MASCOTS
The information you find on this page is the result of trial and error through my first year as a Daisy Leader. I am sharing these idea's and experiences with you in the hopes that you will be more comfortable in your role as a Girl Scout Leader.

A troop mascot is a very special stuffed animal. It can be one that you already have or one that you and your troop purchase. I don't recommend that use a Daisy's stuffed animal as there is the possibility of it getting lost in the mail. This stuffed animal should be no more than 12 inches tall and should be very, very soft. The idea here is to be able to get the mascot in a flat rate priority mail envelope. Daisy troops don't have funding for postage so the cheaper the shipping the better.

You need to find just the right Mascot for your troop.  If possible, take the girls with you.  Don't spend a lot of money for her (she just might get lost on her adventure).  You might want to prepare the girls for the possibility that their mascot may be lost... Or better yet, do a mascot the way we do.  This ensures, your mascot will arrive safely back home each month.

Once you have your Mascot, have the troop name her.  You can make her a bit more special by doing little things.  Such as, an earring in the ear, a cute little dress or a mini tee shirt with your state logo on it.  Do anything that makes her yours.  We made a tiny Daisy tunic with petals for her. Ok, now that you have your Mascot, here are step by step things you should do before sending her out on her own.

1) Purchase or have troop make a small journal.  This can be something as simple as a small note book or stapled sheets of paper.  You decide. Shop for this during the school supply sales and you'll be able to find one for under 2.00.

2) You will need to purchase Post Cards of your state.  Other troops enjoys these because they are seeing places they may not have seen before.  Another idea, might be to take a few pictures of your Mascot at your favorite places.  Be careful about putting pictures of your troop in this.  You never know who might get the mascot. We take pictures of the girls in the distance and their backs are to us.  So the picture is of the site with several little girls off in the distance.  AND, don't include last names of the girls nor their addresses.

3) Gift or swap for the the hosting troop or for each girl.  This is kind of a thank you gift to the Hosts.

4) A letter of introduction.  Not only to introduce you and your troop but also to introduce your mascot.  Here is ours.

5) Passport or ID card.  This is fun for the girls to make.  Make places on it so that the hosting troop can ad a sticker or a small picture, etc.  Or the Hosting troop may simply want to write in their states initials.

6) Council Patch.  This one is up to you.  You can send one along for the Hosting Troop to add to their Troop Scrapbook. We have thought about sending a troop patch instead.  The girls are making them and I am laminating them.  Still, nice for the Hosting Troop to have but cheaper.

7) Things for your area.  You can go to your Chamber of Commerce and get free brochure's for the Hosting Troop.  We have an awesome Museum here and get things about it. Rather than sending the books, we will cut out things and glue them into her journal.

8) A small backpack.  This is not necessary but will help keep things in order and safely packed.  It only needs to be large enough to hold the journal and gifts, etc.

9) A disposable camera

This is easier than you might think. About two years ago, I started a Daisy message board and over that time, nearly 200 leaders have joined. I was able to set up mascot hosts via this message board for this year and have begun for the next season already. Most of the troops use this board for the contacts they make on it. Feel free to join us. It is packed full of info about being a Daisy leader.

Or, you can contact your local council for help, look around on the Internet, whatever works for you. Be sure you are exchanging with real leaders and not some weirdo out there. You can check troops out by contacting their council. We use this form when setting up hosts.
Confirmation Letter (sent before sending mascot)

Just be sure you know where your mascot is at all times. We email the host troop every week to make sure everything is all right with our mascot. We use a map of the United States of America to keep track of her. Each girl has a map in her scrapbook and marks a line from our state to the host state. When the mascot returns, we mark a line coming back to our state. Then when she goes again, we mark another line to that state and so on. Here is the map we use.

This has got to be the most fun I have ever had.  Hosting a mascot takes a lot of care and very little work.  Your girls will be the one's to most of the hosting. Depending on how long the visiting mascot will be in your care will determine what you can do with her.  She usually arrives with a journal and often times little gifts for your troop.  She should also have a letter of introduction and info on the troop who sent her.  Don't worry, Mascot's don't just show up.  They are prearranged with you ahead of time.  VERY IMPORTANT NOTE...Mascots need a lot of hugs and must be taken care of very well.  And no matter what happens, be sure and I can not stress this enough, be sure that the mascot you hosted gets back to her troop.  The little girls that sent her to you would be heart broken if she were lost.

You will want to take her everywhere with you. The troop that sent her wants to know about your city and state. They want to see pictures of what she did. Pictures help Daisy's to understand where and why their mascot left. Have the girls write in the journal, have them help the mascot with crafts and earning petals. We help the visiting mascot make crafts by shrinking them down to her size. Then one of our Daisy's put it together for her (I mean, help her put it together). Be sure the visiting mascot make a swap and attach it to her..

Ok, this can get costly, so be prepared. I was not prepared for it last year and it cost me big time. This year, I figured it in to the cost of running the troop and asked the parents to help.

Expected costs:

Mascot $3.99 up to $12.99
Journal $0.99 up to $5.00
Swap supplies should not cost more than .25 cents each. Less if you can.
Disposable camera $3.99
Developing film $5.00 (ask a parent, she may do this for you)
Post card $0.25
Art from your girls and information on your area - less than a dime I would think
Postage - if you can get your mascot ad all her things into a flat rate priority envelope without it bulging, it will cost you $3.85 to send your mascot and $3.85 to return the mascot you are hosting. The postage alone could very well run you $8.00 per month, so figure this in when calculating the cost of running your troop.

This year, I have ten little girls in our troop and asked each parent to pay $5.00 to help cove the cost of shipping the mascots. This gave us $50.00 for postage. It would have cost our troop $56.00 to ship mascots each month except we hosted a higher level mascot and she was so big that it ran us nearly 10.00 to send her back. ( the other troop did offer to pay the shipping for us) So be careful about what you host. Ask questions about the size of the mascot, etc.

Remember, hosting mascots is fun and very special.  Make sure you all are having fun (you too, leader).  If it becomes work, the you and the girls will hate it.  Daisy Troop 1503 sends a SWAP to a new troop each month. 

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