Brownies Years in Review

I was trying to think what we had done as Brownies this year, and I looked back and realized I didn't record last year, either.  So, here goes--a review of this year and last.  I must be forgetting some for 2012 or we just had a quieter year . . . . I'm not quite ready to plan next year, though I know there will be archery!

2013-14
Badges:

• Kitchen Scientist
• First Aid
• Cookie business--Give Back
• Girl Scout Way
• World Thinking Day
• Bridging to Juniors 

Field Trips:

• Aquarium overnight
• Corn Maze
• Frozen movie party
• Frozen singalong
• Ice Skating

Service:

• Birthday-in-a-bag
• Cookies-in-a-bag
• Pet food collection
• Singing at assisted living facility
• Fleece blankets for hospice patients
• Gifts of Caring cookie booth for soldiers

2012-13

Badges:

• Brownie Quest (4 badges total)
• Cookie business--Know My Customers
• Fair Play

Field Trips:

• horseback riding
• local dinner theater
• Disney on Ice
• Moms' day tea party
• swim party
• backyard night out

Service:

• Create and maintain colonial-inspired garden for historic house
• sing at assisted living facility
• books for Read to Grow
• scarves for community center coat closet

It's Cookie Time!

No, not quite cookie-baking or swapping time.

It's Cookie-Time Bag donation time.

Yes, my Brownie troop is collecting self-contained bags of cookie-baking materials to donate to the local food pantries to sweeten the holidays of the people they serve.  It's similar to our Birthday-in-a-Bag donations in celebration of Juliette Gordon Low's birthday.

Here are the details, in case you'd like to try it with your service organization (but note that I'm not soliciting or collecting bags from people online):

We’re collecting

COOKIE-TIME BAGS

for local food pantries

What is a Cookie-Time Bag?  A Cookie-Time Bag is a self-contained bag with everything someone needs to make and decorate cookies during the holidays.

Who needs a Cookie-Time Bag?  Everyone likes to bake cookies, especially during the holidays!  However, sometimes circumstances occur that prevent this from happening.  A Cookie-Time Bag can sweeten the holidays.

Where will the Cookie-Time Bags go?  Each Cookie-Time Bag collected will be delivered to local food pantries, by December 13, to be distributed to the families they serve.

                                                                 

What goes in a Cookie Time Bag?

·         Dry mix for cut-out cookies, such as sugar cookie or gingerbread cookie mix  (no chocolate chip or peanut butter, refrigerated,  or frozen dough please)

·         Can or tubes of frosting

·         Sprinkles or other decorations

·         Cookie cutters (for example:  snowflake, snowman, gingerbread people, stars)

·         Disposable aluminum sheet for baking

·         Decorative bag to hold all the items

·         Optional:  napkins and plates for cookie party; cookie tin for storage

Be sure to include a note!  Suggested Text:

Happy Holidays from Girl Scout Troop #

Girl Scouts love cookies and we want to share them with you.  Inside you will find everything you need to make your own cookies for the holidays.  We wish you a happy new year!

Contact details:  If you would like to participate, e-mail your troop number, contact person and number of bags.  Bags must either be brought to the Adult Volunteer Meeting  or delivered to ____ by December 11.  Thank you!

Fleeced

I'm covered in little bits of fleece fuzz.  In fact, it's been quite a fuzzy day over here.  First, I cut a yard of rainbow-striped fleece into three scarves, fringing the bottom in 1"-strips; one for me, two for the local community Coat Closet.  Then, one of the parent volunteers of our Brownie troop came over to help cut down to size the fleece we're using to make blankets for hospice patients at Thursday's meeting.  Then, while Sis was at gymnastics, Bud and I made a fleece pillowcase for a large 25 x 25" fluffy feather pillow.  And it is this light pastel rainbow micro-fleece which shed all over me, Bud, and the living room, including Albus the cat who kept trying to help.  I've cut all of the extra scraps into more scarves for the coat closet.  And the non-scarf-sized remnants were braided into "chew toys" which the cats actually chased around the house!  Who knew fleece could be such fun?!

