Even though many of us are celebrating virtually, your troop can celebrate Girl Scout Week 2021.
One year ago, Girl Scout Week was celebrated in troops across the country just like it always was. Now, in March 2021, it is a bit different.
When is Girl Scout Week 2021?
Girl Scout Sunday (Christian)—Sunday, March 7, 2021
Girl Scout Jummah (Muslim)—Friday, March 12, 2021 Girl Scout Sabbath/Shabbat (Jewish) Friday/Saturday, March 12–13, 2021
Girl Scout Week is an Optional Activity
This year, Girl Scout Week 2021 takes place from March 7th through March 13th.
When a troop celebrates Girl Scout Week, most of the activities are individual. The exception to that is when a girl goes to her place of worship to celebrate to participate in the service. This year, those dates are:
Girl Scout Sunday (Christian)—Sunday, March 7, 2021 Girl Scout Jummah (Muslim)—Friday, March 12, 2021 Girl Scout Sabbath/Shabbat (Jewish) Friday/Saturday, March 12–13, 2021
While it is fun for your girls to celebrate Girl Scout Week, it is an optional activity and always has been. This is because this is an individual thing to do not, not a troop activity led by a leader. The girls in your troop need family support in order to accomplish the daily activity, especially when they are younger.
If a girl opts out of doing this, no need for you to stress. I had girls not participate and they did not get their Girl Scout Week patch from our Council. No lost sleep here.
How to Celebrate Girl Scout Week 2021
Every year around this time, I do research to find you the latest activities that the GSUSA and Councils across the country have put out. This year, there is nothing new, with the exception of the the Girl Scouts Overseas, who have put together a virtual program that you can pay for.
Girl Scout Week 2021 Resources and Activities
I have read through and edited older blog posts so that you have resources at your hand to give to your troop. Just a reminder...ignore the dates on the calendars. It is the list of activities that count.
If you have decided to sell cookies with your Daisy troop and need some guidance on how to earn the Girl Scout Daisy Financial Leaves, here are meeting plans for you to earn each one.
While there is no specific order to earn the leaves, it is my opinion that the Money Counts leaf, which exposes the girls to money, should be the first one you do with them.
How to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Money Counts Leaf
*This post contains affiliate links. Updated October 2019 If you have taken on the monumental task of becoming a Daisy Girl Scout leader, then you are going to need a few tricks up your sleeve to keep the girls actively engaged and with you. One tool to have in your leader toolbox is to use coloring pages as a sponge activity when girls first enter the meeting room. This gets them focused while the others are trickling in. These same pages can also be used at the end of an activity to keep those who finish early quietly entertained.
Another activity you will want to do with your Daisy Scouts is sing scouting songs. You have heard the expression “music calms the savage beast?” Well, little girls are not beasts, but things can easily get led astray if you do not keep them on task.
Singing is a great way to begin or end a meeting or do as an activity while you are having you are meeting.
Photos from Pixabay and altered by the author on Canva
Music and Learning Go Hand in Hand Like Peanut Butter and Jelly
There is more to it than fun!
Every culture has a rich history of songs. It one way that stories were told and were passed down from one generation to the next. From an early age, children are taught through song the alphabet, how to count, and other important preschool skills. The hand movements associated with these songs helps develop eye-hand coordination and well as memorization skills. It also helps with listening skills, as children need to hear the words carefully in order to repeat them.
Music is a social activity for children. Rhythm and counting beats is taught with others in a joyful setting in music classes or just marching around the room with Mommy or Daddy at home. Gross motor development is learned when children learn song and dance, like The Alley Cat or The Hokey Pokey. Music does not judge, all children can do it, no matter what their ability level is. This is not a subject that is graded.
That is why a well prepared Girl Scout leader will have a few songs on her phone or other electronic device so their girls can dance and sing. And you can join them! They would get a real kick out of that!
Some adults won't sing in public because they cannot carry a tune. Don't concern yourself with this! The girls will sense your joy and happiness while you are singing and only focus on that.
This album has all the songs a leader needs to bring music to her meetings. This compilation is made just for Girl Scout Daisies. There are other versions for the other levels as the girls get older. Some of the songs you can purchase are:
Amazing Daisies
We Are One Voice
Move Your Dancing Feet
Alice the Camel
Ladybug
The Sun Goes Up, The Sun Comes Down
Olayo
A World of Thanks
Most songs are about a minute long, with some being more and other less. Because they are short, they will be easy for your girls to learn. You can purchase one or all of them and previews are available before you buy.
More Girl Scout Daisy Songs
Here are a few more song ideas to get you started. I'm a Girl Scout Daisy This is sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" Daisy Happy Face Song This is sung to the tune of the "Brownie Smile Song". Daisy This is sung to the tune of "A BIcycle Built for Two". You can find even more Girl Scout Daisy songs here. Here are some cute Daisy videos.
*This post contains affiliate links. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Are you a brand new Daisy Girl Scout leader getting ready for her very first troop meeting? Are you feeling a bit nervous about how you are going to handle and prepare for it?
