First Aid Kit for Aquatic Activities
Spring and Summer are coming soon, which means all sorts of swimming, boating, and other water-based activities to cool down under the hot sun. It’s important that every troop have a water safety kit (or two!) with them when playing in, on, or around the water. This does vary a bit from a traditional first aid kit with some specific items. For girls of all ages, this can be turned into a fun meeting activity in preparation for a water-based outing in building their own mini kits or assisting in putting together the main troop kits.
To put together smaller, personal water safety kits, buy large packages for the contents in the kit. Portion out any liquids in smaller, travel size containers.
Case
- Durable in extreme hot and cold
- Waterproof
- Sized for personal or group needs.
Contents
- Adhesive bandages, assorted sizes.
- Adhesive tape.
- Liquid soap.
- Cold packs.
- Disposable latex gloves.
- Roller gauze, assorted sizes.
- Elastic bandages.
- Scissors.
- Sterile gauze and pads, assorted sizes.
- Topical sting relief.
- Sunblock (SPF 15 or higher)
- Triangular bandages.
- Tweezers.
- Sugar packs.
- Resuscitation mask.
- Reusable plastic bags.
- First aid reference guide, such as American Red Cross’ First Aid Fast
or American Red Cross’ Sport Safety Training: Injury Prevention and Care Handbook
.
Include the following additional items in delayed-help environments
- Emergency space blanket.
- Flashlight and spare batteries.
- Nylon cord.
- Insect repellent.
- Knife.
- Water purification tablets.
- Waterproof container of matches.
- Splinting materials.
- High energy food bars.
For more, read Basic Water Rescue
Ice Candles
This was one of my most memorable projects while at camp, and one of the super easiest! It sticks out in my memory because we made traditional dipped candles every year at camp, but this was something new and different.
Want to share photos of your troop and finished projects? Contact Us!
Materials Needed:
- Dye chips
- Paraffin wax
- Tapered candles
- Coffee cans
- Ice cubes
- Wax-lined milk carton or wax paper cups
- Saucepans
Directions:
- For larger candles, wash and dry the inside of a wax-lined milk carton. For smaller candles, use wax-lined paper cups. They should be clean enough out of the package that you won’t need to wash them first.
- Use or make a tapered (dripped) candle to use as the center to avoid having holes around the wick.
- Break wax into chunks and estimate how much you’ll need to fill half of the carton. Too much is always better than not enough.
- Make a double boiler by putting about an inch of water in a saucepan. Set a clean coffee can upright in the water.
- Set the heat to low and melt the wax in the coffee can.
- Add dye chips if you want colors. (you can substitute old crayons pieces)
- Fill the carton with ice cubes.
- Pour the melted wax on top of the ice.
- Let it cool.
- Pour out the water.
- Tear away the carton.
- Wait a few days before burning the candle – it needs time to dry.
Safety Tips!
- Always have adult supervision around hot wax.
- An adult should operate the double boiler.
- Steps 9-12 can be done by the troop leader between meetings since there may not be time during one meeting. If in a camp setting, you can hold onto the candles until the groups’ next arts & crafts time.
Water Safety Guidelines
I’ve been meaning to post more first aid tips for troops. These first aid tops are helpful for outings and to teach the girls. Older girls can practice some of these techniques to learn.
Everyone should follow safe procedures when in, on, or around the water. The following are general water safety guidelines. All aged girls should review these guidelines before any water activities, even swimming.
- Learn to swim. Learn boating, general first aid, and CPR skills. Contact your local Red Cross for information about swimming, first aid, and CPR courses.
- Check with your local Red Cross, the U.S. Coast Guard, state boating officials, and other organizations about boating courses. Take a course before engaging in any new activities on the water.
- Know what to do in case of a water emergency.
- Wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket when around water or when boating.
- Pay attention to local weather conditions and forecasts.
- Know how to prevent accidents, recognize hazards, and care for injuries.
For more, read Basic Water Rescue
Paper-Embellished Luminaries
Paper-Embellished Luminaries are a great project for both younger girls and older girls. You can use these luminance bags to decorate for a awards ceremony, or theme them for a holiday to decorate a house hold. This project shouldn’t require much skill and should be able to be done in about 45 minutes. You can make a trip out of going to a craft store to learn more about scrapbooking papers and let the girls pick out their favorite sheets, or buy a multi-pack using a theme. Another alternative to the decorative scrapbooking paper is plain construction paper.
Materials Needed:
- 12″ x 12″ sheets of scrapbooking paper
- 1 bolt narrow ribbon
- Square glass containers in 3 sizes: 3″, 4″, & 6″
- Double-sided tape
- Paper punches
- Decorative scissors
- Paper trimmer
- Scissors
- Ruler & Tape Measure
- 2 packages flame-less candles
Directions:
- Wash glass containers.
- Measure height of glass containers. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper 12″ plus the height. Use decorative-edge scissors along bottom and top edge. Center this piece round the glass container. It will fit the 3″ square glass overlapping by 1/8″. On the large containers, the 12″ width will not cover completely. Measure the height and cut 2 pieces, 12″ wide plus the height. Wrap the tape measure around the containers to get the amount needed to cover completely and add 1/8″. Cut this measurement from the second piece.
- Wrap scrapbook paper around glass containers and use your fingers to crease on all corners. Remove paper and crease all folds.
- To make the cutout designs, place the paper punch along the folds to reach the center section and along the corner edges. Make soft folds in the center of the paper to punch this area. Align the punch along the soft folds. Punch firmly.
- Once you have punched the entire area, including the extra piece, use double-sided tape to hold paper to the glass, beginning with the largest piece.
- Tape ribbon in place overlapping the ends slightly. Secure with double sided tape.
- Place flame-less candles inside for a soft glow.
Safety Tips!
- Use flame-less candles instead of real candles. The paper is highly flammable, of course, so the flame-less candles will make the project safe for girls of all ages.
- Paper trimmers for cutting the large initial pieces should be used by adults when working with younger girls, or with adult supervision when working with older girls.
JGoode St. Patrick’s Day Coloring Page
Illustrator Jen Goode of JGoode Designs, has put out another great color page for the upcoming holiday! Her St. Patrick’s Day page is adorable and features a charming little leprechaun lad! This is a great activity for younger girls to celebrate.
Download the coloring page here.
Of course, while mentioning St. Patrick’s Day, you should work some history into the activity. Saint Patrick’s Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) colloquially St. Paddy’s Day or simply Paddy’s Day, is an annual feast day that celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17th.
Girl Scout Birthday March 12th!
Girl Scout Birthday is March 12th, commemorating the day that Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the first 18 girl members. You can have a great birthday party in your meeting that week to celebrate the start of something pretty special for millions of girls for the last 98 years!
The Girl Scout store is selling a lot of patches for the event, so be sure to order enough for all the girls in your troop to commemorate your party. My favorite is the Celebrate Girl Scout Week patch. If you want to have a great birthday party for Girl Scouts, Birthday in a Box has great Fairy Party Ultimate Birthday Box that would be great for younger girls. Of course, depending on when you usually have your meetings, you can also tie in a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with a St Patrick’s Day Party Deluxe Box.
Regardless of what you do, be sure to teach the girls all about Juliette Gordon Low and the beginning of the Girl Scouts. It’s important that we know where we came from, and helping the girls to understand the organization they’re a part of will do just that. There is a fountain of information available on the Girl Scouts website.
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