For Troop Camper, the girls planned a trip to Luray, Virginia. They decided what to cook for each of the meals, who would do what jobs, made a list of the equipment we would need, learned how to start a fire and keep it going, learned what low impact camping is, and held a Scout's Own.
Creative Solutions was a great beginning badge, because it got the girls to thinking about how they interact with each other. They played some cooperative games and participated in some cooperative activities, as well as, practiced listening, using "I" statements, and learned how to work out conflicts.
Dance was a badge which was selected by one of the girls. She was responsible for deciding on which of the requirements we would work on (obviously with a little help). The girls danced to different types of music, and expressed the feelings the music made them feel. We also learned some dances from different countries and attended a dance performance.
Since January of 2001, the girls have worked on Cookie Connection, Ecology, Finding Your Way, and Stress Less.
For Cookie Connection the girls participated in a cookie booth sale at a local grocery store, discussed safety rules, and methods for selling their cookies.
Both the Ecology badge and the Finding Your Way badge was earned during our encampment in April. The Ecology badge is one that all Juniors who attended the encampment earned. We worked on Finding Your Way with our Co-Lead, who had recently taken an orienteering class, and another parent.They had us play a game using a compass and coordinates, where you map out design such as a square or a triangle. We also had to find an end point using a compass and a map. One of the easier things to do was draw a map from our homes to a local nature center.
Stress Less is actually a new Junior Badge, that we were able to complete in one evening. We made a stress box, and filled it with items that would help us fight off stress. We discussed with the group those things that help us fight stress, such as taking a walk or a relaxing bath, and we learned how to do some deep breathing exercises to help beat stress.
During our last few months as Brownies, we earned both the Horse Lovers badge and the Safety Sense Badge.
For the Horse Lovers Badge, we attended a 2 hour activity at Camp Waredaca, a local horse facility, and learned about the care and keeping of horses, the equipment for riding horses, and we actually got to ride a horse on a 1 hour trail ride.
For the Safety Sense Badge, the Junior troop helping us to Bridge came to one of our meetings and presented safety information to us. We also participated in a safety skit about doing the right thing, and went on a safety hike.
If you'd like to see what we worked on as Brownies, you can visit our Tryits page.