Featured

Episode 9 – Join the AtGS Movement

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We’re gearing up for BIG things in 2020! And we need your help.

Every month, we’ll be opening up guest blog submissions and podcast guest applications to plan all the All Things Girl Scouts goodness for the following month. Our listeners and readers have so much knowledge and experience to share, and we’re ready to help even more Troop Leaders and parents make Girl Scouts AWESOME for girls in their troop.

Be a Guest Blogger

There are 3 types of articles you can submit:

  1. Share Your Story: Something AWESOME your troop or Service Unit has done in Girl Scouts. What are your successes that others could gain inspiration from?
  2. How-To: Share the step-by-step of how to earn a specific girl award, qualify for a volunteer recognition, or host a bridging ceremony (for example).
  3. Expert Resources: Do you have a super-cool day job with expertise to share? Maybe you can help girls earn a badge by sharing resources.

To get started, submit your interest form here.
The deadline to submit is the 10th of each month, for content to be published the following month.

Be a Podcast Guest Host

There are 3 types of Podcast Guest Hosts:

  1. Girl Scout Experts – If you have a special skill, experience, or knowledge related to Girl Scouts, join us on an episode to share it! Are you really good at Dutch oven cooking? Love the STEM badges? Let’s chat.
  2. Professional Experts – If you’ve got a cool day job that girls or troop leaders might be interested in learning more about, let’s chat.
  3. Council Celebrity – How fun would it be to interview council CEOs, Board chairs, and Camp Directors?! Let’s highlight your Council’s celebrities with exclusive interviews!

Want to be a Podcast Guest Host? Submit your interest form here.
Know someone who would be an awesome guest? Suggest a guest here.

Leadership

Building Leadership Skills as a Volunteer-in-Training

What is it? 
The Volunteer-in-Training (or “VIT”)  award is for girls who’d like to mentor a Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie, or Cadette group outside of the camp experience. This could be in a troop setting or for special events and opportunities. If you’ve completed 9th grade, you’re eligible to earn this award. Your VIT project should span 3-6 month period.

The skills learned are also applicable to everyday life and will help girls become confident, effective leaders in everything they do. Becoming a Volunteer-in-Training is also a great résumé boost for girls and sets them up for success when going for their Gold!

How to earn it:
1. Find a mentor volunteer who is currently the adult volunteer for a group of girls at the level you’d like to work with. This volunteer will help you through your training and internship, and you’ll help the volunteer with her group of girls for the 3-6 month period.

2. Complete a council-designed leadership course.

3. Create and implement a thoughtful program based on a Journey or badge that lasts over 4 or more sessions. Be responsible for designing, planning, and evaluating the activities. If you’re passionate about a topic like art or technology, you could design the activities around the area you love or in which you have expertise.

Where does it go on the uniform?

The VIT pin is available for purchase through the Girl Scout shop. 

They are placed on the front of the Senior or Ambassador uniform, above Journey Awards/badges, and below Bridging Awards. 

For more information about getting started with Volunteer-in-Training, contact your council.

Short and Sweet

Homesickness Help

Homesickness can happen to any of our girls. It’s most likely during an overnight trip, but can even happen on day trips for some girls. You may have girls who experience some homesickness during most overnights and others that haven’t previously, but this trip is an exception. In the moment, it can feel overwhelming so we’ve put together a list of ways volunteers can help girls with homesickness.

  1. Notice when girls are homesick. Homesickness usually strikes during slow parts of your outing, times when the girls aren’t “busy”. Preparing for bedtime, during or after meals, time between activities, or during an activity she’s not that interested in are common times for it to strike. Homesickness can manifest in many ways. Girls often look sad or detached from the group. They may be crying. Some experience stomach pain or headaches, even. If a girl didn’t experience homesickness the first night, don’t assume she won’t experience it later in your trip. 
  2. Prevent the spread of homesickness. That’s right, homesickness can be “contagious.” It is a very emotional experience and your sisterhood of girls will want to help their friend. Unfortunately, this can get them thinking about how much they miss home, as well. Never be alone with a girl, but take her off to the side for your talk. This provides her some privacy and you avoid an outbreak.
  3. Help her calm down enough to talk. If a girl is crying too much to get words out, have her drink some water. It’s very hard to continue intense crying while sipping on a water bottle. It will help her regulate her breathing. Then you can focus on some deep breaths until she can talk.
  4. Talk it out. It’s good for girls to talk about their feelings. Some girls are homesick because they miss their mom or dad. Some miss their little siblings. Some miss the dog. Knowing who or what she is missing will help you comfort her and offer soothing advice.
  5. Think about tomorrow and set a goal. Talk about the schedule tomorrow. What will you be doing that’s exciting? Is there something yummy for lunch? When will she be going home to see her family? Talk now about what she is excited for. Most girls are still excited to do things on the trip, they are just struggling with being away from home. Talk about how excited her family will be to hear about her adventures. Consider setting a goal for tomorrow. For instance if you have pool time, maybe you’ll plan a cannonball contest together.
  6. Redirect her energy. Keeping girls busy can keep their homesickness at bay. Have her help you with a task, or assign her to help a friend. If it’s down time before bed, this can be more difficult, but maybe she can write a short letter that she will share with her family when she gets home. She can write about what she’s done so far and what she will do tomorrow. If it’s time for lights out, think of some happy things for her to dream about. Write them on slips of paper and put them under her pillow.

