Bridging Ceremony - Daisys to Brownies

We had a bridging ceremony for our Daisy troop.  It's hard to believe that they have been Daisys now for two years and are moving up to Brownies. Time sure flies when you are having fun. 

We have two bridges at the park across the street from our house and decided on that location.  At our last meeting we had the girls decorate a section of our banner that we would put on the bridge.  Our banner said, "Daisys to Brownies."  Each girl was given a section that they could decorate anyway they wanted (add flowers, trees, hearts, stars, etc). 

The idea was to attach the banner to the side of the bridge.  Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side.  The day was cloudy and looked like rain.  The sun kept popping in and out.  About an hour and a half before the ceremony, it started raining. 

So, we held our ceremony where we hold our meetings.  We put the banner up on the wall and used flowers on ribbon taped to the floor as our "bridge."  We used our imagination.

We had the girls stand to one side of the "bridge."  We thanked the parents for coming and proceeded with our little script.*

We called each girl's name and they walked across the "bridge."  We greeted them with a handshake and handed them a bridging certificate (I believe we got this at the girl scout store).  Attached to the certificate, we stapled their bridging patch (to be put onto their brownie uniform).  One of the leaders was taking a picture of each girls as the walked across the "bridge" and when they got their certificate. 

Once all girls were across, we sang a couple of songs ("Make New Friends" and "Brownie Smile Song").  We allowed for pictures and then we introduced our new brownie troop. 

We served, what else?  Brownies!  We also served some girl scout cookies (our troop had some left over from our cookie sales), water and apple juice.

We gave each girl a CD of pictures from the last two years, a packaged brownie with two daisies attached (we hope they would get what we were saying...from daisies to brownies) and some bubbles.  The bubbles were a last minute idea.  We planned on having the ceremony outside and thought the bubbles would be something for the girls to do after the ceremony (and after they ate some sugar dessert).

The entire bridging part of our ceremony was probably 15-20 minutes (we had some girls who had to make it to their dance rehearsal).  You can adjust the ceremony length by adding or subtracting things to your script.

Here is an idea of the script that we used for our bridging ceremony:

Leader:  Welcome everyone to the bridging ceremony of Girl Scout Troop #_____  where our Daisies will bridge to Brownies.  Thank you for coming and for your support.  We have had two great years as Daisies.  We should all be very proud of our girls because they have accomplished so much.  The girls have earned ten petals, a promise center, four financial literacy leaves, a journey award, and the 100 year Anniversary Service Patch.  How about a round of applause for those amazing accomplishments!

Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Girls will recite the Girl Scout Promise.

(girls on one side of bridge with a leader, other leader(s) on the other side of the bridge)

Leader:
The Daisy is a flower,
As pure and white as can be.
Juliette Gordon Low was called Daisy,
She started Girl Scouts, you see.
And now the time is near,
Daisies will bridge to Brownies,
For another Girl Scout year!

@ at this point, we read off the girls name, one at a time, they walked across the bridge and received their certificate and bridging patch.

Leader:
Brownies you will be for two short years,
Make the most of each day that goes by.
Be cheerful and helpful and do a good turn,
Greet each other with a "Hi!"
Our Daisy years were so much fun.
Now they're over and Brownies has begun!

(The girls sang two songs:  Make New Friends and Brownie Smile Song)

Leader:
Congratulations, girls!  You are officially Brownies!  Please welcome the newest Brownie troop, Troop # _____!