Type

Activity Descriptions

supplies

Badge

Craft

Five Minute Fudge

Make a treat to give to those who care for us

Mix:

2/3 cup (small can) evaporated milk

1 2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat ingredients listed above to boiling. Then cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove

from heat.

Add:

1 1/2cups (16 medium) marshmallows

1 1/2cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Stir one to two minutes or until marshmallows melt. Pour into buttered 8-inch square pan. When cool, cut into squares.

Makes about 2 pounds.

Evaporated milk

Sugar

Salt

Marshmellows

Chocolate chips

nuts

Measuring cups and spoons

Saucepan

8 in square pan.

Rose – Better Place

Craft

Animal Cookies (for animals only!)

Materials: All ingredients listed below for dough, cookie cutters (preferably animal shaped but not required)

Each girl will get to use animal cookie cutters to

make cool and interesting shapes out of the dog biscuit dough. Please contact your local animal shelter to ensure that they can use these treats. If

they cannot, substitute Sugar Cookie dough and the girls can enjoy the treats.

Basic Yeast Dog Treats

This very basic dog treat contains whole grain and all-purpose flour as well as cornmeal. The flavoring comes from chicken or beef broth so the better the quality the better the flavor. Because we use yeast we get a nice, tall puffy treat.

INGREDIENTS

31/2 cup all-purpose (or unbleached) flour

2cup whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup skim milk powder

1 tablespoon (or 1 package) dry yeast

3 1/2 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth (about

2- 15oz cans)

1 egg beaten with about 2 tablespoons water (for

egg wash)

I N S T R U C T I O N S Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.

Mix together all dry ingredients.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min.

Then stir in flour mixture until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky you can add more flour.

Roll resulting dough out 1/4" thick. Cut dog biscuit shapes from dough. Put scraps back in bowl and re-roll out until all dough is used.

Brush biscuits with egg wash. Bake on greased cookie sheets at 300* for 45 min. Then turn off oven and leave in overnight to finish hardening.

Makes 60 medium-sized biscuits*

*Recipe Note

We used 3" medium dog-bone cookie cutters as well as a few 3" dog paws and fire hydrants. We made about 4 dozen treats.

Storing Dog Treats

In general you should store dog treats the same way you would homemade people cookies. Thatbeing said, there are two main variables that determine storage time - the amount and type of fat in the recipe and your local weather conditions. If your recipe uses fats such as butter, or meat

bits or juices then it will be more prone to rancidity than a recipe that uses some vegetable oil or shortening. Your treats may mold or spoil much faster in humid or very hot climates.

Refrigeration and Freezing - Refrigeration will prolong the life of more fragile dog treats. Make sure to store in a tightly sealed container or zip lock bag. You can also freeze most treats in zip lock freezer bags. Allow to thaw completely before use.

Prearrange with shelter

Cookie cutters

Bowl

Waxed paper

Baking sheets

Measuring cups and spoons

all-purpose (or unbleached) flour

whole wheat flour

cornmeal

skim milk powder

yeast

chicken or meat broth (about

2- 15oz cans)

Rose – Better Place

Craft

Valentine Lollipop Mice

Create a Valentine for Retirement Home or Family Member

Cut a heart from construction paper. Fold along the center of the heart. This makes the mouse body. Glue along the

top edge. Add a small flat lolipop into the body and the sucker stick becomes the tail.

Construction paper

Lolipop

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Craft (15 min)

Make Pine cone bird feeders

• Purchase a reusable tablecloth to cover your table.
• Attach a wire to the pinecone so it can be hung on a tree.
• "Butter" your pinecones in peanut butter and roll in birdseed. To cut down on the mess place the birdseed in pie pans.

Or one site recommended:

• Covering the cone in peanut butter.
• Then put the peanut butter covered cone in a ziplock with birdseed, seal, and shake.  
• Now add a string or the wire for hanging.
• Put in a paper bag for the girls to take home.

Discuss with the girls what birds need to have to survive the winter.

Variation: Make a milk jug bird feeders.

Rinse out an empty plastic gallon milk jug with lid. Cut a window in the front of the jug, and make two small poke holes for the perches. Insert pencils for perches and fill the bottom of the jug with bird seed.

Variation: Bagel Feed the Birds

Prepare the bagels and string/yarn ahead of time

1. Give each girl half a bagel, a paper plate, a plastic knife and string. Have each girl put the string through

the bagel and tie it on. Be sure it is knotted a few times.

