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Friendship Quotes and 5 Games to Bring Your Girls Closer Together
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Time to read 4 min
Never Struggle Planning Activities Again
Easy to use activity booklets for your troop meeting.Never Struggle Planning Activities Again
Easy to use activity booklets for your troop meeting.|
Time to read 4 min
I get commissions for purchases made through links on this post.
Today I’m sharing a few ways to bring your girls together with some bonding activities and icebreakers that are great for any meeting or to celebrate Friendship Day on August 5th.
Such an important part of being a girl organization is the friendships made during our time in scouting. A troop of devoted friends that support one another will leave a lasting impression on your girls of what friendship means for the rest of their lives. Sometimes though, youngins need that extra push to put themselves out there, or could use an activity to help them branch out.
Did you know? Friendship Day is August 5th, and a great way to celebrate is to play friendship building games together. These games are a blast, and are sure to warm everyone up to one another. Afterwards, have your girls pick their favorite quotes about friendship and talk about what qualities they look for in a good friend. This will not only encourage one another to be more kind, but also value the friendships they have made along the way.
To help you get the most out of your meeting, I’ve added Leader Tips for different age levels and reflection questions to help the girls connect these games back to the Girl Scout Law.
Before you start, make sure you have these basics in your bin:
Minefield: Blindfolds (bandanas work great), and "mines" (cones, empty water bottles, or bean bags).
Dots: A pack of small multi-colored circle stickers.
Friendship Swap: 12 pony beads (representing the 10 parts of the Law + 2 for the Promise), safety pins, and cord.
You can make friendship necklaces or SWAPS. Silkies (necklaces) you can get from Michael’s Craft store. Unicorn charms and rings from Amazon. 12 pony beads, 1 for each line in the GS law or just make a rainbow.
Set up an obstacle course at your next troop meeting. Pair up the girls, perhaps with a new friend, and let one verbally guide the blindfolded partner through the obstacle course. Switch up the course before switching blindfolded partners! Players have to effectively communicate and trust one another to finish first.
Age Level Tip: For Daisies, keep the course very simple with only 2-3 obstacles to avoid frustration.
Reflection Question: How did it feel to rely entirely on your partner’s voice? What made the communication easy or difficult?
Law Connection: This builds "Considerate and Caring" behavior as girls look out for their partner's safety.
This game is a great way to help girls realize what commonalities they may have with each other. Call out different categories and ask the girls to arrange themselves based on how they fit into that category.
Start out with basic things like eye color or favorite food, then move onto questions about pets, favorite school subjects, or who has moved before. Girls may realize something they didn’t know they have in common with each other. Give them some time later on to connect over these new discoveries.
Age Level Tip: For Cadettes and older, use categories like "Leadership Styles" or "Future Career Interests" to spark deeper conversation.
Reflection Question: Did you find a "common ground" with someone you don't usually talk to? What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Law Connection: This teaches the girls to "Be a friend to every Girl Scout."
This tournament-style rock, paper, scissors is best with larger groups. Pair girls off and have them play best 2 out of 3 rock, paper, scissors. Ask the losers of the match to follow the winner to their next match, cheering them on. This keeps going until the last two winners face off, each with half their troop cheering them on!
Reflection Question: How did it feel to have a whole "fan club" cheering for you, even if you had just lost your own match?
This game is a classic for good reason. Have girls introduce themselves with 3 facts about them, but one is not true. The weirder the facts, the better! Sit in a circle so everyone feels more inclined to chime in.
Age Level Tip: Encourage older girls to share "hidden talents" or "scouting goals" to make the facts more meaningful.
Law Connection: This practice, "Respecting myself and others," by sharing and listening to personal stories.
There's nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.
When entering the meeting, place a colored dot on each girl’s forehead out of their sight. Without speaking, everyone must group up with those who have the same color dot. The troop has to work together uniquely to ensure everyone gets into the right group.
Age Level Tip: Remind younger girls that they can use hand gestures or point, but "zip" their lips to keep it a silent game.
Along with fun Friendship games have your girls make friendship bracelets to give to each other. A friendship bracelet is a decorative bracelet given by one person to another as a symbol of friendship. Friendship bracelets are often handmade, usually of embroidery floss or thread and are a type of macrame. There are various styles and patterns, but most are based on the same simple half-hitch knot.
If you have never sung a song before here is a quick video with lyrics and someone singing it for the tune.
One thing we all know as leaders we need all the help we can get to make the program fun, educational, and to help build the girl leaders of tomorrow. This post is packed full with ideas for:
Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!
