Daisy Girl Scout Leaders

[LoveMyBeautifulGift]

So this went so perfectly I almost can't believe it! Everything flowed very smoothly and the timing was just right. I will admit I had a hard time keeping a straight face with some of the rules the girls came up with (example, no breaking someone's fence, no throwing balls at people's glass doors and breaking them) but I let them know I was going to review all the rules and make a poster with a summary of the rules on it (I will try to generalize, as a lot of the rules were very specific (ie, no cutting someone else's hair and no writing on each other with markers might be generalized into respect each other's space or something along those lines, I haven't really started that yet). I had several parents stay to watch, but they were very mindful of keeping their voices quiet and none of the girls seemed to even notice they were there, so we're good

Making plans for the first meeting, I plan to have the girls make Daisy Can/Did sticks, and the ones who missed the parent's meeting can work on About Me Daisies and their folders. We will learn the silence sign, say the Pledge of Allegiance then make a "Daisy Web" (the yarn tossing exercise where they introduce themselves-I will also ask them to share one thing about themselves and one thing they want to do as girl scouts). I will recite the promise/law and talk w/ the girls about how they are guidelines for our behavior. Then we will play Minefield (I write down things they tell me that make it hard for groups to work together/aren't being a good friend/etc. then toss them around the room in crumpled balls. Then one girl guides her blindfolded partner through the minefield/they swap and work their way back (if there's time)). We will discuss how we need to work as a team and then brainstorm troop rules. We will finish w/ a Daisy Circle and squeeze and I will tell the girls that next time we will be learning the GS Promise and starting plans for Investiture. Anyone want to critique/offer suggestions? I would love to know what worked/didn't for other troops' first meetings. Oh, it will be myself and 1 other mom, btw.

Next meeting, we will play Name Name Daisy @ arrival, then have the flag ceremony and review the troop rules. We will talk a little about what the next couple of meetings are going to be like and start talking about Investiture. I hope to brainstorm/plant the idea that they get to plan and make decisions about Investiture. Then we will work on learning the GS Promise. We will talk about the GS sign having 3 fingers/representing the 3 parts of the promise. We will discuss the promise while we make Promise Braids w/ leftover yarn from the Daisy Web last week. I will also teach them to sing the Promise to "Old McDonald". We will clean up and then finish w/ a Daisy Circle/Squeeze w/ a reminder to think about Investiture and a promise to do a fun craft at the next meeting (making GS Law tote bags).

 

[Marshay]

So cookie season is upon us. We are selling cookies for our first time. I went to the training class but it was *really* basic and I walked away with more questions than answers ... or at least it felt that way. Unfortunately the trainer is a first year Girl Scout, so she doesn't have any experience either but she was the only person willing to do it!

Please for those that sold last year, can you give us advice and Lessons Learned.

Our troop does have a separate cookie mom who has done this last year, so she isn't brand new. However, she already told me she doesn't have lots of time to devote to cookies and I'm afraid it'll end up back to me at some point.

Thanks!

 

[acomasdiaz]

So cookie season is upon us. We are selling cookies for our first time. I went to the training class but it was *really* basic and I walked away with more questions than answers ... or at least it felt that way. Unfortunately the trainer is a first year Girl Scout, so she doesn't have any experience either but she was the only person willing to do it!

Please for those that sold last year, can you give us advice and Lessons Learned.

Our troop does have a separate cookie mom who has done this last year, so she isn't brand new. However, she already told me she doesn't have lots of time to devote to cookies and I'm afraid it'll end up back to me at some point.

Thanks!

I couldn't even get someone to volunteer to be the cookie mom, so I will be doing it this year. So, I feel ya...

 

[kelann7]

This will be our second year doing cookie sales - ours start in January, so we haven't had training or anything yet. I didn't have a cookie mom last year, so I did it myself and I'll probably do it again this year. It isn't too bad.

I suggest that you only do pre-orders the first year and don't bother with booth sales. That's what I did last year - I'm debating whether to try a booth sale this year or not.

With pre-orders, you just give everything the order forms and information and tell them when to turn it in. Send reminders about deadlines to turn in orders. Once you have all the order forms, then you will enter it into e-budde - the software for cookie sales. It is pretty straight - forward from what I remember.

