Bugs - Brownie Legacy

Brownie Badge Work

The Bugs badge has 5 steps, and is designed to help girls learn about bugs, and immerse themselves in the world of bugs.  Brownies are in 2nd and 3rd grade, and ready to take the world by storm.

Brownie Legacy Bugs Patch

Badge Requirements

• Learn about bugs
• Bug craft
• See bugs in action
• Bug homes
• Take a bug field trip 

These requirements do not need to be done all at once, or even all in a row.  There is a great spreadsheet that will help track these badge requirements if you choose to space them out.   You can find the spreadsheet here.  The spreadsheet also gives some more great ideas for ways to meet the requirements.  You can also edit the entries if you choose to do something different.

If you have the means for it, a trip to a local zoo, or bug house can help complete the entire badge.  If this is the route you take, I will note what will complete each requirement.

1.  Learn about bugs

Simply learning about bugs is a pretty broad topic.  There are a few great options.  If you are at a zoo or bug house, simply attending a talk about bugs or speaking with someone who is a bug expert.

Another option is to print off bug worksheets here, and hand them out.  This is a color sheet of an ant, and has label areas for the 3 main parts of an insect.  The title is 'The Insect' and the three sections to label, top to bottom are head, thorax, and abdomen.  

Give a short talk about insects:  Insects have 3 things in common - 6 legs, 3 body parts, and a hard skeleton.  The head is the first part, in front of the thorax.  The eyes and mouth are on the head.  The thorax is the middle part - sometimes wings are attached to the thorax.  The end of the insect is called the abdomen, and it sits right behind the thorax.  This is generally the largest part of the insect.

Then have the girls fill in the words, and color in the insect. 

Photo c/o: All Kids Network

2. Bug craft

• Paper Inchworm
• Supplies:
• White construction paper
• Green construction paper, printed with this template
• Black sharpie
• Googly eyes
• White glue
• Hole punch
• Black Pipe Cleaner
• Cut on the lines of the green paper.  Starting at bottom of white construction paper, glue one end of a green strip down.  Glue the other end down, pushing it towards the previously glued end, to form a bump.  Repeat this 2 more times to complete the body of the inchworm, overlapping the end of the previous bump each time.  Next make a circle with the last strip of paper.  Punch two holes in the top and slide one end of pipe cleaner in each hole.  Glue 2 googly eyes on the loop, and draw a smile on, then paste it down, overlapping the end of the last strip of the body.
  **This craft was inspired by this blog, and has been modified from the original picture to the right.

• Lady Bug roll up
• Supplies: 



Picture c/o: Free Kids Crafts

• Red 2 1/4 in x 6 in strips
• Black 1 in circles, with a tab on one side
• Leaves printed on green construction paper, cut out
• Googly eyes
• Black Sharpie
• White glue
• 6 in pieces of black pipe cleaner
• Make a circle with the red strip (this is the body of your lady bug).  Draw black line down the middle, and make 3 black dots on each side.  Next, fold tab over on circle, and glue onto the front of red circle (this is the head of your lady bug).  Fold pipe cleaner into antennae and glue to black circle.  Glue googly eyes on the middle of the black circle, and glue ladybug to your leaf.                                                                                     **This craft was inspired by this blog.

3. See bugs in action

Challenge your girls to find, and observe at lease 3 types of bugs.  Ask them to write 3 sentences about each bug they observe.

At a zoo or bug house, challenge your girls to observe the beehive.  They will see bees leaving and coming, and hard at work. You can also challenge them to find the queen, generally marked with a white or black dot on her back.

4. Bug homes

A)  Visit a local butterfly home, and check out the chrysalis'.  Share with the girls the life cycle of ther Monarch.

1. Female lays an egg, that sticks generally to a leaf or stem
2. Egg hatches into a caterpillar
3. Caterpillar creates chrysalis
4. Butterfly emerges from chrysalis, living the rest of their lives in a warm climate with lots of flowers.

Discuss the various homes of the butterfly, as they move through the stages of life. (Leaf or stem, Chrysalis, Warm climate/lots of flowers)

B)  Another option is the Simple Bug Hotel.  If you are skirmish and your girls are loving this bug badge, this may be for you.  You take a 2 liter, and cut the top and bottom off, then cut it in half so you end up with 2 cylinders.  Then you stuff the cylinders tight and full of organic material - twigs, leaves, wood, etc.  This was a great idea from THIS blog, and she made adorable bug hotels with her kids!

5. Take a bug field trip

If you are at a zoo or bug house, you've got this one in the bag.  Let the girls enjoy their surroundings and take in all the bugs they can find.

Other options are taking a trip to a local farm, state park, or beach, and taking note of your surroundings.  Notice bugs on the ground, in the sand, in the water, on trees, etc.  Observe them and try to figure out what is happening in their lives.

The Girl Scout Way - Brownie Legacy

Brownie Badge Work

The Girl Scout Way is a badge that can be earned at every level, Brownie and up.  This post is dedicated to earning it at the brownie level.  Brownies are in 2nd and 3rd grade, and ready to take the world by storm.

Badge Requirements

Girl Scout Way Legacy Patch

• Sing Everywhere
• Celebrate Juliette Low's birthday
• Share sisterhood
• Leave a place better than you found it
• GS traditions

These requirements do not need to be done all at once, or even all in a row.  There is a great spreadsheet that will help track these badge requirements if you choose to space them out.   You can find the spreadsheet here.  The spreadsheet also gives some more great ideas for ways to meet the requirements.  You can also edit the entries if you choose to do something different.

1.  Sing Everywhere - Brownies are at a great age for this one - they love songs and singing!  Help your girls learn 3 new songs, then encourage them to sing them together at the end of the meeting, after learning them.  Below are three great songs.  Click on the link to view the lyrics and a YouTube video.