2. Have the girls spread the cream cheese or peanut butter on the bagel. Sprinkle it with birdseed and

then wrap it up in aluminum foil.

3. Write each girls name on the foil with the permanent marker.

4. Have the girls bring their bagels home to hang on a tree, or you can ask if they can be tied to trees at

the facility where you meet. Watch and see if the birds come and eat! 

Tablecloth Pinecones

Peanut butter

Birdseed

Pie pans or ziplock bags

paper bags for taking home

Or

Milk jugs

Scissors

Pencils

Bird feeders

or

Plain bagels, halved (one half per girl)

Whipped cream cheese or creamy peanut butter

String or yarn, pre-cut

Birdseed

Paper plates (one per girl)

Aluminum foil

Plastic knife (one per girl)

Permanent marker

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Craft

Decorate bags for Meals on Wheels

Check with your local meals on wheels for acceptable decorations. Stickers, makers and crayon drawings are usually OK. If time permits have the girls color some pictures to go along with their bags.

Bag

Decorating materials

Contact local meal on wheels

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Craft

Plant a flower garden

as a "thank you" to the church/school for allowing us to use it as a meeting place

Shovels

Fertilizer

Plants

Prearrange with location

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Craft

Plant sunflower and daisy seeds for the girls to take home.

Explain to girls they are going to grow their own plant from a seed. Ask them

what a seed needs to make it grow? Good soil, water, sunlight and nutrients. A plant needsjust enough of each of these items to grow sufficiently--not toomuch or too little. Spread newspaper upon the desks, give each girl a plastic cup, piece of plastic wrap for the top, rubber band, soil and seed. Have them plant their seed in the soil, water seed and put a plastic cover on top. Explain to thegirls that once the seed starts to grow (sprout) they must take the plastic off so the seed can be watered everyday and the sun can get to it.

Cups

Potting Soil

Seeds

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Craft

Write a letter

The girls wrote letters to veterans.

Lined paper

pencils

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Craft

Teach about tools

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Craft

Sponsor a Heifer project

Read the Book "Beatrice's Goat" by Page McBrier, then explain to the girls about Project Heifer. Project Heifer donates livestock to needy families all over the world. Then have the troop make a $20 donation which will donate a "Flock of chicks" , a share of a goat, or whatever the troop chooses to provide income and nutrition to a family.

Beatrice’s Goat book

Containers for collecting money

Contact Heifer project for sponsorship

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Craft

Collect old glasses

Our Girl Scout Council works with an organization that collects glasses to be cleaned and sent to people in other countries. So we did this as our Rose Petal Project. The girls had 3-4 weeks to collect glasses. By recycling old glasses they were helping people in other parts of the world. This also earned them a bonus patch through the council. With parent help and encouragement we collected over 200 pairs.

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Craft (20 min)

Promise Pals

1. Split girls into small groups of two to four girls.

2. Have each girl share with her group one thing that she is going to do at home or at school to show

others that she can make the world a better place. Ideas include:

Pick up trash whenever she sees it

Don’t litter

Talk to someone new at school

Thank the people around you that you see making the world a better place

Ask others not to litter and tell them why it is important

Plant flowers in the community

3. Have each girl make a promise to the other girls in her group identifying how she will make the world a

better place. The girls in the group are now Promise Pals.

4. If possible, have the small groups check in with one another at another troop meeting to make sure

they kept their promises.

5. Have girls color their Rosie the Rose coloring sheets.

6. Girls can write (or have an adult help them write) the thing they promised to do from Activity #4. This

coloring sheet will serve as a reminder of the girl’s promise. 

Print off copies of Rosie the Rose coloring sheets

Meeting Rosie the Rose.pdf

Gather materials and supplies.

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Game

Cooperative Games - outside

Discuss how helping each other and working together makes the world a better place and play some cooperative gaves

TURTLES

Split into teams of about 8 girls per group

Each girl is given a paper plate called a “turtle.”

The team is expected to cross an area called the “Peanut Butter Swamp.” The troop leader

selects the size and position of aforesaid “swamp.”

Not only must the girls step only on the “turtles,” but the “turtle” must always have someone in contact with it. If anyone touches the ground with any part of her body, they are devoured by an

alligator that lives in the “Peanut Butter Swamp.”

