Girl Scout Meetings Four Easy Steps for Success

mommymommymommy | Feb 8, 2010 |

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Girl Scout meetings are simple to run if you follow these four easy steps to success. You've gone through the training, your paperwork is completed, now it is time to actually meet with your girls! Before a sense of panic sets in and you begin to wonder why you did this to yourself, take a deep breath. The key to a successful and smooth running troop meeting is all about preparation. Follow these directions for sucessful Girl Scout meetings in four easy steps.

Step One for Girl Scout Leader Success Be Prepared

The first easy step for a successful Girl Scout meeting is to be prepared. Any good teacher knows that when you work with children, especially young children, it is best to establish a routine. All Girl Scouts, especially the youngest kindergarten and first grade Daisies, thrive when they know what to expect. Your meeting routine should look something like this:

Have the girls put their coats and bags in the same place every time you meet
Say the Pledge of Alligance, the Girl Scout Promise, and the Girl Scout Law
Do a short circle time (group discussion) to discuss the badge or petal you will be working on
Craft time
Friendship circle and closing song

Second Step to a Successful Girl Scout Meeting-Badges and Petals

The second step to successful Girl Scout meetings is to figure out what you want to do for the year. There is no special order for earning petal and badges. With your co-leader, you can create an outline for what you would like to do for the next few meetings or for the entire year.

For the new leader, select an easy craft and do all of the prep work at home. This step is essential, because you need to know if it is going to work. For example, I had a great Valentine's Day craft planned. As I glued the hearts together with wet glue, the paper kept slipping and I could not finish the craft as I had planned. I took out my hot glue gun, and voila! It worked! Imagine trying to do this with twelve first grade girls who were making Valentine's for their parents and THEN realizing it didn't work.

The Third Step to a Successful Girl Scout Meeting Purchase Your Materials

Next on the Girl Scout meeting success list is not wait for the last minute to buy what you need. Use your troop checkbook for all purchases if you can. Along with your troop's Tax ID number, you will save on all sales tax. If you do not have the checkbook, save your receipts so your troop treasurer can reimburse you.

In a space in your house, assign a tote or cardboard box to store the materials you purchased. The extras will be used for future crafts.

The Fourth Step to a Successful Girl Scout Meeting Ask for Help

Younger troops will most definitely need more help than two leaders can provide. The fourth and final step to an easy and successful Girl Scout meeting is to send out an email to your Daisy parents and ask if anyone is willing to come and assist. Parents need advance notice. Those who work full-time can clear their calendars. Children who have siblings need to have arrangments made for their care, unless you want them at your meeting, too.

If you take these four steps for sucessful Girl Scout meetings, not only will your time together run smoothly, you'll be looking forward to the next time you meet!