Besides those delicious cookies we all wait for every year, why would you want your daughter to join the Girl Scouts? If you’re under the impression that the Girl Scouts is only about learning how to camp and tie ropes into knots, you’ll be pleased to know this organization is about much more than that. Joining the Girl Scouts gives your daughter a chance to make new friends. She will also have the opportunity to participate in community events and volunteer to help those in need. Joining the Girl Scouts can open up a whole new world of fun experiences, learning opportunities and memorable moments for you and your daughter.
How does my daughter join?
There are several ways to join the Girl Scouts. You can register your daughter individually, as part of an interest group or you can find a local troop to join. Sometimes troops are formed at your child’s elementary school or through a local church. Your daughter can register at any age between kindergarten and 12th grade. To find a council in your area, visit the Council finder page at GirlScouts.org. The cost of registration is $12 per year.
If you happen to have a friend who already has their child registered in a troop, have your friend ask the troop leader if there is enough room in that troop for your child. This was how my daughter was introduced to the Girl Scouts.
Troop membership creates fantastic opportunities.
I highly recommend having your daughter join a Girl Scout troop if possible. This gives your daughter the opportunity to experience teamwork with the other members when the troop participates in projects and group activities such as cookie sales.
My daughter’s troop also participated in a charitable activity where the girls made gift baskets for the children at St. Jude’s Ranch. St. Jude’s Ranch is an organization that provides shelter and help for abused and neglected children. The troop members put together gift baskets that included personal toiletries such as combs and brushes, fingernail kits, lotion, makeup, deodorant and hair accessories. It was a great learning experience that taught the participating Girl Scouts a lesson in appreciation. The baskets were filled with everyday items that most young girls have at home but take for granted.
Of course, the fun group activities and trips are some of the best memories and experiences you and your daughter will have with a troop membership. When you buy Girl Scout cookies, you are helping the girls earn trips to fun places like Knotts Berry Farm and the San Diego Zoo, which are two locations that my daughter was fortunate enough to visit. The troop also had memorable experiences at the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Marathon, The Mini Grand Prix and Color Me Mine, where the girls were able to pick an unfinished piece of ceramic pottery and paint it. These are just a few of the fun local activities where we live. If you join a troop in your area, your daughter will probably get the opportunity to have similar fun experiences wherever you live.
Whether your daughter joins the Girl Scouts in kindergarten and stays in through high school or just participates for a few years, such as my daughter did, the Girl Scouts is a worthwhile organization that can help build confidence and character in your child.
