Girl Scout troop leaders are experts at entertaining packs of kids. We reached out to Girl Scout volunteers across the nation, asking for their best group activities. A flood of inspiring stories and ingenious ideas came in from hundreds of troops. Here's one of our favorites.

TROOP: Junior Girl Scout Troop 24259
HOMETOWN: Woodstock, Georgia
LEADERS: Suzie Cooney and Tammy Smith

What They Did: Each scout wrote her name at the top of a piece of paper and passed it to the girl next to her, who wrote down something she admired about the owner of the paper ("You're a good listener," for example, or "You make me laugh") before passing it on to the next person.

Why They Love This Idea: Talk about the power of positive thinking! This little game boosted the girls' self-confidence and helped them form friendships. "They realized they were valued and admired by their peers," says Tammy. "Some of them were surprised to learn that someone they'd thought they had little in common with had traits that they admired."

Materials

• Paper

• Pens or markers

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