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Fleece No-Sew Pillowcase

pillowform, size of your choice
fleece, color(s) of your choice

Measure the size of your pillow.  Add 8" to each dimension.  For example:  our pillow was 25 x 25"  so I cut 2 pieces of fleece 33 x 33".

Place fleece wrong sides together (i.e. right sides facing outwards.) Using a piece of cardboard cut 4 x 4", cut a 4 x 4" square out of each corner.  Then cut fringe 4" long and 1" wide along each side.

Tie three sides of the fleece together using the knot of your choice.  Insert the pillowform and tie the fourth side.

Happy Early Birthday, Juliette Gordon Low!

Today our Brownie troop celebrated Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon Low's Halloween birthday early. We talked about her nickname "Daisy," her decision to found the Girl Scouts, the story of her pearls, and some of her challenges (deafness in both ears.)  We played a great game in her honor, Juliette Low's "Kim Game," which is a memory game using different objects drawn from the details of her life--goggles for her love of swimming, a cork for her love of fishing, pearls to go with the story of selling her jewelry to fund the scouts, a daisy for her nickname, etc etc--put them on a tray and see how many the girls can recall when the tray is taken away.  We also ate Lemon Bars (in honor of the new GS cookie, Savannah Smiles) and other treats.  Then we compiled Birthday-in-a-Bag packets to give to the local food pantry to distribute, which consisted of supplies for a child's birthday like cake mix, frosting, foil cake pan, napkins, plates, party hats, party decorations, party favors, and a big button for the birthday child, plus a note from our troop honoring our founder.  And instead of singing "Happy Birthday," we sang "On My Honor," one of the classic Girl Scout songs.  It was a pretty happy Founder's Day party.

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Lemon Bars

1 cup flour

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup powdered sugar

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel, optional

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

powdered sugar

            Heat oven to 350°F.  Mix flour, butter, and powdered sugar.  Press in ungreased quare pan, building up ½ inch edges (8x8 or 9x9).  Bake 20 minutes.

            Beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on high about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Pour over hot crust.

            Bake 25-30 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched in center.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into 1 ½-inch squares.  

Gommie Hungry

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On My Honor

Chorus :
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say aye.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.

People don't need to know my name.
If I've done any harm, then I'm to blame.
If I've helped someone, then I've helped me.
And I've opened up my eyes to see.

Chorus

I've tucked away a song or two.
If you're feeling low, there's one for you.
If you need a friend, then I will come.
And there's many mmore where I come from.

Chorus

Friendship is the strangest thing
if you keep it to yourself, no reward will bring
but you gave it away, you gave it to me
and from now on great friends we'll be

Chorus

Come with me where the fire burns bright,
We can even see better by the candle's light.
And we'll find moremeaning in a campfire's glod,
Than we've ever found in a year or so.

Chorus

We've a promise to always keep.
And to pray "Softley Falls" before we sleep.
We are Girl Scouts together and when we're gone,
We'll still be trying and singing this song.

Chorus

Sleeping with the Fish

Not "fishes."  This isn't a mafia thing.

It was a Girl Scout overnight at the aquarium.  Mama went with Sis and the troop, in my stead, since I couldn't sleep on the floor (no cots allowed.)  And they had a wonderful time.  Tour of the aquarium, IMAX movie, plaster shell art activity, feeding the seals, pizza dinner, cookie bedtime snack, and, best of all, sleeping in the galleries.  Our troop was with the sea turtle.  Though, apparently there was very little sleeping, with the girls giggling until 1:30 a.m. and wake up around 7:00 a.m.  Not enough sleep for anyone.  But they had a good time.  Sis is one of the only ones in her troop who hasn't been on a sleepover so we weren't sure how she'd do, hence Mama's attendance; she loved being with her friends and will probably be just fine for her first independent overnight.

Meanwhile, Bud and I were home alone.  We had a big Italian dinner--I got lasagna because Bud has wanted to try it since reading Garfield, who loves lasagna; Bud had his usual seafood pasta.  Then we watched Star Wars:  Attack of the Clones, while eating candy in bed.  We finished off the evening with some Minecraft.  Sure, it's not sea turtles, but it was a fun evening.  And we got a lot more sleep.  (However, he probably isn't ready for a sleepover; he sleeps too much like a heat-seeking baby koala bear, even in a big bed!)

