Volunteers: Leading/Advising

You could be meeting every week, once a month, chaperoning a trip, or sharing your skills at an event-no matter how much time you devote to girls in Girl Scouting, your volunteering makes a big difference in the lives of girls and in your community. Turn to this space for tips and ideas on how to make your impact wider still-and fun and creative too!

Are you volunteering in a role in which you have regular meetings? Meetings can be fun, organized, chaotic, and crazy-often a bit of each. Are you looking for ways to help girls become increasingly responsible for planning their activities? Do you want more options for meeting their needs and interests and creative, quick, and fun ideas to make meetings memorable? You can turn to this space for tips on keeping your meetings lively-and for sharing your own best ideas and solutions.

Getting Started

The first time you sit in a circle with a group of restless five-year-olds or share your love of bugs and nature with a group of thirteen-year-olds who are just starting to think of career paths can be a bit overwhelming. Not everyone participates in Girl Scouting in the same way-so not everyone needs the same preparation or training.

Are you the leader or advisor of a group of girls from October through May? Are you planning on a regular set of meetings once or twice a month? Do you have a co-leader who has years of Girl Scout experience or are you and your co-leader both "newbies?" Are you looking through the basic Girl Scout resources and wondering where to start?

Girl Scouts Redwood Falls Service Center provides a variety of trainings for new and experienced Girl Scout leaders and advisors. Safety Wise and the guides for leaders and advisors that accompany most of the resources for girls provide helpful guidelines and suggestions for setting up a Girl Scouting experience that encourages fun, friendship, and individual development.

Top Five Tips for Leaders and Advisors

• Know Safety-Wise and consult the activity sections and safety guidelines for activities you plan to do.
• Encourage the girls to partner with you -girls should be growing in decision-making and planning skills. The more invested they become in their activities, the happier they-and you-will be.
• Ask for help and advice from other leaders, parents, and council staff and take advantage of council training opportunities.
• Keep in mind that the Girl Scout Promise and Law and four Girl Scout program goals are the foundation of all Girl Scout activities.
• Have fun -and do your best to ensure that the girls are having fun too!

How to Structure a Meeting

Whether the teens you advise have opted for a chill session to chat about what is on their minds or whether you are one day away from your Brownie Girl Scout troop's first overnight camping trip, most meetings benefit by having some structure-and the following is a tried-and-true meeting plan that Girl Scouts have been perfecting for decades.

• Pre-meeting: Ice-breakers or activities to help meet-and-greet time go smoothly.
• Opening: Songs, readings, or ceremony (recite Girl Scout Promise and Law ) ideas to transition into meeting.
• Business: Attention-grabbing techniques for making announcements, collecting dues, planning trips, etc.
• Activities: The primary purpose of the meeting-the activities from the Girl Scout resources or other sources.
• Clean-up: Time to put away craft materials, sports equipment, science experiments, wash the pots and pans, and wind down.
• Closing/Evaluation: Sharing goals, reminding of what's ahead to look forward to, sharing a quick ceremony or song, and talking about next time.

Contact Girl Scouts Redwood Falls Service Center at 1-800-332-4475 for more information or to sign up.