Do you have New Girls in your Girl Scout Troop? An Investiture and Rededication Ceremony will make them feel welcome!
Last year when our school year started and our Girl Scout troop started rolling again I had to plan an Investiture and Rededication Ceremony. Our Girl Scout troop is a multi level troop with girls from Kindergarten to Second Grade. I decided to plan a ceremony, well, it was actually a party. It was a party to celebrate Juliette Gordon Low’s Birthday. We wanted to start teaching the girls all of the traditions that make Girl Scouting what it is. We started with a bridge of silence and proceeded with a Flag Ceremony and then we learned a new grace and shared a snack. We moved on to share as many Girl Scout Songs as we had time for. Most of the songs we did were the active sing-a-long sort that the little ones love to do. Of course, keeping with tradition, we pinned the new girls with their membership pin, upside down of course, and explained that once they did a good deed they could turn their pin right side up. The returning girls asked to have their pins turned back over and they could do a good deed too! Since we had some brownies now we read the Brownie Story and let the girls look in a pond to see who they saw. The girls decided what kapers they would do at meetings and made a kaper chart to monitor whose turn it was for which kaper. If your new to Girl Scouts Kaper Charts are used to determine what each girl will do at the meeting. We passed out goodie bags with smores ingredients at the end of the meeting. We did our Girl Scout closing singing Make New Friends and using a friendship circle and squeeze. It was a really fun meeting and got our girls excited about a full year of Girl Scouting.
A great patch to give girls for the Flag Ceremony Can be a great acknowledgement that your group respects the American Flag.
Bridge of Silence: two girls touch fingers together and raise their arms to form a bridge for everyone else to walk under. Once you go under the bridge you must be silent.
Friendship Circle and Squeeze: All girls join hands crossing right arm over left, then the designated “squeeze starter” squeezes the hand of the girl next to her. The squeeze travels around the circle until it is back to the girl it started with. For young girls you can also have them put their toe into the center of the circle when they feel the squeeze so the whole group can “see” the squeeze go around the circle. Once the squeeze is all the way around the then you unwrap your arms and turn the circle inside out.
Kaper: jobs for the girls to do during the meeting. Read more about Kaper charts in past blog post
Girl Scout Songs
Gracias Senor Alleluia Grace
Gracias Senor Alleluia
Gracias Senor Alleluia
Gracias Senor Alleluia
Gracias Senor
Make New Friends
Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other’s gold
A circle is round it has no end
That’s how long I will be your friend
No celebration is complete without a fun patch.
My name is Michelle Molendyk. I have been a Girl Scout for over 25 years. First as a girl for 9 years and then I became a lifetime member and alum because I loved what Girl Scouting was all about. When my oldest daughter was in Kindergarten I became a leader and our troop has grown every year. Now both of my daughters are in the troop and we have 12 girls between 1st and 3rd grade. I love being a leader and am glad to share what I have tried, good and bad, with all of you. I am a 2 time cancer survivor and believe in living life to the fullest every day.
Love your idea of the bridge of silence.
At the end of last term (semester), I enrolled 6 Brownies and 2 Sunbeams. We went to the local nature park, and used one of the stone bridges as our bridge. The girls loved it, and it was great getting away from the hall.