Type

Activity Descriptions

supplies

Badge

Craft

Create Your Own Story Book

Give each girl one of the create your own book sheets. Follow the instructions printed on the back to fold and create the book. The girls can use the picture sheets to cut out and glue pictures to their story book or draw their own. If there is time, girls can volunteer to share their creations.

make your own story book.pdf

Girls

Discussion

Reading Cinderella Around the World

Using Literature to look at Different Perspectives Cinderella stories from around the world (check local library for availability)

The Cinderella story is one that has been around for many years. Ask girls to tell us the gist of the story the familiar account. Introduce other version(s) and discuss similarities and differences. Ask why there would be different accounts of the same story.

1. Brown, Cinderella (familiar version, from France)

2. Climo, The Egyptian Cinderella

3. Climo, The Irish Cinderlad

4. Coburn, Domitila, A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition

5. Coburn, Jouanah, A Hmong Cinderella

6. Louie, Ai-Ling, Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story from China

7. Lowell, Cindy Ellen, A Wild West Cinderella

8. Martin, The Rough-Face Girl (an Algonquin Indian Tale)

9. San Souci, Cendrillon

10. Schroeder, Smoky Mountain Rose, An Appalachian Cinderella

Girls

Discussion

Go around the circle and ask each girl to say her name, her favorite character from a story and why she likes that character. You can start by naming your favorite character, such as Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie, because she had determination and stood up for what she believed in. You can add some fun by using a light ball or bean bag to toss to each person as they have their turn.

Next continue the discussion about stories. Ask the girls “What makes something a story?” (possible answers include “interesting characters” and “lots of things happen.”) Get the girls talking about how stories are all around them. You might mention the fun of gadgets having stories or favorite objects having stories(like when we bring home a souvenir from a trip, or find a seashell at the beach).

Guide the girls to see that stories usually have a beginning, a middle and an end, and a challenge that the characters have to overcome.

Girls

Discussion

Ask the girls:

What are some of the ways you lead?

How many of you have had a chance to be a leader in school? With friends? At home?

Did you know that part of leading is showing that you care about others, including your family?

Girls

Game

Two Story Relays:.

Prepare Games cards in advance: Use index cards and markers to draw out the game pieces with the following:

For Relay 1- write the words from each part of the Girl Scout Promise on an index card:

On my Honor, I will, try, to serve, God, and, my, country, to help, people, at all, times, and to, live, by the, Girl Scout Law.

For Relay 2- write these words onto an index to help form a story:

Once, Upon, A, Time, A, Group, Of, Brownies, Found, An, Old, Witch, When, By, Cabin, Went, Bon, A, Hike, Made, Met, New, Friends, Was, In, The, Woods, They, Asked, Where, Saw, Deer, Fox, Waterfall, Built, Fort, Finally, Got, Back, Home, Adventure, The, Trail, Gave, It, To, The, Woman, Her, She, Smiled, They, Wearing, Swam, In, Pond, Felt, Good, At, The, End, Of, The, Day, Ran, Jumped, In, Hat, Shoes, Purple, Golden, Cold, The, Beautiful, Mysterious, And

Begin the Game:

Next we’re going to play some story games. To start have the story relay sheets cut out or two sets of hand written cards, with a word on phrase on each card. Have a table at one end of the room and a cleared space for running.

Relay 1

Ask the girls to form two teams

Distribute the sets of cards to each team, one card per girl, and ask them not to show their cards to anyone.

At Go! The first girl in line runs to the table, places her card word side up, runs back, and tags the next girl.

With every new card that gets laid down, the next girl can see how the Girl Scout Promise is forming. Each girl gets one minute to try to complete one line of the Promise; then she runs back to

tag the next girl. If a girl can’t see a solution to make a line or is stumped, she must pass and run back and tag the next girl. The team that gets the words in the right order firms wins.

Relay 2

In this relay, the girls try to create a story from a set of words- any story that makes sense!

Form the girls into two teams and explain these instructions:

This time, the girls run to the table one at a time and draw two cards from the shuffled deck.

The first girl places her two words on the table and then runs back, tags the second girl, who runs to the table, chooses two cards and has 15 seconds to place her words with the first two words to start creating a logical story.

The relay continues with each girl running to the table, choosing two cards from the deck, and working to arrange the laid out cards and her cards into a logical story. She can either add to the

sentence that is forming on the table, or rearrange it to create something else.

