National

Invite a Friend to Start a Troop

You’re a Girl Scout Troop Co-Leader. You live for the sound of the Girl Scout Promise recited in unison on Tuesday nights. Your email inbox is full of coupons from Michaels and notes from troop parents. January – March is reserved for one thing, and one thing only: Cookie Time.

So share the fun! Nominate a parent in your troop or a friend (from outside your Girl Scout circle) to start a new Girl Scout troop and you’ll BOTH earn awesome gifts!

Invite your friend to volunteer, and once they’ve formed a Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie, or Junior troop…

  • You get $50 to spend at Girl Scouts’ official online store—sweet!
  • Your friend gets awesome resources (a $50 value!) to help them get their troop up and running—so cool!
  • Plus, when you double the friends, you double your prize…
    $100 for you and a Volunteer Resource Pack for each friend—awesome.

The best part? A toss up between having another friend to help with hauls from the Girl Scout shop or knowing you just made a great match between girls eager to start their adventure and an awesome role model. #winning

Claim your prize

Once your friend joins as a Girl Scout and starts a new troop, you’re ready to redeem your reward. 

Offer ends December 15, 2016 January 31, 2017.
Please review official Terms and Conditions

Cookies

10 Tips for Your First Cookie Season

Being a first-time troop leader can be incredibly rewarding. On the one hand, you’re responsible for this wonderful group of girls who you are helping to become strong young ladies of courage, confidence, and character. But that’s just part of the equation.

Add your very first cookie season to the mix, and the words of the late, great David Bowie (with Queen) come to mind: “Under Pressure.”

But don’t fret! We asked our experienced troop leaders for their best cookie season tips, and we’re bringing you our favorites. Read on to ensure your girls—and YOU—enjoy the ride!

  1. Stay organized. Use receipts, create logs for financial information, make copies, and keep track of those IOUs. —Jen W. & Leah Q.
  2. Keep your girls and their parents informed. Provide detailed schedules, tell them exactly what you need from them, and let them know how they can help. The more they know, the easier it’ll be for you. —Meagan W.
  3. You’ll be shocked at how many cookies your girls will sell, but don’t go overboard when you place your first order. You can always order more if needed. Connect with a fellow leader about which cookies are popular in your area so you can gauge a better estimate. —Rachel D.
  4. We encourage you to use online tools like Pinterest for booth inspiration. And do you know about our Cookie Troop 100 Challenge?
  5. Get your girls excited about cookie sales! Set up fun activities at meetings, guide them in setting realistic goals, and celebrate with them as they progress along the way. —Michelle M.
  6. Limit the number of girls at booth sales. Sometimes more isn’t merrier, especially if girls are younger and distractions are more common. If you can, partner your younger girls with older Girl Scouts to help guide the sales. —Jennifer L.
  7. Set a fun goal with your troop. Ask them what they want to do with their cookie proceeds: go on a special outing? Donate the money to a charity? The options are endless and it will give them something to look forward to. —Stacy R.
  8. Practice makes perfect! Set up a fake booth at a troop meeting, have the girls practice their sales pitches, and remind them about the 5 Skills. —Nicole P.
  9. Even young girls can lead their peers in a discussion about how they are making progress toward their team goal. Let girls lead and they will take ownership and grow their skills!
  10. Finally, don’t hesitate to ask for help—you’re not alone in this adventure so reach out to parents, other troop leaders, and anyone else at your council. One extra for good luck: keep calm and lead on! —Rebekah

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

Academics

KPMG Future Leaders Scholarship

Girl Scout Ambassadors! A scholarship program just for you.

The KPMG Future Leaders Program selects top female high school seniors from around the country to participate in the program and receive a KPMG Future Leaders Scholarship of $10,000 per year through four years of college.

Selected students attend a three-day retreat at Stanford University the summer before their freshman year of college; in 2017, the retreat will be held July 17–19. Students also participate in a yearlong mentoring program, paired with a female leader participating in the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit.

Learn more about the program and share the application, which is due to the Office of Condoleezza Rice by January 30, with graduating Ambassadors who may be interested.

Outdoor

Help Your Family Get Healthy in 2017

It’s pretty common around this time of year: You had big hopes of turning a new leaf and really getting healthy in the new year, but now, a few months in, you’re realizing nothing has changed. The great news? Every single day is a new opportunity to make the (Small! Easy!) changes necessary to have a much healthier, happier 2017. And the truth is, it really is the small easy changes that eventually become lifelong healthy habits. These tips from Girl Scouts’ Developmental Psychologist, Andrea Bastiani Archibald, will make it painless and even fun.

