Month #8 -- Earning our Green and Rose Petals

Our meeting this month was on Earth Day, and I thought it was the perfect day to learn about and earn our Green and Rose petals for using our resources wisely and making the world a better place. I started the meeting by talking with the girls about what Earth Day is. Most of them had learned about it in school and grasped the concept pretty well. We then started talking about recycling, I was very happy to hear that most of the girls do some sort of recycling with their families. I handed out recycling stickers for them to label their recycling bins. These stickers are available for free at our library and are sponsored by our Municipal Utilities. We then began to talk about reusing items that can't necessarily be recycled. An example I gave them was of the fairy house I made with my daughters out of an old orange juice jug. We hot glued all kinds of found objects to the jug, anything bright and shiny that our local fairies might like (glass pebbles, marbles, sea shells, old jewelry, beads, mirrors, etc). The girls then placed the fairy house outside and we waited for a garden fairy to move in. This project allowed us to use a jug in a new way, decorating our yard instead of throwing it in the local landfill.

The girls and I then talked about how taking care of the Earth can make the world a better place. If we practice good habits like picking up litter, we might brighten someone else' day or inspire them to pick up a piece of litter too.
Our craft project this week was to create Bird Nest Kits. We wanted to reuse a seemingly useless item from our everyday lives. The girls agreed with me that nests made out of sticks might be pokey to sit on, so we thought the birds could use our old dryer lint to line their nests. I found this project in an Earth Day Craft book, the original instructions saying to use milk cartons. Since part of the lesson was to use resources wisely, I explained to the girls that I didn't have any milk cartons, but I did have miniature cereal boxes. Before the meeting I asked the parents of the troop to save their dryer lint and bright pieces of string. I then cut "windows" into the broad sides of the cereal boxes. At troop meeting, the girls stuffed their boxes with their dryer lint. Some girls forgot their dryer lint or did not have enough to fill the box, so we shared. The boxes were then tied with hemp cord so that the girls could take them home and hang them from their trees.

Unfortunately, less than half of my troop attended this meeting, so I sent out e-mails asking them to work with their parents on a project that recycles or reuses household items we would normally throw away. The girls will officially earn their petals when they tell me about what they made with their mom and dad. The girls have no rules on these projects except that we don't want to pollute our yards if we can help it. We should try to use items that will degrade naturally like papers, cardboard, natural strings and glues.

Month #4 -- Earning our Light Green Petals

This month we needed to talk about earning our Light Green petals as well as prepare for our Red petals. Two of the girls in the troop missed the meeting in December, so I decided to read a story to the girls that had lessons about being considerate and caring as well as being brave and strong. I felt that the fable The Lion and the Mouse would fit perfectly. I started out by asking if the Lion was brave and strong, the girls agreed, but they also agreed that he didn't have to be nice to anyone if he didn't want to, since he is the king of the jungle. They thought the Mouse might be caring but since mice always run away and hide, they aren't very brave. At the end of the story the girls saw that the Lion had tried being considerate and caring and the Mouse had found courage. To back up the lesson, I created a bookmark as our craft. The girls colored and cut out the bookmark. When the bookmark is closed the Lion says, "I can be considerate and caring" and the mouse sits at his feet. When the mouse is pulled down, the message "and I can be courageous and brave." apears. Click here if you for the PDF would like to use this craft. For homework I asked the girls to find a new exercise to learn, reminding them that exercise makes their bodies strong. For example, Sammi wants to learn to hula hoop.

Month #3 -- Earning our Yellow Petals

We started this meeting by practicing the Girl Scout Promise. For less than $1.00 I bought a sheet of poster board and wrote out the Promise and the Law. I read the Promise to the girls once and then asked them to read it aloud with me. To earn our Yellow Petals, for being friendly and helpful, the girls were supposed to help out around the house without being asked. Most of the girls were able to give specific jobs they had helped with at home. Their moms were usually able to tell me if they had done well or not.
We then moved on to a story to help them thinking about our next petal, light green for being considerate and caring. Since this was our December meeting I chose to read them a story about Christmas. I chose a wonderful book about a bear who stays up after everyone else has gone to bed and makes presents for all of his friends, even though he can barely keep his eyes open. I started the conversation with them about what we care about this time of year and how to be considerate to families who are less fortunate. Each girl was given $0.50 to place in a Salvation Army bucket. I will ask the girls at the next meeting whether they kept the money for themselves or if they shared it with a family who could really use it.
Our craft for this month was to make Christmas ornaments. I would like to start a tradition with the girls in my troop. Every year they will make a new ornament that symbolizes what we are working on that year. This year I fell in love with some penguins made out of socks. I did have to do most of the prep work -- stuffing and sewing the socks, cutting out the felt pieces and as a special gift to the girls I made bead daisies for their ornaments to wear as necklaces.
Here is a picture of Sammi with her ornament. She colored his gray parts with a black fabric marker, but he's still pretty cute.

And you can download the instructions to make this ornament here, it is a PDF file.