Rain, Rain

There is an amazingly dramatic thunderstorm raging outside, with more thunder and lightning then we've seen here in CT for years.  It reminds me of Houston, except tomorrow we will have cooler temperatures.

Now, without being ungrateful, I would only say that its timing was off.  Two months plus of very little rain and the deluge had to start in the middle of our welcome-back Brownie campfire?  Just as we were making s'mores?  I'd watched the radar all day and thought we were clear, but drumbeats of thunder punctuated the sharing circle as we told of summer vacations, saw a banana/bandana skit, and Sis and I sang "The Beaver Song" together, but the drizzle held off for almost an hour.  Until marshmallows.  Oh, well, the girls loved it.  And fortunately we had somewhere safe inside to be.

Where we then sang several verses of "If All The Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops" from our new songbook!

Another Year in Girl Scouts

It's been a busy Brownie year, though with fewer field trips than last year.  But we did do our Brownie Quest Badge, culminating in planting the colonial herb garden at the historic house.  We also:

• made scarves for the local community center
• collected books for statewide literacy program
• sang and entertained residents at senior center
• hosted a cookie booth sale
• helped Daisies "fly up"
• attended an evening campfire experience with a hike and s'mores
• made birdfeeders
• had a baking day for Mother's Day
• attended a performance at a local theater
• had a pool party
• attended a "field day" of games with another troop
• attended "Disney on Ice"

Next year, we hope to do more outdoor activities, so I'll be taking "Food and Fire" training.  And we'll continue to increase our community service and badge-work.  We also hope to go on an overnight.  It'll be my fourth year as a Girl Scout leader . . . and in many ways it just gets better.

Making Campfire Memories

I smell of wood smoke and marshmallows, if you can smell of marshmallows, more like I "feel" of marshmallows, being sticky from s'mores.  This evening Sis's Brownie troop went to an outdoor evening with a hike, fire safety lesson, s'mores, and a puppet show.  The only thing we didn't really do was sing, except "Taps."

I love to sing around a campfire.  It is, hands down--even more than crafts (though I love tie-dye and telephone wire bracelets and ice candles in milk cartons and plaster of Paris objets d'art)--my favorite Girl Scout activity.  I remember singing at campfires almost every evening as a camper at Camps Robinwood, Agnes Arnold, and Casa Mare, and as a counselor at Mira Sol and Strake, plus various day camps in both capacities.  Oh, the songs, which I once listed here.  Most of the time, we didn't make s'mores, maybe once a week.  Sometimes we made banana boats (split banana in peel stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrapped in foil til melted) or foil packet dinners (what is it about ground meat and potatoes and onions and carrots and bell pepper and salt and pepper that is so good?) or maybe hobo stew, if there was time and a pot (ground meat, potatoes, cans of corn and maybe green beans and tomatoes and salt and pepper, maybe.)  But we'd always sing, alternately boisterous and quiet, sometimes with stories or skits in between (almost never ghost stories--I'm sure the counselors didn't want to cause trouble for themselves by upsetting us.  Smart.)  I love the look of stars above the light and smoke of a fire, all ringed in by pine trees (usually).  "The stars at night are big and bright". . . .

Tonight, I stayed around the campfire, not up for an uphill hike, hearing the lessons about kinds of wood (kindling, tinder, and wood, I think), types of fire (square for charcoal for s'mores), and safety--the bucket of water, the fire ring of stones.  I should have just started singing.  The fire refused to light, repeatedly, and we resorted to paper, which even then took quite awhile.  The leader suggested that smart Girl Scouts always dry their wood under tarps, gathering it the first day of camp so that it's ready by the last night.  She didn't reveal the firestarter secret I learned:  the inside of maxi-pads catch fire really easily, as do tampons (sans applicator, of course), and Girl Scouts of a certain age always have those when camping.  We did eventually get it started . . .and then no one knew the "smoke follows beauty" saying as the smoke wafted around.

