I planned my first Try-It activity for D's Brownie troop a few weeks ago. We tackled Write Away, and I had so much fun planning this. I had a hard time finding Try-It suggestions online, so I'm including a little write-up of our plan.
Our meeting was an hour long, and we had to cut a few things out, like Group Giggles and reading a sample interview, but still did enough activities to meet the badge requirements. 90 minutes would be perfect to fit everything in.
Download printable directions here.
Write Away
1. Read the Story of Someone Special: Take turns reading a short biography of Juliette Low.
I printed out a biography from the Girl Scout website and split it in to nine parts for the girls to read out loud. I'm very happy that the girls did the reading, because I have a hard time getting through it without tearing up. I mean, really, does it get more inspirational than this?
Juliette Gordon Low spent several years searching for something useful to do with her life. Her search ended in 1911, when she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and became interested in the new youth movement. Less than a year later, she returned to the United States and made her historic telephone call to a friend, saying, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” On March 12, 1912, Juliette Low gathered 18 girls to register the first troop of American Girl Guides.
In developing the Girl Scout movement in the United States, Juliette brought girls of all backgrounds into the out-of-doors, giving them the opportunity to develop self-reliance and resourcefulness. She encouraged girls to prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women—in the arts, sciences and business—and for active citizenship outside the home. Girl Scouting welcomed girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded from many other activities. This idea seemed quite natural to Juliette, who never let deafness, back problems or cancer keep her from full participation in life.
2. Group Giggles: Have one girl start a story and go around the room, adding to it until everyone has had a turn and the story is done.
3. Write A Letter: Have the girls each fill out an envelope with their name and address. Put the envelopes in a box and ask each girl to choose one and write a short letter to that person. Drop the finished letters in a box to be mailed.
As the girls arrived, I had them each address an envelope to themselves. I realized as they started that it would have been a good idea to have a sample out ... some of them did not know how to address a letter! Which makes this activity even better practice. I encouraged the girls to include questions in their letters, so their secret pen pal would be more likely to write back to them.
I made up these little stationery sheets using a Brownie illustration.
Download Brownie stationery sheets here. (For personal use only, please!)
4. Become A Reporter: Choose one girl to be a reporter and another to be a subject and read a short interview. Brainstorm about questions a reporter could ask, and have the girls fill out five questions on their sheets. Send reporter sheets home with each girl. Must be returned at the next meeting to earn their Try-It!
I had printed out a short interview with Nancy Krulik, author of the Katie Kazoo books. I chose her because 1) my daughter loves the books, 2) she's a woman author, 3) I used the interview for another project this year and knew I could find it easily, and 4) she'll be visiting the kids' school this year, yipee!
The brainstorming session went surprisingly well, the girls came up with some interesting questions to ask.
Download reporter pages here.
5. All About Me: write a story about your life, using the books provided. Also have blank books if girls want to make up their own story. Each girl can make their own book cover.
This was a lot of fun, I made these books for each girl.
We got out markers and colored pencils and they got right to work, making elaborate covers for their books.
It was so much fun when they would ask, "Can we do this or that?" and I could say YES! It's your book!
Download book pages here.
I read this excellent book while researching the meeting, and condensed some of the ideas into a handout for the girls to take home. Definitely check it out if you have an aspiring writer or artist at home.
