Brownie's Do Nature in a Big Way

The Brownies deep in the woods on their nature hike.

This will be our last summer as Brownies before bridging to Juniors next spring. Since the spring weather here is always so questionable, we are having mini day camps to complete some of our outdoor try its during the summer.

Last week was our June Day Camp and it was a huge success. The girls met at the park with their backpacks filled with supplies they would need for the day along with their lunch. It was such a fun day, the weather cooperated and we accomplished so much. We will be meeting again once in July and August and are working on about 8 different try its simultaneously. Here are pictures from all we did.

Our day started out by setting up. We claimed tables in the shelter and started to get organized. All the girls brought an item for the GORP (Girl Scout trail mix). After they added their item we began mixing it up then we filled bags for them to take on our hike.

Starting our scavenger hike. This was taken very seriously!

Working on the Eco-Explorer Try it we started our day with a nature scavenger hike. Girls had clipboards and pencils and I gave them each a small ziplock bag to collect treasures in. They had so much fun hunting for things on their list and I was impressed that they were able to find almost every item. They couldn't find bones (surprise!) but other than that they looked high and low and found everything. We walked all the way to the Nature Center which is located in the back of the woods. It was quite a long hike but they had a destination in mind only when we arrived it was closed! They were very good sports and we stopped for a snack/water break and then headed back to our "camp".

We hiked for such a long time that we were all more than ready for lunch when we returned. After we ate we started on our next activity of choosing one of our items we collected and sketching it on a paper. We then played a game where I had them each contribute one item to my bag. We gathered in a circle and I dumped all of the items out on a towel. Each girl took a turn describing their item and then calling on someone to guess which nature item they were describing. They really liked this! Everyone also chose an endangered animal to do some research on to share with the group in July or August.

Checking her list, Mackenzie even found things to add to her list!

Christa found this cool leaf that was shaped like a heart. She chose this for the Nature game.

It was a beautiful day in the woods, no wonder the girls kept on hiking.

Hiking buddies, Katie and Paige worked together. Katie is new to Brownies and enjoyed her first outing.

More hiking buddies, Mary and AnnMarie were the bug finding experts especially the Daddy Long Legs like the one below!

After lunch we worked on leaf and tree rubbings. We used chalk and made a rubbing of anything we wanted and then compared the different kinds of barks and leaves.

On our way back to my house we stopped by Mrs.Smith's house to water the new flowers and weed. We need to set up a watering schedule so that everyone will get a chance! That hose is popular!

Faith, Claire, and Lindy weed.

I just love Mrs.Smith, she has a new lesson for us each visit. We were talking about her quilting that she works on with her neice. I was asking how it was coming along and she shared with the girls that things get harder to do when you are older. Her hands are very sore due to arthritis and she shared how they have spots on them and just don't look like young hands like the girls. She reminded them to always stay busy and do the things they enjoy while they can because as they get older things get harder. A good lesson to hear to always live life to the fullest. She showed us the excerices she does to keep her hands from becoming stiff and keeping their strength up. All the girls showed Mrs. Smith their strength and she showed them hers. I think they were all surprised how strong she was.

Quite a difference 80+ years can make!

This dear lady just lights up when the girls arrive. She loved watching them work in her yard. She is normally sitting in her rocking chair but today she was on her couch. Claire sat right next to her and they held hands for our visit. Christa sat with them also and everyone else crowded around as they told her about our morning. Some of these girls were timid when we started visiting a couple of years ago, mine included. They had never really been around anyone who was elderly. This has changed their perspective in many ways and both Lindy and Paige both talk about Mrs. Smith and can relate to older people much better.

Back to my house for the afternoon and working on Plants Try its and Earth is Our Home. We started our seeds for a seed race, began growing mold on a piece of bread to learn about spores, made labels to sort recycling at home. Then we moved on to snack time!

The girls have six seeds that they need to watch and record their growth.

Snack time! Fresh berries and bananas in a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate and srinkles. A hit and easy to make!

Annabel welcomed Katie to our troop.

Laura always always has a smile on her face.

AnnMarie and Mary

Mackenzie and Lindy had a great day together.



Claire welcomed Faith, they had a fun time together all day.

I know that I am looking forward to our July camp day. We will have a full day again but these girls work hard and will have tons of badges to show for it!