Make this Cookie Season a Business Badge Season!

Girl Scout cookies are coming! Why not go beyond selling cookies with your troop and make this a badge cookie year? Check out our Cookie Business Badges on the Girl Scout Badge Explorer for your age level and help girls build their financial skills and increase their business savvy as they reach for the stars (and their cookie goal) this cookie season. The Financial Literacy badges help reinforce these necessary life skills! Brownies can Meet My Customers as they take Brownie Elf on a pretend shopping trip, Juniors get to explore ideas for a business they’d like to run someday as they become a Cookie CEO, Cadettes Think Big as they come up with big ideas for the future, while Seniors make plans for after high school in My Portfolio and Ambassadors delve into using money wisely and establishing Good Credit! It’s never too early to explore the business world!

For many girls the cookie sale is their first experience:

• Talking to customers. People skills are important for life in general and Girl Scouts helps girls build them in age-appropriate ways such as a kindergarten girl calling Great Aunt Edna to ask if she’ll buy some Samoas to a 12th grader approaching a business to see if they’ll support our troops overseas by donating cases to Operation Cookie. 

• Exploring marketing products. Girls learn ways to encourage customers to buy more such as sales techniques like bundling (“buy 5 boxes for $20”), up-selling (“buy a second box to freeze”), and how to draw customers in with fun booth decorations, wearing cookie costumes, and don’t forget the all important sales pitch!

• Setting (and reaching) goals. Learning how to make a plan and work together to overcome obstacles and accomplish a goal is the key to success in life, not just Girl Scouts. So go ahead, girls. Calculate how many boxes of cookies you need to cover the cost of your COSI overnight, the end of year camp-out, AND earn the cow neck pillow. You’re developing skills that will take you far!

• Running their own business. That’s right, the cookie business is the largest girl-run business in the world. We’ve got future CEOs, government officials, Band Booster presidents, and personal finance gurus knocking on doors and honing their skills as they sell Thin Mints. 

Not quite ready to tackle a Cookie Business badge with your troop? Check out the Cookie Activity pin. It lets the whole world know the wearer is a real-life Cookie Boss! All girls who participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program are eligible to earn the annual Cookie Activity pin. The pin recognizes the benefits and 5 skills girls learn and practice during the sale, and a differently colored pin can be earned each year.  Is your troop ready to become real-life Cookie Bosses? Gather your girls and start planning!

More to Love with the Volunteer Toolkit

Since Girl Scouts of the USA unveiled their new digital resource for volunteers named the Volunteer Toolkit last fall they’ve been steadily updating content and rolling out new features in a quest to make this a critical resource for our busy volunteers. There are many reasons to rejoice over this new resource (in fact here are 6 Reasons to Love the Toolkit) and we’re excited to update you on some of the newest features available to both volunteers and caregivers for Western Ohio members.

1. New Badge Content for Brownies and Juniors! No longer do volunteers have to buy the badge sets to get the requirements for the Brownie Home Scientist or Junior Product Designer badges. All Brownie and Junior badge requirements are available in this digital resource. You can log into your account through the My GS tab at gswo.org, open the Volunteer Toolkit, and search for the Meeting Overview  for any badge in your age level under the Resources tab. If the girls like what they see, then add it to your Year Plan by clicking Add to Meeting. Simple and easy, right?
2. Parent View is Live! Primary caregivers now have the ability to view their girl’s troop year. Features include read only views of My Troop tab (no contact info), the troop’s Year Plan and their Meeting Plan. For tech savvy parents that means less need to call troop leaders to ask what’s on the packing list for the annual camp out, when/where the next meeting is, or where the permission form is for the next field trip. It’s like a digital Girl Scout parent planner/calendar that instantly updates when changes are made. 
3. Searchable Resources for Multi Grade Troops! PDF versions of the badge content for Daisy, Brownie, and Junior are available when you search the Resource tab. Example: a multi grade troop may have a majority of Brownies so they have access to the Brownie Toolkit but may have some Junior members. They can find the Junior badge requirements by searching the Resources tab. Pretty cool, huh?

