Virtual Bridging 2020 Patch Program®

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This iron-on embroidered patch is part of our patch program®.

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Show your scouts that they can overcome any challenge including having a meaningful bridging ceremony while social distancing.

Suggestions for hosting a virtual bridging ceremony:

With some planning, you can host a bridging ceremony virtually for your troop or service unit. Have your scouts choose the type of ceremony they would like and help them make the necessary adjustments.

Send each girl a copy of whatever songs you plan to sing during your ceremony. It’s also a good idea to send each girl a program and/or ceremony script to follow.

Ask each girl to make an invitation:

Even though they will be limited in who they can invite (probably only members of their immediate family), making and handing out invitations will help the girls get in the spirit of the ceremony. Leaders can create a template and send electronically to the troop or create an invitation that can be printed and colored by each girl.

Recruit family members to assist:

Each girl will need someone to assist them with certain parts of the ceremony. Someone to help with changing of vests, an adult to supervise if candles are being used, etc.

Uniforms:

Traditional bridging ceremonies include shedding the old uniform and getting the uniform for their new level. If getting vests or sashes to each girl for the ceremony is not possible but you would like to incorporate this tradition in your ceremony, try one of these suggestions for creating a symbolic uniform:

• Use ribbon or fabric to make sashes (closely match the color of the new uniform if possible).
• Ask the girls instead to wear their current uniform and a white shirt.

Ask the person assisting your scout to help her off with her current vest or sash and to remove the tab with their scout pins from that uniform. They can then pin the tab to the ribbon or the scout’s shirt as a symbolic representation of their new uniform.

Candles:

If you are planning to incorporate candles in your ceremony for each girl to light as they say a part of the law, remind them to have a bucket or bowl of water close by and adult supervision. Younger girls can make a faux candle. You can find examples of faux candle crafts on the internet for crafts such as these:

• Use toilet paper tube and red, orange and yellow construction or tissue paper for the flame.
• Use craft stick and red, orange and yellow construction or tissue paper for the flame. (To make this stand on it’s own, use an inverted paper cup with a slit in it as a base.)

Suggestions for adapting various ceremonies:

You’ll want to open your ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance and the promise. If you do not have a flag you can find an image on the internet. You can print an image to hold or or see if the platform you are using allows you to share your screen.

Many DIY bridges for ceremonies are really more of a path. Some troops use balloons or plants to simulate the railings of a bridge. Girls can do this at home using ideas such as these:

• Use ribbon, yarn or crepe paper tied between two chairs to create one railing and repeat with another two chairs to create the second railing.
• Lay two blankets or towels or pool noodles on the floor, one on each side of the bridge or path.
• Use construction paper to create stones with one part of the law on each stone. (The stones would be used to represent stone railings, not to walk on as this could be a slipping hazard.)

A ceremony incorporating twist me and turn me can easily be adapted. Have each girl create a faux pond using one or more pieces of blue construction paper cut into the shape of a pond. They can also color flowers or leaves surrounding the pond. Have them place a mirror or tin foil in the middle of the pond to represent the reflecting water. Send the twist me and turn me script to a family member who will be assisting with the ceremony.

If your troop was planning to use a wishing well ceremony, such as the one in the blog GS Bridging Ceremonies, they can each create a Craftstick Wishing Well from FreeKidsCrafts.com.

If your troop was planning on a making brownies ceremony, have each girl say an ingredient (i.e. a pinch of honesty) and instead of going through the ‘oven’, they can cross a faux bridge.

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