Initial cookie orders are placed and the numbers look great! (1,185,189 boxes sold as of Feb. 5 from Scouts in the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland’s entire 80 counties! AWESOME!)

Has your Scout reached her cookie goal? If not, have no fear the cookie sale isn’t over yet, it runs through March 7. Yes, March 7! AND in our experience, the people who missed pre-ordering come out of the woodwork! You can still call on customers you couldn’t catch during pre-order collecting. You know what this means? Yes, girls can still reach their goals…or go over them.

Don’t forget your troop also can hold a cookie booth! Interested? Your Troop Cookie Manager can set it up, refer to the “Cookie Booth Guide.”

Soon it’s on to the delivery stage of the cookie season. Taking pre-orders is a blast for the girls, but delivery is not quite as exciting, well, for anyone but the customer. Let’s face it, it’s a lot of hard work! For everyone!

Here are a few delivery tips:

• Do you keep missing that customer? Give them a call, hopefully they wrote their phone number on the order form. Or call first!
• On weekdays, we like to deliver between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m., yes, I know it’s dark, it’s easier to tell if the customer is home, they usually have lights on. Then we go back and deliver/call those we couldn’t tell were home.
• Be prepared with notes stating, “We stopped by to deliver your cookies, we’re sorry we missed you. Here’s our phone number to call us with convenient time to stop by. Thank you, {Scout’s first name}.”
• Don’t carry ALL the checks and money collected. Leave enough in the envelope to make change for a $20, that should do ya. Put additional collected money a safe place.
• Take a note pad to tally additional boxes sold while delivering. If Aunt Madge has a friend at her house when you’re delivering, the new potential customer may want to purchase a couple boxes. Go ahead and sell to her, then tally the boxes you sold. This really helps your record keeping, especially when you need to replenish those boxes.
• Did your Scout have a lot of pre-orders? Create a spreadsheet and place (or sort) customers in the same neighborhood together so you’re not driving all over town.
• If parents took the form to work, it would be a great gesture for the Scout to write a personal thank you on an address label to stick on the cookies when delivered. Actually, it would be great for everyone customer to get a thank you note.
• Some folks package their customer’s cookies in plastic sacks and write their names on the outside of the bag. This can be very helpful. We prefer to have the cases in the van and pull the boxes as they are delivered.

Most importantly, encourage Scouts to verbally thank their customers for spending their hard–earned cash on Girl Scout cookies from them! We can’t say thank you enough, after all, our customers are helping our Scouts learn about goal setting and achievement, responsibility, business, math, attend camps/activities and learn some great life-long lessons.

Peace out, Girl Scout!

Do you save your money for a special treat? Like a trip to the salon, night stay at a bed and breakfast, you know something “just for fun.”

That’s how I look at the year-end plan to use product proceeds and close the school year. The girls have worked hard for their money, now be sure to reward them with an awesome year-end activity, “just for fun!” While adults like to make the trip plans, encourage the girls to take part. They can research some communities, see how much it costs to travel and entrance/registration fees.

I asked a troop last night if they could think of some fun things to do…once we got past Hawaii and Disney World, I learned there are additional kid-friendly opportunities nearby. I’m never disappointed when I ask the girls what they think!

Here were a few of their suggestions:

1. Hallmark Kaleidoscope, Kansas City, Mo. www.hallmarkkaleidoscope.com
2. Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun, Kansas City, Mo. www.worldsoffun.com
3. Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson. I have taken several troops – VERY good programs for Scouts. www.cosmo.org/ed_sc_girls.htm

• Emerald City Gym, Overland Park. http://emeraldcitygym.com
• Crayola Café, Kansas City, Mo. www.crayolacafe.com (Don’t take children with peanut allergies.)

Over the years, Girl Scouts have gone on amazing trips. I want to share some ideas. (Forgive me for not knowing more about the western half of Kansas! But this is a perfect opportunity for our western Kansas friends to share some of the fun things we can do out there!)

1. Moon Marble Company, Bonner Springs, Kan. This is great for all ages! www.moonmarble.com
2. Little House on the Prairie, Independence, Kan. http://www.littlehouseontheprairie.com
3. Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville, Oklahoma www.woolaroc.org/
4. Don’t forget Community Colleges and Universities. • Horseback riding (always a hit) (Refer to Safety-Wise)
5. Overnight at a hotel with a pool (Refer to Safety-Wise)
6. There’s something for EVERYONE within Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. Check out the activities at www.kansasgirlscouts.org

Children’s Museums

1.  Exploration Place, Wichita. www.exploration.org

•  Union Station, Kansas City, Mo. www.unionstation.org
• Wonderscope, Shawnee. www.wonderscope.org

Click here for a list of Kansas Museums. www.skyways.org/museums

Children’s Dinner Theatres

1. Crown Uptown, Wichita. www.crownuptown.com

• Arts for Children, Topeka. www.topekapafc.com/performances.html

Zoos (You can’t go wrong here!)

1. Ralph Mitchell Park and Zoo, Independence, Kan. http://www.forpaz.com/zoo.htm
2. Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita. http://www.scz.org
3. David Traylor Zoo of Emporia, Emporia. www.emporiazoo.org

• Lee Richardson Zoo, Garden City. www.garden-city.org/zoo
• Dodge City Wright Park Zoo, Dodge City. www.dodgecity.org/index.aspx?nid=106
• Safari Zoological Park, Caney. www.safaripark.org

Be sure to check out our “Council-Operated Facilities and Other Properties” along the way. They make great places to spend the night. A list can be found in Leader-Wise pages 24 through 38 or check with a Council representative.

