Leading a girl-led troop takes planning and choices on the leaders’ part to make sure girls have the opportunity to be decision makers. Follow along with our checklist to see if your troop matches up.  

At each level, girls take on more and more of the decision making. Today’s article is all about younger girls, but if you mentor older girls, have no fear! Catch our article later this week on the same topic but for older girls. If you mentor Juniors, you may find yourself in the middle, using tips from both!

1. Are my girls choosing their activities?

Selecting what they do for the year is a wonderful way to get the decision making started.

Ideas for putting this into action:

• Bring out badge packets or print a PDF resource from www.girlscouts.org/badgeexplorer for girls to look at when discussing and deciding
• Sit in a circle when discussing your options so all girls can share their opinions
• Use a “talking stick” or other item to help girls take turns sharing verbally

2. Are my girls planning their own outings?

Girls can have a big say in their upcoming field trip or overnight.

What could be on the agenda for their decision making?

• Snack or meal choices
• Selecting from a set of option of where to go
• Voting on some of the main activities

3. Do my girls address problems and consequences?

When a problem arises in your troop, or a decision was made that they later regret, do your girls see what happens and do they understand the cause-and-effect.

Situations where girls can address challenges:

• A mess! If a mess was made (accidentally or on purpose) make sure girls play a role in cleaning it up.
• Troop disagreements – depending on the issue at hand, it might be an issue for a girl (or a few girls) needs to talk out, and you can make time for them to do so. When it comes to larger decision making with a disagreement, guide girls to compromise or find a new solution.

4. Do my troop volunteers know when to help and when to be hands-off?

Troop volunteers are AMAZING and we need their assistance for running a safe and happy troop. Sometimes, they need a little guidance on when to step in and when to let the girls take the lead.

How to get on the same page:

• Have a volunteer meeting and brainstorm some general rules about when to intervene and when to let the girls handle it
• Share any new guidelines with the girls so they know what to expect