The girls had a great time, as did my outdoorsy co-leaders . . . so there will no doubt be more campfires and more chances to sing in the future.

Our Colonial Bit of Earth

Our Brownie troop planted a colonial-inspired herb garden at the historic house recently.  And they had such fun getting dirty, though they were oppressed by the heat. So now the house has a raised bed with several herbs in it:

• Costmary (chrysanthemum balsamita tanacetoides)  Gray-green serrated leaves used as bookmarks to repel bugs, hence nickname “Bible Leaf.”  Infusion also used to treat coughs.
• Lavender (Lavandula vera) Oil and dried flowers used for perfumes, sachets, and even baked goods.  Also used for pain and to repel mosquitoes.
• Marjoram, Sweet (Marjorana hortensis) Leaf used for flavoring many foods, in perfumes and sachets, and as an infusion for headaches.
• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Needle-like leaves used for flavoring teas and food.  Also used for digestive ailments and headaches, as well as to fight germs.
• Sage, Garden (Salvia officinalis) Gray-green leaves used for flavoring poultry stuffing, pork, or in making a medicinal tea to aid digestion.  Native Americans mixed it with bear grease to treat sore throats.
• Savory, Winter (Satureia Montana) Smooth and shiny leaves used for culinary purposes, or to relieve bee stings.
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris or serpyllum) Leaves used to flavor foods and as a tea.  Oil of thyme is still the basis of a patent cough medicine.

Sis planted the thyme herself.  

My goal is to search out some more obscure herbs--like my favorite, costmary or "Bible Leaf," which we received as a gift from another local historic house.  My wish list includes feverfew, angelica, yarrow, tansy, comfrey, lovage, lemon balm, valerian, chamomile, and the like.  But that will be next year.

We hope to have the girls sign up to take a week to water/weed the garden and then we'll return in the fall to help with more gardening.  We're not the most talented gardeners--our house volunteer noted that the girls didn't know to weed out the dandelions!--but they are enthusiastic.  

It's great combining my two volunteer activities--the girls got to do a major community service project and the house now has an herb garden to share with visitors (which will include all the girls on their third-grade field trips next year!)  I'm not a great gardener,, as you know, but I'm very enthusiastic about an historical garden.  

Now if I could just translate that to our yard!

Whimsical

"When it's time to eat, you eat!" Sis declared, gobbling first the legs and tail and then the body of her bunny-shaped bread.

We'd spent the afternoon at the Brownie troop's mother-daughter baking extravaganza.  The girls had decorated paper chef's hats with cupcake-liner flowers and then made similar corsages for their moms.  After taking portraits of each pair, we started shaping our dough, which one of my co-leaders had made.  Sis made a lovely detailed bunny and I shaped my bit into a pretzel.  (You might recall that Sis likes to make Whimsy Bread Bunnies.) We both powdered them with cinnamon sugar.

While they baked, we all went outside for a relay, with the girls racing to don chef's hat, apron, and mitt and to carry hard-boiled eggs across the yard on a wooden spoon.  After some freeplay, we all went inside to enjoy our bread with jam, honey, and/or butter.

Because "when it's time to eat, you eat," which is why this is not a great picture:

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recipe to follow soon

"Paper Gardener"

I've been pouring over gardening plans and herb types . . . all from the colonial era!  Our Brownie troop is doing some gardening for the local historic house where I work.  And we're putting in a colonial herb garden.  I don't know what put the idea in my head; I'm not much of a gardener.  Hence Mama's new moniker for me--"paper gardener"--because I've been really good at reading about colonial gardens.

So far, I have lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, winter savory, and the piece de resistance costmary, an honest-to-goodness unusual colonial herb with its own moniker, "Bible Leaf."  Apparently, people used to use the leaves as bookmarks because they repel bugs, like bay leaves repel weevils in my cupboard.  I received a clump of the herb when I visited another local historic house and the gardener had some to spare. Very exciting.

I'd love to get some other less common plants, like valerian, feverfew, chamomile, angelica, yarrow, lovage, marjoram, lemon balm.  I might be able to find the chamomile and marjoram.

