Today I’m sharing a few ways to bring your girls together with some bonding activities and icebreakers that are great for Friendship Day on August 5th or any day your troop wants to use them.
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 coming up 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.
Friendship Games and Activities
Friendship Swap and Necklace
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.
Here are some different friendship games below and don’t forget to have fun!
Minefield
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.
Categories
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. Speed up the game to make things fun, or slow it down if the girls are enjoying getting to know each other more.
Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors
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! This is a great way to energize the group and foster some friendly competition.
2 Truths and A Lie
This game is a classic for good reason. It makes players work together to figure out how they are being deceived, and gives the chance to learn about each other quickly. 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.
Dots
When entering the meeting, place a colored dot on each girls’ forehead out of their sight. Without speaking, everyone must group up with those who have their same color dot. The troop has to work together in a unique way to ensure everyone gets into their right group.
Your girls are bound to get to know each other a better with these bonding games for Friendship Day. Enjoy!
Here is a place to pick from 55 Friendship quotes to use with your troop.
Friendship Bracelets
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. Here is a great kit you could get with everything you need to make bracelets with your girls. Kit makes 22 bracelets.
Singing Make New Friends With Troop
If you have never sung song before here is a quick video with lyrics and someone singing it for the tune.
12+ amazing resources to help you plan and organize your troop + FREE Kaper Chart Download
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:
Kaper Chart ideas plus a free download- How to organize your troop
- Collaboration Ideas
- Badge Planning Resources
- World Thinking Day
- Cookie Season Support
- Extra Fun For Meetings
- How to make your troop unique
- Ceremony Ideas
Check out all these ideas now