Resist the Urge to Dive In
Remember your grand intentions about suddenly going to the gym every day? There’s a reason why that probably didn’t go so well. When you try to go from zero to 100, it’s overwhelming—not just physically (ouch!) but also mentally. If you think what you’re doing is going to be incredibly difficult, you might start feeling defeated before you even begin. That’s why it’s important to start small and work your way up to the bigger stuff. Bundle up and go for a walk as a family every Sunday morning. After a few weeks, try increasing it to a jog or even a full blown run around the neighborhood.

Get Her Cooking
The amazing thing about fruits and vegetables (what we should be eating most of) is that there are so many varieties to choose from. Bring your daughter grocery shopping with you and help her pick out a vegetable that interests her each week. Look up ways to prepare it together, and then—if your daughter is old enough—have her help you cook a dish with it. When you serve the finished product as a side-dish to a family-favorite main course, she’ll feel proud of her involvement and be far more excited to try it. Over the months, you’ll discover all kinds of new, healthy foods you and your family love—and your daughter will become a little chef!

Go from A to Zzzzzzs
The saying goes that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but almost nothing is as important to your family’s healthy new start as getting a good night’s sleep. When you’re overtired, you’re more likely to overeat, and to specifically gravitate toward unhealthy choices. You’re also less likely to feel up for physical activity. So make sure your daughter’s bedtime (and yours, for that matter!) is early enough for her to get the recommended 9 to 11 hours of sleep recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.

 This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.
Outdoor

Pool Safety: 5 Water Safety Tips That Could Save…

Ah, summer. Time to bust out the sunscreen, pop on your favorite shades, and—yes!—take a few minutes to make sure you’re up on all the latest pool safety tips. It might seem like a downer to think about all the scary things that could happen when your little ones are in the water (drowning is the second leading cause of injury death in children ages 1-14, according to the CDC), but you’ll feel more confident and have a lot more fun at the pool when you know you’ve done everything possible to keep your children safe and happy during swim time.

Becky Simpson, Resident Camp Director and Program Manager at Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, shared these simple yet super important tips:

Get your swim on
Make sure all members of your family are comfortable in the water and know how to swim. Community centers and organizations across the country offer baby, toddler, and child swimming lessons. Start your kids off early, especially if you have a pool or they are often near the water during summer. That said, you have to know how to swim as well! If you never learned, sign up to take a class with your girl or ask about adult classes in your neighborhood.

Keep an eye out
When children are in the pool, at least one adult should always be present and actively watching (i.e. not chatting on the phone, checking social media, or reading a book). I know you might think your girl or any child in the pool would call for help if they found themselves in trouble, and that catching up on your favorite magazines poolside won’t hurt—but the truth is, when someone is drowning they’re usually fighting to breathe, let alone talk or yell. That’s why you need to be able to see the visual cues of trouble, which include paddling without making forward progress or bobbing up and down in place without moving forward or backward. When it comes to pool safety, the number one thing kids need is your undivided attention.

Lock it up
Ensure that any pool your children are near is surrounded by a tall (at least 4-foot) fence with a self-latching gate, and that your kids know they can only be in the pool area if an adult is present. Although it may seem like a nuisance to have to unlatch the gate every time you want to go in or out of the pool area (especially if your hands are full!) it’s a small sacrifice to make to ensure that your child and any other children present are kept out of harm’s way.

Don’t Bet on Inflatable Toys
Inflatable arm bands, sometimes called swimmies or water wings, are popular among parents whose children can’t swim or are just learning how to swim. Many people believe these and other inflatable water toys enable non-swimmers and weak swimmers to splash the day away without risk of drowning, but the truth is that these toys can offer a false sense of security. What if the seal around the air plug weakens, causing air to slowly leak out of the arm band or floatation ring? What if a hole is torn? When you’re looking for water safety equipment, do your research and make sure any and all safety-related floatation devices have been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Most of these are made of durable floatation foam and will last a long time.  The inflatable stuff is fun (come on, who wouldn’t want to glide around the pool on a giant, inflatable pink donut?!) but shouldn’t be counted on to keep non-swimmers afloat!

Stay away from the drain
Show your children the drain in the pool you’re using and make sure they know to steer clear of it while swimming and splashing about. When hair, bathing suits, or bodies get pulled down and trapped by the powerful suction of a pool drain, the force can be so strong that even fully grown adults can’t manage to pull a child off the vent and save them from injury or drowning. Just in case of an accident, though, keep a pair of scissors poolside (but out of reach of small children!) that you could use to cut hair or clothing away from a drain. You’ll probably never need them, but knowing they’re there will give you an extra ounce of security—which we all know as parents is never a bad thing!

