Investiture
The ceremony where your girls officially become Girl Scouts,
and it's simpler to lead than it sounds
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Investiture is the ceremony where your girls are formally welcomed into Girl Scouts and make the Girl Scout Promise together. It sounds like a bigger production than it is. You can plan it in one evening and lead it straight from a printed page, even if you've never seen an Investiture before in your life. This page walks you through everything you need: what to have ready, what to say, and what to do once it's over.
What This Ceremony Focuses On
What This Ceremony Focuses On
Girl Scouting is built on both the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law, but there's no need to teach or discuss all 10 points of the Law at Investiture. That understanding builds gradually over a girl's whole time in Girl Scouts. This ceremony keeps things centered on the Promise itself: trying your best, and helping people. Girls say the Promise out loud, and the Promise does end with a line naming the Law -- but nothing else in the ceremony asks them to know the Girl Scout Law yet. That comes later, most commonly at the start of next year, when they have their Rededication Ceremony.
When to Hold It
When to Hold It
Plan for about the ceremony to last 10-15 minutes. A natural time is the end of your second or third troop meeting, once the girls have had a chance to learn the Girl Scout Sign, or you can fold it into a bigger occasion like Juliette Gordon Lowe's birthday on October 31st. If a girl joins your troop later in the year, you don't need to wait for a group ceremony -- just run a short version of this same script with her at one of your regular meetings.
Who Should Be There
Who Should Be There
The girls being invested, of course, plus parents if they'd like to watch. Some troops use this as an opportunity to also get a troop picture, or a picture of the girl with her troop leader. Girls who come from Girl Scout families may also want a picture of the women in their family. Everyone is welcome to celebrate!
Before the Ceremony Begins
Before the Ceremony Begins
Have every girl wear her Girl Scout uniform if she has one.
Ask each girl to TAKE OFF her insignia tab (the strip that hangs on the left side of the uniform and gets lost all the time), and hand it to you before the ceremony starts. She'll get it back, freshly pinned in place, during the ceremony itself.
If the insignia tab has the blue and gold WAGGGS pin on it as well, take that pin off from the rest of the tab, and put those pins in a ziplock for safe keeping (they'll get these in February). This keeps today's ceremony focused on just two things, the insignia tab and the Girl Scout membership pin still at the bottom of that tab. So your insignia tabs should look like one of those below.
What to Have Ready
What to Have Ready
Girl Scout membership pins (one per girl), plus each girl's insignia tab, collected right before the ceremony begins.
A small basket or tray to hold the pins and tabs while you work through the ceremony.
A printed copy of this script, or pull it up on your phone. You don't need to memorize anything.
Optional Extras: investiture certificates, a camera for a group photo, or a small treat for afterwards
Enough open floor space for everyone to stand in a circle.
The Ceremony
The Ceremony
(Form a circle.)
Let's all come together in a circle, just like Girl Scouts have done for over a hundred years. Today is a really special day. Today, each of you is going to become an official Girl Scout. When we're done, you'll be joining millions of girls all over the world who have made this exact same promise.
But before we make our Promise, let's review the Girl Scout Sign. Hold up your right hand at your shoulder. Fold your thumb down over your pinky finger, and hold your other three fingers up straight.
(Give them a moment to figure this out if necessary.)
Being a Girl Scout means making a promise: a promise to always try your best, and to look for ways to help other people. That's really at the heart of everything we do in Girl Scouts. It's simple to say, and it's something you'll keep growing into for as long as you're a Girl Scout, whether that's 1 year or 13.
These three fingers stand for the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise. Girl Scouts make this sign every time they say it.
Now girls, please join me in saying the Girl Scout Promise as a group:
On my honor
I will try
To Serve God, and my country
To help people
At all times
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
(Pin each girl, turning her pin so it's sideways, not right-side up.) [Girl's Name], as a leader of our troop, welcome to Girl Scouts!
(repeat for each girl)
You'll notice your pin is sideways, not standing up straight. That's on purpose. Girl Scouts have a slogan, a saying we try to live by, and it's this: Do a good turn daily. A good turn just means a good deed, something kind you do for someone else.
Your pin will stay sideways until you do your first good turn as a Girl Scout. It can be anything: helping a sibling with something, doing a chore without being asked, being kind to someone having a hard day. Once you've done it, you get to turn your pin right-side-up, at home or at our next meeting. So keep an eye out this week for your chance to do a good turn.
Now let's make a Friendship Circle.
Cross your right arm over your left, and hold hands with the person on each side of you. This makes a Friendship Circle. This circle stands for the sisterhood you're now part of -- Girl Scouts all over the world, past and present. Let's send a Friendship Squeeze around the circle. I'll squeeze the hand of the person next to me, and when she feels a squeeze on one hand, she'll squeeze the other to pass it around. And it'll go all the way around until it gets back to me.
(once the squeeze has made it all the way around)
Congratulations Girl Scouts! Let's celebrate!
(Take any pictures, eat any snacks, etc.)
After the Ceremony
After the Ceremony
Write the date in your troop records, since some councils like to see Investiture dates logged.
Send parents a quick photo if you took one.
And keep a spare membership pin or two on hand for the rest of the year, in case a new girl joins your troop later.
However your first investiture goes, the girls won't remember if a line was read perfectly. They'll remember that they were welcomed.
Put the blue and gold WAGGGS pins in a safe place. They'll get these pins added to their insignia tabs in February when your troop celebrates World Thinking Day.
Adding Girls Later
Adding Girls Later
When new girls join your troop, run a short 5-minute version of this same script at her first meeting. Everyone (including the new girl) says the Promise, and then she gets pinned. This way, she doesn't have to wait for a group ceremony to feel officially welcomed. (The new girl may not really know the words to the Girl Scout Promise yet, and that's okay, we're welcoming her into the group, and she'll pick it up in no time.)
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