Episode 6 – Group Agreements

05/16/19 • 11 min

Spring is the perfect time to revisit a group agreement. If you did one in the beginning of the year, your girls will have grown a lot since then, you may have added new girls, and you likely have some summer trips planned and revisiting what behavior is expected is a good idea. And if that doesn’t quite fit your group, you sure can save this episode for the start of the next year.

What is the point of a group agreement: The goal is to set a standard of rules, guidelines and norms, typically around behavior, that the entire group agrees upon and commits to. This is girl-led, so they set the rules.

Group Agreement Examples

The traditional group agreement

It usually involves a big piece of paper, and girls writing, or delegating someone to write, rules they think they should follow. They typically come up with things like be respectful and listening, but also traditions like they always want to do a friendship circle at the end of the meeting, and fun things, like a fun chant to encourage each other.

Once you have all the rules they think they need, and you have brought up anything they might have missed, it is time for signing. All girls and leaders should personally sign the big paper to agree to following these guidelines.

The “Be specific” group agreement

This time, you are going to take your big paper, and on one side your girls will brainstorm just like they did in the first example. After they have a pretty good list, we move to the next side. Here they will come up with examples of what that means. So, if they put respect on the first side, on side two, they think of ways to be respectful. If you think about it, some of these rules that all kids know are abstract concepts, so helping them think about what they look like can help a lot. If your group has a long list, you might talk about the top three and then go more into detail there.

On-the-go group agreement

All you need is your hand to explain this agreement, perfect for one day or short events as a quick reminder of what we need to focus one. It’s called the five finger contract. Each finger represents something different. Safety, commitment, attitude, listening, and encouragement. View our downloadable example of what to say and how to customize your own agreement. More details in the podcast too.

Group Agreement Resource

The five-finger contract is perfect for on-the-go behavior agreements with your girls. The first page of this resource shows what each finger represents and has a discussion guide. The second page is for you to customize with your girls.

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Once you have gone over each finger, ask if the group can agree to them. If they say no, talk about what needs tweaking. If they say yes, you seal this agreement with high-fives. Depending on group size, they can high-five everyone or high five at least x number of people. Adults should participate too.

A formal agreement

When troops do domestic or international trips, it is not uncommon to have a behavior agreement that is signed by the girl and her family. Your council likely has an example, so if your girls are approaching this style of trip, you can contact them. It generally involves terms for which the parent would be required to come get their girl in the middle of the trip for things like drug or alcohol use, inappropriate behavior, or similar things. Part of this is to set the expectations for the girls about what type of behavior would not be tolerated, and to alert the parents that they could be called upon to come get their girl. The need to use these is hopefully rare, but they are an important part of the planning process.

Ok, we have set the agreement, now what?

If you did a paper one, I recommend keeping it around. You could bring it and pin to the wall at troop meetings, or take a picture and reformat to a smaller size. The goal is not to do all that work and then forget about it. You want to use that agreement to reinforce behaviors and discourage some.

Keeping it handy means that their own rules are what’s monitoring their behavior, not yours.

When using the on-the-go contract, almost anything you want to correct can be related back to a finger. So you can have a conversation if needed or, and maybe more often, you can just point to your pinky and say, what’s this finger for. And they girls will answer safety and then rethink their choices.

Which group agreement style will you try next?

Group Agreement Examples

The traditional group agreement

The “Be specific” group agreement

On-the-go group agreement

Group Agreement Resource

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A formal agreement

Ok, we have set the agreement, now what?

Keeping it handy means that their own rules are what’s monitoring their behavior, not yours.

Which group agreement style will you try next?

Previous Episode

Episode 5 – Campfires and Cookouts

Building fires and cooking over them is one of the most exciting parts of any outing. In this episode, we’ll be covering safety practices for fires, fire building basics, and suggested kaper roles for a cookout.

Remember, your council may require specialized training before taking your girls camping or doing fire building activities. Contact your council or check their Safety Activity Checkpoints to be sure you are following their guidelines.

Safety Practices

As they say, safety first! It’s important to go over the safety rules for the campfire area prior to building the fire.

Have a water bucket.
Build the fire in the designated area that has been cleared of debris.
Check the weather and local fire danger ratings.
Remove loose clothing and tie back long hair.
Don’t reach, walk, or jump over the fire.
Use potholders when needed.
Do not put garbage into the fire.
Never leave the fire unattended. – While you might have girls responsible for tending the fire, an adult should always be present.
Lightly sprinkle water from your hands until the fire is completely out.

