Does anyone ever think of quitting?

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From Kristen:
Yes. Constantly. We did close our troop at 12 because of behavior problems. Now I try to plan at least half our meetings outside or as field trips because the actual meetings are sooo draining.

From Anonymous:
Do you have a behavior contract? We go over with the scouts at the beginning of every year and as needed to address behaviors. I find at that age lots of movement activities are so helpful! Even pausing for a 30 second dance party can help get wiggles out.

Also, you as the leader can say your troop is closed to girls joining at x number. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your membership manager.

From Becca:
Break into smaller groups and rotate through stations. You can break up behavior problems easier… I also closed out our troop and constantly tell people no when they ask if we will accept new girls.

From Theresa:
Break into smaller groups and rotate through stations. You can break up behavior problems easier… I also closed out our troop and constantly tell people no when they ask if we will accept new girls.

From Debra
Honestly I’ve told our troop directly after instances of misbehavior that I choose to be there for them and if they choose not to behave and participate then there’s no reason for us to meet.

I was also awakened to the science behind it; if younger girls, they only have about 12/15 min attention span. If you try opening and giving them 5 minutes for snack or game and then 15 minutes of directed attention to activity. Seems to have smoothed things over a bit. Makes it tough to work through some of the longer activities but honestly it was impossible without the breaks. They need to run and laugh and play a little

From Amanda
Respectfully, the leaders have allowed it to get to this point. I’ve been a victim too 

You need to start being more zero tolerance, enforce the rules! I am not correcting you for a second time, I’m calling mom to pick you up and you’re gonna go sit by the door out of the activity and out of disturbing others

From Vibrant
Limit the size – don’t let it keep growing! There are recommended numbers but you should be able to cap it. I would bring it down to 10-12 for next year. If not everyone comes back you don’t have to refill their spots.

I find physical games (think PE class) get them engaging and paying attention more. I try to start with that then move into our “work” but if they get unruly I say “we don’t HAVE to do this work if y’all can’t handle it” and usually I hear them say they want to earn the badge… etc.

Maybe take the rest of the school year easy and plan more casual activities so you can reset and after a break in the summer see how you feel?

A parent meeting is also a good idea. Just lay it all out.

From Jennifer
Walk away from anything school like and make the badges seem like an adventure…theme them around holidays or anything like Kpop etc. For example, my best self i did themed around turning red bc it was a hit movie at the time. I used references to the movie about managing stress and anxiety (like Mei Mei felt) – alot more fun activities I did but that was the theme. I did geocatcher themed around pirates of the Caribbean (treasure hunt- clues hit the requirements of the badge). The more ODD the theme the more they pay attention. They are so OVER school and the moment they sniff a lesson they loose it. Out of the box thinking always. FUN over “let’s sit and learn”. And #1… USE AI, it’s helped me TONS (now that ive discovered how amazing it is). Its my Co leader.

From Kathy
I understand the exhaustion. I have a troop of 15.

Are the girls having fun, despite the chaos? Does your daughter still enjoy it? It sounds like you are already doing the general things like breaking them up into groups. Behavior contracts can help when you go through it with the girls and make them sign. I think it always seems like way more chaos to the adults, while the girls may only remember hanging out and having fun with a bunch of girls; and that’s enough! You are doing a great job! There is a saying I think about a lot, that our children will never appreciate the amount of extroverting we do for them.  Please know that you ARE making a difference to these girls even if it doesn’t seem like it.

If the badge work seems too daunting, break it up into multiple meetings, or just find fun patches that fulfill their interests. Have a dance party break every 15 minutes if they are crazy! As long as everyone is being safe and respectful, try not to worry about the chaos. It does get better.

From Alma
Stations!!!! Break them up into groups of 3-5 and have them rotate through stations to do the different steps of the badge, add extra small activities as needed. This works best if you can have one adult per station. The adult stays at the station and girls rotate to them. You can do some self serve stations too if you don’t have enough adults. Breaking them into smaller groups helps a lot.

Routine so they know what to expect- meetings always follow the same formula opening, intro, activities, movement break, snack & circle time then activity and closing circle.

Set expectations and just keep reminding them.