A world of girls: A crash Course
A World of Girls is a journey about stories and how they can be used to change the world. The thesis is that every story contains a 'clue'--a hint at what is wrong with the story/world and how it can be fixed.
Earning the Journey Awards
Every Girl Scout Journey has three sub-awards. Each of these have different criteria. Below are some ideas and suggestions.
Hear a story
- Pick a book (there are several suggested in the leader guide book) and read it to the Brownies for ten or fifteen minutes at the end of each meeting.
- Have the girls act out the scripts of several traditional folktales from around the world.
- The journey speaks about stories through different mediums. Break out the brushes, paint stories, and show them off to the rest of the troop.
Change a story
- Go to a newspaper and find a story. How could we change that story?
- Take a fairy tale. Have the girls act it out, changing it as they do so.
- Tell a story through telephone and broken telephone. See how the story changes.
Tell a story
- Play the Circle-Story game. You go around a circle, and each person must add a sentence to the story. However, each sentence must start with the corresponding alphabet letter- the sentence of the first person with a, the second b, etc.
- Get a piece of paper. Someone writes a sentence near the top and folds it over so the sentence cannot be seen. The second person then repeats the process, and so on, until everyone has gone and the sentence may be read.
- Do a mad libs together as a troop.
Corresponding Badges
World Of Girls is an "It's Your Story" journey. The corresponding badge categories are Adventure, Animals, Creative Play, Innovation, and Manners. Respectively, the Brownie level badges in these categories are Letterboxer, Pets, Making Games, Inventor, and Making Friends.
Letterboxer is a badge designed to introduce young girl scouts to the adventure of letterboxing. Ideas include:
• Play hide and go seek-human letterboxing. Make it a competition by timing the seeker.
• Make Potato stamps with potatoes and plastic knives! Decorate a card for someone!
• Go on a scavenger hunt!
Making Friends is a badge devoted to learning how to be a good friend. Ideas include:
• Do a troop friendship bracelet swap.
• Have a secret psyche! All the Brownies draw names out of a hat, and must do something nice and friendly for the person they drew.
• Make friendship notes. Spread the girls out, each with a piece of paper and a pencil and have them write notes to send to one another.
Making Games is a badge for learning how to create new ways to play. Ideas include:
Letterboxer is a badge designed to introduce young girl scouts to the adventure of letterboxing. Ideas include:
• Play hide and go seek-human letterboxing. Make it a competition by timing the seeker.
• Make Potato stamps with potatoes and plastic knives! Decorate a card for someone!
• Go on a scavenger hunt!
Making Friends is a badge devoted to learning how to be a good friend. Ideas include:
• Do a troop friendship bracelet swap.
• Have a secret psyche! All the Brownies draw names out of a hat, and must do something nice and friendly for the person they drew.
• Make friendship notes. Spread the girls out, each with a piece of paper and a pencil and have them write notes to send to one another.
Making Games is a badge for learning how to create new ways to play. Ideas include:
- Make a scavenger hunt of riddles. The answer to each riddle is an item relatively easy to find, and the real challenge should be solving for said answer.
- Go on a "picture perfect" scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt clues must lead to locations, and the girls must take pictures of themselves (individually and/or as a group, disposable cameras can be used). Have the girls make scrapbooks (there is probably a badge for that to link into) using these and other photos.
- Play Calvinball (Calvinball is a sport from the Calvin and Hobbes-by Bill Watterson-comics, in which the players make up their own often ridiculous rules as the game progresses.
- Play a game in which an item (say, a shoelace) is thrown into the center of the circle. One by one, the girls must step into the center and girl an alternate use for that object, and demonstrate that use-the more ridiculous the better.
- The girls must invent and play a game that demonstrates the process of inventing.
- Take a simple invention (such as a multi-colored pen) and take it apart to see how it works. Attempt to put it back together.
- Go as a troop to the ASPCA. Volunteer a meeting or two there.
- Using glue, pom-poms, sparkles, string, etc., have the Brownies create a model of their ideal imaginary pet, or what a pet would look like on another planet.
- Have someone (a troop leader or parent) bring a pet with a good disposition to a meeting. Tell the Girl Scouts about how to take care of said pet, perhaps while the girls pet the pet and/or feed it treats, while the animal basks in the adoration.