How To Handle a Multi-Level Troop

 

Unless you limit your troop to girls in one grade, you are going to have a multi-level troop at least some years.  So, how do you handle having girls at more than one level?  There are probably as many different ways as there are troops.  This post will take a look at some of the most common and try to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the choice.

We Aren't Multi-Level (even if we should be)

Yes, some people just ignore the rules.  Yes, that goes against Girl Scout policy and therefore the "respect authority" part of the Girl Scout Law, but for a troop that has an odd girl out--one girl who is a grade ahead of or behind all the others, this seems like the most simple solution.  Everyone wears the same uniform and does the same activities.  Who cares?  Are the GS police going to come arrest you?  

No.

Democracy for Daisies: New Badge Review

 Just in time for one of the most contentious election seasons in my memory, GSUSA has come out with a series of Democracy badges, once for each level.  Here are the requirements for Daises, from Badge Explorer:

Outdoor Art, Part 2

 When I asked the girls what they wanted to do this year, "anything with art" was a typical answer.  I have Brownies and Juniors and one art badge for both levels was Outdoor Art, so that's what we started.  You can read about our first meeting here. 

This week we did two projects.  I counted them both toward requirement 5 for the Juniors--Design with nature, and for the Brownies, the wind chimes met requirement 3 and the luminaries, requirement 5.  The Juniors still have to do requirement 1, and one of my moms who is a photographer is going to be my artist expert at our next meeting, which will be Juniors only.  She's  going to cover outdoor art, talking about outdoor photography and she's going to cover cameras as part of Digital Photographer, which will be our next Junior badge.  

The girls had a ball with our projects tonight and I was really happy with the way they looked when we finished.  We got a little knot tying practice and, as one girl noted, what we did with buttons was a lot like sewing.

Can We Get A Badge for a Pine Car Derby?

This is one of those posts brought about by seeing the same basic question posted once again on Facebok groups for Girl Scout Leaders.  The advent of the new Automotive badges this year once again  caused someone to ask "Can we get a badge for a Pinewood Derby?"

While "Pinewood Derby" is a trademarked Scouts BSA term, you can buy generic build your own race car kits where the body of the car is made from soft pine, much like that of the BSA model.  

First, to decide if Girl Scouts can get a badge for such an activity,   you have to decide what a "Pinewood Derby" is for your troop. The classic BSA version is that boys (and now girls too) obtain a kit that includes a shaped block of wood, four wheels and and axles.  They further shape (if desired) the block of wood, paint it, assemble it and, if their dads (and this is one project that dads tend to supervise more than moms, on average) are smart or have familiarity with the process, add weights to the cars.  The cars are then raced on an inclined track.  

New Badge Review: Automobile Manufacturing for Brownies

 This year GSUSA released a new set of "progressive" badges dealing with the design and manufacturing of automobiles.  While in some ways badges in a progressive badge series are meant to build on each other, in general, I have not found that to mean that girls cannot do the second badge in a series before the first.  What I have found is that the badge inserts for the progressive badges give background information on the topics rather than suggested activities.  The real plans for the badge are in VTK and they are presented as unified lesson plans, not as choices of activities.
  Today I am taking a look at the third badge in the new Automotive group, Automobile Manufacturing, and I'm looking at the Brownie plan.

Requirements:

According to Badge Explorer, with this badge girls will: Experience the importance of having a plan and discover how manufacturers build lots of vehicles that are safe and well made!

In-Person Meeting: Outdoor Art

We had our first in-person meeting in over six months last night.  It was so good to see the girls!  In person is much more fun than Zoom, at least for the leader (and I'm pretty sure for the girls too).  We met outside, under a patio next to the youth building at my church (we are usually inside the building).  I put four girls at a banquet or  picnic table.