Lavendar, and tulips, and broccoli, oh my! Today was another interesting day out in our garden. Before we resumed work on clearing out all the weeds, we had a small planning session. We talked about everything we had learned about what we can and can't plant. For example, the girls learned that cherries are grown from a cherry tree, and many of the flowers they want to plant can't be planted for a few more months.
We, the adults, were still recovering from LEAP, so the rest of the meeting was low key and we played a bunch of games. I had almost forgotten how long it takes to play a new game with kids this age. We had to do many practice rounds just to make sure they all got the rules and the points to the game. 50/50 hind sight, calling playing games wasn't as simple as I thought it would be, but, the girls had fun, and that's ok by me!
Showing posts with label take action project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label take action project. Show all posts
Saturday, November 24, 2012
LEAP!
Obviously, there are many, many, many opportunities for Girl Scouts. There aren't nearly as many for adults, but that's because we're not the scout anymore. However, of the opportunities that are around for us, they are completely and totally AWESOME!
Down here in lil' ole Historic Georgia, we have this lil' thang called LEAP- Leadership Experiences for Adults Pathways. In other words, its a fun weekend where we get to camp out and learn about new things that we can bring back home and teach our girls! Plus, we get be silly and dress up, but more on that part later.
Remember that little Take Action project I brought home from GWF? Well, at LEAP, I was afforded another amazing opportunity to further my work. On Friday evening, I got to facilitate a course all about the MDGs. My time slot was three hours long. The first thing that went through my head was, oh my gosh, that's it?! I need to figure out now how to cram everything in such a short time period! There was just so much I wanted to do, and so much information to be gotten out. After a lot of work, I managed to whittle it down to exactly three hours (and by that I mean we ran over by 5 minutes, but in my defense, we took a break half way). One of the things we did was play several of the games I've been working on for the girls. Here's what we played (we copies in case you want it!):
(will post them later from my desktop)
Saturday was a fun day. I started out the day by facilitating a session on how to cook with the younger girls. For those of you who keep up with my blog, you know that it is totally doable! For the newcomers- it is totally doable! You need to make sure you have clear kitchen rules, and you might want to have an extra set of adult eyes on hand to help out.
Next, I got to take a fun class about games (some I knew, some I didn't, so it was very useful), a class about water conservation, and a fun science class (we made things go BOOM! Ok, not really, we did the Mentos in Coke, but it was still awesome!).
So, about that whole dressing up thing..... LEAP always has a theme. This year our theme was Once Upon A Time. Each Service Unit got to pick a book and decorate a table based on that book. Our SU choose Harry Potter, and our table was rocking! Our table took second place, yay! Plus, during dinner, we all dressed up based on the theme. Our SU decided to dress up at the women up Harry Potter, and as a group, we took first place in the costume contest. The whole evening was amazing though. Some of the tables and costumes were totally over the top awesome! Next year's theme is about holidays (I forget the exact "name").
Sunday I was able to facilitate one more session about home remedies. I had supplies on hand for us to make bug spray, relaxing bath salts and a muscle cream. Everything we learned about it great stuff that you can have your girls make before a big trip, outing or especially before a camping trip.
I got home and was so exhausted! I slept like a log and even had to take a nap on Monday. It was worth it though, and I can't wait until next year!
Down here in lil' ole Historic Georgia, we have this lil' thang called LEAP- Leadership Experiences for Adults Pathways. In other words, its a fun weekend where we get to camp out and learn about new things that we can bring back home and teach our girls! Plus, we get be silly and dress up, but more on that part later.
