Scare Crow - Girl Scouts

This year our troop decided to design and make a scarecrow for the arboretum.  The theme the girls decided to go with is, "Go for the gold," featuring a gymnast.  I think they enjoyed watching the Olympics this year.  Our scarecrow is a comparison of all the hard work that a gymnast puts in to work towards a gold medal and the hard work a Girl Scout puts in to earn her gold award.

We set up a list of supplies and our troop supplied the majority of what was needed for our scarecrow.  The arboretum supplied the form (which was two boards, a 2" x 6" and a 2" x 4" and a screw to hold them together).  We had to come up with a form for the body and make sure the scarecrow stays attached to the stand.  Also, that it holds up to all the elements.  The scarecrow will be outside for a month so it must withstand wind, rain, sunshine and possibly snow.

Our supply list:

black yarn
foam head
plastic bags (for stuffing)
blue guns and glue sticks
paint - face color, make up colors and black for hair (scalp)
body suit
ribbon for her hair
tights
pool noodles
PVC pipes (and connectors)
small round wood circles (for the awards)
gold paint
light green ribbon
sharpie markers (for the gold medals)
Coban
staple gun
Outdoor Mod Podge


This took a few meetings to do.  We had the girls work on their medals.  One side was their first name and the other side was their goal.  Examples: To be a better friend, do better in math class, be a better dancer, etc.

Then we divided the girls up.  We pre-cut the PVC to come up with a form for the body.  Some girls put that together.  They cut the pool noodles in half and surrounded the legs and arms with that and wrapped it in Coban.  Once that was done, we put the tights on the arms and legs and slipped on the leotard.

We cut two short pool noodles to fit inside the leotard.  They went on the sides to give our gymnast some shape.  We then stuffed her body with plastic bags.

For her head, we painted the face area and gave her eyes, eyelashes, and lip color.  We even added a couple stud earrings on the side.  We cut the black yarn for her hair, weaved it and stapled it to her head.  We used outdoor mod podge to cover her face (because of the paint).  We attached the head to her body and mounted everything onto the post.

After all of the hard work we put into this scarecrow, I have a new appreciation for all scarecrows.

Everyone that walks through the scarecrow exhibit at the arboretum can vote for their favorite scarecrow.  I will update you in November and let you know how our gymnast does, and if she holds up to the weather.