Some girls participate in Girl Scouts from the time they are in kindergarten, as a Daisy, through their teen years, as a Senior Girl Scout. Therefore, meeting ideas and activities may vary, although the focus centers on friendship, good deeds and a healthy lifestyle.
Getting to Know You
No matter the age, at the first meeting, girls learn the Girl Scout promise and law, which states that they will treat others and God with honor and respect and help others in times of need. Girls will discuss ideas they have for activities with their troop leaders, although the Daisies and Brownies also have more scheduled time for arts and crafts and playful partner activities. Junior Girl Scouts will work in teams by performing skits to learn about each other, while Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts brainstorm their strengths to form ideas for the year.
Time Capsule
Plan an activity that centers on the girls themselves. This works best with Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts. Have the girls share about their families, interests, favorite books and television shows, and ideas for the year in the friendship circle. After writing them down, seal them away in a small cardboard box, not to be opened until the end of the year. At the last meeting of the year, the troop leader can reveal how well they met their goals and discuss how much each of the girls has changed.
Friendship
Discuss the importance of teamwork and cultural similarities and differences to get along with all the girls. Prepare the girls for the option of traveling abroad to another country in the International Recognition program, where they will live with a host family and be immersed with their culture and history. Have the girls build a scrapbook of their memories with their friends so they will always remember them. Encourage them to stay in contact with their host family and to invite their new friends to the United States for an upcoming holiday.
Education and Awareness
Since the Indian Hills Girl Scouts and the San Jacinto Girl Scouts founded the "In the Pink" project in 2005, several more troops have gotten involved. To participate in the project, which focuses on breast-cancer awareness, troops are required to learn more about breast cancer, including that the founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Law, died of it in 1927. They are encouraged to educate other young girls in the community about the risks of breast cancer and do breast exams at home. Although Girl Scouts technically are not allowed to raise money for events, they are encouraged to join breast-cancer walks to show their support for other walkers.
Nutrition and Exercise
Although the Girl Scout organization does focus on a healthy lifestyle, Richard Rosenkranz, an assistant professor at Kansas State, states that the program should focus more on physical activities than the current sedentary activities. The girls should consider practicing current dance moves or aerobics or running races outside. Troop leaders may also want to reanalyze the snacks to make sure they are serving healthy food, such as vegetables and low-fat dip or cheese and whole-grain crackers.
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