The girl must drop out of the crossing, and take her “turtle,” too! If a “turtle” is left untouched, it is devoured by the alligator, leaving the team with fewer “turtles.”

The person leading the team across the “Peanut Butter Swamp” must keep receiving “turtles” from her teammates in order to advance.

Once all members are on their “turtles” over the “swamp,” the last girl has to pick up her “turtle” and pass it forward. It is up to the team to figure out how to get the last person and her “turtle” across the “swamp” without being eaten.

The team which makes it across the “Peanut Butter Swamp” with the greatest number of

survivors wins the “Best Turtle” award.

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Notes: There was some confusion about the rules.  Make sure that the girls understand that they only need to be standing on a plate in the river and that they can share plates and stand on other people's plate.   Some teams finished quite a bit before others, so I would recommend following this with a game that a single team can work on by themselves. Paper plates 

paper plate for each girl

two long ropes for the start and finish of the river 

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Game

ALL ABOARD

Split team into group of about 10

 Each group of about eight girls has a sheet about 3X3 or so.  A car tire, bicycle tire, or a hula-hoop may be used instead of a tree stump.

 The girls are asked to get as many group members on the stump at the same time with no part of anyone’s body touching the ground. They must try to hold their position for five seconds – or as long as it takes them to sing a song.

Then the sheet is folded in half and the game is repeated.

Keep going until they can’t all fit on.

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Variations: Add more girls to the group to increase the challenge.

Notes:  Girls loved this one and it worked for K and 1^st graders

CHANGE OVER

Safety Note: Players are not allowed to stand on each other’s shoulders

Now spread the sheet out from above out.

Ask the team to stand together on the sheet. Without stepping off the sheet, players must turn the sheet completely over and remain standing on the sheet the entire time. As players problem solve, intervene if they explore any unsafe solutions

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Notes: This one got the most discussion going among the girls 

old sheets 

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Game

TIED

 This is a simple activity in which the participants try to cross the finish line at exactly the same time

The purpose is to see how an activity that seems simple, when it involves coordinating others,rarely is.

Line the group up behind a marked start line.

On your signal, they may proceed to the marked finish line. They must all cross the finish line at exactly the same time. If they are not all together they need to go back to the starting line andtry again.

They need to keep trying until they succeed.

Debriefing:

How easy did this sound at first?

How easy was it for real?

Try these variations…have the participants complete the task while only looking straight forward or at the ceiling, or while walking backwards

 Actually harder than you would think and took them a few tried to get right.  We played it as a challenge more than a race.  We kept trying until all the teams got everyone across the finish  line 

rope for the finish line 

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Game

BLIND COUNT

Ask players to spread out in an open area and face in various directions with eyes closed.

The group goal is to count aloud to ten, one person at a time, without anyone reciting two

numbers in a row or counting at the same time as another player. If either happens, the group

must start over.

No talking (except to count), no planning, and no peeking!

Debriefing:

Did this activity frustrate you?

Why or why not?

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Rose – Better Place

Game (25 min)

Trash Pick Up

1. Take a walk around your meeting site or a nearby park. Give girls gloves to protect their hands and

trash bags for garbage. Ask them to pick up any trash they see and move any rocks that are on the

sidewalk or grass back into the landscaped area (note: remind them to not touch sharp or heavy

objects). If there are weeds in the flowers, show the girls how to pull them without hurting the other

landscaping or plants.

Variation: If you can not go outside, walk around the inside of the building and have the girls

put things back in their place or pick up trash left around. (As the leader, you could go around

and make things messy so the girls get the full effect of helping to clean up.)

2. Once back inside, ask the girls about the cleanup.

Have you ever done a cleanup like that before?

How did it feel to clean up?

When you are at school and see trash around the halls or outside, what should you do? 

Trash bags

Non-latex gloves

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Time

Description

Supplies

Who will lead

Opening Activity

(10 min)

Snack

Read "One Winter's Day" by M. Christina Butler

About a hedgehog who helps out his neighbors on a cold winter night

Book

Circle

(10 min)

Pledge of Allegiance

GS promise

Jamie DiTori's sister will talk to us about being a Brownie

Talk about earning the “Make the World a Better Place” Petal

Thank you gift

Discussion

(10 min)

Discuss One Winter's Day

Can you think of ways that the hedgehog make the world a better place in the story?

