Kapers are most important when camping out. These charts help divide the girls into patrols (smaller groups within the troop) and set them on tasks that both keep them busy and get things done around camp. Camping Kapers can include campfire responsibilities, clean up, cooking, hostess, etc.
Troop meetings don't require campfire or cooking help, but there are responsibilities that the girls can share in to both foster cooperation and responsibility.
First you need to decide how many patrols (small groups) you will have. Our troop has 16 girls so 4 patrols of 4 work out nicely. Patrols with more than 5 girls tend to have workers and supervisors (kids that do all the work and kids that watch). Be sure to keep patrols small so that each girl has a task to help complete the kaper responsibilities.
So here I have 4 patrol groups: Robins, Cardinals, Bluebirds and Chickadees. Some troops allow the girls to name their patrols. Because we are hoping to rotate who is in each group to be sure all the girls learn to work together the leaders chose the patrol names based on the troop crest (the Bluebird) that the girls selected at our fall meeting.
Next decide the things that need to be done at each meeting. We have decide that the the girls should lead the pledge & promise, help with the activities the leaders have planned for that meeting, help serve snack, and help clean up the room. Our troop is comprised of mostly 1st & 2nd grade girls so we are keeping our kapers simple for now. As girls grow and mature you can have kapers such as attendance, badge secretary, dues collector, etc where single girls would rotate those responsibilities as well as complete patrol kapers.
To make this type of kaper chart you'll need:
11"x14" foam board (I used 1/4 of a larger foamboard I had at home)
Scrapbooking paper (10 assorted sheets)
Double sided mounting tape
Spray glue
Ribbon or decorative duct tape
1 Office brad
Scissors
Wooden clothespins (one for each girl)
Sharpie marker
I was able to make this project just using things I had around the house. Look as see what you have lying around. Don't make a special trip for this stuff. Be creative and use what you have.
After trimming the foam-board to the size I wanted I wrapped the cut edges with a designer duct tape. I had holographic stars left over from my son's astronaut jet pack.
Next I covered one side with a solid color scrapbook paper. This will be where the patrols are labeled and the clothes pins with each girls name will be clipped so they know what patrol they are in. (For each layer of this process I used spray-glue so the paper wouldn't get wet with liquid glue or fail to stick with glue sticks.)
Then I cut 4 pieces of decorative patterned scrap-booking paper to designate our 4 kaper responsibilities.
Next I made a four-colored wheel. This will rotate allowing each patrol to change responsibilities each meeting. Cardinals will be pink, Bluebirds are blue, Robins are yellow and Chickadees are purple.
Next step was placing two layers of double sided mounting tape. I needed the wheel to stand up off the kaper chart just enough to make it easy to spin. Here you can see the four kaper responsibilities are separated with a dark line and the mounting foam is in the middle. I removed the final protective layer and placed a scrap of paper over the sticky part of the mounting tape so the wheel will rotate easily.
Finally I took the wheel and kaper board and used a nail set to punch a hole through all the layers and attached the wheel with an office brad.
I'm looking forward to introducing this Girl Scout tradition of responsibility and cooperation to the girls at the next meeting.
When I finally figure out how to make our camping kaper chart I will be sure to share that here as well.
Happy Scouting!
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