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Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Enrichment: Talking Sticks


Years ago, Brownies had a special two-fingered sign when they said their own Brownie Promise. Now, Brownies say the same Promise as all other Girl Scouts. Now the two-fingered sign is called the Talking Sign and is used when girls are sitting in their Girl Scout Circle. When a girl has something to say, she makes the two-fingered sign and taps the floor in front of her.

Girl Scout troops often use a Talking Stick when having discussions to help girls learn to respect the meeting's moderator--whether that is an adult leader or a troop member--and to encourage them to take turns in speaking without blurting out or butting into the conversation and taking over. 

The talking stick is actually a Native American tradition, and can be plain or decorated. Only the person holding the talking stick may speak – if a girl wishes to speak, she would use the talking sign to signal that she would like to have the talking stick passed to her. Sometimes troops use some other sort of object such as a stuffed animal as a “talking bear” or other object.