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

STEAM

She Likes Science? Try Engineering?

Does your girl like music, playing sports, or cooking? How about video games, dancing, or stargazing? Does she dream of curing disease, inventing things, or caring for animals?

Yes? Then she likes science—and she may be interested in engineering! That’s great news for her and for our society—we need more women involved with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Of all STEM fields, the “E” (engineering) is most lacking women. We need to fuel the pipeline!

Kids are natural engineers. They are incredibly curious, love to play, take things apart, and interact with the world to understand how it works. Girls in elementary school already have the right mindset for STEM: they’re curious, aren’t afraid to ask questions, enjoy working with others, like to use their imaginations, and love making things.

So how do you channel her interest in science into activities that will engage, entertain, and educate her to be a challenge-seeker, problem-solver, and world-changer? We can inspire girls to explore a future in engineering by showing them how STEM subjects are interesting, exciting, and can help people lead better lives. It’s easier than you may think.

Help her see that STEM is everywhere. Play a game to spot science and engineering in our everyday lives. Help her take things apart (safety first!) to see how they work. Get outdoors and observe the science of nature.

Introduce her to STEM role models. Watch shows and documentaries about science. Check out books and comics with STEM role models. Find places in your community where people work in STEM jobs, take a tour, and meet real-life role models.

Encourage her to participate in STEM activities. Suggest she take part in STEM events at school. Discuss issues like taking care of animals or feeding the hungry that can be addressed by STEM. Talk about how scientists can—and do—make the world a better place.

We can help girls understand that it’s great to dream big, but that it’s okay to fail too. That’s right, failure can be a good thing! Trying, failing, and rethinking and trying again is what engineers and others do all the time.

Great thinkers, scientists, and inventors, from Leonardo da Vinci to Marie Curie to today’s modern technologists, approach discovery this way. It’s called “design thinking”—and it’s actually one of the best ways for kids to learn! Hands-on experimentation or “learning by doing” is far more effective than abstract thinking and memorization of concepts. And, consider how empowering it is for a girl to test her own ideas and come up with her own solutions to real problems.

“The freedom to fail, and try again, allows girls to flex their problem-solving and leadership skills,” according to Andrea Bastiani Archibald, Girl Scouts of the USA’s resident developmental psychologist. “The design-thinking process makes challenges exciting—and makes failure expected and relatively comfortable and normal. This can be quite liberating for girls who too often have greater concerns about success and failure, especially in subjects like science.“

So next time she’s taking pictures, editing a video, looking at the night sky, or even baking a tasty treat, remind her that there’s science behind all those activities—and encourage her to embrace her inner engineer, and inspire others to do the same!

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

STEAM

9 Super-Easy Ways to let her Explore STEM

Science, technology, engineering, and math are all around us! Nearly everywhere we look, we can find examples of how STEM explains, enables, and improves our lives.

So how can you ignite your daughter‘s interest in STEM—and help her see that a future in STEM can make the world a better place?

Just look around! There are super-simple ways you can find “teachable moments” in your day-to-day life. Whether your girl is in grade school, middle school, or high school, she can have fun and learn about STEM at the same time—with your help!

Don’t sweat it. You don’t need to be an expert to introduce your girl to STEM; you just have to start the conversation…and she’ll learn the rest. Just get her thinking to spark her curiosity. And if she raises a question you can’t easily respond to, just say “good question” and find the answer together!

Here are easy activities to try, matched to her grade level:

Grades K–5
Younger girls are natural explorers. Help her spot interesting STEM topics every day!

  • Secret Lives of Animals
    Getting outside and exploring nature is a perfect time to think about science. Look around for birds, squirrels, pigeons, dogs, even bugs. Do they walk, fly, or crawl? Do they interact with humans, or are they social with one another? Do they live in trees, in the ground, in our homes? Are they furry, feathery, or scaly? This is a great way introduce your girl to the environment, biology, and other sciences.
  • Motion and Energy
    Next time your daughter is running around bursting with energy, channel her enthusiasm into something entertaining—and educational. Encourage her to dance and explore body movement. Explain how movement requires energy, and explore how our bones and muscles make it possible for us to walk, run, jump, swim—and, of course, dance!
  • Magical Magnets
    Wait! Before you stick her latest artistic masterpiece on the fridge, here’s a perfect opportunity to explore magnets and magnetic attraction. Ask her to touch the magnet to different surfaces. See how it sticks to some metals, but not to wood, clothing, or the family pet. Grab another magnet and see how the two magnets attract—or repel—each other. And finally, use the magnet to hang the budding Picasso’s artwork on the fridge!

