The Snowball Fight :: Brainstorming

Lets squeeze a little more fun out of the winter this season!

We are certainly longing for nice days where we can get out and run around - but in the mean time consider bringing some snow fun indoors. This year my scout troop was needing to work together to create a community service project to tackle a concern in our neighborhood. The girls had so many great ideas it was sort of tough to narrow them down. In addition sometimes the all business meetings can be a little dry especially following a full day of school.



After watching this video, we decided to give the indoor snowball fight a try.

The girls each wrote down a problem that they saw in our community. Ideas included hunger, stray animals, literacy, and bullying. After they wrote their topic at the top of the paper the girls crumpled their pieces into a snowball shape. We split the group into two sides and at the count of three we let them toss the "snowballs" for a little bit. When I called stop (or a whistle blew) the girls all froze. They were then instructed to find a "snowball" closest to them, open it up, read the topic, and then write down one thing we could do to help with the problem stated at the top. Before we bagan this exercise we explained the importance of not squashing ideas at this stage of the game. Brainstorming is just a flushing out of ideas...no idea is to small, big, goofy or unrealistic. Narrowing them down would come later. We repeated the tossing portion a number of times so that each topic had a number of ideas underneath. The girls had a great time and still recall it as one of their favorite meetings.

Summary:

Age:

This seemed best suited for the kids in grade 3 and up - although there
were younger ones involved, they just needed a little more help
understanding the idea. When all was said in down we had a clear picture
on what the girls had the greatest passion for and we moved from there
to create their project.

Supplies:

• A sheet of white paper for each kid
• A writing instrument for each kid

Notes:

This would be great for brainstorming ways to use fundraising monies, where to take a field-trip, a community service project, what badges the kids most want to earn and more.

Even Further:: ways to dig deeper

• Serve Russian or Mexican Tea Cake cookies (they look like snowballs)
• When done turn all the snowball sheets into paper snowflakes
• Enjoy some hot coco
• Turn your snowballs into snowmen keepsakes

Getting To Know You - People Hunt

Mrs. Russ over at :Mrs.Russ' - Russ' Rockets: has a really great section of her site dedicated to getting to know you activities. When we open our first meeting this year we will be using the People Hunt form featured on her site. Be sure to check out her other great ideas for a whole years worth of getting to know you activities 

Inside Outside Circle, Linkages, Turn Toss, Where Do I Stand, The Name Game, Two Truths and A  Lie, Line Up, Name Toss, Commons, Mystery Person, Squiggles, and more...

Election Year - Get Out And Vote

The election year makes a great backdrop for teaching lessons of citizenry. Take a look through your badge work for activities that may work well this fall. If you are really interested and you have a Girl Scout troop consider looking into the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts badge program called "I Promised A Girl Scout I'd Vote" - the patch can be ordered through their online shop. For more ideas check out the badge work for the Election Connection and the Right To Vote programs.

Consider contacting the local brand of your states League of Woman Voters and have a guest speaker.

Also check out how Girl Scout Troop 2447 incorporated voting into their meetings. They learned about elections, set out to make voting booths and ballot boxes to voice their opinion on their holiday party.

Brainstorming A Flying Frenzy

Here is a clever spin on group brainstorming and decision making. ::Little Brownie Bakers:: has posted this Flying Frenzy plate idea. Write the ideas being brainstormed on the center of paper plates. Have the scouts spread out and give them each some markers. Set a time frame and let the plates fly. When one lands nearby,  the scout then write their solution or thoughts on the plate. At the end of the time frame review all the ideas and work on a vote.

Journal Page

How cute is this free printable? Betsy from ::bnute productions:: created this awesome journal page. This would be a nice piece to use in a scout binder to record details of field trips and camp outs. Her site is also full of great party ideas.

Getting To Know You - Snowball Fight

At the begining of a new troop year it can take some time for everyone to get to know one another and get comfortable. ::Kid Activities:: has a great list of ice breakers. My favorite is where each scout writes a few things about themselves on a piece of paper. Then the papers are all wadded up and thrown around the room like a snowball fight. When time is called each scout picks up a "snowball" near them. Each can take turns reading the snowball they have to the group and trying to guess who it belongs to.

Freebie - Order Form

 Today I have a little freebie to share with you. Do you run to the scout shop to order/purchase your scouts supplies? Edit this form to include whatever supplies you require. Keep organized your supplies, money collected, and supplies delivered. TROOPERLY.supplies Order Form.8.10.12 

 Do you have a scout document to share - see our submission tab.

Scout Binder

::I'm a Cub Master...NOW WHAT!:: has a great post about creating custom binders for scouts. They can customize the front covers and then add all sorts of inserts through the year. There are section dividers that the scouts can use to keep it all organized. This would be great to send home snack recipes, badge work track sheets, troop newsletters, homework assignments etc.