If your trip takes you over night on a non-council owned property or a destination that is more than 120 miles, one-way (240 miles round trip) in –council and ALL out-of-council trips, you need to complete and submit to your local Girl Scout Center, the “Overnight and Troop Trip Application.” Click the link below for the application and guidelines. The form also may be found in Leader-Wise, pages 62 & 63. www.kansasgirlscouts.org/images/stories/forms/overnight and troop trip application.pdf

I’d love to hear about troop trip/activities you have planned. Facebook me at “Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland.”

Peace out, Girl Scout!

Numbered bullets indicates Momma Scout’s tried and recommends.

We can all learn from Girl Scout cookie sales!

 The holidays are over and you know what that means…it’s Girl Scout (GS) cookie time! Here are some cookie selling thoughts and stories. My two daughters; Abby, 13, and Riley, 10, ordinarily sell more than 1,000 boxes each, however, now that they are getting older, I’m not holding my breath! They are both active in dance, sports, music etc. so as many of you are aware, time to knock on doors is limited. As a Daisy and Brownie Girl Scout, selling is a challenge and the girls are easily motivated by each box sold! My older Scout’s motivation is the cookie credits earned to attend Resident Camp, GS activities and saving for a long trip somewhere outside Kansas! (We love this new Opt-Out Option for Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Troops. If the entire troop chooses to “Opt-Out” the troop receives $.40/per box as opposed to $.35/per box.)

Since I have two girls selling, we attempt to cover neighborhoods with about the same number of houses on both sides of the street. Each girl has one side and they go door-to-door. It’s fun to see which side enjoys which kind of cookie! A bonus for going around your neighborhood, your Scout might stumble across a Mystery House! Girls who find Mystery Houses receive $5 to be used in the Council Shop AND their troop will be entered in a drawing for a special troop party. YIPPEE!!

When I was a girl GS, I sold at the normal places, church, school, etc. but the majority of my sales came from door-to-door. My father was in the Chamber of Commerce business and didn’t feel it was appropriate to take an order form to work. Mom didn’t work outside the home, so every day after school, I was knocking on doors. To sell 500 boxes was quite an accomplishment for me. I remember other Scouts discussing how many boxes they’d sold and being so excited to tell everyone my total, but was usually outdone by the girls whose parents worked at corporations. All that hard work, to be outdone by a parent! Dad would say, “But doesn’t it make you feel good to know you sold all those boxes on your own?” Now, looking back, yes it did! Something to truly be proud of, I was motivated!

 When I worked for a large company, I’d ask my friends if were interested in purchasing cookies and if so, they would give me their phone number, I wouldn’t take the order. My girls HAD to contact them for the order. They would call each and every person. If the customer said, “Just take the order, they don’t have to call,” my girls would either call them anyway or sit down and hand write thank you notes to attach to the cookies at delivery time. I know, it’s just easier to take the form to work, but remember the girls are the ones selling. They can learn so much from this business opportunity, this is a chance many children never experience until they are in the world doing it as a living. And they have no idea where to begin. Cookie sales help the girls learn about setting goals, developing action plans, working as a team, the importance of customer service, math, they meet new people and learn how to communicate.

Words to the wise:

• Keep order forms from year-to-year. They come in handy when trying to remember who purchased previous years.

• What does your Scout want to do with the cookie credit she earns? Look at our Calendar of Events at www.kansasgirlscouts.org and select a camp or activity for her to attend and get the calculator, how many boxes must be sold to get to go to camp? There’s your goal!

• Checks are much easier to work with, for everyone.

• Wear Girl Scout uniforms or at the minimum a GS shirt. Here’s what my daughter Abby said after breaking the Emporia Council record twice as a Brownie, “I think I sold so many boxes because I was wearing my (Brownie) beanie.”

• Didn’t reach your goal during order taking? Have no fear, meet that goal by holding a cookie booth!

• Bad weather is the perfect time to hit the neighborhood. People are actually home AND sometimes you get sympathy orders!

• When combing neighborhoods, pick those with houses closer together, you can cover more ground. And of course, always, always, always have an adult go with the girls when selling! Even if they are older Scouts.

Leaders:

o ALWAYS have the person picking up the cookies count the cases/boxes and you double check them on the receipt. (Trust me on this one!)

o Complete and turn in to your bank, the “Bank Authorization Form,” just in case a check bounces. (If you filled one out for the nuts/candy sell, you do not have to do it again.)

o Be sure parents complete and return the parent permission slip to you. Scouts should not sell until this slip is received by you. If girls are living with just one parent and both parents are planning on helping with the sell, they should both fill one out.

I have several funny memories of the girls selling, but my favorite is when Riley was about four, we had been selling the entire weekend and were driving by the GS Council office going home. She was taking everything in, not fussing, just strapped in her child seat and blurts out, “When I’m a Gurl Scout, I’m not going to sell de Girl Scout cookies, I’m going to sell de Brwnies!” What a hoot! With her speech impediment it put a smile on an exhausted mom’s face!

Happy selling! Momma Scout