Daisy Flower Garden Journey

by Kelly Colby · April 20, 2017

My girls held the final Daisy journey in their 18 month plan.

Welcome to the Flower Garden

We held the event at Mercer Arboretum, making it the third location. One of our goals is showing the girls, and their leaders, that there are lots of local green spaces that are cheap, or free, for them to explore and help with service projects. Plus, Girl Scouts has many important outdoor elements and Daisies frequently get little of that. I want them to work their way up to camping. Getting used to bugs and carrying their own stuff and applying sunscreen themselves, etc. is all part of the journey.

If you read our first journey event, 3 Cheers for Animals, you know we like to break up the sessions and have the Daisies move to each one on a schedule. With the layout of Mercer, we decided to park each troop at a table and have my Cadettes go to them instead. It was a nice change of pace. We also did a few more activities together as a large group.

During check-in, each girl was given a pre-cut t-shirt to tie as bags to carry all the goodies they get to take home. For the first two events, we had purchased bags. I thought it might be nice for the girls to make their own this time.

To stick to the theme from the planned out journey, we recited the Promise and sang the Law. I told the girls as Girl Scouts we are to grow this garden of laws to be part of who we are and how we act every time we put on our uniform. We’re going to learn how to grow real gardens and the law within ourselves for this journey.

1. Meet a New Friend
Each girl was given a name tag and instructed to meet a new friend. She wrote her friend’s name as they introduced each other. This was my compromise for having name tags that I didn’t have time to print. I think they had fun.

2. Earthworm Compost
Some of my favorite activities involve the girls squealing. Hence, the worms. By going over what plants need to live, we naturally talked about compost. We used the instructions in the journey adult guide to make mini-compost containers. I was impressed with how few girls freaked out over the worms and how many names were bestowed.

3. Playground Rules
Each troop had the chance to make up their own rules for the playground. These are their troops. I hope the girls understand it’s up to them to live by the Girl Scout Law at all times. Then they were released to the playground. Each girl was praised when she obeyed the rules that she established. It’s much easier for the girls to behave well when they put boundaries on themselves instead of an adult telling them what to do all the time.

4. Herman the Worm SWAPs
These journeys work double duty as they are designed to also teach the Daisies Girl Scout traditions. To me, two of the most fun are singing and SWAPs. The girls sang Herman the Worm and made little Herman the Worm SWAPs. Next year, as they explore more advanced programming, they’ll get to make SWAPs and exchange them with other troops. Now they have a heads up on what that means.

5. Hike
Each event has had a hike. We’re Girl Scouts and we’re outdoors. How can we not take advantage of the adventure? Each girl received a sheet to check off things you might see on the hike, such as a fragrant flower or a bird or an ant. The hike ended at a beautiful bog that I must revisit as a writing spot. A croaking tree frog on an iris highlighted the trek. It all would have been prefect if we hadn’t missed the turn on the way back. Well, I suppose that’s a lesson as well.

6. Lady Bug Bookmarks
These cute little folded bookmarks gave the girls extra experience. Each Daisy made two so they could keep one and donate the second to their school library. We used stiff paper so we didn’t need the insert from the video. And we used a cut out of a lady bug to cover the seam instead of making a monster, even though they’re really cute. To tie it into the journey, each girl wrote their favorite part of the Girl Scout law on the inside. Naturally, we talked about the importance of lady bugs in the garden.

7. Planting Herbs
As part of the bee discussion, we showed the girls fully bloomed herbs that bees love. They got to touch them and smell them and one girl decided to taste one. We discussed what kind of dishes you can commonly find each herb in. Then we had the girls choose either basil or parsley to plant themselves.

8. Seed Bombs
As another take action, the girls made seed bombs with summer seeds: daisies, marigolds, and zinnias. They used their new garden gloves and got dirty. We didn’t have time to dry the little balls of future joy. Therefore, the Daisies put them into a plastic bag so they could set them outside to dry when they get home. Once they’re nicely solid, the girl should toss them somewhere with full sun such as the side of the road or an old green space that doesn’t get mowed regularly. I told them if they have a garden at their school that is neglected, they could put them in there as well and watch the flowers grow.