At the risk of turning this into a Girl Scout Daisy blog, I’ve got 12 minutes before I have to pack Ellie’s lunch and just want to share this because it went so well yesterday.

Every Girl Scout Troop has rules for their group (can’t function as a society without rules and all that). In an ideal world, the Leader would help the girls brainstorm until a wonderful golden accord is reached and the perfect set of rules for troop behavior is defined. But come on. Daisies are 5-6 years old and grownups are still struggling with the U.S. Constitution after 250 years. Everybody would rather be playing animal charades.

So I pre-made two sets of rules.

Bad Rules
Girl Scouts should call each other names and hurt feelings.
Girl Scouts should all talk at once and never listen.
Girl Scouts should ignore the Leader and get up to all kinds of crazy.
Girl Scouts should climb all over the furniture and break everything.
Girl Scouts should NEVER have fun.

Good Rules
Girl Scouts should use kind words and include everyone.
Girl Scouts should be quiet when others are talking.
Girl Scouts should listen to the Leader and follow directions.
Girl Scouts should take care of their meeting space.
Girl Scouts should ALWAYS have fun and enjoy their journey.

I used big chart paper to write two lists of rules. I cut the bad rules into strips and taped them (with blue painters tape so the paper underneath didn’t tear when I pulled them off) over top of the good ones. After our little rules introduction (Why do we have rules? etc.), I pulled out the chart and started to read. The girls were, of course, “What?!” “Are you CRAZY?” So I’d ask what that rule should say and they’d give me a better alternative that was pretty close to what I had underneath. This worked really well with a Troop of young Daisies. It gave them a sense of control without having the tedium that goes with a big job like rule-making.

Michael would like you all to know that it was his idea to tape the rules over top and reveal them. My original idea was to have a longer list with good rules and bad all mixed together – we’d go through and cross off the crazy stuff, leaving the good set of rules behind. Michael’s idea suited our time frame much better, but either would be a hit.