The most common question we get from girls is: can I call my parents? For most girls, if you walk through these steps with them, they will not need to talk to their parent. You can say things like, “let’s just talk about it for now.”  If a girl’s homesickness is very persistent, call the parent first, without the girl knowing yet, and fill them in on what’s going on. The parent knows the girl best. You want to talk about how your goal is to keep the girl with her friends at the overnight. The parent might have some extra information to share with you to help, or they might say that if they talk to their girl, they can help. 

What other homesickness tips have worked for you or your co-leader?

Featured

Episode 8 – Safety Award Resources

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What are Girl Scouts Safety Awards?

There is one Safety Award available at each Girl Scout level, so there are six total. They look like the little red cross symbol, except the color is different at each level and there is a little green girl scout trefoil in the middle of the cross.

Where does she wear the award?

It is typically worn just above the rows of badges and Journey awards. You want to have some space above it for the My Promise, My Faith awards. Above it there might also be Brownie Wings, a Junior Aide award, bridging awards, and so on. See insignia placement here.

Where do I find all the requirement?

To find all the requirements for the safety award, you will want to reference your level’s Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting. 

In this episode, we review the requirements of each level’s Safety Award and talk about ideas for completing each step.

We’ve also prepared a free downloadable resource for you, with links to additional expert resources to support your troop, as the girls work toward their safety award. Get the resources here.

Safety Award Topics by Level

Daisies

  • What to do in an emergency
  • Choking signs and first aid
  • Stop, Drop and Roll

Brownies

  • School safety
  • Local emergency services
  • Smoke alards
  • Trip safety
  • Disaster preparedness

Juniors

  • Common injuries
  • Home safety
  • Signs of dangerous weather
  • Bike safety
  • Trail safety

Cadettes

  • Hazards to young children
  • Water safety
  • Teaching Safety to others
  • Disaster preparedness
  • Bullying 

Seniors

  • Self defense
  • Teaching safety to younger girls
  • Distracted driving
  • Conflict resolution
  • Drug and alcohol abuse

Ambassadors

  • Teen forum on safety
  • Social Media safety
  • Safety Responsibilities for leaders
  • Safe relationships
  • Safety in sports
Badges and Patches

Get to Know the Junior Aide Award

Who can earn the Junior Aide Award?
You guessed it, Girl Scout Juniors can earn this award.

How do girls earn the award?
Girls can earn this mentoring award by teaming up with a Daisy or Brownie troop, and make/complete a plan to help the Daisies or Brownies on their Journey.

How can you find a Daisy or Brownie troop to work with?
You might be lucky enough to meet at the same location as a younger troop, or be in easy contact with a troop. If not, ask around at your service unit meeting to see who would be interested in teaming up with your girls. Still no luck? Talk to your council contact person. They may know just the troop to set you up with.

Where can leaders find resources to help Juniors plan a Daisy or Brownie Journey?
The VTK allows troop leaders to view meeting plans from all age levels. If the troop you are helping has already selected their Journey, you can view all the meeting plans and work with Junior girls to customize it.

Where does the award go on their uniform?
Juniors place this award under their Bridge to Junior Award (or under their membership year pins if they didn’t earn that award) and above their Brownie Wings. If there are no Brownie Wings on her uniform, be sure to leave space for other pinned awards like My Promise, My Faith and the Safety Award before the badges start. To learn more about where to place badges, awards, and insignia, view these resources from GSUSA.

What is the importance of this award?
This award is the first in a series of mentoring awards that girls can earn in Girl Scouts. The Cadette Program Aide Award, Volunteer in Training Award, and Counselor in Training I and II Awards all work together to give her more and more opportunities to lead girls younger than herself. At your troop meetings, there are lots of opportunities to make group decisions and be a leader among peers. With mentoring awards, girls become role models and practice the role of authority and guide of a group younger than herself. The Junior Aide Award is not a prerequisite for any of these awards, but does offer a first step in building this type of leadership.

