Brownie Quest Program - Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey

Girl Scout Journey:It's Your World—Change It!Brownie QuestFour-week Girl Scout Journey ProgramBrownie QuestWhat are the most important keys for a Girl Scout to own? This quest, which hassecond- and third-graders traveling along two colorful trails—one they can enjoy ontheir own and one they explore with their Girl Scout group—answers that question in avery special way. Along the Quest, Girl Scout Brownies will meet three new friends anda bright and shining elf—in a brand-new Brownie story meant to inspire their own TakeAction Projects. The accompanying adult guide offers all the tips needed to createand maintain a sense of fun and mystery along the entire Quest. Instructions for aBrownie Brainstorm, Brownie Team Trade, and other activities ensure a quality andfun time for the girls.

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 1Opening:• Ask, “Does anyone know anything about Girl Scouts?”• Introduce Girl Scout Girl Scout Sign and Quite Sign• Introduce Girl Scout Handshake• Girl Scout Promise (see page 37 of Leader Guide. “The Girl Scout Promise is the wayGirl Scouts agree to act towards one another and other people.”• Girl Scout Law – The Girl Scout Law shows you all the good ways that Girl Scouts tryto treat one another in the world. Use poster to introduce Flower Characters and whatthey represent.• Juliette Low Action GameIntroduction:Ball Toss (page 46 of Leader Guide)• Have girls stand in a circle and explain that when we stand in a Brownie Circle, we aremaking connections with millions of girls all over the world who are standing in aBrownie Circle just like us – and you are part of an amazing sisterhood!• Ask girls to think about all of the skills and talents that each of us has.• Hold the ball in your hands and say, “I’ll start. My name is ____________ and I have apretty singing voice (a talent or skill you have), so I love to sing whenever I can.• Gently toss the ball to a girl and ask her to give her name and a skill or talent she has.Main Activities: Elf Scavenger Hunt - Explore, Link Arms and Fly Into Action(see pages 47-49 of Leader Guide)• ELF: Girl Scout Law – Girls learn about the Elf Scavenger Hunt to discover the GirlScout Law. Tape parts of the Law around the room for the girls to find. Depending onnumber of girls, divide girls into groups of 2 or 3. If there are fewer girls, they may needto find more than one part of the Law.• Tell the girls that there are clues around the room to finding the Girl Scout Law. Tell thegirls that the parts of the Girl Scout Law are on pieces of green paper.• Tell the girls that there is an important tradition for Girl Scout Brownies – ELF.• ELF means: Explore, Link Arms, Fly into Action• Explain to the girls that they need to “go ELF” to find the clues. They must listen to theinstructions, link arms and fly into action.• Give pairs/groups of linked girls instructions like: skip around the room with your armslinked while you search, hop around and hop while picking up clue, flap arms that aren’tlinked and pretend to fly to clue

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 1 continued• When all clues are found, girls may unlink and return to Brownie Circle.• Say, “Now I’m going to call on you based on the clue number you found. Will (group)number 1 come forward? Will (group) number 2 comes forward and link arms with(group) number 1?” Etc.• Say, “Number 1, please read your clue aloud. Number 2.” (through 10)• Say, “What do all these clues add up to?” Prompt if girls don’t answer, “The Girl ScoutLaw!”• Say, “Each line of the Girl Scout Law represents a value – something we believe isimportant and that we try to live by. Our values are part of what makes up special – justlike all of the talents and qualities you shared in the Brownie Circle today.”Closing – Friendship Circle (briefly discuss the activities they did during this meeting, and givea hint of what they will be doing next week)Supplies:Brownie Quest Journey BookBrownie Quest Leader GuidePrinted Parts of the Girl Scout LawMasking Tape