Middle School
At this age, she’s thinking about her future and is ready to find her passion in STEM.

  • Food Science
    Baking is science—so it’s an easy way to teach kids about STEM. Bake a cake, a pie, or cookies to explore how ingredients like flour, sugar, milk, and water change when mixed together. Watch as the batter or dough rises in the oven, changes from liquid to solid, and then browns (or burns). Then talk about how our taste buds let us enjoy delicious treats. Chemistry, thermodynamics, and biology—triple score!
  • Plants Made Easy
    How do plants grow? Find out with fresh peas, a paper cup, and water! Wrap some paper towels around the inside of the cup, and place the peas about halfway down between the paper and the side of the cup. Add water and place the cup in a well-lit area. Soon the pea will sprout and your daughter can watch it grow. Plant it in a pot for even more learning fun!
  • Pizza Party
    Pizza is more than a meal; it’s an opportunity to learn about math. Help your girl explore fractions by considering how many slices of pizza make up the whole pie. Calculate the average number of pepperoni pieces per pizza slice. Get geometric by thinking about how the circular pizza fits in the square box. While you’re at it, consider why (most) pizzas aren’t square…or pizza boxes round.)

High School
She’s ready to explore her independence—and STEM may be the perfect vehicle to help her find her future.

  • Stargazing
    Go outside at dusk to watch the stars (and planets) emerge. Watch the moonrise to learn about how the Earth rotates. Stick around for the constellations to appear. Use a telescope to take a closer look at stars, planets, even satellites! You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to think like one or appreciate the beauty of the night sky.
  • How Things Are Made
    Getting ready for a bike ride in the park? Before you pedal off, take a quick look at how the bike is designed and made. Talk about the thinking that went into its design, how people actually use bikes, and the materials used (metal, rubber, plastic). Take a moment to see how moving the pedals move the gears, which move the chain, which spins the wheel. Are there improvements that could make biking easier or safer? That’s engineering!
  • Under the Hood
    High-schoolers are always on the go! So get her thinking about transportation and energy use. Whether it’s a car, school bus, or train, it uses energy. How does the motor or engine convert fuel to the power necessary to move us? What can we do to use energy wisely and still get to school on time? Think about how even though a bus requires more fuel, it may be more efficient because it moves more people. She’ll be thinking like a scientist in no time!

Remember, when you’re encouraging your daughter to explore STEM subjects, it’s not about having the answers—it’s about raising the questions. Help her explore and find her own answers, and she’ll be thinking like a scientist before you know it!

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

Troop Tips

Making Friends: 7 Simple Icebreakers Even Shy Girls Will…

Being reserved or even shy shouldn’t stop your girl from having a super fun social life! If she’s having trouble making friends, suggest some of these oh-so-simple ice breakers that will help her meet new kids and hopefully form lifelong friendships!

  1. “The cat on your shirt is so cute! I love cats, too—do you have one?”
    Teach her to look for cues that she and the other person have something in common, like a character that might be on her clothing or lunch bag.
  2. “Have you read anything cool lately?”
    Asking about something particular, like a book she may have read or a movie she may have seen, gives them a clear subject to talk about and can lead to plenty of other topics. Just make sure she has a book in mind to talk about in case the girl wants to know what she’s been reading, too!
  3. “I thought the story you wrote was awesome! What made you write about outer space?”
    Everyone loves a sincere compliment, and following it up with a question about what she’s accomplished will show a genuine curiosity and hopefully lead to a great discussion!
  4. “I’m signing up for Girl Scouts this year—are you?”
    Bringing up a potential shared experience will get the girls talking, even if they’re not both doing the same activities.
  5. “Do you want to share my orange?”
    Being generous with toys or snacks is a universal offering of friendship, and will likely spark a conversation between the two girls.
  6. “How did you feel about today’s game?”
    If the girls are on the same soccer team, or even in the same classroom in school, they’ll have plenty of shared experiences they can discuss. All it takes is your daughter to bring one of them up!
  7. “Want to study for the vocab quiz together?”
    Suggesting tackling an activity that both girls have to do anyway will make the task easier on both of them, and give them a chance to get to know each other better.

Having to make new friends might be intimidting to your child, so go over these ideas and see if she can come up with more on her own. Of course not every person your girl wants to be friends with will feel the same way, and that’s OK, but the more she puts herself out there and connects with other kids, the more opportunities she’ll have to grow her social circle.

