Planning in a Girl-Led Environment

To start planning your time with girls, first draw up a simple calendar:

If your group will be meeting for less than a year (such as resident camp or a series), adjust the calendar to suit your needs. In the same way, if you’re planning a multi-year event (such as a travel excursion), add one or two more years to the framework. Then consider the following questions:

• How many meetings will you have each month? When do you plan to break for holidays?

• How many weeks do you need to allocate for the Girl Scout Cookie Program (usually start selling in January and wrap it up in March with booth sales)?

• Will you have time in your schedule for guest speakers and other visitors?

• If you’ve worked with this group before, what are their preferences? Do they like badge work?

• Totally love field trips? Are they interested in other activities? Can these also be tied to the journey theme? For more ideas, see the online journey maps, and then choose the grade level of the girls you’re working with.

Make sure to include all of these in your calendar as a starting point. Girls will fill in the details as they guide their own journey.

Once you’ve drafted a loose framework, it’s time to ask the girls what they think. Remember: You want girls to lead, but younger girls will need more guidance, while older girls will require far less. Seniors and Ambassadors may not want you to draft any sort of calendar in advance, so if they balk at the work you’ve done, simply put it away and let them take the reins. Daisies and Brownies, on the other hand, may only be able to fill in a few ideas here and there, as you uncover their personalities and interests.

Before your group even opens a journey book, ask the girls what the journey and related theme mean to them. Maybe the theme ignites a discussion (or even debate!) that helps the girls chart their course for the year. In your discussions, probe to find out what the girls are most interested in accomplishing during their time together, and then help them connect those interests to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Next Section:  Meeting with Girls for the First Time