Brownie Investiture


This is a good ceremony for the first Brownie meeting, or whenever a new girl joins your Brownie troop. My girls liked it so much, that we did the ceremony every fall when we started the new year.

First, read the Brownie story from the handbook (the grandmother telling the children about the elves who come at night to help).

Then, put a mirror in the middle of the room, and put some greenery around the mirror (this is the pond). Next, have the girls stand - spread around the room and give them greenery to hold up (they are the trees of the woods). You can have an "owl" in the woods too (beanie baby owl - Pooh Bear collection).

Each girl takes a turn going through the woods to the pond. Then at the pond, she does the turning around 3 times saying the rhyme "Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the pond and saw MYSELF." After they have all taken a turn being the girl in search of the Brownie, you give them their pins, vests, or sashes.


I found this poem, which might work better than reading the story from the handbook.

The Brownie Story (a poem)
For those who've come, I'm here to share
The Brownie Story with girls who care
For once, a long time ago
When fairies and elves in England did grow
Two little girls as normal as you
Lived with their father and grandmother, too!
Their father, a tailor, worked hard all day
And Granny, very busy, had no time to play
The girls loved to play and dance and sing
They could make a game out of any old thing
Then one day the father, a wise old man
Told of the magic of Brownie Land
He told them of the Brownies who work and dust
And clean for their families without making a fuss
Granny told them to look for a magical place
Where the wise old owl might show them the face
Of a Brownie who was willing to clean and sew
And dance and sing, 'cause Brownies love that, you know!
Our two found the owl with the answers to share
With all the little girls waiting way out there
Said he "Go to the Magical Brownie Ring,
Join all the Brownies in everything."
"Deep in the woods when the moon is out
Go to the pond - turn yourself about
You'll find magic that starts with a rhyme"
And this magic circles the world in time
"Twist me and turn me
And show me the elf
I looked in the water
And saw MYSELF"
Now all of us know of the magic Brownie woods
Where each little girl helps as she should
Where trees and flowers and the rain and the sun
Are friends of children who join Scouting fun

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I am not affiliated with the Girl Scouts of America or any other scouting or guiding organization.