On the cookie pick up day, you will have to pick up the orders for your entire troop. I brought them to my house and sorted them into piles for each girl - I did this in the morning and told everyone that they had to pick up their cookies that afternoon. Give them a day and time to pick up - if you can get them all out of your house in one day, you will be doing great!

You will probably have some extras because you have to order in cases of 12. But this usually isn't a problem, because after you deliver your cookies to your customers, there is always someone who will ask for another box or two. This is how you get rid of the "extras". Also, send everyone a list of the extras - "we have 3 boxes of thin mints or 2 boxes or Samoas, etc" and someone is bound to take them off your hands.

You do have to give a receipt to everyone for the cookies that they take and another receipt for any money that you collect.

This is all I really remember from last year. Good luck selling cookies!

Kelly

 

[skw444]

I've been cookie mom for the past 3 years and it's not too bad. Hardest part is getting all the cookies to your house and sorting it for the girls in your troop. We have 14 girls in our troop and each girl sells about 100 boxes, so it's lots of cookies in my garage! We chose to do booth sales last year and we made so much money off the booth sales! We sold at our mall and in front of Walmart.

Here's what I do. I set aside a time to meet with the parents before cookie sales start. I give them the cookie order sheet and a separate sheet with all the important dates: when sales start, when orders are due to me, when to pick up cookies, and when money is due to me. I send email reminders before all these due dates as well.

When they come to pick up cookies, I give a receipt of what they picked up and how much money they owe. When they pay me money, I give a receipt with what they paid and how much they still owe. For easier accounting purposes, I ask that they give me money in the form of a check. The first year, I made the mistake of allowing cash and literally, I had hundreds of dollars in $1 bills. It was a nightmare to count it all.

For booth sales, we do a sign up sheet in one hour increments. We allow 4 girls at the booth each hour, and they can sign up for the times that work best for them. And then for that hour, we track the number of boxes sold and divide it among the girls working the booth that hour.

Good luck with cookie sales!

 

[Marshay]

If we decide to do a booth sale, how in the world do we know how many cookies to order for a booth? I think our booth sales are 2 hours each...

 

[Tabologist]

Last week my daisy troop wrote letters to their favorite Disney character. I had a template making it easier (since many of them can't write well yet).

Hopefully we will get some autographs. here is the address if anyone else is interested in trying it


Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

 

[kelann7]

If we decide to do a booth sale, how in the world do we know how many cookies to order for a booth? I think our booth sales are 2 hours each...

I think I remember reading somewhere that you should order 1 case of each type of cookie and 2 cases of the more popular cookies like Thin Mints and Samoas.

If your Cookie Cupboard isn't too far away, you may be able to have a parent run and get more if needed.

This will be the first year I try a booth, so it should be interesting.

Kelly

 

[Marshay]

Last week my daisy troop wrote letters to their favorite Disney character. I had a template making it easier (since many of them can't write well yet).

Hopefully we will get some autographs. here is the address if anyone else is interested in trying it


Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

What a cute idea!

 

[Marshay]

I think I remember reading somewhere that you should order 1 case of each type of cookie and 2 cases of the more popular cookies like Thin Mints and Samoas.

If your Cookie Cupboard isn't too far away, you may be able to have a parent run and get more if needed.

This will be the first year I try a booth, so it should be interesting.

Kelly

thank you!

Most of the moms in our troop have already said they don't want to go door-to-door selling cookies...so I'm thinking if we just do one booth sale, this should help our numbers...but just worried what we do with any leftover cookies... guess we'd have to do another booth if possible or go door-to-door...

 

[LoveMyBeautifulGift]

This meeting was not as succesful. I think it was mostly because the girls were tired. We had SU event the night before, and several girls mentioned staying up late afterward when I asked for thoughts about the event. There was some excitement when it came to discussing Investiture...but it was a flash in the pan, lol...

Next meeting, we will play Name Name Daisy @ arrival, then have the flag ceremony and review the troop rules. We will talk a little about what the next couple of meetings are going to be like and start talking about Investiture. I hope to brainstorm/plant the idea that they get to plan and make decisions about Investiture. Then we will work on learning the GS Promise. We will talk about the GS sign having 3 fingers/representing the 3 parts of the promise. We will discuss the promise while we make Promise Braids w/ leftover yarn from the Daisy Web last week. I will also teach them to sing the Promise to "Old McDonald". We will clean up and then finish w/ a Daisy Circle/Squeeze w/ a reminder to think about Investiture and a promise to do a fun craft at the next meeting (making GS Law tote bags).

