The Girl Scout House

Contributed by Donna Haggerty

As your troop goes through the year, the girls can build a "program house" as a way of showing what they have done and how well rounded their troop program is. Use any sturdy paper as a background and begin with a basic house. Add the symbols listed below as your troop does the appropriate activities.

MAILBOX - the way to identify your troop is by troop number, so put your troop number on the mailbox and put it in the yard.
TULIPS - plant a tulip in the yard for each girl in the troop.
WINDOWS - let light shine throughout the house. Install five windows, one at a time, for each of the five Worlds of Girl Scouting, as your troop completes and activity in the World.
DOOR - add a door to your house if your troop uses an organized system of troop government. (Brownie Ring, Patrols, etc.)
CHIMNEY - keep everything from going up in smoke by adding a chimney if your troop uses a budget.
DOORSTEP - when your troop does a service project, add a doorstep to your house.
PATH - build a path to the comunity by doing and on-going service project.
BUSH - plant a bush in the yard when your troop participates in an outdoor activity, such as a hike, cook-out or camping trip.
TREE - a shade tree will grow in your yard when you do an environmental/ecological activity.
SUN - put the sun in the sky to brighten your day when your troop sells Girl Scout calendars and/or cookies.
FENCE - erect a section of fence for each sister troop activity you participate in (excluding fly-up and bridging ceremonies.
SHUTTERS - install shutters on each window to add beauty to your house when your troop participates in a "wider than troop" oportunity such as a fun day, service unit camping trip, etc. (excluding sister troop activities.)
OPEN GATE - build an open gate if your troop has a joint activity with a troop whose ethnic, racial or religious makeup is different from your troops.
DAISIES - plant daisies along the front of your house to show that your troop has participated in a traditional Girl Scout activity like Thinking Day, Girl Scout Week, Juliette Gordon Low's birthday, Investiture or rededication.
WOODPILE - to keep the home fire burning, put a woodpile beside your house if the majority of parents contribute active support to the troop in someway.

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8/16/98