Celebrate Juliette Low’s Halloween Birthday with a service project!
It’s the spookiest time of year, which gives us several activity options. Before having a Halloween party, we sing “Happy Birthday” to Juliette Low to remind our Girl Scouts that October 31st isn’t just Halloween. Last October, we decided to celebrate not only Juliette Low’s birthday but also the first born baby in our town on that day.
It is not only Juliette Low’s Birthday on October 31st
We collected baby supplies and made several gift baskets. We also included a daisy journey book and a cute outfit that said future Daisy Girl Scout. We contacted our local hospital and asked if we could donate a basket to the first baby girl born on October 31st. We ended up with two large baskets and 3 bags full of baby supplies to donate!
After the mom and baby came home from the hospital, we made arrangements to take all the baby baskets to their home. The mom was so excited and the girls felt great getting to help a single mom with two other children.
Celebrating Juliette Low’s Birthday with a Party
Our party isn’t just a celebration for Juliette—sometimes, we celebrate the birthdays of everyone in our troop! We place several small gifts on a table with a numbered container in front of each gift. As the girls played games, we awarded them two tickets for winning, and one to the others for participating. The girls write their name on each ticket and put it in the container in front of the gift she would like to win. At end of our party, we draw a ticket for the winners! Since we have a large group with many leaders, we always have a table with a few things for leaders to win. They do a lot of work, and feel they deserve a chance for gifts too.
During our party, we play games. One game is the “Wright Troop Celebrates Juliette Low’s Birthday”: Each girl starts with a trinket or a piece of candy. I read out loud the story below. When the words WRIGHT or RIGHT are read, the girls pass the trinket or piece of candy to the girl on their right. When the word LEFT is read, girls pass to the left. I pause a moment after each of these words giving time for passing. I always say the word a little louder so the girls pick up on it. At the end of the game, the girls get to keep the item they have in their hands. I also have a couple funny items to pass as well.
- Juliette Low’s birthday was almost there and Mrs. Wright’s troop was just about finished decorating. Mrs. WRIGHT, her daughter Susie WRIGHT, and her cousin Sally WRIGHT returned from their last minute shopping. “There is not much LEFT to be done,” said Mr. WRIGHT as he came into the kitchen. “Did you hang the streamers above the table where I told you to?” asked Mrs. WRIGHT. “I LEFT them RIGHT where you told me to,” said Mr. WRIGHT. “I am glad we got all the food we needed—I don’t have any money LEFT,” said Sally WRIGHT. The hall phone rang and Susie WRIGHT ran to answer it. She came running back into the kitchen explaining; “Aunt Tillie RIGHT LEFT a cake for us on Gramma Wright’s back porch. I’ll go RIGHT over there and get it,” she said as she LEFT the house. Mr. WRIGHT LEFT the kitchen and brought in the presents they bought. By the time Susie WRIGHT returned, Mrs. WRIGHT, Mr. WRIGHT and Sally WRIGHT had begun to set the table. Just then the doorbell rang. Mrs. Wright’s troop had arrived. Each girl took off her coat and LEFT it RIGHT by the front door. Jennifer turned to her LEFT to say “Hi” to Karen. Jessica was so busy talking to Elaine that she bumped RIGHT into Betty. Together they all finished helping Susie WRIGHT and Sally WRIGHT finish setting up for the party. “That looks RIGHT nice,” they all exclaimed. The WRIGHT troop played games, made crafts, and sang a RIGHT large number of songs, including Sally Wright’s favorite, “I LEFT My Heart in San Francisco”. They decided to WRITE birthday cards for baby girl born on Juliette Low’s birthday. Finally it was time for cake. Mrs. WRIGHT LEFT the room to get the cake while Sally RIGHT got the forks and started passing them out, starting on her LEFT. The entire troop ate and ate until there was no cake LEFT. All the members of Mrs. Wright’s troop agreed that this was the best party ever. They cleaned up all the mess that was LEFT and put everything away in the RIGHT place. Mr. WRIGHT was very pleased. “Thank you, girls, for all your help. That was the RIGHT thing to do. No wonder your leader, Mrs. WRIGHT, is always so proud of you.” One by one the girls’ parents came for them. One by one they all said, “Good night, Mrs. WRIGHT. See you next week.” Now I hope you have the RIGHT bag of candy for yourself because that’s all that is LEFT of our story— except to say Happy Birthday Juliette Low!! Isn’t that RIGHT????
This story went right along with the theme for collecting baby items for first girl born on Juliette Low’s birthday.
We purchased Juliette Low SWAPS with facts about Juliette Low to help the girls learn more about the founder of girl scouts. After the girls had a chance to make the SWAPs and to read about Juliette Low, we played a True or False game. Everyone stood up and if what I said was true about Juliette Low stay standing. If false, they sit down.
With our younger Girl Scouts, the Daisys and Brownies, we play Juliette Says. It’s the same as Simon Says. Our Juniors will often jump in and play to.
Since we celebrate everyone’s birthday, each girl and leader get a cupcake with a candle. We sing happy birthday to everyone and Juliette Low. For safety, the young ones sit at a table when we light their candles. The older girls light their candles off of each other, remembering not to tip the lit candles.
Ideas to help your girls learn about Juliette Gordon Low can be found at MakingFriends®.com
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