A FEW IDEAS FOR SWAPS .... YOU CAN COME UP WITH MORE!
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Wooden clothespins, large and small. Painted and made to look like
different people or animals. A pin is glued to the back.
Individual "leaves" of a large pine cone can be the head of an animal.
Add eyes, then twigs for antlers and you have a deer. A small red pom
pom can turn it into Rudolph.
Shells--glue eyes on to make shell critters. Or take those with natural
holes and string them on one end of a piece of yarn. On the other end
glue a fish, drawn, colored and cut from construction paper.
Nuts are great for animals, baskets, and many other things.
S'mores from cut up sections of a box, a square of brown felt and a
cotton ball. Glue all together with yarn and attach to a pin.
Laminate (with clear contact paper) nice leaf rubbings.
Pizza made of tan felt with red, yellow and green felt scraps glued on.
Construction paper and typing paper can be folded and cut to make a
mini book. Selected stickers can help give it a certain theme.
Square knot ribbon. Take different colors (for example, Juniors might
use blue and green) of ribbon, about 6" long. Tape the ends of the
ribbon to a table and have the girls practice making square knots in
them until there is about an inch and a half left. Then tie a small bell on
the end. Usually they will get 4-6 knots on the ribbon, and it is great
square knot practice! Change the color to suit season, etc. You could
also do this, but braid the ribbon.
Glow in the dark. Glow in the dark stickers on black contact paper or
cardboard. Make a circle of cardboard and black paper and put star and
planet glow in the dark stickers on it. Or paint wooden cutouts and
decorate with fabric paint--write troop number, name of event, I love
GS, etc. Some fabric paints glow in the dark.
Small scraps of leather can make tiny saddles, using yarn and pipe
cleaners for the stirrups.
Wooden cut outs--attach eyes, paint, etc.
Eyelet trim (inch and a half wide). Cut into sections and glued to white
ribbon makes a cute apron.
Make friendship pins with beads on a safety pin.
Mini sit-upons.
Felt pennants with activity name and date on them.
Peanut trolls, with pin on back.
Puzzle pins painted in hot colors, sealed with iridescent colors sprinkled
on them.
Fuzzy dice made from soft foam cubes with marker dots hung from a
pin.
Prismatic mylar, cut to make CDs, pasted onto cardboard.
Octopus--pom pom with two wiggly eyes. Braid four pieces of yarn and
attach to the bottom of the pom pom in the center of the yarn so there
are eight arms.
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Indian--pom pom with narrow strip of felt and tiny feather to make
headdress. Glue on wiggly eyes, etc.
Teddy graham cookies, spray painted gold, glued onto felt strips as
medals.
Peanuts sprayed with polyurethane, pom pom wig, wiggle eyes, bean
nose.
Magic wands--popsicle sticks, painted black with each end painted
white.
M & Ms wrapped in colored cellophane.
Fans folded from wallpaper border remnants, glue lace on edge and
ribbon rosette at base.
Felt kite, yarn for tail.
Toilet paper roll--straws cut into 1.5" sections, cut and glue toilet paper
to fit, and run a piece of yarn through it.
Campfires made from cinnamon sticks and red, orange and yellow felt.
Small rolled logs can be made from brown grocery bags.
Pipe cleaners--cut into quarters, wrap yarn around the middle to form a
spider. Twist red and white pipe cleaners together to form candy canes.
Make wreaths with pipe cleaners and decorate with ribbon, pom poms
or sequins.
Silk leaf with a rolled pipe cleaner in it to resemble a worm. Wrap a pipe
cleaner around a thin paintbrush (Pencils work, but give fatter worms).
Hot glue the worm to the leaf, add eyes and antenna if desired. Glue a
pin to the other side.
Native American--beads threaded on yarn, with a small feather tied to
one end. Also small strips of brown felt, glued to form headbands. Add
a small feather and decorate with fabric paint. Teepee--frame formed
with two toothpicks. Triangle of black felt glued to it. Then tan and
cream-colored felt was wrapped around to form the teepee (Flat with
only two toothpicks). Glue down--brown yarn was tied at top to secure
it. Decorate with fabric paint.
Tiny plastic seasonal shapes available at craft stores. Have girls draw
faces on them if desired. Attach string to them with safety pin.
Mini potpourri using lace ribbon and potpourri.
Mini cups or champagne glasses. Put several pom poms in them, a
small red pom pom on top, and a section of plastic straw to create a
sundae.
Felt trefoils with troop number written in fabric paint.
Pom Pom critters--Add eyes and feet and antenna if desired. Add beak
and feathers for a bird, flippers for a seal, a trunk for an elephant.
Bottle caps can be glued to the flip top part of an aluminum can and
spray painted black to resemble a cast iron skillet. Pin goes on the
bottom, and felt can be used to put food in the skillet.
Use netting and yarn to make mini dunk bags. Cut the netting in circles
and have girls thread yarn through the top to make a drawstring. Maybe
you could create mini dishes to put inside.
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Mini baskets, filled with tiny pom poms to look like an Easter basket. Or
put small flowers in it.
Little creatures made out of smooth stones or nuts with painted or felt
features.