Prepare for Emergencies

Review stop, drop and roll.
Let girls know, if they get injured, like a burn, to let an adult know right away.

Fire Building Basics

There are many types of fires, but these are the most popular.

A frame, the logs of the fire are shaped like an A, used for cooking
Log cabin or box fire, where logs are placed in a square, used for cooking
Teepee fires, where logs are propped up in tent shape, best for light

Types of Wood

Tinder is tiny. This is the stuff we light. Wood shavings, cat tail fluff, and birch bark make excellent tinder. If you are collecting twigs, they should be about as long as your fingers and narrower than your pinky finger.

Kindling is the middle sized sticks. It is used to feed the fire until the larger logs catch. They shouldn’t be longer than your forearm and the diameter ranges between your fingers and your wrist.

Fuel is your logs, large pieces of wood, as thick as your wrist or larger. This is what keeps your fire going.

When you ask girls to collect these difference supplies, follow this rule, dead, down, and dry. The branch should be dead, not connected to a standing tree or bush, and ideally dry.

Edible Campfire Leader Guide

An edible campfire is fun and delicious activity where girls learn the basics of fire building as they assemble their own miniature fire. You can do at a meeting in anticipation of your camp-out or as a snack activity before you make the real thing.

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Suggested Cookout Kapers

If you have a big troop and a big campout coming up, you might want to consider kapers, or chores, specifically for cookouts. Each meal, you can rotate them.

Firebuilders

Clear the fire circle and safety circle.
Fill buckets of water.
Collect tinder, kindling, and fuel.
Build and tend the fire.
Put out the fire.

Cooks

Prepare the food.
Set up assembly line if girls are making their own meal.
Set up serving line.
Pack up food after the meal.

Hostesses

Set up the eating area. They might put out a table cloth or make natural centerpieces.
Set up hand-washing station.
Select and lead a grace.

Clean up

Set up a garbage can.
Set up the dish-washing station.
Wipe tables.
Wash communal dishes. Each girl washes her own plate, but the cleaning crew washes pots, pans, and serving utensils.
Take trash to a dumpster or designated area.

Next Episode

Episode 7 – Building Girl Relationships

Girl Scouts has always been about building strong relationships. Good troops provide exciting activities. GREAT troops provide opportunities to make friends that share in the excitement. Troop leaders are what makes the difference.

For a successful troop, make time to build relationships between fellow girls, girls and their leaders, and girls with the greater sisterhood of Girl Scouts. Here are a few of my favorite ways to do that.

1. Learn a few good icebreakers.

Play icebreaker games that help girls learn something new about each other. Start off your meetings each year by helping girls find out what they have in common as well as interesting things that make them unique.

Download our collection of name games and icebreakers, with something perfect for each age group.

Name Games and Icebreakers

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2. Choose “favorites” – one at a time.

Each girl should feel that they are getting special attention from you, the leader, at one time or another. Pledge to give every girl your undivided attention for a few moments each meeting. Be conscientious about which girl you sit next to during and activity or snack, or who you call on first. Keep mental notes about which girls you need to assign special tasks or choose as a buddy.

3. Eat snacks, and meals (during trips or day long outings) with your troop.

Our meetings are so packed with activities, that snack time is one of the few “down-times” that you have to sit with your girls, in a circle, and chat.

4. Praise in public, critique in private.

Praise girls in front of their peers! Say something positive to a girl’s parents in front of her when they pick her up after the meeting. Always give your girls a chance to shine. This builds confidence, reinforces the value of respect, and strengthens your relationship with the girl.

Things don’t always go smoothly, and there will be times when you need to address issues. You may be surprised how much girls will listen to you when you respect their feelings and address issues away from their peers. Have a quiet conversation off to the side for smaller concerns, or a family meeting with parents for larger concerns.

5. Create a group identity.

Make being in your troop something special. Girl Scouts already has a uniform and handshake, but you can add something special like a troop cheer, special snack activity, or wearing matching bandanas or t-shirts.

6. Love being a leader!

Have fun with your girls- it’s really ok to enjoy yourself! Tell jokes. Share appropriate stories, participate as a member of the group, and get excited about what you’re all going to experience together.