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.
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.
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