More updates and features are planned for the future such as a Finance tab that allows leaders to track their troop’s finances and submit their financial reports through the Toolkit. This tab will also let parents see what the troop funds are being spent on too. As GSUSA updates us on a timeline for additions and new features, we’ll spread the word to our dedicated volunteers and members. 

So if you haven’t checked out the Toolkit yet, head to My GS and go digital with us! For questions and feedback on the Toolkit  (or if you have issues creating a log-in) please contact Customer Care at 888.350.5090 or customerservice@gswo.org. 

 

Girl Scout Traditions: The Purpose Behind Arts and Crafts

Arts and crafts have been a part of Girl Scouts since the beginning. There’s a reason that the Artist Legacy badges such as Brownie Painter and Ambassador Photographer and the Craft badges like Junior Jeweler and Senior Textile Artist are so popular: GIRLS LOVE TO CREATE! But as adults we sometimes ask (or parents ask us) is there a purpose or a benefit to all these arts and crafts?

Are the girls building useful skills? Are they really growing their confidence with each potter’s wheel creation? Why do we do so many crafts? The next time you ask yourself that question, here is your answer. According to an article by Early Childhood News:

Arts & Crafts Develop Thinking Skills

• Problem-solving skills develop from experimenting with a wide range of arts and crafts materials.
• Decision making is constant and continuous in assembling and decorating projects.
• Visual thinking skills and three-dimensional information processing are exercised in the process of assembling materials.

Arts & Crafts Develop Feeling Skills

• Self-expression is the foundation of art making.
• Crisis intervention art is something you can use to help children handle stress and the trauma of any community crisis.
• Sensory stimulation from art materials awakens children’s five senses and teaches a healthy outlet for pleasure and satisfaction.

Arts & Crafts Develop Relating Skills

• Sharing of art materials requires social interaction and cooperation.
• Cooperation inherent in art activities encourages relationship building and friendship skills.
• Shy or less verbal children can participate comfortably and be more active in a non-competitive environment like the art room.

Arts & Crafts Develop Coordinating Skills

• Fine motor skills are developed using a wide range of arts/crafts materials, craft accessories, and art room tools.
• Eye-hand coordination prepares children for real life tasks at school and home.
• Self-esteem correlates positively with a child’s sense of physical coordination and mastery.

Now that you’ve got some amazing reasons to keep on crafting with your girls, what creative projects and badges will your troop begin in 2016? Check out the Artist and Craft badges in the Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting for your age level, let girls vote on the badges and skills they want to master, then scroll Pinterest to get some great ideas for projects. Crafts not your thing?  No worries, we’ve got some great Community Partners in our Program Event Guide who’d love to help your girls build their skills. What are you waiting for? Gather your girls and start exploring the world of arts and crafts with purpose!

Inspiring a New Generation of Women In Science

At Girl Scouts we want to inspire girls to ask questions, explore the world around them, and make a difference. And pursuing a career in a science field does just that! As one young girl said “as a kid I asked a lot of why questions, and I found that science and math usually were the answers, the coolest answers, to all of my why questions”. Check out this video from the White House Science Fair to see some amazing girls’ projects that prove you’re never too young to dream big and create something new!

So how do you inspire your girls to love science and pursue their dreams? We’ve got program events for every age level in our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) category. Join us for our Junior Overnight at the the Cincinnati Museum Center, Daisy Day at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum or many more. Your girls can attend one, attend many, or even attend them all! It’s girls’ choice at its best. Scroll through our event calendar and be on the lookout for light orange STEM events to find your next science adventure. 

Ready for more of a challenge? Why not start a First Lego League in fall 2016?  The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a competition for students ages 9–14 . A new challenge is announced in September that focuses on a different real-world theme related to the sciences.  The team members design and program Lego Mindstorms robots to complete tasks and work on solutions to the various problems they are given. There are regional tournaments where teams can share their solutions, display their robots, and show off their teamwork skills. Check out a tournament near you this troop year and then if you’re interested in volunteering to start a league in your region, contact a member of the Program and Partnerships staff. For more information on how Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and FLL can go together check out this webinar: .

Ready to join us in inspiring girls to become the next generation of women in science? Let’s get started today!