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Updated April 2023
Every child has a family, no matter how it is comprised. The purpose of this badge is not to judge and point out differences, but to share with each other our own unique story.
The only word of caution before doing this badge with
your troop:
See if any girls are having a difficult time at home-for
example, parents being separated or a recent death in the family. Be sensitive
to the girls and what they are experiencing.
In addition, if a girl in your troop is adopted, this may make her and/or her family feel uncomfortable. Again, reach out beforehand to see if this will be an issue.
If you want to add an edible dimension to this badge,
if food is permitted in your meeting place, then ask parents to bring in a
favorite family food to share. They can come to the meeting and stay or drop it
off at your house ahead of time it staying is not possible. Have them make a
copy of the recipe and ingredients so everyone can see what is in it. Also,
make sure the parents share with their daughters why this is considered a family
food.
The girls should help make this dish in order to learn
more about it!
Image created on Canva
Important for Steps 1, 2, 4 and 5
Before the meeting, email the parents and let them know
that you want the girls to share a favorite family story. If necessary, have
them help their daughters write a brief version of it to share at the meeting.
This will help make this portion go more quickly.
They should also include where their family comes from
and a special family object to share. The girls should know why this is important.
Step 1 Explore Family Stories
Step 2 Know Where Your Family is From
Step 4 Find an Object That Means Something to Your Family
Step 5 Share Family Stories
The three steps above can be done while the girls are
sitting in a circle. Depending on the size of your troop, this may need to be
timed. You may also want to split this up-do steps 1,2 and 5, do step 3
activity, and then do step 4. Girls will need to move and they cannot sit still for that long.
One idea for a movement activity is to ask the girls stand up and ask where their family is from. Say something like:
"If your family came from England, hop on one foot."
"If your family came from India, pat your belly."
If a girls family comes from multiple places (which is likely the case) then they have to do every motion you say from those places. This should be a cause for giggles!
Step 3 Make a Story Tree
Image created by the author in Canva
There are several ways you can go about this step. The first is to
make a family tree of your troop, as you are all “sister scouts”. If you are going to do this, ask the girls to
bring in a picture of themselves to glue to a leaf that you have cut out for
them. They can decorate the leaf, write their name on it and then glue on the
photo.
You can make a tree on posterboard and then have the girls glue
their leaf to it.
Another way to do this step is with a family tree craft like this
one.
Decorate with leaves and have the students write family names on them.
Last, you can have each child create their own family crest. There
are many free printable family crests available online, just do a search for
one that appeals to you.
At the meeting, after the girls have colored it in, they can mount
it on construction paper. If there is time, the girls can share why they chose the designs they did.
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