How does the other animals make the world a better place?

Who are some people or things who might need your help? Parents, classmate, older relatives or neighbors, siblings, animals, nature

What are ways that we can make the world better for:

Parents

Siblings

Animals

Classmates

Older relatives or neighbors

Nature

Discussion sheets for each  leader

Activity

(25 min)

Cooperative Games - outside

Discuss how helping each other and working together makes the world a better place and we are going to play some cooperative games

One parent will be assigned as the coach for each team

TURTLES

Split into teams of about 8 girls per group

 Each girl is given a paper plate called a “turtle.”

 The team is expected to cross an area called the “Peanut Butter Swamp.” The troop leader

selects the size and position of aforesaid “swamp.”

 Not only must the girls step only on the “turtles,” but the “turtle” must always have someone in

contact with it. If anyone touches the ground with any part of her body, they are devoured by an

alligator that lives in the “Peanut Butter Swamp.”

 The girl must drop out of the crossing, and take her “turtle,” too! If a “turtle” is left untouched,

it is devoured by the alligator, leaving the team with fewer “turtles.”

 The person leading the team across the “Peanut Butter Swamp” must keep receiving “turtles”

from her teammates in order to advance.

 Once all members are on their “turtles” over the “swamp,” the last girl has to pick up her

“turtle” and pass it forward. It is up to the team to figure out how to get the last person and her

“turtle” across the “swamp” without being eaten.

 The team which makes it across the “Peanut Butter Swamp” with the greatest number of

survivors wins the “Best Turtle” award.

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Notes: There was some confusion about the rules.  Make sure that the girls understand that they only need to be standing on a plate in the river and that they can share plates and stand on other people's plate.   Some teams finished quite a bit before others, so I would recommend following this with a game that a single team can work on by themselves. 

Paper plates

Two ropes for the lines

ALL ABOARD

Split team into group of about 10

 Each group of about eight girls has a sheet about 3X3 or so.  A car tire, bicycle tire, or a hula-hoop may be used instead of a tree stump.

 The girls are asked to get as many group members on the stump at the same time with no part of anyone’s body touching the ground. They must try to hold their position for five seconds – or as long as it takes them to sing a song.

Then the sheet is folded in half and the game is repeated.

Keep going until they can’t all fit on.

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Variations: Add more girls to the group to increase the challenge.

Notes:  Girls loved this one and it worked for K and 1^st graders 

CHANGE OVER

Safety Note: Players are not allowed to stand on each other’s shoulders

Now spread the sheet out from above out.

Ask the team to stand together on the sheet. Without stepping off the sheet, players must turn the sheet completely over and remain standing on the sheet the entire time. As players problem solve, intervene if they explore any unsafe solutions

Debriefing:

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Notes:  This one got the most discussion going between the girls as to how to solve the problem 

Old sheet – folded in to about the size for the number of girls

TIED

 This is a simple activity in which the participants try to cross the finish line at exactly the same time

 The purpose is to see how an activity that seems simple, when it involves coordinating others,rarely is.

 Line the group up behind a marked start line.

 On your signal, they may proceed to the marked finish line. They must all cross the finish line at exactly the same time. If they are not all together they need to go back to the starting line andtry again.

 They need to keep trying until they succeed.

Debriefing:

How easy did this sound at first?

How easy was it for real?

Try these variations…have the participants complete the task while only looking straight forward or at the ceiling, or while walking backwards

Notes: Actually harder than you would think and took them a few tried to get right.  We played it as a challenge more than a race.  We kept trying until all the teams got everyone across the finish  line 

Rope for the finish line

BLIND COUNT

Ask players to spread out in an open area and face in various directions with eyes closed.

The group goal is to count aloud to ten, one person at a time, without anyone reciting two

numbers in a row or counting at the same time as another player. If either happens, the group

must start over.

No talking (except to count), no planning, and no peeking!

Debriefing:

Did this activity frustrate you?

Why or why not?

What worked well?

What would you do differently?

What did you notice when you did this game?

Backup for  bad weather

Make a card

Make a card for someone you know who is sick or to thank someone who has been nice or helpful to you.

Paper

Glue

Decorating supplies

Crayon

Markers

Washable tablecloth

Darby

Closing

(5min)

Song – A Circle is Round

Friendship Circle and squeeze

Darby