Animals

Activities
Pet Day
Encourage girls to bring their pets with them and talk about how they care for their pets, why they choose them and how the pets have changed their lives.  This is a good activity to do at the park, not all meeting places would appreciate animals indoors.  All pets should be restrained by a leash or in a pet carrier, cage or bowl.  Parents should accompany pets to the event for added safety.

Going on an Animal Hunt
This is a fun activity to bring more thought into the animals your girls see while at the zoo.  Depending on the age level of your girls, make clues depicting animals that are featured in the zoo you are visiting.  (Most zoos have a website that will show animals who live there.)  Make your clues as simple or as complex as necessary, but do try and give clues instead of a list.  For instance, a large grey animal with a very long nose is much more fun than elephant.

Caring For Pets
This is a one page unit with a pet pledge and questions for girls with and without a pet.  The set is similar to the pledge in the BGS handbook, but can be copied for your troop.  You can download this unit here in MS Word format.

Crafts
Make an Animal Mask
Materials Needed
card stock (to print mask)
large craft stick
Color Animal Masks
frog
raccoon
rabbit
chimp
owl
leopard
tiger
mouse
panda
Instructions
Print mask patterns onto cardstock.  Once girls have cut out their masks, add a large craft stick to the back for a handle.
Source: printouts from unknown source

Games
Animal Bingo
This game is made super easy on the leader by using stickers. We purchased a large set of stickers (around 500) all the same size and shape at our local Wal-Mart in the school supplies section.  Make a grid that will accommodate 5 stickers across and 5 stickers down.  Make different cards by randomly placing animal stickers into the grids.  Be sure that you also place one of each animal sticker on a card (we used index cards cut into quarters) to be drawn from the pot.  To keep the cards reusable, don't let the girls mark the animals on their cards, instead, we used flat marbles to cover the animals as they were called.

Animal Poo
This is not a game for the faint of heart, or for discussion at the dinner table, but the girls love it.  Our council office has a game where you match the poo specimen to the correct animal.  While your council may not have this game (one of our members created it for us) ask them what they do have, you may be surprised!  Our council also offers a game in which girls match casts of tracks to the correct animal, this one is also loads of fun.

Songs

Snacks
Animals Crackers
Gold Fish
Any "gummi" animal
Ants on a Log (celery stuffed with peanut butter and raisins placed on the peanut butter for "ants")

Field Trips
--Veterinarian's Office
--Animal Shelter
--Dog Groomer's
--Zoo
--Aquarium
--Petting Zoo

Visitors
--Veterinarian
--Pet Shop Owner
--Zoo Keeper
--Dog Groomer
--Animal Shelter Worker
--Zoologist
--Wildlife Conservationist
--Naturalist

Service Projects
Adopt an Animal Shelter
Adopt a local animals shelter and have girls collect things they made need such as food, dishes, old blankets, toys, etc.

Adopt a Pet Day
Organize a community adopt a pet day with your local animal shelter.  Girls can create and distribute flyers, work at the event and collect items to make care packages for each family's new pet.

Endangered Awareness
Research to find local endangered species.  Is there a conservation fund to help protect these animals?  If not, your girls could help to create one.  If there is, have the girls make a display or presentation about this animal that they can share with other girls and organizations.

Zoo Friends
Do you have a zoo close to your meeting place?  Your troop can adopt the zoo by visiting and helping to plant flowers, clean up trash or care for some of the animals.  Check with your zoo and see what you can do.