Your First GS Investiture Ceremony – Keep It Fun

Submitted by Staci Jansma

Why have an Investiture Ceremony?

Holding an Investiture/Re-dedication Ceremony is not required, but I felt it was very important for the girls to understand the reasoning when I first learned about it – as it seemed so special.

Last year, we were first year daisies and brand new to everything scouts. I spent a lot of my spare time reading up on what we should be doing as daisies, what we need to complete as daisies and found out that we needed to do an Investiture Ceremony and that it’s a very special ceremony to every scout. You can only go through Investiture once as a GS, then each year after you are rededicated.

Let The Planning Begin

Through what I read online from the GS website and some of the ideas shared elsewhere online (mainly Pinterest), I had to figure out what we were going to do for our Investiture Ceremony. What we had planned was Investiture Ceremony plus a Holiday/Christmas party because we were going to have our troop meeting the week before Christmas break started. However, my daughter ended up getting sick and we postponed our meeting. We waited a few weeks after we came back from Christmas break and were back into the swing of things; we decided to have our Investiture Ceremony in late-January. I did check in with each family prior to postponing the Ceremony to see if they were okay with it. They felt that it was best to postpone it since my daughter and I couldn’t attend. Honestly, looking back I see that it was a blessing that we had to postpone our Investiture Ceremony, because during the first few weeks of January, I received a phone call from a mom that just moved into the area, and was looking for a troop for her daughter to join. I share this story with you so you realize as a leader, things change and you will have to go with the flow.

Time for Your First Investiture Ceremony

When it was time for our Investiture Ceremony, the girls were unsure what to do, but they listened and were ready to participate. We first completed the GS Promise with all the girls standing in front and they did great. And then I called each girl up, one-by-one and handed them their certificate and Investiture patch. Next was snack time and I hired the local bakery to help make the most amazing flower cookies that were colored which each of the Daisy petals. The girls were overjoyed and it was fun to just see their faces and how happy they were.

After the Investiture Ceremony

At this point with our Investiture Ceremony, I felt the girls became sisters. They were more “into” scouts now and could tell that they have bounded even more, and really glad that our first year turned out the way that it did. I really tried to just go with the flow. As events came up, I notified parents and if my daughter and I could go – then we did. As a troop, we went to a few council events together, we had a handful of meetings and they were all in school together. Now, a year later, I still see how much they have bounded and if it was not for scouts I don’t think they would be as close, they are all best friends to each other. I see them laughing and it is just wonderful to be a part of this experience with them as their leader.

My Advice to Other Leaders

When you begin to plan your Investiture Ceremony, you will find several ideas that you could do. My best advice is – just make it fun. I have learned that our girls like to be doing something all the time – so we have lots of coloring pages available that align with the journey we are working on. And I have to say, with our latest Journey: Between Earth and Sky, we are using the Daisy Earth Journey Badge In A Bag®. This kit is just perfect and we are looking forward to finishing up our second year as a Daisy with a bang. The kit comes with sessions already planned out, material/supplies that I just need to do a little bit of preparing for each meeting and we are set. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Badge In A Bag® for your troop, my girls were thrilled at the first meeting and now knowing they are adding to their very own 4 x 6 scrapbook at each meeting,  which came in the kit. (PLEASE NOTE: I realize that I am writing this blog post for MakingFriends®.com, but I am saying this from a troop leader who has a very busy schedule with full-time work-from-home occupation, 2 kids both in school and just busy with having fun in general – I really wish I knew about MakingFriends®.com sooner as I have searched their website for SWAP ideas, activities and how they can help me to enhance the girls “GS” experience.)

My Daisy Girl Plans in the Coming Months

Right now, our troop is working towards the Daisy Summit pin by this May when we bridge to Brownies. So far we completed all the Daisy petals and Welcome to the Flower Garden Journey during our first year, plus we attended Daisy Days, which was focused on the 5 Stories, 4 Friends and 3 Cheers for Animals Journey. So we have a few patches to earn during our second year plus finish up the Between Earth and Sky Journey.  So I am confident that we will reach this special honor that we worked on for two years. Wish you the best on your GS Journey this year too!

Helpful Resources:

• Investiture Ceremony Invitation [PDF DOWNLOAD] – feel free to print this off on an invite background of your choice. I had the girls write the name of who the invite was for, their name and color the invites to take home and hand out to family and friends.
• For the Daisy Cookie: Wilton Comfort-Grip Cookie Cutter