Coming up with Project Ideas

My first Co-Leader was amazed when I was prepared with projects and meeting topics for the rest of the year within a couple of weeks after finishing initial training.  She couldn't believe I came up with all those ideas myself!  Especially since I hadn't been a Girl Scout myself, so this was all completely new to me.  Well, let me let you in on the secret:

I didn't.

Just like you, I started combing the Internet for ideas as soon as I got my leader's book.  I found some really awesome resources (which can be found on the Handy Links page), and did a LOT of googling.  I modified things as I went along, especially as I started to get to know my girls and what they enjoyed doing.  

But once, you have looked through what other Troop Leaders have done and exhausted those ideas, then what?

I like looking through general Crafting and DIY projects and seeing what I can modify to be appropriate for the topic of a given meeting.  Or sometimes I find a fabulous project, and then I see if I can work a meeting around it.  For instance, I found this daffodil project on a wedding website (via Pinterest).  It looks pretty, well designed, and simple enough even for Daisies to do (with a little help).  The only real change I would make would to ditch the floral tape and just use green chenille stems.

Now, what would I do with it?

Well, with a Daisy Troop, I would incorporate it into a Journey, possibly finding tutorials on making similarly constructed Daisies, Tulips, Roses, and Hyacinths to match the Flower Friends from the Daisy Garden.  For Brownies and Juniors, this would make lovely Mother's Day projects or even SWAPs (in a smaller version).  Older Troops could use this as a recycling program or as a way to work with younger girls.

This is kind of the way it works for me.  I collect files of ideas (right now, I have a Girl Scouts pinboard on Pinterest in addition to paper files) for projects, and try to correlate them to things I want to cover in meeting.  I probably have 3 times as many project ideas as I will use.  But I know that I will never be without something to do, a direction to take, a project my girls will love.

What process do YOU use to come up with ideas?