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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders

August 25, 2014, 1:19 pm
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Last year I was the assistant leader for my American Heritage Girls (AHG) troop's Pathfinder unit. We had a great year, and I got my feet wet enough to volunteer to be the official leader this year. I'm going to throw some of my ideas out there for other Pathfinder leaders.

We had an AHG 101 meeting last week, which was aimed at Q&A for interested families AND for new girls and graduated Pathfinders to begin working on their Joining Awards. I didn't want to start our AHG year work at that meeting since not all the members would come, but we did have some Pathfinders.

So, this is what I did to introduce them to what it means to be a Pathfinder as opposed to any of the other units. We made Pathfinder Girls!


First I had them cut out pathfinder tshirts that I had printed out. I explained to them that this was their uniform and all the girls in the troop will know that they're a Pathfinder when they wear their Pathfinder shirt.

I scanned my daughter's shirt's logo and put it on a shirt-shaped graphic in Word.

Next I had them cut out a "navy" skirt. I told them that as a part of their uniform, they need to wear a navy skirt, skort, or shorts.

I gave the girls a piece of 18"x12" drawing paper. Then the girls glued on their clothes to the paper, and I had them trace their hands next to their clothes telling them that each of them were a very important part of the troop and that they'll need to help me this year (with their hands) to serve our unit and our troop.

Then they got to draw their arms and legs and head and hair. For fun, I gave them colored googly eyes and jewels to glue on their papers. They also had fun coloring their fingernails.

Next I gave them each a folded heart. On the front it says, "I promise to...." On the inside it says, "Love God, Cherish Family, Honor Country, Serve Community." I told them that these were the big ideas that we were going to be learning as Pathfinders and that they need to keep them close to their hearts.

And finally, I gave them a little piece of string and 6 beads to put on it. I told them how they were going to earn beads this year and what each bead stood for. They got excited about that! I poked little holes through the paper next to their drawn girl's neck and we laced them through and tied them on the other side of the paper. 

Of course, I had them write their names at the top so we could remember whose was whose! (Like they'd forget!) But, it also helped me remember their names.



They really enjoyed making them, and it took about 30 minutes. We had time to play a game and do a get-to-know-you activity. Here's to a great AHG year!!

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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinder Paper Bag Book

August 31, 2014, 1:47 pm
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Last year, I made Pathfinder paper bag books with the girls to learn all the components of the AHG Oath and about the Level Award - Eliza Shirley.


AHG changed the Pathfinder Program this year, and we've got a new book and a new Level Award - Fanny Crosby. How exciting! So, I've been working this week to change the paper bag book components to reflect the new changes.

I got the original idea for the paper bag book from Sarah's Blog and her Pathfinder lapbook. I loved the way she put it together, but I wanted to put the components into a paper bag book to make it a little bit craftier and more compact. So I used many of her images and ideas, but shrunk them, and I also made some of my own.

Use 3 8lb paper bags folded in half. I alternated the directions
they faced so the open bag part would come after a section that
required use of a "pocket."
back & front (have them color the girl's uniform and write their names)
1st Pages - Fanny Crosby, Oath, Creed
Pocket - Hymns
There are 3 "pockets" to put special things inside. I have one for the
AHG levels, Cherish Coupons, and I'm making a new one to put right here next to the Fanny Crosby
section - Hymns. We're going to make a little hymnal with Fanny's
famous songs in it.

2nd Pages - Love God (color picture of themselves in heart)
the "I love God when I..." paper folds out

3rd Pages - Cherish Family - color family
pocket - Cherish Coupons

4th Pages - Honor Country - color state girls live in and original 13 colonies,
write President's name and color, color in the correct colors for the flag

5th Pages - Serve Community - color community
pocket - AHG Levels (pictures & descriptions of Pathfinders, Tenderhearts, etc.)

I've updated the component pages to reflect the AHG changes for the 2014-15 year [you can download them here (print 1 to a page) and here (print 2 to a page) and here (Pathfinder girls to color) and here (at a later date for the different AHG levels for the last "pocket")].

I cut out most of the components that were more difficult and the girls cut the rest. We spent one meeting working on our Level Award and Intro to Oath/Creed pages and then each of the different Oath components received a meeting's attention. So, we have one meeting with constructing our paper bag book components, and the next to do crafts and activities which line up with what we're discussing.

