If you are a new Daisy leader, this will be your first holiday season with your girls. You have choices to make that will create a tradition that you may want to continue, so you have to be careful when choosing what to do.
What am I talking about?
I am talking about celebrating Christmas with your troop.
Images from Ivorymix and Pixabay and altered by the author in Canva
Girl Scouts is a non-denominational activity. It is not affiliated with any particular religious group. If you start celebrating religious holidays with your troop, it may be an issue to take away your traditions and celebration if a new girl joins your troop and she does not celebrate this December holiday (or may be agnostic or atheist and not celebrate any kind of religious holiday at all).
I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas. As the leader, I made the decision during our first year as a troop to not do anything related to this holiday or to do a gift exchange of any sort. My personal experience as a child with this was not a positive one, and with my older daughter's troop, this activity proved to be a dud for some of the girls. The girls in my troop, both Jewish and Christian, received enough gifts and went to plenty of celebrations during the holiday season, so there was no reason to add another one. Instead, my troop always does a community service project in lieu of a party because there are so many others in need.
Over the years, I have written several blog posts on this topic. As new leaders, you probably have not read them, and so I am bringing these to your attention so you can be inclusive and understanding to girls of different faiths in your group. Please do not assume that these girls families "won't mind" you celebrating a holiday with them that they do not celebrate. Many are not like me and do not want to rock the boat and are afraid to have their child seen in an unkind light.
Other December Meeting Ideas
In this blog post, 10 Activities Your Girl Scout Troop Can Do This Holiday Season, I share 10 things you can do with a troop that have nothing to do with the celebrating Christmas or Chanukah.
Having Holiday Parties for Only One Holiday
In this blog post, I wrote about what I was reading from Facebook groups about what leaders had to say about this matter. I was floored at the insensitivity of some of these women and was inspired to share what it looked like from the other side of the fence. Girl Scouts is about inclusion above all else.
Winter Craft Ideas
If you want to have a celebration, then the crafts need to be non-denominations. You can read here some fun winter crafts for your troop to do.
Image Created on Canva
Being a Sensitive Leader
In this blog post, you can read my opinion on this matter and why December does not have to be all about Christmas, but it can be about giving to others.
Image from Pixabay and altered by the author on Canva