There's always next year.  The troop has agreed to keep up with the garden, doing more planting and upkeep.  Which means I'll have plenty of chances to do more than garden on paper.

Busy Season

I'm getting ready for our historic house tour season, which is complicated this year by the decrease in our docent corps (understandably, due to work changes, illness, injury, and widowhood)--so that I'm doing all but 3 of the 18 tours!  Add to that, I offered to do an in-class visit for a teacher friend, who offered it to the other teachers, and so now I'm doing 4 in-class visits, not at the end of next week, but tomorrow!  So I'm busy writing and preparing that brand new program.

And that doesn't include the wrapping up of the Brownie year with final plans and activities squeezed into the remaining month or so as well as my usual twice-a-week hospice visits.

All of which is to say, I won't be blogging much for a bit.

Good thing I love it.

Games We Play

For weeks, I've been working with another Brownie troop leader to organize a Fair Play Field Day as part of the requirements for their Fair Play badge.  We planned games, debated SWAPS and snacks, added songs, and finally got our girls together on Saturday.  

It went beautifully, which was a relief because Thursday's meeting in preparation for today was a behavioral nightmare of gigantic proportions such that we had to send a letter home to all of the parents about expectations, respect, and acceptable behavior. 

Of course, we didn't play all of the games we'd practiced, but we had a lot of fun.  And the girls demonstrated great sportsmanship (is there a gender-neutral version of that word?) and cooperation, thankfully!  

We played Birthday Order, Hula Hoop, special-rules Tag, Word Wide Web, Sharks and Minnows, and had an obstacle course.  Below are some of the games we practiced, as well as some of the others I'm keeping in my back pocket for next time (divided into Icebreakers, Cooperative, and "Wide"/outdoor games).  You'll know some of them, perhaps not all, and no doubt rules vary.

Icebreakers:

• Birthday Order:  Have students figure out how to line up in birth order, either by date or just by month, from oldest to youngest.
• Susie Spaghetti:  Students sit in a circle.  First student introduces herself, "My name is Jamie and I bought jam."  They go around the circle recalling the students before them and then introducing themselves and what they bought (which must start with the first letter  of their name.)
• Gestures:  Everyone sits in a circle. The first person says her name and does a hand-motion. The next person has to repeat that person's name and gesture and then introduces herself and does an action.   Continue around the whole circle.
• What You Don't Know About Me:  Every person writes a fact about herself that is unusual or interesting and not well known.  These are all put in a bowl.  They are then pulled out one at a time and everyone writes down on a piece of paper who they think it is.  (Someone needs to keep a master list or number the papers as they're pulled out.)  Then they compare answers and each person reveals herself.  The person with the most right answers wins.
• Post-It on My Back:  Every person gets a post-it (or taped index card) with a name written on it (famous American, Disney character, etc.).  Then they walk around the room asking each other yes-or-no questions until they figure out who they are. 

Cooperative:

• Story in a bag:  Before meeting, leader collects a variety of household objects in a paper bag.  At the meeting, the leader starts by removing an object and beginning a story.  The bag is passed around the circle and each girl adds to the story based on the object she pulled out.  Beware of some unusual twists--and be prepared to amend (one leader spoke of GS adding "and I stabbed her with the pencil.")
• Group Symphony:  Sit in circle.  One person starts making sound, next person adds to it.  Everyone adds a sound--and must maintain it until everyone has added a sound.  (This is loud!)
• Word Wide Web:  Stand in a large circle with one person holding a ball of string.  She tosses it, while holding on to one end, to another while calling out a single word.  The catcher adds a connected word and throws it to the next person, also keeping hold of part of the string so as to make a web.  (Think:  red--apple--pie--crust--bread.)  At the end, talk about interconnectivity of words, actions, and people.
• Funny bone:  Twister with body parts.  Before meeting, leader writes up several clues such as--touch elbows together, girl A puts hand on girl B's head etc.  Divide group into pairs and have leader call out directions.  See who can keep body contact the longest!  Some suggest putting a pool noodle between them to avoid awkwardness--challenge is to keep pool noodle off the ground.
• I am Your Friend.  One student sits in a chair with her eyes closed, with her classmates around her.  One student from the group stands up in front and says, "I am your friend," and then sits back down.  The student in the chair opens her eyes and has three guesses to figure out the speaker.  If she guesses correctly, the speaker sits in the chair; if she can't figure it out, it is revealed, and she stays in the chair for another turn.
• I Can Do That With One Hand Tied Behind My Back:  Students work in pairs, standing next to one another with inner hands tied together.  They are then given a task--make a sandwich, tie their shoes, etc.--that they must complete using one untied hand only from each person.  The team to finish first, having most accurately completed the task, wins.
• Marbles and Toes race:  Gather marbles, a very large platter, and two smaller bowls.  Students divide into two teams and remove their shoes and socks.  Each team sends a representative to the bowl who, at the signal, will try to move as many marbles from the platter to their team bowl with their toes only.  At the troop leader's signal, representatives tag off with another teammate until all students get a chance.  Whichever team has the most marbles when the game is over wins.
• Chopsticks:  Gather jelly beans and two medium-sized bowls for each team (3-4 students per team).  Students divide into several teams. On the teacher's signal, everyone on each team tries to move as many jelly beans as possible from one bowl to the next.  Whichever team has the most jelly beans when the game is over wins.
• Spot the Leader:  Students gather in a cirlce; one person, who is it, leaves the area.  A leader from within the circle is chosen; this leader will make motions that the rest of the circle is to follow.  The "it" person returns and watches as the students in the circle make motions and tries to figure out who the leader is.  The leader must change motions every few moments.  When the "it" person finds the leader, the leader becomes "it" and a new leader is named.
• Popcorn:  one person is caller who yells out an object and number.  That number of people run together and pretend to be that object.  For example "4 popcorn"--4 people must pair up quickly and pretend to be popcorn.  Girls take turns as caller.
• Thumbs Up, 7 Up:  This requires a large number of players.  Seven students are chose as "it."  When the teacher calls "heads down, thumbs up," the other students, preferably at desks, lay their heads down and raise their thumbs.  The "its" walk around and press down one thumb.  When all "its" have pressed a thumb, the teacher calls, "heads up, seven up" and the seven whose thumbs were pressed stand up.  They each try to identify who pressed their thumbs.  If they are right, they take that person's place.  If not, they sit back down.
• Hot Potato:  Students sit in a circle and pass an object around while music plays or until teacher signals stop.  The person with the potato is out.  Students play until one person is left.
• Islands  Large sheets of paper/mats are distributed around an area.  Music is played and students walk around until music stops (or adult signals end).  All students find a piece of paper.  For each successive round, a paper is removed so that all students have to try to fit on fewer sheets of paper.  Students who fall off are out.  Last person on paper wins. 
• Musical Chairs:  One fewer chairs than there are players are placed in a circle.  Students walk around while music plays. When music stops, students sit.  Whoever doesn't get a chair is out.  Last person in chair wins.
• Statue, Come Alive!:  Divide students into pairs.  One person is the sculptor; the other is the sculpture.  Sculptor gently positions limbs of sculpture.  Then the statue comes alive and moves in accordance with position.  Switch roles.
• Wave Stretching:  Have students stand in a circle.  One student strikes a pose or stretch and each student around the circle copies it in turn; when the stretch/pose gets all the way around the circle, the second person changes to a new pose or stretch.  Continue until everyone has a turn.
• Giant Stick Figures:  This works well with a big group. The group makes a stick figure, with a few girls for the head, a line of girls for the neck and body, with more for arms and legs. Then the leader asks them to perform an action, for example "scratch your head," "kick a ball," etc. and they must act as a group and performs it.