Remember that little Take Action project I brought home from GWF? Well, at LEAP, I was afforded another amazing opportunity to further my work. On Friday evening, I got to facilitate a course all about the MDGs. My time slot was three hours long. The first thing that went through my head was, oh my gosh, that's it?! I need to figure out now how to cram everything in such a short time period! There was just so much I wanted to do, and so much information to be gotten out. After a lot of work, I managed to whittle it down to exactly three hours (and by that I mean we ran over by 5 minutes, but in my defense, we took a break half way). One of the things we did was play several of the games I've been working on for the girls. Here's what we played (we copies in case you want it!):
(will post them later from my desktop)
Saturday was a fun day. I started out the day by facilitating a session on how to cook with the younger girls. For those of you who keep up with my blog, you know that it is totally doable! For the newcomers- it is totally doable! You need to make sure you have clear kitchen rules, and you might want to have an extra set of adult eyes on hand to help out.
Next, I got to take a fun class about games (some I knew, some I didn't, so it was very useful), a class about water conservation, and a fun science class (we made things go BOOM! Ok, not really, we did the Mentos in Coke, but it was still awesome!).
So, about that whole dressing up thing..... LEAP always has a theme. This year our theme was Once Upon A Time. Each Service Unit got to pick a book and decorate a table based on that book. Our SU choose Harry Potter, and our table was rocking! Our table took second place, yay! Plus, during dinner, we all dressed up based on the theme. Our SU decided to dress up at the women up Harry Potter, and as a group, we took first place in the costume contest. The whole evening was amazing though. Some of the tables and costumes were totally over the top awesome! Next year's theme is about holidays (I forget the exact "name").
Sunday I was able to facilitate one more session about home remedies. I had supplies on hand for us to make bug spray, relaxing bath salts and a muscle cream. Everything we learned about it great stuff that you can have your girls make before a big trip, outing or especially before a camping trip.
I got home and was so exhausted! I slept like a log and even had to take a nap on Monday. It was worth it though, and I can't wait until next year!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Daisies, Year 2, Meeting 6
Community service is a term that is loosely used by people when they do good deeds. For example, running a donation drive could be considered community service. In Girl Scouting, a Take Action project is like community service, but the difference is that it is a sustainable project that can benefit many people.
Today was the first day that we got out into the garden to really work on it. We had our spot, but before we could do anything, we had to clear out the area. So, we all put on our gloves and began working on that. The spot choose was once an actual garden, but over time it was let go and became overgrown with weeds. We didn't quite finish today, but we did get a good amount done.
Over the past couple weeks, this project has been incorporated with our journey, Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden. I just want to point out that it was the girls choice to do this garden (though the selfish side of me wants to do it too!), but their work each week has coincided with the story of the journey. For those of you who are not familiar with this journey- four friends stumble upon this garden one day, and "unlock its secret." As the garden begins to spruce itself up, so have my girls with their own garden. I can't wait to see how this comes out!
Today was the first day that we got out into the garden to really work on it. We had our spot, but before we could do anything, we had to clear out the area. So, we all put on our gloves and began working on that. The spot choose was once an actual garden, but over time it was let go and became overgrown with weeds. We didn't quite finish today, but we did get a good amount done.
Over the past couple weeks, this project has been incorporated with our journey, Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden. I just want to point out that it was the girls choice to do this garden (though the selfish side of me wants to do it too!), but their work each week has coincided with the story of the journey. For those of you who are not familiar with this journey- four friends stumble upon this garden one day, and "unlock its secret." As the garden begins to spruce itself up, so have my girls with their own garden. I can't wait to see how this comes out!
Daisies, Year 2, Meeting 5
My Daisies never cease to amaze me. Seriously. These girls are already making waves! Today was just one of many, many reasons why I believe all of theses girls are going to do big things in life.
Before the big hoopla of our investiture and rededication, we had some free time planned to use as a planning session. At the end of last year, we sat down with the girls and asked what they wanted to do. Knowing that we would have a lot of new girls this year, we only planned out the first half of the year. All of the girls came up with amazing ideas! Some of them they aren't old enough to do, but we promised them that when they are old enough, if they still want to do them, we will.
