20+ Daisy Girl Scout Gerri Petal Ideas (Respect Authority)
Today we are sharing some super fun ways for your troop to earn the Daisy Girl Scout Gerri Petal. The Gerri the Geranium petal teaches the girls about the core value from the Girl Scout Law called “Respect Authority.” You will find printables, crafts and other ideas to work into your troop meeting plan. There are also referral affiliate links to helpful resources and products for easy shopping.
Welcome Girl Scout Leaders! I hope this article helps you plan an awesome meeting for your troop. While you are here, don't miss these other popular Girl Scout Troop Leader Resources:
- An Open Letter to New Girl Scout Leaders
- Tips and Tricks for your First Year as a Girl Scout Leader
- 30+ Games and Activities to Play on Zoom (These are fun to have handy if you need to kill time after an activity, or to plan a whole fun meeting.)
- Girl Scout Cookie Selling Shirts (We wear these to booth days AND for photos to add to emails & social media.)
- 15+ EPIC Recipes Using Girl Scout Cookies (Share this one to encourage more cookie sales!)
Earning the Gerri the Geranium Petal
To earn the Gerri. patch the Girl Scout Badge Explorer says:
- Talk about “Gerri's Story”
- Visit someone who has authority in your community, such as a police officer, firefighter, or your school principal
- Practice respecting authority
When you’ve earned your Gerri petal, you'll know how to respect authority, just like Gerri the Geranium.
For our meeting, we met at our local police station. They gave us a tour and at the end we met in a meeting room at the station and talked about ways to practice respecting authority.
Reach out to your local police department to see what, if any programs they may have in place for student and scout groups. Our police department and fire department both have an education officer who specifically coordinates this kind of activity.
If you are not able to meet in person, you can also invite an officer to your zoom meeting.
Reading Gerri's Story Videos
We found a couple different versions of the Gerri Story, which can come in handy whether you are watching it in person, or screen sharing on a zoom meeting. Feel free to preview to see which style you like better.
This version of Gerri's story is told by an older scout using the drawings from the story in a stick puppet fashion. It is really cute.
Daisy Girl Scout Respect Authority Petal Crafts
If you have a crafty group, check out these fun ideas to make fun items related to the idea of respecting authority.
- Brown Sugar Scrub for Gifts – I was confused as to what this had to do with respecting authority but this troop used them as Thank You gifts for their teachers.
- Respectacles – Pipe Cleaner Glasses – This is a cute little craft to do with your troop! Respectacles are similar in concept to the thinking hat. All it takes to make the Respectacles are pipe cleaners! Not too bad for a craft project and a lesson.
- Firefighter Printable Craft
- Police Printable Craft – While earning the Respect Authority petal, you're probably going to talk about many of the authority figures in the community, such as the police, firefighters, and teachers. This craft as well as the fireman version above, are fun printable crafts. The Daisy Girl Scouts can color them with crayons, markers, pencils, etc – whatever you decide.
Printables for the Daisy Girl Scout Gerri Petal
If you like to have something printed to hand out to the girls, check out these cool printables.
- Printable Petal Certificates Pack – Grab them all at once and you can be ready for the whole set of petals.
- Printable ‘Respect Authority' Flip Book – This printable authority figure flip-book is a great way to get the girls thinking. It asks them how they would show respect for different types of authority. Such a great way to show your troop all the different types of authority figures that they see – some on a regular basis. The link to her printable is in the comments at the bottom of her article.
- Daisy Girl Scouts Magenta Petal Maze
- Daisy Girl Scouts “Respect Authority” Petal Printable Pages
- Gerri the Geranium Free Coloring Page
Daisy Girl Scout Respect Authority Petal Activities
If you want some fun ideas for activities to do together, check out the activities.
- Invite an Authority Figure from the community to talk to your troop
- Respecting Your Authority Figures Using Role Play – Role-play is another activity that helps re-enforce the lesson being taught about respecting authority. Now that they've learned about it and read about it, they can put that lesson into real-life situations.
- Play Red Light/Green Light
- Play Mother, May I?
Books for the Daisy Girl Scout Respect Authority Petal
Here are some great books to read if your group loves to hear stories.
- Helpers in My Community – Here is an easy to understand non-fiction picture book that explores the different people who are important to our community.
- The Berenstain Bears Show Some Respect – One way to learn something is by trying something new. The Berenstain Bears do just that! They go on a family picnic and what unfolds teaches them all a great lesson in respect for one another.
- Officer Buckle & Gloria – Who said school assemblies had to be boring? The story of Officer Buckle and his police dog Gloria prove that learning can be super entertaining!
- What is Respect? – Instead of focusing on just people in the community that we should respect, this book talks about respect on a larger scale, yet still managing to do so on a children's level. Some may be ready for this, others may not – you know your troop, go with your judgment.
Sample Meetings for the Daisy Girl Scout Gerri Petal
Want the whole she-bang? Check out these leaders' meeting plans to see how you can put the whole thing together.
- OCD Girl Scout Leaders
- Troop 1138 – Field trips can be a lot of fun for your troop. Girl Scout Troop 1138 was able to arrange a time to go to a fire department. Even if a field trip is out of the question – consider having a fireman, a police officer, etc. come and speak to the Daises.
- We Have Kids
What other ideas do you have for earning the Daisy Girl Scout Gerri Petal? Let's hear them in the comments below!
