My troop is on the verge of Juniorhood. I've never been a Junior leader so I'm spending a lot of time reminding myself that they haven't been Juniors either. With that in mind, I have plunged into the planning of the bridging.

In another article, I wrote about the requirements. In this article, I am going to tell you my plan to bridge them and get them to dive into Juniors headfirst.

We have already done step one in bridging, which is simply intended to introduce the girls to the next level. I opted to bring in my own vest from when I was a girl and my old Girl Scout books. With these items, I brought a new vest, a new uniform, current books, and a tracking sheet for badges for each girl. The girls paged through the books very excitedly and asked me a ton of questions about what everything on my vest was and how I earned them.

The next time we have a meeting, we are going to do a vest puzzle. I have all the basics (Council set, troop crest, American Flag, troop numbers, bridge patch, wings, tab, pins, stars) and one badge, the Sign of the Sun, and several patches. I will give the girls the loose pieces and have them try to correctly place each item on the vest. In the bag of loose items, I've placed a Brownie Try It and a non-Girl Scout patch to help emphasize these items do NOT go on a Junior vest.

We are also going to commence working on a Junior Badge called "It's important to Me" for bridging activity #2 and also begin looking at the Sign of the Sun. The girls have already been consulted about what we want to earn this year. Increasingly, the impetus should come from the girls. Realistically, they are still only 8, so they take guidance well.

The Sign of the Sun was my choice really because it emphasizes the core values of Girl Scouting. Those core values were stressed during their Daisy year and again when they began Brownies, but we've drifted according to their interests. Starting into Juniors seems to be a logical time to remind them of the Promise and Law and other key points of Girl Scouting.

All of this eventually will contribute to their Bronze Award. The girls opted to earn the Junior Aid patch next year by helping the new Brownies. Badges and the Sign of the Sun also feed into that honor.

Bridging activity #3 will be a service project done with our sister Junior Troop. We're planning on taking Girl Scout cookies, milk, and stories to a homeless shelter for families.

Stay tuned as I muddle through being a Junior leader.