Where can I find more information about this award?
To learn more about the Junior Aide Award, view the handbook section of your Junior Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting.

Outdoor

Summer Safety

Summer is here! Which means we could all use a few reminders about how to stay safe during our sunny, super fun activities.

Fun in the Sun

We love the sun, but it doesn’t always love us back. 

  • Make sure to regularly have girls apply sunscreen. Set a timer if you need to make sure you don’t forget, especially if you will be in the water. 
  • Include sun protection in the packing list, things like hats and bandanas, shirts with sleeves that cover the shoulders, and sunscreen.
  • Be conscious of how much time girls have been in the sun. Opt for a game in the shade instead of one in the sun.
  • If you have younger girls, ask parents to have girls practice applying sunscreen to be sure they can get it everywhere they need.

Pesky Insects

Girl Scouts love the outdoors, but don’t love donating blood one mosquito at a time. The same goes for other bugs that can’t keep their antennae to themselves.

  • Add bug spray to the packing list and bring extra. Apply regularly.
  • Remind girls to do tick checks before bed, or when changing for swim time. You can remind families to do the same when girls get home. Girls should check where clothing meets the skin, like the waistband and sock-line, their hairline, and places skin overlaps or touches itself, like armpits.
  • Be prepared to remove, and save, a tick that bites. The CDC has information about tick removal for you to review. Saving the tick after removal can help if the girl develops symptoms of a transmittable disease. One of the easiest ways to do this is to stick it in some clear tape and give it to the family.

Safe Swimming

A trip to a pool, waterpark, or local beach can be so much fun. In addition to sun protection, here are a few more tips to think about.

  • Only swim at locations with a lifeguard. Maybe that means providing your own or maybe the location has someone on duty.
  • If you are using a local beach, do not use if the beach is closed. Flooding, algae blooms, or other water management issues sometimes close waterways. Follow those recommendations.
  • Know your girls swimming abilities and set appropriate limits. Talk to families or ask girls to demonstrate their skills. Set limits based on swimming ability.
  • Review rules like no running, no diving, and anything else relevant to your activity.
  • Always follow Safety Activity Checkpoints for any water activities. Contact your council for details.

Keeping Cool and Hydrated

Whether it’s hot or not, girls and adults (yes, you too, don’t forget) need to drink lots of water. And when it’s hot outside, you’ll need to keep an eye out for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Here’s how you can prepare:

  • Know the signs and first aid for dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke.
  • Take regular water breaks, and don’t forget to make sure the other adults and yourself are taking part, too!
  • Take breaks in the shade regularly.

What are you favorite ways to make summer safety FUN?

Featured

Team Building and Problem Solving

Team building and problem solving are important additions to the whole experience of Girl Scouts. Girls learn to work together and support one another in their Girl Scout activities. By doing this, groups will develop trust within the group and will feel more comfortable sharing ideas. The troop leader’s role is to foster this team-building and ensure that each group has the opportunity to develop as a team.

Some characteristics that an excellent team should display:

  • Girls share information relevant to the activity at hand
  • Girls coordinate with each other when appropriate
  • Girls know, appreciate, and use one another’s specialties
  • Girls cooperate and back-up one another when necessary

Troop leaders promote teamwork through their own interactions:

  • Leaders model teamwork by practicing attitudes and actions
  • Leaders help girls become aware of one another’s varied experiences
  • Leaders encourage girls to interact with one another about their experience, interests, and skills
  • Leaders reward girls for teamwork with socio-emotional rewards
  • Leaders help develop pride in the group

Leaders also improve teamwork through several formal procedures:

  • Help establish shared goals
  • Establish regular structures through which members may communicate with one another frequently
  • Help clarify roles and role expectations
  • Help identify problems and establish problem solving procedures

How do you build a strong team environment in your troop?

Featured

Teaching Games

Why do we play games in Girl Scouts?

  • To help girls and leaders get acquainted easily and enjoy being together.
  • To meet some of the needs of the whole group and of individuals. For example, games can give girls a chance:
    • To be active and noisy after a time they had to be quiet.
    • To learn teamwork and fair play.
    • To learn to win or lose in a good natured way.
    • To be both leaders and followers.
  • To present new information or skills in an engaging way.
  • To review or practice skills in an enjoyable way.
  • To help girls understand and appreciate both similar and different games of Girl Scouts in other countries.

How do we prepare to teach games?

  • Choose games to teach according to:
    • The ages, interests, and abilities of the group.
    • The special purpose you want each game to serve.
    • The size and type of play space available.
    • The weather – during hot days, choose less active games, a shaded space, or water based games if possible.
  • Know the games you want to play well enough that you don’t have to refer to a book or notes.
  • Start with simple/familiar games and work up to new ones that are harder.
  • Alternate between quiet games and exciting games.
  • Collect all necessary equipment.