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

Bullying

Help Her Find Her Girl Squad

Think about that one friend of yours—the one you’ve known forever, who remembers your goofiest fashion moments, who’s cheered you on through every adventure (and, okay, a few misadventures), who you can go without seeing for months and pick right back up as if no time has passed at all. There’s no question you want your daughter to have the same kind of amazing friendships in her life, so do her a solid and steer her in the right social direction.

Show Her the Fun of Friendship
Your daughter probably knows several of your friends, so try telling her about how you met, whether it was in line at the grocery store or at school when you were younger. Understanding that you had to go through the whole getting-to-know-you process will give her more confidence in her own social skills—and get her excited about all the opportunities to make new friends.

Play Your Part
If your daughter is a bit shy, she might need a few hints of what to say when she meets someone new. “Come up with real-life situations she might be confronted with,” suggests Girl Scouts Developmental Psychologist Dr. Andrea Bastiani Archibald. “If they are in the lunch line together, how can she start a conversation?” Remember that the ice breakers you might use in your life (“That was a great presentation—want to grab lunch sometime?”) don’t necessarily translate to the swing-set crew! Asking about pets, commenting on the characters on the other girl’s shirt (“I like giraffes, too!”), or even a simple, “Want to play?” can open the door to new friendships.

Get Her Out There
Of course your daughter will meet other kids at school, but don’t limit her to just that group of little ones. Try signing her up for activities at the library, for the neighborhood soccer team, or finding a local Girl Scouts troop for her to join. “Introduce her to a host of different activities,” says Dr. Bastiani Archibald. “Not only is it a great way to try new things, but it can help your daughter form friendships with children who share her interests.”

Make it Easy for Her
Believe it or not, your behavior can have a big impact on your daughter’s budding social life. By being a good listener and supporter to the friends in your life (and explaining why those are great qualities in a friend), she’ll be set up to be a superstar buddy. And finally? Try to get to playdates, troop meetings, and other activities on time. Yes, traffic is bad. Yes, you had to finish that one email before you could get out the door. But when you’re late to a social activity, your daughter might miss out on introductions and feel uncomfortable reaching out on her own.

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.

Bullying

Your Daughter Doesn’t Have to be Friends with Everyone

You want a lot of things for your daughter, and a life rich in friendships is definitely among them. Having a great partner in crime (or two or three or five!) will give her a sense of belonging, enrich her sense of self, teach her about compassion and loyalty, and boost her confidence as she grows up and experiences all life has to offer.

Friends are special in our lives. They’re the ones we count on when times get tough. They’re the ones who share our secrets and make every day more fun. Friends are precious, which is why they’re likened to precious metals in one of the most famous Girl Scout songs of all time. But although the beloved lyrics insist we should “make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold,” nowhere do they say “and by the way, you have to be friends with everybody”— which might be hard to swallow in this age of social media where one can have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of so-called “friends” online.

“Teach your daughter to have respect for and be kind to all people,” says Girl Scouts’ Developmental Psychologist Dr. Andrea Bastiani Archibald, Ph.D., “but know that actual friendship is something different—something deeper—that will develop between your girl and some kids, but not others.” So, even if you had high hopes that your girl would want to be forever friends with the daughter of your closest friend, it might not work out that way, and that’s OK.

“What makes a good friend for one person might not make a good friend for another,” Dr. Bastiani Archibald continues. “Help her learn what makes a good friend for her specifically. Does she prefer outgoing children who will be eager to join her for adventures, or is she happier engaging in quiet play with other like-minded kids?” Choosing friends is a highly personal thing, and so many factors from your girl’s interests to her sense of humor will affect who she forms stronger bonds with. Your girl will feel happiest and most fulfilled in friendships that are based on those things rather than forced into being over a sense of obligation or guilt. And very young girls often don’t even know why they are friends with someone and not with someone else: they just click (or don’t) and that’s totally okay and normal.

All that said, tricky situations can arise when your daughter wants to be friends with someone who doesn’t return her feelings of friendship. “It’s only natural for her to be sad, confused, or even angry if the girl she wants to be friends with is less than excited to hang out with her,” says Dr. Bastiani Archibald. “And it can also be hard for you as her parent, since you can’t imagine anyone not wanting your amazing daughter in their lives. But instead of picking up the phone and giving an earful to the other girl’s mother, take a step back and remember that just as you teach your daughter she can be friends with (and not be friends with!) whomever she wishes, this other girl has the same right.” Handling social disappointments gracefully is a skill we could probably all stand to work on—so unless you see signs of actual bullying or rude behavior toward your daughter, urge her to let it go and focus her energy on the friends she already has, or to seek out other, different children who might be looking for new friends, too.

This article originally appeared on GirlScouts.org.