Easy and Fun Girl Scout Craft ~ Learning the Law

As co-leader of my second grader's Brownie Girl Scout troop, I am always trying to find cheap, easy and fun ideas for crafts and activities to do with our troop. Our girls are just entering their first year as Brownies! My co-leader and I are also just now becoming more familiar with the concept of Tri-Its. For those of you who are not in scouts, Tri-its are badges that Brownie Scouts can earn by doing a minimum of four activities that have a particular theme and follow the girl scout law. 

The first Tri-It that we will participate in is "Girl Scout Ways". We thought this would be a great one to do to reinforce what we have learned about scouts over the past two years as well as serve as a good introduction to our two new scouts!

So, to focus on the Girl Scout Law we made these story telling bracelets:

And boy were they easy!

First, we needed the supplies. So with my two year old and a Michael's Coupon, I headed to the store.  This is what I ened up with:

A pair of scissors

stretchy cord

and a bunch of pony beads in 10 different colors. I bought a big bulk tub of beads to save the troop money and yes, I separated all of the colors out myself. Looking back, I could have had my 7 year old sort and count them for a fun little math project but I did it while catching up on the Top Chef Finale:) 

So why 10 different colors? Well the girl scout law is comprised of ten different promises that have been paired with a color code.

Like this: 

So I made up kits for each girl in a snack sized Ziploc bag that contained 2 of each of the 10 colored beads, 10 white beads, and one extra long strand of stretchy cord. At the meeting I gave the girls their bags and explained to them what we would be doing with all of these beads. This allowed us to go over the Girl Scout Law together taking time to review/introduce all of the concept s associated with the colors. I told the girls there are two of each color bead for a reason. One is so that they always have a reminder of the law for themselves and can think about if the actions they take are following the  Girl Scout Law and the other bead is to lend to a friend who my be having a hard time making the right decision. 

All in all the we had a blast doing this activity together! I allowed about 15 minutes to accomplish the bracelet and review the law.

First, help the girls tie a double knot at the end the strand of stretchy cord so that the beads don't fall off when the are stringing them.

 

Next, Place the beads on in order of the colors of the law and talk about each part of the law as they go. Use the white beads as separator beads.

This is where the girls had some trouble (but not too much). Make sure that you have given them lots of extra cord so that tieing the knot is a cinch. Even though they will ask you for help with this knot, encourage them to seek each other's help. I found that as soon as one girl got it the others either went to her for help or watched and did it for themselves. Which is what we are trying to accomplish in scouts!

Simply cut the cord after a tight double knot has been tied and put on your new accessory! This is a great craft for any girl scout age level. You could use the beads that have letters on them and spell out your troop number, the names of your girls, etc. This would also make a fun swap to use at camp or thinking day.

The girls were showing these beauties off to everyone at school. This project cost our troop less than $6 for 12 bracelets!! Tri-It today!

Happy Crafting Everyone!!