You want to send Girl Scout cookies to someone who might not be in the United States, or someone who is in a place where the cookies are not sold. Cookies in their nature will break and crumble so if they are not properly packed they will arrive in a pretty bad condition. There is a proper way to mail them and share the joy of the Girl Scout cookies with those selling them, and the one you are sending the cookies to in perfect shape.

• When picking cookies to send, go for those that are durable and do not break easy. For example, shortbreads like Lemonades, Trefoils, and Thanks-a-lots are flavors that are perfect for the mail. Cookies that are dry stand a better chance of arriving unscathed. Do not send cookies that can melt. Occasionally, goods on transit may be subject to very high temperatures during the trip. So cookies like Do-Si-Dos which contain peanut butter in the middle can become virtually inedible because of heat.  

• Have the open spaces in between the cookies filled up in the shipping box. Use something like the bubble wrap or any material that can fill up the spaces without breaking the cookies or packaging. Also avoid placing the boxes of Girl Scout cookies on the top or the bottom of the package. Heavier boxes in shipment may be placed on top of your shipping box, therefore running the risk of breaking the cookies while on transit.

• Choose a delivery service that will ensure your package will arrive whole. You may choose the overnight delivery that will ensure freshness of the cookies. If you do not want to bear the extra cost of the overnight delivery service, then write “fragile” on all side of the package. This way you will have your package of Girl Scout cookies delivered to the other person while the cookies are whole and unbroken.

It has been a couple decades, but I can remember learning a lot of useful lessons in my Girl Scout troop, even as a brownie, that still resonates with me today. A few of them were healthy eating lessons, which I still use today and are great lessons for girls today.

Just like most things in life, you’re only as strong as your foundation. Healthy eating included. Start your day off with a healthy breakfast. It truly is the most important meal of the day. A healthy breakfast will not only give you the energy you need to complete your day, but can help you focus better and maintain a healthy weight. As a Girl Scout, one of your jobs is to help others, and you cannot do that when you’re worrying about a growling stomach or the gnawing of hunger pains.

Eat small, healthy snacks and small meals throughout the day. This health eating lesson will keep your metabolism working, your hunger down, and stop you from binge eating throughout the day or overstuffing yourself at the end of the day.

Not all fats are bad for you; you need healthy fats to keep your body going. You can find these in the newest fad food, avocadoes, as well as in seafood, and olive oils.

The biggest healthy eating lesson a Girl Scout can take away is eating iron rich foods. Younger women are more prone being anemic and the problem is easily solved by having a diet high in green leafy vegetables, like raw spinach, kale (which is great sprinkled with olive oil and baked in the oven), as well as strawberries, and turkey.

Calcium is vital to keeping your growing bones strong. Yogurt has the highest concentration of calcium per serving. Low fat milk, cheeses, and surprisingly, spinach is high in calcium for a non-dairy food.

Lastly, a diet with a protein is crucial to healthy eating lessons. Aim for a meal with a lean meat, such as chicken, any type of beans, or my favorite, lentils.

A Girl Scout should be just as aware of what she puts into her body as she is aware of helping the world around her. A balanced meal and snacking in moderation on ‘junk food’ will keep you eating healthy and your bodies in top shape to continue your work as the years pass.

For a young girl scout, using yarn crafts is a great way to help cultivate and practice dexterity skills while making something they can be proud of. There is a variety of art pieces you can achieve when using yarn crafts and no matter the age group of your girl scouts, everyone will find something fun to do.

The easiest way of using yarn crafts is for younger girl scouts to braid and make a variety of bracelets, rings or necklaces that they can share with their friends or perhaps pen pals. To start off, take a piece of cardboard and tape three braids in a variety of actions, so that even the youngest child can mimic the process. This is a great way to help flex little fingers and practice hand/eye coordination when using yarn crafts.

For older girl scouts, you can teach them how to knit or crochet items, such as blankets or scarves when using yarn crafts. These also make great gifts for friends and family members and instill patience and a sense of pride in their work when a gift is handed over.

