Well, doesn’t life have a way of turning everything upside down? Everything we know as “normal,” has completely changed for the time being, but just because things are different, it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! We asked troops how they’re adapting to the change and what they’re doing to stay connected.

TROOP 77105

This Daisy troop has been dealing with the learning curve of keeping their girls connected with technology, and Troop Leader, Alecia, says it’s been going great! Her troop continues to meet during our regular meeting times, via Zoom.

For their first meeting, Troop 77105 talked about dental hygiene—tying the discussion into hand washing reminders, social distancing, etc. They used the Delta Dental Patch Program. She wrapped the meeting up with tooth fairy book and had them each draw a picture of what they thought the tooth fairy looks like. Parents were able to post in their private Facebook group.

“Our kids miss the social interaction so, so much! So I feel this is really important to keep everyone connected. We focus on letting the girls each have a chance to catch us up on what they have been doing at home. They loved it so much that we’re shooting for weekly chats of 30 mins.” – Alecia

TROOP 79816

Zoom seems to be the go-to method of communication. Troop Leader, Bettis, says her troop’s first virtual meeting went very well. She, and her Co-Leader texts parents, and sends them a Google “evite” prior to each call.

For one of their Zoom meetings, Troop 79816 discussed the Immune System and the importance of washing their hands. It was an active demonstration that all the girls were able to participate in from home. She sent them the list of common household materials to gather, as well as a link to review beforehand:

• Two white plates or bowls
• Water
• Pepper

If you’re looking at the materials and wondering what exactly they did, watch this video to see a like of the experiment!

“They were so excited to see one another. We went around asking them about their time at home, favorite thing about being at home and something they miss about being able to go out. Our plan is to send activities weekly from the at-home activity list and work on patches.” – Bettis

TROOP 76111

This troop is staying busy! Troop Leader, Jennifer, says they use the WebEx app to host weekly meetings, post challenges, and upload videos for the girls on their private Facebook group. They want this to be a time to be fun, freedom, and productivity for the girls, so they work on the GO! At Home Challenge as well as the Spring Challenge.

Among the fun challenges they did was trying new baking recipes, and more recently, a “Camp at Home Day!” The directions were simple:

“Girls make your favorite camp snacks, take sleeping bags out of the closet, get your headlamps and glow sticks, and build a campsite that we would jump for joy over. Build pillow forts of any shape or size, tell spooky stories around the glow of a lantern, and dress in your camp attire. Get your siblings and parents involved in the fun! Snap some pictures and post them to the group!”

“This has been a time of change for our second graders. The majority of our troop has been together since kindergarten; and, not seeing each other, having our biweekly meetings, and events has been a big change for them. We were trying to think of a way to offer some stability to the girls without overwhelming parents. Since each family schedule is unique posting pictures and videos of the girls doing the activities and allowing them to view/access them on their own time has been very successful. It also shows each girl’s creativity while allowing them to feel connected with each other. They love it!“ – Jennifer

Order of the Silver Trefoil Michigan Chapter #36 (OST #36)

On Facebook OST #36 has a Facebook Group. It’s a Secret group for security reasons, so only the members of the group can see and comment on the page. Current president of our Adult Girl Scout Alumni group OST #36, Sue, says her group has a meeting every other month on Facebook Live. This is actually something they’ve been doing for a while. If members are not able to be present at the meeting location, they’d have the ability to join on Facebook Live and also comment during and after the meeting. The meeting can be viewed later by the members and can be accessed for minute clarification, too. The chapter members appreciate this ability.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, OST #36 has started ZOOM meetings, so that everyone can still interact with one another, even if it is virtually.

“The Zoom meeting was nice in that a monitor can give participants the ability to be heard one at a time. As we are all adjusting to this type of meeting, it can assist us to be disciplined and speak one at a time instead of many of us all at the same time.” – Sue