I did learn a few things w/ this first SU event...first, from now on I will be sending a final attendee list out before registering for an event. I had a few parents suddenly want to attend after I had registered (after which I sent out the final list); unfortunately, registration closed and I was unable to add them...so from now on, list first, then registration, then confirmation of list again. Also, I had let parents know that I (and the one parent who had volunteered to chaperone before I registered) would be outside waiting for drop offs ten minutes before the event started...we did not get in the doors until 15 minutes after the event started, because more than one parent was late...I think from now on if we have dropp offs, I will tell parents I will be waiting from X to Y time, after that we will enter the event and anyone who is late needs to bring their child into the building, check them in and make sure they find us...several girls mentioned that it was no fun waiting outside for the girls who were late; and more than one girl was upset that we didn't get to go to every craft table at the worksop (and while I know we will probably never get to every table, 15 minutes is enough to finish at least one table).

Next meeting, we are making GS Law totes. Was going to do these, from Making Friends, but I had to modify it, since the shipping costs from the site put the cost of the foam ovals out of our price range, and locally the only option was sheets, which would've meant tracking down the right colors and then cutting them all out, etc....so I bought totes at JoAnn's Fabrics this week at 50% off, and I've made stencils using a black and white copy of the daisy petals and cutting out the center and the petals...hoping to pick up fabric markers at Joann's or Michael's next week with a 40% coupon...While the girls work on their totes, we will discuss what each color represents, and hopefully discuss ideas about how we can earn those petals.

We will also be making (mostly assembling) investiture invitations using this idea but using a color printout of the daisy petals on cardstock. I think I will make this our arrival activity, as the girls missed not having a craft at the beginning of the meeting last time (we just played daisy daisy name and then had a snack)

 

[Marshay]

Sorry, LoveMyBeautifulGift that you had to wait for the parents.

When we go to an event, we do the same. If weather is nice we'll wait outside for a bit then go inside and have parents sign in the kids, etc. If it's winter or rainy, then everyone just goes in and either waits in the hall/lobby or sign in individually if we can, and meets up inside.

That bag is really cute!

 

[acomasdiaz]

At our last meeting, the girls were not on their best behavior either. Not sure why...

We started out with a craft - mitten magnet. Then moved on to putting together the boxes of donations for the 2 families we adopted for the holidays. The girls will earn their spring green petals for this. We made cards for the two families too and the girls all signed them.

Then, we ended with them making invitations fot the Investiture Ceremony which will take place at our next meeting. I am having Daisy cookies made for the girls.

They are also very excited about the different things we have coming up. We are up to trading with 49 states for the postcard exchange. We are only missing a troop in Rhode Island.

Our cookie sales start in January and I will be placing our initial order for them this week. I want the girls to get experience with the cookie sales and booths. So, I am asking that they each participate in one booth sale.

 

[LoveMyBeautifulGift]

Does anyone have any tips for secret ballots/voting? I would like to present the girls with a few options to choose from for earning petals/just for fun stuff, but I feel as though a show of hands is not the best idea...we tried that for vests vs. smocks, but after the first 3 raised their hands for the first choice, 3 more raised their hands after looking around, then when the other 2 held out for the second choice, there was some "raise your hand, vote my way!" type of whispering from one of the more outspoken girls...we did discuss how everyone has a right to their opinion, and how we shouldn't try to persuade everyone to do it our way just because its what we want...but I want honest opinions/choices from the girls (not just I'm voting this way because Jane voted this way) and I'm not sure we will get that w/ hands...I read about closing your eyes and voting, just wondering if anyone has another way they vote?

 

[Marshay]

Does anyone have any tips for secret ballots/voting? I would like to present the girls with a few options to choose from for earning petals/just for fun stuff, but I feel as though a show of hands is not the best idea...we tried that for vests vs. smocks, but after the first 3 raised their hands for the first choice, 3 more raised their hands after looking around, then when the other 2 held out for the second choice, there was some "raise your hand, vote my way!" type of whispering from one of the more outspoken girls...we did discuss how everyone has a right to their opinion, and how we shouldn't try to persuade everyone to do it our way just because its what we want...but I want honest opinions/choices from the girls (not just I'm voting this way because Jane voted this way) and I'm not sure we will get that w/ hands...I read about closing your eyes and voting, just wondering if anyone has another way they vote?

too funny! We just did our first voting for cookie stuff and had this problem too with one shy girl.

