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While it is important to be prepared each time you meet with your troop, as a Girl Scout leader, it is also important to have a bag of tricks in order to have a successful Girl Scout meeting. This tip I learned from my years a an elementary classroom teacher.
You need to plan more things to do than time allows. The reason for this is that what are you going to do with your girls for ten more minutes when the craft is over? Children who are not engaged productively can get themselves into trouble. Who wants craziness when it is almost time to go home and the meeting was otherwise successful?
Games for Girl Scouts
Coloring pages and game pages are fun, but they can get boring if you use them too often. A book that is always in my Girl Scout leader bag is Games for Girl Scouts.
One day, during a long car ride was mark the pages with sticky notes of the games I wanted to try. I have used many of them over the past three years.
The book is divided into chapters for easy reference.
Some games require a some prep work, others do not. There are activities for all levels of Girl Scouts and there are indoor and outdoor games. You should have a few prepared just in case you need to use them, or you can work one of the games into your meeting.
Do you have any Girl Scout games that your troop just loves to play? Please share!
i don’t have this one, but i do have a couple of different books. one is a book of 365 things to do with your kid. the other is a songbook. i go to those religiously. as well as my parent and child magazines sent by disney. of course, it also helps if you or your co are crafty 🙂
I have a Canadian Girl Guide equivalent to this book (Active games for Girls), and keep it handy. It has a lot of games that do not require extra supplies or set up; great for those last minute time fillers. The only snag that I generally hit is finding games suitable for our five and six year olds – got to keep them simple, fun and fast. 🙂 Great post, thanks for sharing!
I love noncompetitive games. I tried out “Tiger, Princess, Cowgirl” at my last meeting, and the girls loved it! Basically, the girls stand back to back, then turn around on the count of 3 to try and match their partners by acting out either a tiger, a princess, or a cowgirl. It was a hit, and I’ll definitely use it again!