• Back to Back:  Two people stand back to back with their elbows interlocked. Using each other for support, they must try to sit on the floor and stretch out their legs. Then, while keeping their elbows locked, the partners must now try to stand up without falling.
• Collective Sheet Ball:  This works best with a big group.  Gather two sheets and two balls. Divide the group in half, with each taking a sheet and spreading it out with the ball in the middle.  Students can practice by tossing the ball up and down. Then, the groups pass the one ball back and forth.  With practice, they can add the second ball.
• Group Art:  Gather blank paper and markers.  Divide students into several teams, who then sit in parallel lines to each other.  Have the person in back draw a simple picture on a piece of paper without anyone seeing.  Give more paper and a marker to the person in front.  The person in back starts by tracing her picture with her hand on the back of the person in front of her.  This person then recreates the picture on the person in front of her and so forth.  When the picture reaches the back of the first person in  line, she draws it on the paper.  Now, compare the picture back to front.  Whose is closest?
• Group Clap:  The group stands in a circle with their arms outstretched to the side with their palms not quite touching. The goal is for the entire group to clap their hands all at the same time but without giving a verbal signal to start!
• Group Walk:  Students line up side by side, with feet and shoulders touching.  The line must "walk forward" one step at a time while keeping their feet touching!
• Hula Hoops:  Gather hula hoops and form a circle.  Break the handclasp of one pair and thread their hands through hula hoop, so that it rests on their handshake.  .All participants join hands and form a circle. Two participants drop hands and put they arms through the hula hoops. Send the hula hoop around the circle without touching it with your hands or thumbs--yes, you climb through it!  Start with one hula hoop and then use two going in opposite directions until they meet.
• Human Alphabet Soup:   Best with a large group.  Have girls quickly and cooperatively form letters of the alphabet by lying down on the ground and making the form with their bodies.  Challenge:  try it without talking!
• Turn the Circle Inside Out: Students form a circle and hold hands. Now, try to turn the circle inside out without letting go--or talking!  (Hint: two players hold up their hands like London Bridge and everyone goes underneath.)
•  Human Knot—divide into 2 groups of at least 4 people.  Stand in a circle.  Put all hands in middle and grab hands with two other people.  Now untangle without letting go.
• 2-3-4:  students dance around to music or just run around until teacher yells a small number, then they grab each other in groups of that number.  Whoever does not join a group is out; continue until there are just two winners.
• Coke and Pepsi:  one line is "Coke" and one is "Pepsi."  Students dance around until the leader yells either "Coke" or "Pepsi," then that line runs to the other.  Last one there eliminates that pair; anyone who jumps the gun or is on the wrong side, is also out.  Last pair remaining wins.
• Freeze Dance:  with music, students pause when music stops.  Any movement eliminates that person until only one remains.  

"Wide"/Outside:

• Walking tag:  no running.  Walk.  Apparently, it's quite exciting.
• Barnyard Bedlam:  One person is the farmer )usually the leader) and all the rest are pairs of farm animals.  In each pair of animals, one gets the paper bag.  Farmer throws "feed" (like tootsie rolls or something) around the grass  (best played outside) and the pair of animals run around the yard looking for it and make their animal noise when they find one so person with bag can pick it up.  Pair with most feed in bag wins.
• Catch the Brownie:  Girls line up front to back, with hands on each other's hips/around waist.  The girl in the front of the line tries to maneuver so as to catch the girl at the end of the line, who tries to get away--without breaking the line or falling over!  Change front and back to continue.
• Sharks and Minnows: Designate boundaries--the starting line and the finish line.  Line all students, a.k.a. the minnows, except one "shark," on the starting line.  The shark calls out a category, for example "all people with brown hair," and those people have to run across to the finish line without being tagged.  Tagged minnows become sharks until only one person is left the winner.
•  Octopus tag—two people start as octopus; they hold hands and tag people.  Tagged people become part of octopus and help tag until everyone is tagged.

