Daisy Scouts Meeting - Purple Petal

This post is for all the moms out there who are scrambling to throw together a Daisy Scout meeting!  And for any fans of Bucket Fillers!

Ava joined Daisy Scouts this year.  It's not a very large group - only 9 girls - and none of the moms wanted to be a troop leader.  So rather than not forming a group, we all agreed to lead a couple of meetings.  Oh and I, as the token accountant of the group, got roped into being the Treasurer.

Anyway, it was my turn to lead the meeting this week.  I scoured Pinterest to try to come up with an easy and inexpensive idea.  Click here to link to my newly created Girl Scout Pinterest board.  I finally decided to go with the Purple Petal from Gloria the Morning Glory who teaches us to "Respect Myself and Others".  Here is what I did with the girls:

FIRST we did our Kaper Chart and recited the Girl Scout Promise.  Our troop doesn't have a fancy Kaper Chart so I just wrote down the girls' names and their jobs on a dry erase board.  If you want to make a Kaper Chart to use at your meetings, click here for some ideas.

SECOND, while the girls had their snacks, we talked about the petal that they'd be earning and I read the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.

Have you heard of Bucket Fillers?  Bucket filling is using actions or words to show someone kindness and respect, as opposed to Bucket Dipping which is saying or doing something unkind to another person.  This concept is being incorporated in classrooms across the country, seemingly in response to the bullying epidemic.

After reading the book, we talked about what it means to respect ourselves and respect others.  Here are some good example handouts:

Click here to access the RESPECT poster above.

Click here to access the RESPECT poster above.

THIRD we did our craft.  Each girl got (1) a small bucket, (2) a purple name tag that they can decorate with their name and some stickers, (3) a piece of purple ribbon to tie the name tag to the bucket and (4) 10 "drops in the bucket" to sign and distribute.  

Name tag and ribbon

"Drops in the bucket"

On each piece of colored paper (above) is a water drop with a compliment, such as "You have a nice smile." Because they're in Kindergarten and still learning to read, I also inserted a picture that describes the compliment (such as a smiley face).  On the back of the piece of paper I've written "From:" and the girls can write their names.

If you would like to purchase PDF copies of the "drops" files for $4 you can pay my PayPal account and I'll email them to you.

Click this link: www.paypal.me/CReeves/4

Be sure to leave your email address and the files you're requesting in the comments too!  My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Once the girls had their buckets, name tags and "drops in the bucket" ready to go, they walked around and "filled each others buckets" by selecting a compliment to place in their friends' buckets.  Afterwards, they got to look through the "drops in their buckets" that they received and read the compliments from their friends.  We talked about how when you fill someone else's bucket, it makes you feel good and you end up filling your own bucket as well!

FOURTH I taught the girls the song "Encourage One Another".

FIFTH we played a variation of Simon Says that highlights the girls' similarities and differences.  The only rule is that you respond to the commands that are true for yourself.  I also told the girls to watch carefully as they play the game because at the end, we would each tell one new thing they learned about another person during the game.  To play, I gave directions such as:
- Simon says "Everyone with brown eyes, stand up."
- Simon says "Everyone who has a dog as a pet, put your right hand on your head."
- Simon says "Everyone whose favorite sport is soccer, stand on one foot."
- Simon says "Everyone who has a sister touch your knee."
- Simon says "Everyone who is left-handed jump 3 times."

SIXTH I brought some coloring pages and activity sheets that the girls worked on while they waited for their parent to pick them up.  I also printed out a Purple Petal Certificate for each of the girls.

The girls seemed to have a great time and the time flew by.  Hope this helps you with your next Daisy meeting!

PS - Click here to see what we did for the Orange Petal!