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 2Teams and Working TogetherOpening:Girl Scout Sign, Promise and Law (Do It By Hand Game)Main Activities: (pages 60 – 61 of Leader Book)Discovering Me (page 49 of Brownie Quest book)• Have girls complete the blanks on their Discovering Me stars.• Have girls cut out star and glue on popsicle stick.• (Make sure they write their name on back of star. You will bring home completed craftand bring back to next meeting.)Games: (make sure to ask questions after end of both games)Loop and Hoop (page 60 of Leader Book)Girls must move the hula hoop from player to player without letting go of each others’ hands.• Girls stand in a circle, holding hands.• Hang hula hoop over one player.• While holding hands, players pass the hula hoop completely around the circle withoutletting it touch the ground.• Variation: For large groups, use two hula hoops starting side by side, but going indifferent directions. The game ends when the two hula hoops meet.Pass the Ball Please (page 62 of Leader Book)Girls try to pass the ball from one of the line to another without using their hands or letting theball touch the ground.• Girls sit on the floor in a line with their legs straight out.• Place ball between ankles of first girl who passes it to the next girl without touching it.• If the ball touches the ground, the team must begin again.

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 2 continuedClosing – Friendship CircleSupplies:Brownie Quest Journey BookBrownie Quest Leader GuideDo It By Hand Game SheetHula HoopsDiscovering Me Star SheetsScissorsGluePopsicle Sticks

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 3Family and CommunityOpening:Girl Scout Sign, Promise and Law (Do It By Hand Game)Main Activities:Discovering Family Star (page 49 of Brownie Quest book)• Girls pick out which part of the Girl Scout Law they feel is the most important to themand then fill in the on their Discovery Family stars.• Have girls cut out the star.• Give the girls the Discovering Me Star they completed last week and glue theDiscovering Family Star on the back of first star.Circles of Caring (pages 66-67 of Leader Guide and page 60 of Brownie Quest book)• Hand out to each girl a Me Circle. Show the girls the Me Circle and ask, “Why is ME inthe center? What did we do last week that represents each of you?” (created DiscoverStars, representing our talents and values)• Point to the second circle and ask, “Which people are the most important to you?” Onyour circle, write in FAMILY.• Ask the girls to write in the name of a family member who is important to her. Say,“Congratulations! You each used your leadership skills to connect with your families inan important way!”• Point to the third circle and ask, “When we get together here, we belong to what? (TheGirl Scout Brownie Circle or Sisterhood! That includes our circle here and the big circleof Girl Scouts all around the world)”• Both you and girls write Girl Scouts in that circle.• Point to the fourth circle and ask, “Who else do we care about?” You may need toprompt with things like friends and teachers at school, relatives, neighbors, people atchurch, firefighters or police.• You write “people in our community” and ask girls to write who they thought about.• Point to the firth circle and ask, “And outside our communities, what do we have? Thewhole wide world!”• Both you and girls write WORLD in the last cicle.

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 3 continuedStory: The Case of the Broken Sidewalk (page 64 of Brownie Quest book)Read “The Case of the Broken Sidewalk”Miss Jeanne’s preschool class loved to visit the park near their school. One day, as they leftthe park, Lucy tripped on a rough spot in the sidewalk and fell. She scraped both her knees.Miss Jeanne cleaned and bandaged Lucy’s knees, and all the class gathered around her.“The sidewalk’s all broken,” Peter said. “That’s why Lucy fell. We’ve got to fix this sidewalk sokids don’t get hurt!”Lucy felt a little better. “Once I watched a sidewalk getting made. There was a cement truck,and workers were using tools to make the sidewalk smooth,” she said.Miss Jeanne said, “Taking care of the sidewalks is the job of city workers, like the people yousaw, Lucy.” Then she asked the children, “How do you think we could get their help with thissidewalk?”“We could show them the broken sidewalk,” said Peter.“Lucy, you better show them your hurt knees,” said Sarah.“I know! Let’s write them a letter!” said Megan.Miss Jeanne wrote down all of the children’s ideas. When they got back to class, she askedthem to vote on what they wanted to do. Together they decided to write a letter to the mayor.In the letter, they would tell her about the problem with the sidewalk.One day, the class got a letter back. The mayor’s letter thanked the children for beingconcerned about the sidewalk. The mayor also wrote that she would take note of theirsuggestions for fixing it. Miss Jeanne’s students were so happy and proud.Ask questions:• Who did these kids worry about?• Why did the kids decide to write a letter?• What happened after they wrote the letter?• If you wanted to fix something in your community, what would it be?• What would you write in your letter?