One of the things they asked to do was a second take action project. With the plans for the garden already underway, we figured why not. The girls asked for the opportunity to be able to visit local nursing homes and help out there. I'm not really sure what a Daisy can do at a nursing home, but we are looking into it (so we'll get back to you!).
So, what is an investiture and rededication? An investiture ceremony is when a new scout dedicates herself to Girl Scouting. Traditionally, this takes place or after the fourth meeting of the year. A rededication is for returning scouts who are renewing the promise they first made at their investiture. This also takes place at or after the fourth meeting. This is a very important moment for our scouts!
We resused the poster we made last year and used a more simplified ceremony. The girls began by doing a very simple flag ceremony. We used small, desktop flags (we couldn't really ask a group of six year olds to carry full blown flags), but it still served the purpose. From there, we explained what we were doing, and had each girl place their petal on the board and say what it was. That was followed by giving all of our new girls their insignia tab with the Daisy pin. We then pulled up our returning girls and gave them a special rededication patch. We retired our flags, and so ended our ceremony. Needless to say, our girls did amazing!
Before the big hoopla of our investiture and rededication, we had some free time planned to use as a planning session. At the end of last year, we sat down with the girls and asked what they wanted to do. Knowing that we would have a lot of new girls this year, we only planned out the first half of the year. All of the girls came up with amazing ideas! Some of them they aren't old enough to do, but we promised them that when they are old enough, if they still want to do them, we will.
One of the things they asked to do was a second take action project. With the plans for the garden already underway, we figured why not. The girls asked for the opportunity to be able to visit local nursing homes and help out there. I'm not really sure what a Daisy can do at a nursing home, but we are looking into it (so we'll get back to you!).
So, what is an investiture and rededication? An investiture ceremony is when a new scout dedicates herself to Girl Scouting. Traditionally, this takes place or after the fourth meeting of the year. A rededication is for returning scouts who are renewing the promise they first made at their investiture. This also takes place at or after the fourth meeting. This is a very important moment for our scouts!
We resused the poster we made last year and used a more simplified ceremony. The girls began by doing a very simple flag ceremony. We used small, desktop flags (we couldn't really ask a group of six year olds to carry full blown flags), but it still served the purpose. From there, we explained what we were doing, and had each girl place their petal on the board and say what it was. That was followed by giving all of our new girls their insignia tab with the Daisy pin. We then pulled up our returning girls and gave them a special rededication patch. We retired our flags, and so ended our ceremony. Needless to say, our girls did amazing!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Daisies, Year 2, Meeting 4
I'm about to do something very naughty.... I'm about to do an obscene amount of bragging about my scouts. So, I would just like to apologize right now, but in my defense, I am just so immensely proud of them right now!
We started out our meeting by reading chapter 1 of Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden and doing the all about me activities in the journey book in the pages before the chapter. It wasn't anything immensely special, but it gave the girls a chance to get in the swing of things.
Now, here comes the part where I brag (you've been warned!).
Our troop is so lucky in that we get meet at one of the awesome schools in our county. We are extremely lucky because the principle of the school is allowing the girls to use the school grounds for their take action project. Last year after our adventures earning the Global Action Badge the girls were inspired and asked if they could plant their own garden. Being the smart Daisies that they are, the consensus was they wanted to turn it into their take action project. Today, we went outside and surveyed the area of the school ground where we were given permission to use. On one side, there was a lovely rose garden that an organization had planted. Behind a brick wall, we found a section that had been marked off as a garden around, but was filled with weeds. I don't want to spoil it, but it reminds me of a chapter we will be reading shortly in our journey!
