Stress. It’s something we feel we can’t escape. And even at fifth grade, my Girl Scouts are feeling the pinch.
At our last troop meeting, my girls were thumbing through the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting and an old Junior Girl Scout badge book for ideas. They stumbled on the retired Stress Less badge (which thankfully, I had on hand). They were all for it.
“How many people are stressed?” I asked. All six hands shot up, and then they started shouting out how stressed they felt. At 10.
So yes, the Stress Less badge is on our plan for this week’s meeting. Perfect timing, with tests and the inevitable holiday stress that they probably feel coming from their parents!
So this week, we’ll be sharing about ways we can manage stress, from focusing on our breathing to finding other outlets for managing stress. We’ll be pulling out our favorite yoga games from last year, but we’ll be staying away from aromatherapy this time; we’ve played with essential oils with a Breathe activity with our local Cadettes earlier this year.
DIY Journals
As we’re also a faith-based troop, we’ll also chat about how our personal faith can help support us in times of stress. We’ll be making prayer journals like the one below, but this is a project you can easily adapt with other fun doodles for the cover.
Making the prayer journals themselves is a very easy task. I think the toughest part is deciding what to put on the cover! A simple Pinterest search found these patterns online. We downloaded the art and printed them on cardstock two to a sheet (5×7) for a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 notebook.
You’ll want to use glue or Modge Podge to adhere them to the covers, and then the girls can color their designs as they pleas to personalize.
We are repurposing some leftover conference notebooks from my office for this project, however, you can easily use notebooks, composition books or other items for this project. You can print prompts that they can include in their books as well. Here are a few I found online:
We are leaving the insides up to the girls; however, so they can use it for a “regular” journal or not. If we have time, we’ll let them make one for their mothers for Christmas as well.
Use Resources Wisely 
I am an avid journal-er, it relaxes me and makes life easier to deal with at times
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I don’t think that I’ve ever done a journal of any kind
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Another great idea. I am a journaler as well and writing can definitely relieve stress! A great thing to teach them young. – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
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LOL – if I’m honest, coloring books and fancy art journals stress me out. I want them to be perfect and it’s just more pressure. I know a lot of girls and women who love them though.
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Which is why I like just a notebook with a fun cover
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Such a great idea. I so enjoy making my own journals!
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This is so cool! I love Journaling. I have almost my entire life written down in one notebook or another. Journaling holds a special place in my heart.
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