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 3 continuedGame – Mailong SeraThis game from Papua New Guinea reminds the girls that they are connected to the world.Ages: allSupplies: marblePlayers: 12-20PAPUA NEW GUINEA—Mailong SeraActivity: group cooperation, patternPlace: gym; out-of-doorsAppeal: competition; skillA player is chosen to be “It”. The other players stand or sit in a circle around “It”, veryclose to one another. “It” closes her eyes, and one of the players takes a shell in one of herhands.All of the players close their hands into loose fists, fingers down, and move their fiststogether until they touch, then apart so that they touch their neighbors’ fists.“It” opens her eyes and the players in the circle move their hands back and forth in arhythmic pattern or to a song as they pass the seashell from hand to hand without “It” seeingwho has the shell.Players who do not have the shell pretend to be fumbling with it. When” It” thinks sheknows who has the shell, she calls the name of that player. If she is right, that player must takeher place. If not, the passing begins again.To keep the game interesting, limit It to three guesses before it is someone else takes herplace at the center of the circle.Supplies:Completed stars from Week 2Do It By HandCircles of Caring SheetPensCrayonsScissorsConstruction paperMarble

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 4Working TogetherOpening:Girl Scout Sign, Promise and Law (Do It By Hand Game)Main Activities:Friendship Games (Page 16 of Brownie Quest Book)Have the girls line up by the months they were born.Have the girls line up alphabetically.Also try doing game without talking. i.e. have girls line up by their ageWhat Could Make This Neighborhood Better (page 62 of Brownie Quest Book)In a Brownie Circle, ask the girls these questions and write on newsprint:• Nana Gina is a grandmother. She can walk well, but she can’t drive anymore. Shelikes to live close to a doctor’s office and a supermarket. Nana Gina needs a neighborto ____________________________________.• Hector and his mother area deaf, but his sister and father can hear. Hector wants to bejust like other kids and ride his bike and play ball outside. Hector could play outside if____________________________________.• Marsha uses a wheelchair to get around her house and neighborhood. She alwayslooks happy and likes to be as active as she can. Marsha might like a visitor because____________________________________.• Shawn lost his sight when he was a baby. He is 16 now. He has a seeing-eye dognames Charlie. He lives with his mom and aunt. When Shawn wants to go to a newplace, he needs ____________________________________.What can a community offer to make each person’s life easier and safer? For example, whatcould a community have so that Shawn can walk about his neighborhood safely? Someanswers – smooth sidewalks, beeping stop signs so that he can hear at every corner, Brailleon signs so he can read them.Ask girls, “Does your community have these things? What would happen if Marsha needed toget into a building that had steps in front?”Remind girls that we learned about “The Case of the Broken Sidewalk” last week, and what theclass did to help. Ask girls to think about what they can do to help their community.

Brownie Quest Journey ProgramWeek 4 continuedSong:Brownie Smile Song (page 67 of Brownie Quest Book)I’ve something in my pocket.It belongs across my face.And I keep it very close at handIn a most convenient place.I’m sure you couldn’t guess itIf you guess a long, long whileSo I’ll take it out and put it on –It’s a great big Brownie Smile!Refreshments – Girl Scout GorpPresent Certificates, and healthy recipes for familyClosing – Friendship Circle and good-bye.SuppliesBrownie Quest Journey BookBrownie Quest Leader GuideSee Girl Scout Gorp (make sure to use only enough as needed, seal and return remainder)Zip lock bagsFor Neighborhood Better – printed out scenarios with blank paper underneath for writingMarkersHealthy Snack Sheets to try with their families