How do we teach games?

  • Get the attention of the group and have them get into formation for playing the game.
  • Explain or show the game briefly and let them play right away.
  • If the game is hard, show them one part at a time, letting them try each part immediately.
  • Let them have fun with the game before you check on mistakes, but stop when necessary to make rules or actions more clear.
  • As soon as the girls are able, let them carry on the game themselves. Help them only if questions or disagreements arise which they can’t settle.
  • In competitive games, encourage the girls to play for the fun of the game and for their team and to applaud or otherwise recognize the winning team.
  • When teaching singing games, be sure you have practiced the song so everyone knows it.
  • If a competitive game is coming to a close and you can feel the rivalry getting out of hand, take a group time out and ask, “how do we act when we win?”, “how do we act when we lose?” and get the girls input on what good sportsmanship looks like. Then continue and finish the game.
Featured

Episode 7 – Building Girl Relationships

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Girl Scouts has always been about building strong relationships. Good troops provide exciting activities. GREAT troops provide opportunities to make friends that share in the excitement. Troop leaders are what makes the difference.

For a successful troop, make time to build relationships between fellow girls, girls and their leaders, and girls with the greater sisterhood of Girl Scouts. Here are a few of my favorite ways to do that.

1. Learn a few good icebreakers.

Play icebreaker games that help girls learn something new about each other. Start off your meetings each year by helping girls find out what they have in common as well as interesting things that make them unique.

Download our collection of name games and icebreakers, with something perfect for each age group.



2. Choose “favorites” – one at a time.

Each girl should feel that they are getting special attention from you, the leader, at one time or another. Pledge to give every girl your undivided attention for a few moments each meeting. Be conscientious about which girl you sit next to during and activity or snack, or who you call on first. Keep mental notes about which girls you need to assign special tasks or choose as a buddy.

3. Eat snacks, and meals (during trips or day long outings) with your troop.

Our meetings are so packed with activities, that snack time is one of the few “down-times” that you have to sit with your girls, in a circle, and chat.

4. Praise in public, critique in private.

Praise girls in front of their peers! Say something positive to a girl’s parents in front of her when they pick her up after the meeting. Always give your girls a chance to shine. This builds confidence, reinforces the value of respect, and strengthens your relationship with the girl.

Things don’t always go smoothly, and there will be times when you need to address issues. You may be surprised how much girls will listen to you when you respect their feelings and address issues away from their peers. Have a quiet conversation off to the side for smaller concerns, or a family meeting with parents for larger concerns.

5. Create a group identity.

Make being in your troop something special. Girl Scouts already has a uniform and handshake, but you can add something special like a troop cheer, special snack activity, or wearing matching bandanas or t-shirts.

6. Love being a leader!

Have fun with your girls- it’s really ok to enjoy yourself! Tell jokes. Share appropriate stories, participate as a member of the group, and get excited about what you’re all going to experience together.

Featured

Large Group Attention Getters

These tools are perfect to get the attention of large groups, particularly during the start of a meeting or activity.

  • Establish a “quiet” sign. Many Girl Scout troops use either the promise sign or a raised hand. Whenever an adult member uses the sign, girls must also do the sign and be quiet until everyone is quiet. Practice a few times when you introduce it.
  • An adult raises their hand and calls out, “When the hand goes up…” and girls answer, “…the mouth goes shut!” You may need to repeat a couple times until everyone is quiet.
  • The adult tosses a ball in the air. While the ball is in the air, everyone screams. When the ball is in the adult’s hand, everyone is quiet. You can make this scream/quiet transition very fun. Fake a toss, drop the ball, etc. It’s a little game before you start.
  • One adult calls out across the group, “Hey, Steph!” Steph responds, “Hey, Alice!” “Hey, Steph, is it really loud in here?” “It sure is…” and so on. You can improvise as you see fit. But the girls will quiet down pretty quickly as they watch the dialogue with fascination.
  • Talking softly in a stage whisper with an instruction. A popular one is “if you can hear my voice, clap once” and increasing the clapping each time. You could also try, “if you can hear my voice, put your hands on your head, put your hands on your toes, touch your nose” and so on. Be sure to keep your voice relatively quiet.
  • Clapping in a pattern and waiting to see who follows. Repeat with new patterns until everyone has joined in.
  • Snapping until everyone is snapping their fingers.
  • Holding up your hand and starting a countdown.
  • Agree on a fun call and response chant to get their attention. Like, “Hey Girl Scouts!”, and they respond, “Hey, What?”. They could even make their own silly version.