The relay continues until each girl on the team has had at least two turns at choosing cards and building the story.

Then, call “time” and ask the girls to read the stories aloud.

Get the girls talking about what was hard and what was easy about putting a story together?

Prepared index cards

Girls

Games (15 min)

Games from Girls Around the Globe: Banyoka 

Session 1—Girls Around the World

Mark “lanes” on the floor with masking tape.

Set up obstacles.

1. Tell the girls that all around the world girls like to play games. Playing games is a way to get to know others and active games are important for staying healthy and fit. By playing games and doing activities from around the world, we get to see what girls in other parts of the world like to do.

Banyoka is an obstacle course game from Africa and means “snake”.

To play the game:

1. Form two teams with equal numbers of girls.

2. Each team becomes a “snake.” The girls sit on the floor or ground, one behind the other, with their legs open like scissors and their hands on the shoulders or waist of the girl in front of them.

3. Each team “scootches” along, moving around or over the obstacles while staying connected. The first team to finish wins!

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys 

o Masking tape

o Obstacles (indoor options include furniture, stacks of boxes or books; outdoor options

include cones, jump ropes, large balls)

Girls 1

Games (15 min)

Games from Girls Around the Globe: Escargot 

Session 1—Girls Around the World

Tell the girls that all around the world girls like to play games. Playing games is a way to get to know others and active games are important for staying healthy and fit. By playing games and doing activities from around the world, we get to see what girls in other parts of the world like to do.

Escargot is a version of hopscotch that children play in France.

To play the game:

1. Game may be played as one large group or in teams of three–four girls.

2. Have girls decide which foot is their hopping foot and who will go first.

Whichever foot a girl chooses is the foot she will hop on for the entire game.

3. Hop through to the center on one foot. Start with square one.

4. Hop only once in each square. Do not hop on any lines or a turn is lost. Girls may rest when they reach the center.

5. Hop back to the beginning, following the same rules.

6. If a girl hopped in and out successfully, she may choose a square as her

“house.” Have her put her initials in the square (write on small squares of

papers and tape it in the square). She can use this space to rest and other

players must skip over the square.

7. The game is over when it becomes impossible for anyone to hop to the

center. The player with the most squares at the end is the winner.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

o Small squares of paper

o Markers

o Masking tape

Escargot Diagram.pdf

Girls 1

Craft (20 min)

Storytelling Detectives

Session 2—Girls in Our World

1. Tell the girls that on this journey they will be talking about many different stories. Ask the girls to tell you the titles or themes of some of their favorite stories. Spend a minute or two brainstorming a list of favorite stories and write them for everyone to see.

2. Tell the girls that they will be acting out some of their favorite stories by playing the game charades!

For a large group of girls, split the girls into teams. For a smaller group, have the girls work together to act out several stories.

3. Give each group about 10 minutes to plan a short charade of a favorite story. Girls can use actions and a few words, if necessary.

A few familiar story ideas for groups that need some help:

o Harry Potter Series

o Fairy Tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Pinocchio)

o Where the Wild Things Are

o Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

o Ramona Quimby stories

4. Have each group perform their short charade, while the other girls try to guess which story they are performing.

Follow Up Discussion:

What did the girls in your charade story do?

Did the girls in your story solve any problems? What was the problem?

Why did the problem need to be solved and how did they solve it?

What are your characters like? Do you share any of the same traits?

What would you have done in a situation like that?

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Large writing space (poster board, chalkboard, whiteboard)

Writing utensils

Girls 2

Craft (15 min)

Bento Box Snack

Session 4-Pianning for Change a Story

1. Tell the girls that since they are on this journey exploring a world of girls just Iike them, they should know that those girls have parents Iike theirs, too. AduIts in Japan often create characters and shapes made out of food in their children's lunch boxes. Today, the girls will be making their own "bento box" for snack.

2. Help the girls create their sandwiches and choose what they want to eat. The girls can then use the cookie cutters to make slices of cheese and/or their sandwiches into different shapes.

3. Have the girls use the fruit and vegetables to create a scene or story of their own.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Bread

Cheese

Mayo, mustard other condiments

Deli meat

Fresh cut fruit and vegetables

Different shapes of large cookie cutters

Paper plates

Napkins

Girls 4