Glo Run

Every year our military base offers a free Glo Run during Military Appreciation month. This year we decided to brave the cold and make it a troop event. We had some girls from our Daisy and Brownie troops show up and they had a blast! We purchased all types of glow sticks from the dollar store and we also brought canned food donations which earned us more glowsticks. Our scouts nearly ran most of the two mile run and were still full of energy as we sat down and waited to get our free pizza. I am so glad we decided to make this a troop event, because I sure this is one they'll remember for the rest of the year!

Service Unit Event: FROG Dance

 Our Service Unit is predominately scouts who come from military families so having a FROG (Father, Relative or Other Guy Dance) is definitely something that is very special to our girls. I will admit that I got very emotional seeing my Daisy and Brownie dancing with their dad as I volunteered at the dance because we were very grateful that he was here this year and not deployed and was able to attend. Some of our other scouts weren't as lucky, but we're fortunate enough to have grandpas, other dads or brothers step up and be their dates. It was night full of dancing and they even had a knighting ceremony. 

Spooky STEM Monday

One of my all time favorite monthly events is our STEM Mondays. In September the girls made exploding rainbows, used straws and connectors and teamwork to build and use cut out tangram pieces to make tangram art. For the month of October, we wanted to stick with a Halloween them, so we had the girls make self-inflating ghosts (balloons with ghost faces, vinegar and baking soda) and they made their own homemade slime. Then while they had their snack outside we had an oozing pumpkin! Not only is this a great opportunity for our Daisies and Brownies to work together, but they also get to see how much science, technology, engineering and math projects can be! 

Sister Troops Event: Bonfire

 

We are definitely fortunate to have such an awesome sisterhood with our sister troops. Our Daisy, Brownie and Junior troop got together for a Back to Troop Bonfire at our Girl Scout Little House. The girls kicked off the night by roasting marshmallows at the fire pit and making s'mores.

After s'mores we played a few games and had some of our scouts teach the girls

some new songs. Then we had the girls split into ten groups (each group had a Daisy, a Brownie and a Junior) and they all picked a part of the Girl Scout Law and had to come up with a skit to perform in front of all the girls. After each girl performed their skit the other Girl Scouts had to guess which part of the law they had. This was definitely a great way for our scouts to remember the petals/Girl Scout law.

While we waited for parents to come and pick up the girls, one of our troop leaders got them together and they came up with a funny story -- each girl had to add on a part of the story. It was definitely interesting to see what they could come up with!

We cannot wait for our next Sister Troop event.

Farm Tour

During one of our Service Unit meetings we heard so many rave reviews about a local farm tour that we decided to take our troop and their families on a tour there before they stopped giving tours until spring. Our girls enjoyed learning about the process they go through to make the milk and butter and they especially loved seeing the newborn baby calfs and then going to pet the older cows. After their tour they were treated to milk samples and a soft serve. This was definitely a fun family event and our girls retained so much information and definitely impressed with their "pop quiz" at the end of the tour. 

Daisy Troop: Friendly & Helpful Petal

Our friendly and helpful petal activity was probably one of the girls' favorites so far. We had the girls help their Daisy sisters paint their hands. Once their hands were painted they had to leave a handprint on their friendly and helpful cards. Their cards said "a friendly and helpful Daisy was here". The girls were instructed to leave their cards at home or at school when they felt they did something that was friendly and helpful without being told to them. The next meeting we discussed what type of things they did :)

Brownies Fall Camp

In May, we ended our Girl Scout season with an overnight at camp and we had enough remaining camp credit that we were able to kick off our new Girl Scout year with another overnight at camp.

 Our camps are always Girl Led with adult supervision. Our Brownies and Daisy tags were responsible for their belongings, the cooking, serving and cleaning. Our new camp volunteers probably did not expect how independent we require the girls to be.

Our first night of camp it stormed for a little while so after dinner we spent the night having the girls make dreamcatchers and they had a lava lamp STEM project. Once the rain passed, they were also able to go on a mini night hike before we spent the remainder of the night around the campfire roasting s'mores.

We had a great menu this year and the girls were able to do a lot more cooking in the kitchen. Usually when the weather permits it, we have the girls cook at the campfire, but since it stormed we ended up utilizing the kitchen more this year.
My two favorite items on the menu were nachos and pancakes! Yum!

Our second day at camp the girls hiked to the vehicles at the parking lot and loaded their belongings and then we took our annual picture by the camp signs. After that we had them make a circle around the flag pole and say the Pledge of Allegiance and Girl Scout promise.

We spent the remainder of our day at the camp's splashpark (which I'm sure was one of the girls' favorite activities) before we all made our way back home. After fall sales we have learned that the troop made enough camp credit for another overnighter and to think they'll still earn credit after cookie sales. Sounds like our troop will be camping a lot this year!

Update

My, oh, my!

I really thought I would have the time to keep up with this blog, but apparently I am the type to overbook our schedules and with Girl Scouts and soccer three times a week plus work I think I met my match.

Now that soccer season is over, I can finally play catch up on this blog.
Be prepared for a dozen posts of all the fun events we have done throughout the months of September and October.