At the end of the year, the girls had their own fun book reminding them about the AHG Oath and also components for helping them earn their Joining Award. I keep the books all year and give them back to them at the closing ceremony when they become Tenderhearts.
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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Fanny Crosby

September 10, 2014, 12:29 pm
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We had our first "official" meeting last week, and I used to to focus on Fanny Crosby.

First I told them about Fanny (you can use what AHG provides or compile your own information). They were fascinated about the fact that the pretend doctor made her blind.

Then I put a blindfold on them and they took turns trying to find me in the room. I made it even more tricky because i would move or hide behind things! They giggled and giggled and said that it was HARD! If we had more time, I would have given them a chance to write blindfolded too!


Next, I showed them a small hymnal that I had marked every one of Fanny's hymns. They were amazed at how many she wrote. And just in my little hymnal, there were more than 20! She wrote over 9,000! I sang a couple to them, and, not surprisingly, they didn't know them! But their mamas recognized them! We need to work on that!

Then I asked them how she did it. Could she read and write? YES! And we did our own braille project that I found from this site. I gave the girls self-adhesive rhinestones and pre-marked with yellow dots the places where they needed to put their "braille" dots to spell their name. They thought this was really cool!


Lastly, I gave them a sheet of paper with 3 of Fanny's hymns on it to fold and make their own little Fanny Crosby hymnal. (For copyright reasons I cannot post the actual document, but i can show you the set up in the picture below (top 2 hymns upside-down and the bottom two pics right side up - on a 8.5"x11" sheet, .5" margins, 2 columns). They will put it in the pocket of their Pathfinder paper bag book next week.


We had a little time left, so I had them put the little ovals about Fanny's life (from my previous post) in order and we stapled them together. We will put the bags together next meeting, so all they'll have to do is glue or put these pieces in their proper place.
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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Love God Creation Quilt

October 3, 2014, 5:00 pm
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For the LOVE GOD section of our meetings, I have some big plans for a little bit of time!

As recommended in the handbook (the new handbook is SOOOOO cute), we're going to be making a creation quilt. I cut out 4" fleece squares (really they are leftover squares from fabric that was used years ago to make those tie-end blankets craft projects - i love scraps!) and had the girls draw one day of God's creation on each. I gave them 9 squares total - one for their name and one that says AHG and the year.


We have 2 meetings to make it, so for the first meeting, we talked about who God is and filled in most of the spots in our Pathfinder paper bag book for Love God. For the rest of the meeting (20-30 minutes), the girls decorated their Creation Quilt.

this is one of the girls' creation drawings - awwwwww!

I reviewed the days of creation with them before they began. Then I gave them 9 squares to put in any order/pattern they wanted. Then we (the adults) numbered them (skipping the first square and the last square), 1 - 7. Then we stacked them up from "0" - "9" in order.

I gave them a scratch piece of construction paper (which was a verrrrrrrrry good idea, we discovered) and permanent markers. On square "0" I had them write their name and put any little decorations they wanted. I told them not to press hard and write with the markers, but to gently "paint" with them.

When they finished, we put the square at the bottom of their stack and started on square "1" - God made LIGHT when there was none. Some drew black for darkness and a light color to represent light. They put that square at the bottom of the stack and continued through the stack...

square "2" - God made SKY & SEA so blue.
square "3" - God made FLOWERS, PLANTS, & TREES.
square "4" - God made MOON, STARS, & SUN galore.
square "5" - God made FISH & BIRDS alive.
square "6" - God made MAN & ANIMALS that day.
square "7" - God was RESTING in his Heaven.
square "last" - "AHG 2014" or whatever you want to write...

After they finished, I kept their stack in order and put it in their baggie with their name on it (along with their meeting necklace, which I hand out at the beginning of each meeting and take up at the end).

Next meeting we will finish up with How to Show God We Love Him in our bag book and most of the time we will be sewing. I practiced today to show you what I'm going to try and accomplish with them. (They were SOOOO excited when I told them that they'd be sewing next meeting! Here's hoping it works!)

Here are the pictures showing how I did it. I punched holes along the sides of the squares, 4 to a side, with my Cropadile craft punch. Then I used ribbon-like yarn to do the stitching - and pulled loosely. I tied knots on the ends.

punch 4 holes per side (or more if you think your Pathfinders
are more capable than mine...we have young girls)

we used TAPESTRY needles - not sharp! i sewed up one side first
by flipping the middle section onto the bottom section.

this is what it looks like after one side is sewn together

i folded the top section onto the opened middle section and continued
sewing across

after i sewed across two sides, i folded the right side over the middle
section and sewed up

i finished the sewing and this is what it looks like - puckered, but
i think doable for the girls - we'll see at the next meeting!!!!