Bunnies made from a clothespin; wiggle eyes and pom-poms
Cloth trefoils: green material cut into trefoils; write troop # and even
name on the trefoil
Needlepoint designs on plastic canvas cut into various shapes
Bookmarks made of clear contact paper over pictures, or colorful
contact paper/felt
Felt animal shapes
Caterpillars- rubber band, pipe cleaner, wiggle eyes; wrap pipe cleaner
around rubber band and pencil. Attach one end of rubber band to pipe
cleaner, pull of pencil. Add eyes
Shell jewelry
Wood or ceramic shapes with troop or event information
Pin eye; take pierced earring back, glue on pony bead and wiggle eyes
Packing bead creatures: decorate packing beads with sequins and
paint
Tongue depressor and plastic spoons can be made into people or
decorated with potpourri
Noodles can be painted and strung together put onto large safety pins
Origami animals
Creatures made from pom-poms and wiggle eyes
Small wallpaper fans
Write haiku poems on small squares of paper, cover in clear contact
paper, punch hole in corner and attach a ribbon
Make designs from perler beads, add string or pin
Paper snowflakes covered in clear contact paper
Friendship knots
Ribbon bows with pin attached
Birthday candles tied with ribbon and pin attached
Gods eyes made with toothpicks and embroidery floss
Finger puppets
Tissue paper flowers
Paper beads strung on a string
Pony beads on a large safety pin, attached to a small safety pin
Small macramé or crocheted items
Caterpillars: place two different colored halves of pipe cleaners side by
side. Wind around pencil. Slide off and glue small wiggle eyes to one
end. Safety pin should be put in between the coils. You can turn this
into a bee by adding wings.
Rainbows: use red, yellow, blue & green pipe cleaners cut into thirds.
Place in rainbow order then twist the ends together. Curve into rainbow
shape. Glue a cotton ball to each end as a cloud
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Candy cane: use red and white pipe cleaners cut into thirds. Twist into
candy cane swirl. Curve the top. Add tiny ribbon bow
Butterflies: accordion fold rectangles of pretty paper (gift wrap is great).
Pinch paper in the middle, bend one third of a pipe cleaner around and
give a twist at the top. Curve the ends of the pipe cleaner around a
pencil point for a nice touch. Fluff out the wings
Peanuts sprayed by leader with polyurethane, glue on wiggle eyes and
pinto beans for nose. Glue colored pom-pom on for wig
Teddy Graham cookies: spray with metallic paint, glue on felt tabs to
look like medals
Plastic canvas cut into rainbow shapes. Weave lanyard lacing through
holes
Make magic wands out of Popsicle sticks
Wallpaper fans with rosettes from fabric store and ribbon glued on
Plastic canvas cut into rectangles: make flags by weaving yarn of
different colors
Bracelets made from pony beads threaded onto pipe cleaners. Twist
ends together to conceal in bead
M&M candies wrapped in colored cellophane and tied with ribbon
Hersheys kisses made from foil, with troop # written on paper tag
Take a plastic spoon, put a chocolate kiss in each, wrap in plastic and
tie with ribbon. Attach a note: Here’s a spoonful of love and kisses for
you
Make Oscar the Grouch: glue wiggle eyes to a green pom-pom glued to
top of film can
Flashlight made of aluminum foil
Pizza slice of tan felt with colored scraps glued on
Beads on a piece of plastic lacing
Shrink art pieces
Pennants with Camp Franklin Park
Miniature camp items
Worry dolls
Miniature campfires; small twigs, twist together with red and yellow pipe
cleaners for flames
Lanyards from plastic lacing
Mayflower ship; walnut shell half with small piece of play dough inside;
toothpick and small paper for sail
Warm fuzzy pom-pom with wiggle eyes glued on, then glue pom-pom to
felt feet
Miniature tomahawks; 4 sticks, yarn, feathers, sponge; cut damp
sponge into rectangle, wrap yarn in a cris cross fashion, tie off in back.
Glue feathers so they hang down. Sponge will harden when it dries
WOPAT bookmark: cut a felt strip and glue dots of felt in the colors of
each world down the strip; W (red- Well being), O (yellow- Out of
doors), P (blue- People), A (purple- Arts), and T (orange- Today and
tomorrow). Or make a WOPAT creature using pom-poms
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Five facet beads, one of each of the above colors with a green tri-bead
at the bottom. Make the girls name the worlds before swapping
35mm film container turned into first aid kit with band aid, etc, in it
Scraps of paper with stickers and plastic to make them waterproof
Butterfly made of bow tie noodle
Ribbon with your troop number on it
Scraps of strain tied in different knots
Styrofoam cup melted in oven turns into hat
Felt pieces in brown, tan & white to make mini smore
Bottle cap painted black with brown, yellow and white felt cut to look like
bacon and eggs cooking in a frying pan
Small spools of thread, with a tag that says “We are SEW lucky to be
Girl scouts!” add ribbon
Orange pom-pom with green leaf-shaped fabric glued on; note says
“Orange you glad to be a Girl Scout?” Can use larger pom-poms and
make jack-o-lanterns
Make a leader swap by cutting 4x4 pieces of fabric. Put a couple tsp. of
bath salts in and tie with green and white ribbon. Attach note that says
“Calgon...take me away” Great swap after a long week
Take mini-clothespins, paint with acrylic paints to look like Girl Scouts;
drill through the sides where the arms should be and string with a bead
in between the clothespins. Nice to make for leaders by making them
the age level they are leading