So we just told all the girls to close their eyes. If they opened their eyes, then their vote would not count.

I worked perfectly for us.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Does anyone have any tips for secret ballots/voting? I would like to present the girls with a few options to choose from for earning petals/just for fun stuff, but I feel as though a show of hands is not the best idea...we tried that for vests vs. smocks, but after the first 3 raised their hands for the first choice, 3 more raised their hands after looking around, then when the other 2 held out for the second choice, there was some "raise your hand, vote my way!" type of whispering from one of the more outspoken girls...we did discuss how everyone has a right to their opinion, and how we shouldn't try to persuade everyone to do it our way just because its what we want...but I want honest opinions/choices from the girls (not just I'm voting this way because Jane voted this way) and I'm not sure we will get that w/ hands...I read about closing your eyes and voting, just wondering if anyone has another way they vote?

Yeah I know that trick all too well lol. I had them close their eyes and vote. If you are sitting at desks, they can put their heads down and vote.

If you have a small group and two leaders you can bring them in one at a time and ask them. We did that for our field trips for cookie money, had them pick their top three and took the most votes from those.

Also I wanted to let everyone know the journey keepsakes are on sale for 1.99 at the girl scout shop online.

 

[LoveMyBeautifulGift]

Thanks ladies! We'll try the eyes closed then...and I like the consequence for peeking, too.

too funny! We just did our first voting for cookie stuff and had this problem too with one shy girl.

So we just told all the girls to close their eyes. If they opened their eyes, then their vote would not count.

I worked perfectly for us.

Yeah I know that trick all too well lol. I had them close their eyes and vote. If you are sitting at desks, they can put their heads down and vote.

If you have a small group and two leaders you can bring them in one at a time and ask them. We did that for our field trips for cookie money, had them pick their top three and took the most votes from those.

Also I wanted to let everyone know the journey keepsakes are on sale for 1.99 at the girl scout shop online.

 

[kelann7]

Does anyone have any tips for secret ballots/voting? I would like to present the girls with a few options to choose from for earning petals/just for fun stuff, but I feel as though a show of hands is not the best idea...we tried that for vests vs. smocks, but after the first 3 raised their hands for the first choice, 3 more raised their hands after looking around, then when the other 2 held out for the second choice, there was some "raise your hand, vote my way!" type of whispering from one of the more outspoken girls...we did discuss how everyone has a right to their opinion, and how we shouldn't try to persuade everyone to do it our way just because its what we want...but I want honest opinions/choices from the girls (not just I'm voting this way because Jane voted this way) and I'm not sure we will get that w/ hands...I read about closing your eyes and voting, just wondering if anyone has another way they vote?

To do a true secret ballot, you should have them write down their vote. Last year, we had 2 options for an end of year party to use our cookie money. What I did was - I made ballots with pictures, so that there was no confusion, since some of the girls are just starting to read. We had to choose between a picnic in the park or a build a bear party - I had a picture of a picnic basket and a picture of a bear. I had them come up to the front table one at a time and circle the picture that they were voting for and fold the paper and put it in a big cup. Then I read the votes one at a time (Survivor style - love that show!). "One vote for Build a bear, 2 votes for picnic" - and so on - Build a Bear won, but we did have several votes for picnic. The girls cheered and got excited with each vote that was read. I plan to do this again when voting for something.

Kelly

 

[dancin'girl]

acomadiaz -

Tell me about your post card exchange. I just started a Daisy troop - first graders- from RI!

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

I have the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting for Daisies that I am borrowing. If anyone has any questions I will try to answer them. It gives a lot of information about the petals and leaves, but not a lot about the journeys. So not only do you have to buy the book, you have to buy each journey book as well.

We had our Christmas/Awards party. 5 girls earned journey patches and 2 received their summit award. I got them all girl scout cookie scented chapstick as well. Cookies are just around the corner not sure how I feel about that lol.