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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Creation Quilt Completion!

October 18, 2014, 11:34 am
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The girls had sooooo much fun sewing their Creation Quilts yesterday! I have 6 girls at our Pathfinder level, but only 3 were there for this activity. We had 2 adults (including me), helping tie knots and thread needles, and it worked out well. We were busy bouncing from each child helping them with where they were at on their quilt progress.

Instructions are written on my previous post.





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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Cherish My Family

November 5, 2014, 2:21 pm
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Using the Pathfinders' new book as my guide, we're going to talk about families and complete the 2 pages in our paper bag books about Cherishing my Family.

We are also going to start working on this project based on Micah 6:8. Sometimes in our own family, it's the hardest thing to follow: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." If we can act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in our families, they will definitely be feeling cherished!

(this is my practice canvas so you can see the placement - but the words aren't on it yet)
This project is all over Pinterest, so I know you've probably seen THE MICAH 6:8 CRAFT. We painted the above hands, feet, and heart on a 12x12 canvas. While the leaders are working with painting one girl's hands and feet, the other girls are going to be coloring and cutting out their cherish my family coupons for their coupon books in the paper bag book.

When it's all finished, I will write (with sharpie) near the hands: Act Justly, near the heart: Love Mercy, and near the feet: Walk Humbly. And the girls will get markers or paint to decorate the edges. This is step 1, and probably enough to tackle for the first session on Cherishing My Family.

I plan on giving the final projects to the girls in December after they're wrapped (by the girls at a meeting), to give as Christmas gifts to their parents.


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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Cherish My Family Canvas

November 22, 2014, 10:47 am
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We met yesterday and the Pathfinders made their canvases! They loved it - and loved describing how it felt to get their toes painted with cold paint!


I bought a table cloth at the Dollar Store and taped it to the carpet next to the girls' restroom in the building we meet in. Then, I used an old towel for the girls to stand on while i painted their feet. After I finished printing each girl's feet on the canvas, I carried the girl to the bathroom where another leader/parent washed their feet in the sink. It was a really good system.

After we painted their feet, we painted their hands - one girl at a time - and used the same bathroom wash system. While they were waiting, I gave them craft sticks to color with color pencils - I told them to make them into themselves. And said they could be a bookmark. I just needed SOMETHING to keep them from bouncing off the walls that I didn't have to supervise them in doing.

Next, I gave them each a paintbrush to draw a heart. I had to outline a couple of hearts and then they filled them in. (I did do a little rescuing to preserve the heart shape on a couple of them. They might have gone a little over-board...)


Next, I said they could paint dots around the feet and hands but NOT on the hands and feet. One of the girls didn't follow that direction...so I painted over the feet that they "dotted" at home to "fix" it. I wish I hadn't given them the same sponge brushes that I had used to paint their hands and feet. I wish I would have given them small brushes...because they went crazy with the "dots" - which turned out a little triangle/blob-like.

We closed by putting back on our socks and shoes and practicing their Bible memory verse. (I"m going to write the words on the canvas with a Sharpie when they are completely dry.)

I'm spending 3 weeks on the Cherish My Family section, because of how our meetings are planned, but I'm glad. Part of cherishing our families means we do nice things for them - like give presents! So this canvas is going to be a Christmas present for their parents/guardians!!!!


At the next meeting, I'm bringing wrapping paper so they can wrap their own present they made! For the girls who didn't make this meeting, I e-mailed the parents and asked them to send their child with a gift that they plan on giving at Christmas so they can participate in wrapping with us.


I love how they turned out and the girls really enjoyed making them.
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Christmas Advent Activities

November 25, 2014, 1:58 pm
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Every year we prepare Advent activities for the girls. This year is no different! I couldn't find my list from last year, so I wanted to make sure and post one this year so I can remember what we do/did!

I plan it based on our traveling schedule and events that are already going on that coordinate with our Christmas celebration. This is the official plan - in case nothing changes...