Take a breath! Every single leader has been there before. Even I get butterflies when it is time for my first meeting of the year, because as the girls mature, I have to make sure that our meetings are as girl led as possible (which is hard for me!), as well as ensure that they are all “considerate and caring” as well as “friendly and helpful” to each other. Group dynamics change as girls get older.
As a veteran Girl Scout leader since 2008, I have been there and done that. Here is some advice taken from my own experience, to help you as you establish your very own troop.
Your audience is only 5 or 6 years old. They are much easier to please than a room full of adults. These little girls are very excited to begin their Girl Scout experience, so just about anything you do is going to go over well.
Just be firm and consistent with the rules, and things should be fine.
2. Be Prepared
This motto is one that I live by as a teacher, a leader and as a mother. Even this week, as I prepared for my very first Senior Girl Scout meeting of the year, I made sure that I had extra activities planned in case things take a shorter amount of time than I anticipated.
Have a few Daisy Girl Scout coloring pages or games as back up. When they were younger, my troop loved to play Chinese jump rope, and it is always in my leader bag if we have a few extra minutes before our meeting ends. It also helps get their energy out if you have been sitting around too long, and it makes clean up go faster. The girls want to play!
This book is filled with classic game for your troop and it is for all levels. There are games for small groups, large groups, indoor activities and outdoors. too. It is also a resource for international games as well.
3. Create a Kaper Chart
Little girls love to help, and a Girl Scout Kaper chart is a great way to have girls participate in their own meeting. Give a girl a job or have two girls share one. It teaches them to be “responsible for what I day and do”.
While there are many wonderful Kaper Chart ideas on the internet, keep it simple for your first year. Think about where you want to invest your energy...making a chart that is used for a few minutes at each meeting or planning for each meeting. I love Pinterest...but it is not necessary to get carried away and spend hours and a lot of money on a Kaper Chart.
I have written several blog posts over the years about creating a simple Kaper Chart with inexpensive ready made items. You can find them here...just keep scrolling for each article.
4. Make Sure Each Meeting Has a Routine
School teachers know that routine is a way to give young children a sense of security and to help them stay on task. Young children need to know what to expect next. For example, each meeting should begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law.
Then you do your planned activities. Have a signal for the final five minutes before it is time to clean up. Close your meetings with the Make New Friends song and the Friendship Squeeze (you can find a video tutorial on each in this blog post).
There is no right or wrong way to have a meeting-do what works for your co-leader and you. Just be sure you keep to your schedule so you can complete the activities that you have planned.
5. Have Two Co-Leaders Instead of One
(and make sure your other parents are registered volunteers)
I have seen this time and again on the Girl Scout forums and Facebook groups that I read. There is occasional drama between leaders and co-leaders, and in the end, someone leaves. If you have at least two co-leaders, if someone decides this is not for her or you have some mama drama, your troop can still continue without disruption.
If you think getting parent permission forms on time is difficult, try finding another mom to step up and help you!
An extra co-leader right from the start also makes it easier to delegate tasks and leading meetings. One person can be in charge of field trips, another can be the treasurer, another in charge of buying the craft materials…why have it all of the planning responsibilities on your shoulders?
My book has chapters about how to get organized, launch your troop, and how to keep things going. There are also many useful resources for new leaders to use to help them get on their way to a fun filled year.
I have had different experiences with snack time. When my older daughter was a scout, her leaders requested that one girl bring it in for everybody, as they met directly after school. We had one parent who always forgot, and the leader had to bring it in for the girls. It really wasn’t fair to anybody involved.
That is why I decided that when my troop met after school, girls would bring their own snacks. That way, everyone gets to eat a treat that she likes and I do not have to worry about anybody’s food allergies. I did have a bag of pretzels or a granola bar in my bag because there is usually one child who forgets.
A note about food allergies…if you are meeting in a facility that is not your home, do not permit peanut products as snacks. Many schools and places of worship are peanut-free environments, and parents who have children with food allergies count on those places as being safe for their child.
7. Bring a Camera
My troop has been creating a perpetual Girl Scout scrapbook since their second year of Daisies. It is nice to have some photos of their time together as a troop. These can be shared on a private Shutterfly site or you can use them for your own scrapbooks.
If you decide to print the pictures, save your receipt so you can be reimbursed.
8. Network With Other Daisy Leaders
It is a good idea to attend your monthly Service Unit Meetings. Not only will you get the information you need about what is going on in your local council, you can talk to other leaders on your level. This is how I learned about a few free field trips in my area.
You can also ask Brownie leaders for assistance, as more than likely they were newbies just like you not that long ago. Ask your Service Unit to set time aside for networking at some of your meetings.
9. Don’t Do a Girl Scout Journey Your First Year
Many brand new Daisy leaders do not realize that they do not have to do a Girl Scout Journey until they are Juniors and want to earn the Bronze Award. Before 2008, Daisy Scouts was a one year program for kindergarteners. It was a year based on earning Daisy petals and getting familiar with the Girl Scout Law and Promise.
