In the 1984 Daisy Girl Scout Leaders’ Guide, Daisy Girl Scout Circles were introduced.
It was recommended that Daisy Girl Scouts to have a Daisy Girl Scout Circle to help the scouts make decisions for the troop. Scouts gather in a circle and make a formal routine to make choices for their troop – keeping it Girl Led even as Kindergarteners.
A Daisy Girl Scout Circle should
- Be no longer than 15 minutes – 10 minutes is ideal.
- Should be for formal group decisions (like voting on what activity or badge to work on next, or where to go on a field trip, or what they will spend their troop funds on after a cookie sale).
- Should be directed by an adult leader, not scout directed like sharing times or some activities. Keep them focuses and help them learn how to vote as a group and make decisions.
- Meet once a month or every 4 meetings – sometimes less, depending on troop needs.
- Keep brainstorming and voting separated. Scouts should feel comfortable to share all ideas, big and small, but be clear on when they are gathering ideas and when they are making a formal vote.
- Have a short list of choices when it’s time to vote so it’s clear only 2-3 choices are available. Adults make the final choices for the vote based on troop interest and plausibility on accomplishing what the scouts brainstorm.
- Often adults will take a brainstorming list and research what it would take to do some of them and bring the information back to Daisies so they know why an idea was not chosen, or what it would mean to vote for a specific idea.
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Go back to the Girl Scout Leader 101 page.
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