(1) MAIL CHRISTMAS CARDS (if I get them all done over Thanksgiving!)
(2) MAKE A PAPER GARLAND
(3) CC CHRISTMAS PARTY (party with our homeschool group)
(4) LIGHTS & SANTA @ BASEBALL FIELD
(5) HANDEL CONCERT
(6) DATE ALL DAY WITH MOMMY OR DADDY (I'm taking Ladybug away with friends for a mother/daughter weekend, and Daddy is taking SugarBee to the zoo for a zookeeper talk and feeding the giraffes - and whatever else they come up with)
(7) MOVIE - RUDOLPH THE RED NOSE REINDEER
(8) READ CHRISTMAS BOOKS
(9) MAKE TASTY TREATS FOR CHURCH WORKERS (usually, Rice Crispy Treats)
(10) DELIVER GOODIES - SECRET MISSION STYLE
(11) POST OFFICE RUN TO MAIL GIFTS
(12) AHG CHRISTMAS PARTY
(13) CHRISTMAS WITH COUSINS
(14) GINGERBREAD HOUSE
(15) WRAP PRESENTS
(16) CHRISTMAS WITH NANA & PAWPAW
(17) EAT DINNER BY CANDLELIGHT & SING CAROLS
(18) MUSEUM (perhaps children's too?)
(19) MOVIE - POLAR EXPRESS
(20) POPCORN AND CHRISTMAS LIGHTS - NEIGHBORHOOD DRIVE
(21) FAMILY Christmas
(22) MAKE SUGAR COOKIES
(23) MAKE JESUS a BIRTHDAY CARD
(24) READ Christmas story from the BIBLE

(25) STOCKINGS
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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Honor My Country

February 10, 2015, 5:50 am
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We're back in the swing of things at AHG and my little Pathfinders have lost their shyness and are full-blown gigglers. We have spent 2 meetings on Honor My Country. The first being used to complete our Pathfinder Paperbag Book pages regarding this topic.

At the recent meeting, half of my time was used by one of the Pioneers who came and worked on a craft with the girls. This craft is something that will be used at our camp out in a couple weeks during our Sunday worship service. They decorated the fingers of a garden glove with different colored pom-poms and googly eyes to make Gospel Fuzzies. (To see what it looks like: Gospel Fuzzies Example)

The rest of the time was spent fulfilling a requirement for the Honor My Country requirement. I told them again about the significance of the American Flag, its colors, number of stripes and stars, and then they got to make their own flag - if they could design their country's flag.

By using just a piece of construction paper, some tape, and a shish-kabob skewer, I made the base of the flag. They used markers and I helped them cut out shapes to glue on.

I forgot to take pictures at the meeting - but here is SugarBee's flag creation.



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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - Honor My Country Thank You Cards

February 26, 2015, 7:51 am
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To continue teaching the Pathfinders what it means to honor our country, I chose to give them the opportunity to decorate cards for active troops and veterans.

I researched various organizations that accept cards for disbursement to troops, and came across  A Million Thanks. "We are asking individuals, schools, churches, businesses, and other organizations to write cards, letters, emails, and prayer messages of appreciation for our military, past and present. It is our goal to see that our military – active, reserve, and veterans – receive these messages, whether they are serving at home, abroad, or are injured in hospitals."

So I came up with a simple card for the girls to decorate and personalize. I even included some Explorers and other girls who needed something to do before our meeting started.

Here is the link to the PDF document: Thank Our Troops. I printed it on cardstock, cut it in half, and folded it for the girls. They really enjoyed making them - especially knowing that they could honor our country by giving thanks to our troops and veterans.




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American Heritage Girls Pathfinders - Serving My Community - Soles4Souls Service Project

March 21, 2015, 8:30 am
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Back in the fall, AHG sent out a leader guide (Fall 2014) listing some service opportunities. One of them included Pathfinders! I asked all the parents of my Pathfinders if they'd be interested in collecting pairs of shoes to donate to a Soles4Souls service project and they all agreed.

"Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty.  The organization advances its anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those shoes and clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities." - www.soles4souls.org

So, yesterday was the big turn-in day (I just invited Pathfinders, 1. because I've got to transport the shoes to a donation site, and 2. because I wanted them to have a special service project just for them). The girls brought 5 to 10 pairs of shoes each!



I explained to them how the program works and where their shoes will be going to - children all over the world who need shoes or to people who can sell them to make money for their families. They learned first hand how they can serve their GLOBAL community!