When using yarn crafts with girl scouts, remind them, it’s not how nice something turns out in the end, but, how much work and effort they put into it.

When using wood crafts, it is important to always supervise the girl scouts. Unless your wood is precut to fit together, most uses of wood crafts need glue or nails and sometimes both. Just like most crafts, there are different levels and all different types of wood crafts depending on your child’s age.

           
For younger girl scouts, using woods crafts means simple wooden tongue depressors along with stickers or fabric scraps to make a variety of things. When using wood crafts for a younger age, help them place the glue where it needs to go or draw a dot so they can put it there themselves. Four simple tongue depressors can become a picture frame. In keeping the same shape and stacking them up four or higher, a child is using wood crafts to make a storage box that can also be decorated.

           
With older girl scouts, using wood crafts can become a fantastic family project. A wooden birdhouse is a great. Most craft stores have precut kits that you and your family can nail and glue together, then decorate. When using wood crafts as a family, it is a great teaching method for sharing, politeness, following directions, and pride in the ability to work with others.

When considering your Girl Scout Budget Activities for the season, bear in mind that there are two different types; Council Sponsored and Group Money Earning.

Council sponsored Girl Scout budget activities are include but are not limited to the always famous and well selling Girl Scout Cookie sales. This activity just about sells itself thanks to the precedent that the Girl Scouts have put out year and year thanks to high standards and quality ingredients. Other council sponsored Girl Scout budget activities include nut sales and whatever else the council puts forth.

Group money earnings are activities the troop may decide to do in order to raise the rest of the money for their Girl Scout budget activities. Please note, you should always seek and get approval from the council before doing any of the following:

Keep in mind when you’re looking into Girl Scout budget activities to avoid the following, Never sell items over the internet, participate in games of chance, product endorsements, or direct sales and never raise money for another organizations (although you may, as a group, donate raised money to another group.) With the above suggestions and guidelines, your Girl Scout troop will be raising money in no time for their budget.

Girl Scout budgeting is easy and can be very effective if you stay on top of it. Each year, review your Girl Scout budget from the previous year. You’ll see what worked for your troop last year, where you can make more cost effective decision for this year, and what seems steady from the previous years. Also, do regular checks throughout the season to stay on top of where your money is and where it’s going.

Recording everything is a key Girl Scout budgeting tip. You think you’ll remember you spent X amount of money for a troop project, but if you forget to write it down, you may then over-budget another project and have to cancel it. Also, for tax reasons and accountability, you will want to know where all the money is going.

A key Girl Scout budgeting tip is to keep the scouts families informed. They should be aware of any dues or costs of uniforms, or even trips ahead of time. Keep in mind that families may or may not be able to pay what is due and be sensitive to their situations.

Make a plan for your budget once you have reviewed everything. Look to the goals and requirements of your Girl Scouts and plan ahead so you do not waste your budget early on.

And finally, remember, your Girl Scout budgeting should not be made to exceed your troops needs. You should never attempt to budget with a surplus at the end of the year. Maintain your Girl Scout troops needs and not wants and you’ll have a clear budget and a happy group of girls.

August Teaching Themes for Girl Scouts should revolve around friendship as the start of the school year is around the corner. Over the summer months, we tend to make a lot of new friends and for those Girl Scouts going back to a public school, it can be overwhelming to see friends you haven’t seen for a few months or have to start a new grade level with no friends in the class. (This happened to me in the sixth grade.)

Have your Girl Scouts write down the August teaching theme on a piece of paper and write down what they believe makes a great friendship. Have the girls carefully cut out the words they wrote and have them sit around a table. As the girl’s share their words, those listening add them to a pile in the center. This will signify the basis of a strong friendship.

With the August teaching theme, you can also have your Girl Scout troop share what they may be most afraid of when trying to make new friends as well as what they’re most excited about. This is a great lesson to keep going all month to help ease younger and older girls into the new school year.