Friendship circle and closing song

Second Step to a Successful Girl Scout Meeting- Earning Badges and Petals

The second step to a successful troop meeting is to figure out what you want to do for the year. 

C

There is no special order for earning petals and badges. With your co-leader, you can create an outline for what you would like to do for the next few meetings or for the entire year.

For the new leader, select an easy craft and do all of the prep work at home. This step is essential, because you need to know if it is going to work. For example, I had a great Valentine's Day craft planned. As I glued the hearts together with wet glue, the paper kept slipping and I could not finish the craft as I had planned. I took out my hot glue gun, and voila! It worked! Imagine trying to do this with twelve first grade girls who were making Valentine's for their parents and THEN realizing it didn't work.

I was able to recruit additional volunteers to use the hot glue guns so we could finish all the girls projects during the meeting.

 Available on Amazon 

This planner is 152 or organization! From attendance to field trips and everything in between, this is a must have planner for leaders who want to stay on top of things.

Step Three-Purchasing Your Materials for Daisy Girl Scout Activities and Crafts

Next on the Girl Scout meeting success list is to buy everything you need in advance.  I know this is common sense, but for many people, disorganization leads to stress, which makes meetings less enjoyable.

Whenever possible, use your troop checkbook for all purchases, along with your troop's Tax ID number, you will save on sales tax. If you do not have the checkbook, save your receipts so your troop treasurer can reimburse you.

In a space in your house, assign a tote or craft organizer (I own two of the one pictured below) to store the materials you purchased. The extras will be used for future crafts.

Available on Amazon

Step Four Ask for Help

The larger your troop, the more hands you need

Younger troops will most definitely need more help than two leaders can provide. The fourth and final step for running successful Girl Scout meetings is to send out an email to your parents and ask if anyone is willing to come and assist. Of course, they will need to be registered with your Council and background checked.

Parents always need advance notice. Those who work full-time can clear their calendars, while those with younger children need to have arrangements made for their care, unless you want them at your meeting, too. Just know that once you permit younger children to attend, it will be very difficult to uninvite them late. You can read about tagalongs in this blog post.

One more item...a Girl Scout leader tote! Keep all of the things you need for every meeting in one bag. Put whatever else you need for the next meeting in a bag next to it.

If you take these four steps for successful Girl Scout meetings, not only will your time together run smoothly, you'll be looking forward to the next time you meet!