Being first graders, they did need some help. We showed them how to use the tape measure, and helped them mark off the area with some paint stirrers and orange rope (we did this so the principle can give the final ok on our area as well). We had a quick science lesson about what kind of climate we live in, the type of dirt in our area (yes, this affects plants here, big time!) and what is a weed.. After that, we all talked about what kinds of fruits and vegetables we like to eat. Then came a quick lesson on herbs and a discussion about flowers. All of the girls went home with an assignment. From the list they came up with, they have to find out if it is possible for us to grow these things here in south east Georgia. They also need to find out if these items need sun, shade, or both. Each girl went home with one flower, one vegetable and one fruit to research. Here's the best part- every single item they came up with was something they all wanted to eat and learn about. The girls are researching broccoli, summer squash, cherries, strawberries, tulips, marigolds and more! Some of the suggestions they came up with were not what you would stereotype a 6 year old as liking. I was beyond impressed!
Now I really am going to do some hard core bragging.... we went back inside and had our snack a little early. When the girls were finished, we wrote letters to our local Lowe's asking if they would donate some of the materials we needed. I asked them a blanket question- what do we need? Those brilliant girls came up with some of the best answers right off the bat! They came up with seeds, dirt, shovels, gloves, mulch and more that I can't remember right now. They each hand wrote a letter that we will be sending to them. If that's not the epitome of awesome, then I don't know what is! Oh yeah, copies of these letters are totally going in the scrapbook!
Next week will be a momentous occasion! The girls will be having their investiture and rededication ceremony. In the down time we'll have during that meeting, we're going to sit down and plan out the second half of the year. We'll also take a moment to practice what we'll be doing during the ceremony. I only hope that I'll be able to get enough photos!
We started out our meeting by reading chapter 1 of Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden and doing the all about me activities in the journey book in the pages before the chapter. It wasn't anything immensely special, but it gave the girls a chance to get in the swing of things.
Now, here comes the part where I brag (you've been warned!).
Our troop is so lucky in that we get meet at one of the awesome schools in our county. We are extremely lucky because the principle of the school is allowing the girls to use the school grounds for their take action project. Last year after our adventures earning the Global Action Badge the girls were inspired and asked if they could plant their own garden. Being the smart Daisies that they are, the consensus was they wanted to turn it into their take action project. Today, we went outside and surveyed the area of the school ground where we were given permission to use. On one side, there was a lovely rose garden that an organization had planted. Behind a brick wall, we found a section that had been marked off as a garden around, but was filled with weeds. I don't want to spoil it, but it reminds me of a chapter we will be reading shortly in our journey!
Being first graders, they did need some help. We showed them how to use the tape measure, and helped them mark off the area with some paint stirrers and orange rope (we did this so the principle can give the final ok on our area as well). We had a quick science lesson about what kind of climate we live in, the type of dirt in our area (yes, this affects plants here, big time!) and what is a weed.. After that, we all talked about what kinds of fruits and vegetables we like to eat. Then came a quick lesson on herbs and a discussion about flowers. All of the girls went home with an assignment. From the list they came up with, they have to find out if it is possible for us to grow these things here in south east Georgia. They also need to find out if these items need sun, shade, or both. Each girl went home with one flower, one vegetable and one fruit to research. Here's the best part- every single item they came up with was something they all wanted to eat and learn about. The girls are researching broccoli, summer squash, cherries, strawberries, tulips, marigolds and more! Some of the suggestions they came up with were not what you would stereotype a 6 year old as liking. I was beyond impressed!
Now I really am going to do some hard core bragging.... we went back inside and had our snack a little early. When the girls were finished, we wrote letters to our local Lowe's asking if they would donate some of the materials we needed. I asked them a blanket question- what do we need? Those brilliant girls came up with some of the best answers right off the bat! They came up with seeds, dirt, shovels, gloves, mulch and more that I can't remember right now. They each hand wrote a letter that we will be sending to them. If that's not the epitome of awesome, then I don't know what is! Oh yeah, copies of these letters are totally going in the scrapbook!
Next week will be a momentous occasion! The girls will be having their investiture and rededication ceremony. In the down time we'll have during that meeting, we're going to sit down and plan out the second half of the year. We'll also take a moment to practice what we'll be doing during the ceremony. I only hope that I'll be able to get enough photos!
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