Because they completed the service requirements (all the information and requirements are located in the Fall 2014 leader guide near the end - each AHG level has different requirements), they will earn a BADGE at the end of the year bridging ceremony! They are very excited! I am thankful for the kids (and parents') hearts for this project!
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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders - NEXT STEP

April 24, 2015, 12:15 pm
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For the Next Step stepping stone, I got off easy! One of our Pioneers in our group needed to work on a requirement for her level award which was - lead a meeting of a younger unit! PERFECT!

I asked her to talk about the different units: the requirements, uniform, badges AND tell the troop about some of her favorite badges she's earned. She also worked on another badge requirement and had the girls do a fashion show while learning about the importance of modesty.

We have one last meeting to go over the Bible verse for this section and I'm going to use it to prepare them for the end of year ceremony and their "presentation." I am also going to have them make their own beads using red, white, and blue Sculpey polymer clay and have them on their necklaces. We'll also finish our paper bag book by all the girls drawing themselves on the back of their books - with the label "My AHG Friends."

At the Bridging Ceremony, I'm going to give each girl their level award, their Soles4Souls service patch, their completed paper bag book, and their necklace with their clay beads on them before they walk over the bridge and are given their vest, neckerchief, and handbook. I will give their parents this HANDOUT of the requirements for the Joining Award that they'll need to complete before they can receive any badges they earn as a Tenderheart along with a service hours tracking sheet.

Each of our units will have a table to display stuff/pictures that they've worked on this year so all the parents can see what all the groups do. I'm going to have the girls color the banner that says PATHFINDERS and place all the things they've made at our meetings on the table.


It's been a great year with the new Pathfinders program! My Pathfinders are all ready to move up and be Tenderhearts!


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American Heritage Girls - Pathfinders End of Year Bridging Ceremony

May 14, 2015, 12:03 pm
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We had our end of year ceremony a couple of weeks ago - and it was so cute and precious and fun. I made these badge holders for each of the girls with a ribbon and foam and a hot glue gun. I left a little extra ribbon behind the name so I could fasten a safety pin on the back so they could attach to the Pathfinder and the badges wouldn't get lost. The hot glue on the badges (just a little strip) worked great (my own daughter tried to peel off the badges - which, they do come off if they are peeled).



Each unit had a table displaying what the kids worked on this year. I decorated ours with a creation quilt, ACT LOVE WALK canvas, personal flag, 1st meeting Pathfinder craft drawing, our CREED stick (pink streamers), an American flag, and the Pathfinder book.


Each unit did a little presentation. I printed out legal-sized papers listing what the girls accomplished in each stepping stone, and each girl got to tell about what they did (I had to coach them a little).


Then, my co-leader pinned their badges on their shirts and they got to walk over the bridge where the Tenderhearts were waiting to welcome them and give them their new book and uniform.


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American Heritage Girls Pathfinders - Loving God - I-Spy Creation Bags

October 17, 2015, 4:50 pm
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This year I decided to do something different than the creation quilt for our Loving God stepping stone. (It was way adult-helper intensive last year.) It was fun and the kids loved it - but, I've got 9 Pathfinders now instead of the 3 I did this project with previously.

At VBS this summer, I did a creation craft with the kids that I thought would be PERFECT for our Pathfinders: I-Spy Creation Bags.

my daughter's VBS version

The supplies I used were as follows:

Day 1 – LIGHT - black & yellow loom rubber bands knotted together
Day 2 – SKY & SEAS - blue, shiny gift packaging/Easter egg grass type stuff
Day 3 – FLOWERS, PLANTS, & TREES - fake flower or greenery
Day 4 – SUN, MOON, & STARS - bead stars
Day 5 – SEA ANIMALS& BIRDS - bead sea animal & feather
Day 6 – LAND ANIMALS& MAN - sticker land animal & foam faces
Day 7 – God RESTED - nothing


I brought 4"x 6" sealing baggies from Hobby Lobby, thick masking tape, and rice as well. Don't over-fill the bags, they need to be able to move the rice around to find all the items within. The masking tape is to cover the ends of the sealed baggie so no little hands "accidentally" open their I-Spy bag.

We went through each day of creation (them reminding me what God made that day) and they each got to pick their item to put in their bag. They loooooooved it! At the end, we wrote the girls' names on the masking tape section so we'd know whose was whose.


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