All that changed with the advent of the Journeys program. You can do it if you want, but my advice would be to wait until the second year and you have earned your Daisy petals. That way you are not trying to do both petals and Journeys at once. Focus on one aspect of the scouting program at a time.
10. You Do Not Have to Sell Cookies
Years ago, selling Girl Scout cookies was only for older girls-Daisies were not permitted to sell them. It gave new leaders a chance to breathe and to get to know how the other aspects of Girl Scout worked.
Now they can.
Selling cookies is an optional activity. I could not imagine selling them my very first year, on top of learning the ropes.
The tips for starting your Daisy Girl Scout troop are meant to help and guide you as you discover the joys of being a leader. Good luck!
Discover how to earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up leaf as your troop learns how to use the money it has earned.
Updated January 2021
*Please bear in mind that we are in a pandemic. Skipping cookies this year or having a small sales goal is perfectly acceptable. Years ago, Girl Scout Daisies were not permitted to sell cookies. Their safety and yours is paramount.
The final leaf that your Daisy Girl Scouts can earn is called Talk It Up. At this point, the girls are starting their cookie sales and you will be tracking your progress to reach the goals that you made with the Count It Up leaf. Armed with knowledge about the different types of cookies, what money looks like and knowing what things cost, the girls are ready for the big time! Here is how your girls can earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up leaf.
By Dsafdy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons and altered by the author on Canva
Step 1 How to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up Leaf
Decide How to Use Your Cookie Money
Ask girls if they know what saving money means and discuss why it is important to save. If the girls want to go on a big trip with their earnings, then it cannot all be spent on other things during the rest of the scouting year. At the end of the sale, make a chart like the one in the Daisy binder and have the girls see the numbers.
Step 2 How to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up Leaf Talk About How to Use Cookie Money to Help Others
Life isn't always about us. It also has to be about others...that is the crux of the Girl Scout Promise. Friendly and Helpful, Considerate and Caring, Respect Myself and Others... it is what scouts do. After you have decided on where you want a portion of the money to go, have the girls create a poster to share at your booth. If it an animal shelter, you can print out pictures animals and the organization's logo.
Step 3 How to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Talk It Up Leaf Inspire Your Customers
Some girls do not mind talking to strangers while others can do it easily. It is a good idea to role play different cookie scenarios with them so they do not get upset if someone says, "No, thank you" or asks them how the money they raise is used.
Discover how to earn the Girl Scout Daisy Count it Up leaf as your troop undertakes the tradition of selling Girl Scout cookies.
Updated January 2021
*Please bear in mind that we are in a pandemic. Skipping cookies this year or having a small sales goal is perfectly acceptable. Years ago, Girl Scout Daisies were not permitted to sell cookies. Their safety and yours is paramount. The third Daisy leaf in the quartet the girls can earn is called Count It Up. This can be done at the start of cookie selling season. Although I am not a fan of first year leaders selling cookies, if you are going to, start by reading this blog post on 10 Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for New Leaders. Here is how your troop can earn the Daisy Girl Scout Count It Up Leaf.
Photo from Pixabay
Step 1 to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Count It Up Leaf
Find Out What Cookies Cost
Depending on where you live, Girl Scout cookies cost $4.00 or $5.00 a box. How many one dollar bills is that? If someone gives you a $5.00 bill, how much change should s/he get back?
Step 2 to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Count It Up Leaf Learn About the Different Kinds of Cookies
Here is an opportunity for a taste testing party (of course, if there are allergies, you will either have to skip this or make sure that child/children does not eat something she shouldn't). This also does not mean that you have to open one of every flavor, maybe one or two of the classics and one of the newest flavor to join the cookie family.
Step 3 to Earn the Girl Scout Daisy Count It Up Leaf Set Sales Goals
Materials
Posterboard
Markers
Before the meeting, make a large thermometer on a piece of posterboard and entitle it "Troop 12345's Cookie Goals". This is a TROOP GOAL POSTER and not to be an individual girl poster. Cookie season brings out the worst in leaders. Troop money is troop money and if you do not believe me, it is written on page 21 in the official Girl Scouts Blue Book.
Cookie selling is voluntary and I wrote about it in depth in this blog poston my main Girl Scout leader site and in this post on my Daisy blog. I also have a blog post on why girls do not sell 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and why leaders need to stop stressing over it. You can read it here.
Talk to your girls about how many boxes they want to sell as a troop. Are they realistic? Young children really do not have a strong concept of numbers that are large, or even small for that matter. It is hard for them to visualize the difference between 100 and 1000. You may want to bring in some kind of visual, like a bag of beans or math chips, to demonstrate the difference. You may want to make incremental goals with a small reward as you go up the chart. For example, at the 100 box mark you may want to give them a special sticker or a small, edible treat. While not necessary, it does give little girls a reward for the work they are doing.
