The Badge Archive

Note – This is designed to be an outdoor meeting

Meeting idea – Most troops will be able to do this in a 90 minute meeting. It will be highly dependent on keeping the scouts moving along and spending the majority of the time on creating the Brownie Elf Houses.

Meeting 1 Outline

Do your normal troop opening.

• If you need a gathering activity, print out Halloween coloring pages

Learn about Brownie Elf Houses (Requirement 1)

• Pick a Fairy House style that your troop will be making and bring some examples (pictures) of what they might be able to do.

Search Outside (Requirement 5)

• Search the outdoor area for items that spark inspiration for the idea of making a Brownie Elf House. Scouts collect things and make a house with them.

Brownie Elf House (Requirement 2)

• Explain what fractals are and how tree branches are fractals. Then make a bare limbed tree to go with the house.
• Pick the craft that fits your troop:
  • Construction Paper Spooky Tree
  • Fractal Leaf Art
  • Pipe Cleaner Tree
  • 3D Paper Spooky Trees (You can cut out your own and do not need a paper cutting machine, but follow the same guidelines to cut the tree trunk so the pieces fit together and make a 3D free standing art)

Tiny Photographer (Requirement 4)

“Pretend to shrink yourself and take pictures with a camera or smartphone as if you were the ant or butterfly.” – GSUSA Booklet

• When the house is done, place it in nature and pretend to be a tiny elf taking pictures of the new home and “neighborhood”.

Elf Dance Party (Requirement 3)

• Celebrate finishing the homes with some Halloween music. Pretend to be a Brownie Elf – If they are connected more with nature, how would they dance differently than people?
• Note: Start the celebration music after the first house is finished and photographed. This gives Brownies who are done something to do while the others finish their projects.

If in October!

Trick or Treat (This can be done at the same meeting, or keep the houses to use as decorations for the Troop Halloween party and Trick or Treat then!)

• Place all the finished (or partially finished) Brownie Elf Houses together to make a mini village. Scouts take turns trick or treating at their mini Elf village.
• Note: If done at the same meeting, you may run over the time limit – see if you can plan ahead and make sure you can use your outdoor space a little longer than the normal meeting. Then invite the scout families to also come and trick or treat at the mini Elf village to show off their creations and have more fun!