Girl Scouts Event

The intended art project that was going to happen with the Girl Scouts was a salt dough bead making and decorating activity. The girls would make an individual bead that best represents them as a person. The bead could be anything; a dinosaur to show they want to be a paleontologist, a comb to show they want to style hair, or anything in-between. The girls were to be given free-reign to allow self-expression without compromise or overbearing rules. Which relates to the statement and mission of the Girl Scouts, allowing girls to grow and become women without compromise.

The reason the word "intended" was used is because what happened once at the facility is not what was planned. A vast majority of the time was spent talking with the girls about anything that came to their minds. The conversations started out with introductions, who we were, why we were there and where were we born. The questions every child wants an answer to. Once the formalities were out of the way the girls shared who they were and recent events. Sadly, two days before we showed up one of their fellow Girl Scouts had passed from cancer. To lighten the mood we began to transition towards the bead making.

Before any of the supplies were out of the bag, the girls asked what everything was for. When told they would be making beads and painting, they all chanted "paint first". So the painting was the first event to take place. Each girl got a dish for storing paints, a few brushes of varying sizes and choice of what pre-made beads they wanted to paint. The girls had a fun time painting, some painted a different colour for different sides of the beads and some layered the paints on in thick globs making an oozing mess on the table.

Once the painting was done the girls asked if we would be coming back to entertain them. When told it is a possibility, their faces lit up. Then began the "build-a-bead" workshop. Giving dough to a handful of little girls is something that usually won't end in the intended outcome. Rather than make beads, the girls took it upon themselves to play with the dough. Making little people, fish, mashing it between their fingers and in two cases, sneaking a bite while no one was looking. Not surprising, the dough was very salty and created sour faces.

The girls continued to play with the dough and talk about anything that popped into their heads. This went on for 45 minutes, then parents started showing up and one-by-one the girls left. After a quick clean-up and scanning of the area to make sure nothing was being forgotten we left and headed towards home.

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In order to respect the privacy of the girls, no names were used and the pictures featured were taken by the facility leaders and all girls have had release waivers signed by parents.