Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Sure, I'm a Daisy Leader - but I need to do WHAT?


You know what it's like.  You've suddenly been made the Daisy leader when you thought you were just volunteering to help at the meetings.  What do you mean you have to collect paperwork, dues and plan meetings???  Isn't there a den mother to do that? Oops, that's Boy Scouts!  Well, we do it a little differently at Girl Scouts but don't despair!  There are lots and lots of resources out there, both free (blogs like these) and at your local Girl Scout Service Center or Daisy Knapsack.  In fact, if you live in a good Council area, you don't have to plan a single meetings -- you can plan your meetings around all the great events that Council organizes. But then again, that would mean you'd need to do Troop Trip forms (hmmmm).  

So reality has set in, you've reserved meeting location and times with the school office and now you are scrambling to organize the first meeting!  Well, here is Girl Scout Maniac to help you through it all - and don't worry - your first year of meetings will be crazy and unorganized, no matter how much you plan.  We are talking about 5 year olds, remember??!!!

So here is a sample meeting plan for your first year of Daisies.  
I recommend only working on 1/2 the petals and one journey because you are bound to get a whole new crew of girls in 1st Grade who were too shy or their parents were too apprehensive to get involved sooner.

Ideally, plan two meetings a month, for an hour each.  Expect that Opening Ceremonies and snack time will consume 15-20 minutes each time (sometimes more).  You will learn quickly to put the brakes on snack time because those girls could eat for an hour straight!

EASY STREET HINT:  Your Service Center probably has "Programs in a Box" which are fully-planned activities for specific badges/petals and/or Journeys.  These boxes are very reasonable to rent and contain all the supplies needed.  Check it out!

Daisy Year One - Kindergarteners:

September -- Recruiting Girl Scouts and Leaders
October -- Parent Planning meeting & additional recruiting
November -- Intro to Girl Scouts, GS sign and GS promise.  Plan investiture.
December -- Rehearse & host investiture
January -- Purple Petal:Respect Myself and Others
February -- Red Petal: Courageous & Strong, Spring Green: Considerate & Caring & Thinking Day
March -- Journey Session #1
April -- Journey Session 2 & Green Petal: Use Resources Wisely (Earth Day activities)
May -- Journey Session 2 & 3
June -- Violet Petal: Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout & End of Year celebration

Summary: 5 Petals & 1/2 Journey
Next year: 5 Petals and the rest of the Journey
Next year, for newbies, you can usually tie in Journey lessons for them to catch up on their Petals.



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