• Freeze Tag:  One person is "it" and everyone runs.  If a person is tagged, she freezes on the spot.  Others can unfreeze the frozen people by crawling through their legs.  When all people are frozen save one, that person becomes "it."
• Simon Says:  One person is chosen to be "Simon" the others stand in a straight line. Simon then calls out an action for the others to follow.  If Simon starts the action with "Simon Says," the others should do the action; however, if he does not say "Simon says," whoever does it is out. The last person becomes "Simon!"
• Mother, May I?:  The "mother" faces a line of students.  She addresses one child and gives an instruction, such as "Take 3 steps" or "Do 5 jumping jacks." Before doing the action, the student must ask "Mother, may I?"  Then, mother tells each child whether they can or can't.  First one to reach "mother" wins.
• Red Light, Green Light:  The caller stands facing a line of students as far away as there is space.  With her back to the line, she calls out "red light" or "green light." The goal is for the students to touch the caller.  At "red light," the caller turns around and whoever is moving has to go back to the beginning.  At "green light," the caller keeps her back to the line.  "Lights" can be changed quickly or slowly.  Whoever touches the caller first, becomes the caller.
• Red Rover:  Students form two opposing lines of equal length by holding hands and attempt to "break through" the opposing team's line.
  One side starts by picking a person on the opposing team and shouting, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Jamie on over."  Jamie then tries to break through the handhold of the opposing team. If Jamie breaks through, she chooses one person from the opposing team to join her team. If she doesn't break through, she becomes part of the other team.
  Each team alternates calling people over until one team has all the people and is declared the winner.
• Television Tag:  The is like regular tag, except at the beginning the "it" person calls out a category--tv shows, songs, movies, books--and a person almost tagged can only be safe if she can call out a title in that category without repeating previous titles.  Tagged person becomes it.
• Duck Duck Goose:  Students sit in a circle with one person "it."  "It" walks around outside the circle patting people on the head and designating them duck or goose.  Ducks stay still but the goose has to run around the circle chasing the "it."  If the "it" gets back to the empty spot, she is safe and the goose is "it"; if the goose tags the "it" then the "it" person continues.  Ad infinitum.
• Hide and Seek:  One "it" and everyone else hides while she counts to ten or twenty--"ready or not, here I come."  She then seeks those hidden.  Some variants say first person found is it; other rules have found people have to run to a safe base--tagged people become it--and the game continues.  "Olly, olly oxen free" tells the hidden to come out.

Twist and Shout!

"Twist me and turn me,
and show me an elf.
I look in the water
and see--myself!"

Sis bridged to Brownies tonight!  My co-leaders and I spent three hours this afternoon setting everything up at a local hall--the actual bridge complete with tablecloth "water" and mirror, chairs, computer projection, and table for snacks.  All while the town was flooding around us.  Seriously, main streets closed and buses home were delayed . . . all while we blissfully hung balloons and arranged tablecloths!

But the streets dried and the sixteen Daisies turned out to exchange their blue Daisy tunics with rainbow petals for their brown Brownie vests, with official flag, CT council insignia, rainbow bridging patch, and membership insignia.  We saw a great slideshow of their last two years together--horseback riding, poetry at the assisted-living center, historical-house tour, Audubon tour, grocery store tour, firehouse tour, Garbage Museum tour, Mother's Day tea, Nutcracker party, Gingerbread party, Bounce U party, beach party, pool party, pumpkin picking and hayride, yoga, art lesson, game-playing (and that's not even all!)--we've had a great time!

Then they heard the story of the Brownie Elf and each walked across the bridge and saw themselves in the mirror.  A family member waited on the other side to switch them from their Daisy tunics to their Brownie vests while we all clapped.  I got to twist and turn Sis and then stood as Mama put on her tunic.   Bud gamefully sat in the audience (reading a Pokemon handbook)!  Once they were all done, we had them turn their Brownie membership pins upside down until they completed three good deeds.

And then we all had brownies--my plain chocolate ones as well as blondies and cheesecake brownies.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, especially those of us who remembered our own bridging years ago, before there were even Daisies, back when you bridged from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts.  But there was the same elf story and the same bridge and twisting and turning (the only difference was the pledge, which included "mankind" back then; it's "help people at all times" or something--I never remember, even if I prefer its inclusive language.)

But no beanie hats!

Congrats to our new Brownie, the third (maybe even fourth, if my grandmother, Bammie had been a scout as a child, before she was Gommie's troop's leader--which makes me a third-generation leader!)-generation Brownie in the family!