          Song #1: Make New Friends

                     

          Song #2: Linger

          Song #3: On My Honor

2. Celebrate Juliette Low's Birthday

A great way to celebrate Juliette Low's birthday *ANYTIME* (even outside the month of October) is with SWAPS!  SWAPS are a small token of friendship that you exchange with another troop, traditionally while travelling, but more recently troops are connecting with other troops in their council, state, country, or even another country by way of social media.  You can convene with troop leaders all over the US in our facebook group here!  SWAPS stands for Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.

One of my favorites, in honor of Juliette Low's birthday, is a cupcake SWAPS.  Below I will list how we make them.

Supplies:

Scissors

Fuzzy Balls

Elmer's Glue

Hot Glue Gun

Small Beads (seed)

Safety Pins

Mini Cupcake Liners

Cardstock

Candles

1.  Start with the mini cupcake liner, and glue a fuzzy ball inside of it. 

2.  Spread glue on the top of the fuzzy ball, and sprinkle beads on it.  The glue will dry clear, and the sprinkles will look like jimmies on the cupcake. 

3.  Cut down candle to the appropriate length, and glue it to the top of the fuzzy ball. (I recommend using the glue gun for this, since its a sturdier glue.)
4.  From the cardstock, cut a tag for your SWAPS.  I prefer this shape:

5.  Write Happy Birthday on the square side of the tag.

6.  Glue the bottom of the cupcake to the side near the hole, and slip the safety pin in the hole.  

3. Share Sisterhood

One of the coolest ways to share in sisterhood with our girl scout sisters (in my opinion) is the Eternal Flame ceremony.  This is a ceremony that started with the original group of girl scouts, as they disbanded, to remind them what being a girl scout is all about. 

Supplies:

• Candles (One for each girl, with the girl scout law tied to it with a ribbon)
• Lighter/Match
• Water bucket - filled with water (*Just in case!*)

Leader #1: Long ago, a special ceremony was formed. Juliette Low wanted her original girls to carry a special spark with them as their Scouting group broke up. Some from the troop were moving away, working to help their families, or wanted to help a group of girls a little younger than themselves. But whatever their reasons, Juliette knew no other group would ever be quite the same.

Leader #2: As the girls stood in a circle holding candles (they had made), Juliette knew what spark it was she wanted to pass on. She lit her candle & spoke.

Leader #1: With this candle, I give you each something very special to pass on. As I light the candle on my right, I ask each of you to light the candle to your right & pass it on. I want you to carry this thought with you wherever you go. This is the ETERNAL FLAME for Girl Scouts. Each of you, after having a lit candle before you, will repeat the Girl Scout Promise with me, then pause & recall a few of the things we have done together as a group. I will hold my candle up, and as I do so, you will all raise yours and we will blow them out together. Before we separate from our circle, I want to ask you to keep this candle as a very special candle. It is not to be used for any purpose but passing on the ETERNAL FLAME. You may use it in other Girl Scout ceremonies, such as camps, encampments, campfires, bridging or court of awards ceremonies. I’m glad we were able to start a special tradition based on our ETERNAL FLAME.

4. Leave a place better than you found it

This is something we practice at every meeting.  Its recited often, and is generally the first and last thing I say at every meeting.  We meet at the girl's school, and so it's very important that we leave the space better than we found it.

However, for this requirement, a hike would also work.  Head to a local state park for a hike and picnic.  As you hike through the woods, remind the girls that girl scouts leave places better than they found it.  Bring a trash bag to pick up any litter you find along your way, and have the girls be cognizant about picking everything up after lunch.  This is an easy concept for the the girls to understand, and it sticks - my little lady picks up litter everywhere we go, reciting, girl scouts leave places better than they found it!

5. GS traditions

For the Girl Scout traditions requirement, you can do any tradition you'd like.  I choose to do one of the most useful traditions - making a Sit-Upon.  I have my Sit-Upon from when I was a brownie girl scout, and I hope my daughter keeps her just as long. They are very useful, and simple to make - which is a win win.

Supplies: 

Photo Credit: Artsy Chaos

• Vinyl - I grabbed some from Hobby Lobby
• Hole Punch
• Yarn
• Padding - I used pillow stuffing for ours

1.  Cut vinyl into rectangles - I used 16 x 32 inch rectangles.
2.  Fold rectangles in half to make a 16 x 16 square.

3.  Use the hole punch to punch holes around the open sides, about 1 inch apart.

4.  Stitch the blanket with yarn, using the holes you've punched.  You can use any stitch you like and just tie it off when you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you do this badge, please tell me about it! How did it go - did you do it the same, or tweak it a little? I love hearing about other's experiences. 

Songs - Make New Friends

Girl Scout songs are an integral part of being a girl scout.  These are some of my favorites! Please enjoy them.  I grew up in the midwest, so if you are from a different region, you may have slightly different lyrics!  I've included links to YouTube videos, but they are not *my* videos - enjoy them, and let the artists know if you loved them!

Make New Friends
Link to YouTube video for Make New Friends

Make new friends,

But keep the old.

One is silver,

And the other, gold.

A circle's round

It has no end

That's how long 

I'm gonna be your friend.

A fire burns bright,

It warms the heart.

We’ve been friends,

From the very start.

You help me,

And I’ll help you

And together

We will see it through.

The sky is blue

The Earth is green

I can help

To keep it clean.

Across the land

Across the sea

Friends forever

We will always be.

*Optional Verse*

A friend like you,

Is hard to find,

Very special,

And one of a kind.

This is a round, but can be sung together as well.  I also tend to use only 3 verses with my younger girls, just because its a lot to remember for them!