A basic Girl Scout flag ceremony

For a basic Girl Scout flag ceremony, you will need a color bearer (the girl who carries the flag) for each flag used in the ceremony, a color guard (the team of girls that guards the flag or flags), and the caller or Girl Scout in-charge (the girl who announces or calls each part of the ceremony).

Here are the commands for a basic flag ceremony:

The caller announces that the flag ceremony is to begin: "Girl Scouts, attention."

The caller instructs the color guard to advance with the flags, or advance to pick up the flags: "Color guard advance."

The caller directs the color guard to place the flag in flag standards, or to attach the grommets to a flag pole rope: "Color Guard, post the colors." (If not posting the colors, skip this part.)

The caller announces, "Please join us in saying the Pledge of Allegiance." It is helpful to add, "Ready, begin."

At this point, an appropriate song, quotation, or poem may be used, or the Girl Scout Promise recited.

The caller directs the color guard to salute the American flag: "Color guard, honor your flag." (The color guard should decide ahead of time how they are going to salute.)

The caller dismisses the color guard: "Color guard, dismissed." The color guard leaves in formation.

The caller dismisses the assembled Girl Scouts: "Girl Scouts dismissed." The girls may leave in formation or be at ease where they have been standing.

More information is available at Girl Scouts of America.

Some basic knots

A knot is a way of fastening a rope or line by tying it in a particular way. Each kind of knot has a particular use, such as attaching the rope to an object or to another rope or securing something.

Girl Scouts should know how to tie a bowline, a clove hitch, a half hitch, a lark's knot (sometimes called the calf hitch), an overhand knot, a sheepshank, a sheet bend, a square or reef knot, and a taut-line hitch.

Keep in mind that sometimes you might need to try a few different ways of tying a particular knot before you find the way that works best for you.

Here is a video demonstrating the bowline, clovehitch, sheetbend, tautline, timber hitch, square knot, and two half-hitches:

Compass and trail signs

Here's a video on basic compass skills:



See also Kjetil Kjernsmo's illustrated guide to how to use a compass.

"Ja-Da"

"There's a hole in the bucket"

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole."

"Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, the hole."

"With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?"

"With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, a straw."

"The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long."

"Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, the straw."

"With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?"

"With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, an axe."

"The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull."

"Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, the axe."

"With what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, with what?"

"With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone."

"The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry."

"Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone."

"With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?"

"Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, try water."

"From where shall I get it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
From where shall I get it, dear Liza, from where?"

"From the well, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
From the well, dear Henry, dear Henry, the well."

"In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?"

"In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in a bucket."

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole."

(Chords: D – G – D – G – A7 - D)

Here's one rendition of this classic silly song, by Harry Belafonte and Odetta:

Coelho sem casa (Rabbit without a hutch)

We have played this game for many years in English without knowing that it originally came from Brazil. "Coelho sem casa" (coh-AY-oh sem CAH-sah) is how you say "rabbit without a house" in Portuguese.

You will need girls in groups of three, plus one girl who is "it".

Two girls hold hands and form an arch with their arms; the third girl stands inside their arms, like a rabbit in its hutch.

The girl who is "it" calls out "Rabbit without a hutch!" or "Coelho sem casa!"

The girls who are hutches raise their arms to let out their rabbits, who must then run to find another hutch. Only one rabbit is allowed in each hutch. When a new rabbit arrives, the hutches drop their arms around their new rabbit, and the last remaining rabbit is now "it" for the next round.

Be sure to swap every few rounds so that the hutches get a turn to be rabbits.

Australian circle game

This simple ball game is from Australia.

You will need two tennis balls and at least 5 or 6 girls (the more, the better).

One player stands in the center of a circle of the other girls, holding a tennis ball. While the girls in the circle pass around the other ball, the girl in the middle tosses her ball to someone in the circle.

The girl in the center may throw her ball to anyone, but she usually throws it to the girl about to receive the ball being passed around the circle. If either ball is dropped, the one who dropped it changes places with the girl in the center.

Source: The GuideZone.