Read about it below or click here to jump straight to the classroom & printable downloads.
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Hi, Friends!
In preparation for our new class – BRAVE MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS – we held a Mother-Daughter Day Camp here at the clubhouse. It was a beautiful 2 days with many of our friends and their daughters. We loved doing this and can’t wait for you to try it with your daughters…and your friends and their daughters!
Enjoy!!
Love,
melody and kathy
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For a very very very long time, we have been wanting to implement classes for little girls, preteens and teenagers. Last week we did a mother/daughter weekend….and it was WONDERFUL…and it was so successful, that we can’t wait to share it with you!
It really is amazing how receptive these girls are to this curriculum and material…I mean..they really really really get it….they do. They are thirsty for it and they LOVED IT. During our share time, they had insights that brought tears to my eyes…they are so much smarter, sensitive and full of individuality, hopes and dreams than I even imagined they would be. They are just like we are….just littler.
I LOVED the conversations going on…I LOVED the interaction between the mothers and the daughters…I LOOOOVED the way they talked about their art to each other….I LOVED most of all, the way they had such conviction about what they made, and what it meant, once they were done. I love how they believed in WHO THEY ARE, and WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF. I loved hearing about their hopes and dreams. I want to help them keep this spark before whatever it is that happens, happens…that thing that steals the spark from so many girls once they become women…..and how they have to fight to get it back. I want to help them to never really lose it……..they are such beautiful and powerful little souls.
So many wonderful things happened that week for all of us. To be able to be a part of this sealed the deal for me…..that we MUST be here for each other…WE MUST remind each other of all of the things that we forget. We MUST take responsibility for the protection and teaching of our daughters and our friend’s daughters….we must make sure that they know what they need to know…and that they get to keep shining..that their lights stay lit…we need to do all that we can to make sure that nothing blows their lights out…and when it does happen…that they have tools to know what to do about it.
Girls are powerful, amazing and strong. Boys are too……..I love my boys…oh how I love my boys…but there’s something so special and unique and sparkling about the soul of a girl……how her heart is so full of love and promise…and nurturing and enthusiasm…..we are just like these little girls, we are just bigger…older….we are still just like them. We just have adult stuff to deal with now.
It was a spectacular, special and unforgettable couple of days.
We want to make it so that you can do this too….share this kind of stuff with the special girls in your life….make sure they know what they need to know, and in the process, make sure that you get reminded of what you need to know…so that we can all just keep reminding each other…
Life is good…
Life is beautiful…
We are all so full of this goodness and beauty, all of us.
We are all so different…
We are all so important…
We all need each other so much…we need each other’s kindness, we need each other’s support, we need each other’s wisdom and strength and stories.
We all have so much to give.
We all have so much to learn and to experience.
We all have so much that we can do.
ALL OF US.
I love what I do.
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
xoxo
melody
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NOTE: We have had many, many requests from women and organizations who would like a PDF of this project. It is our pleasure to provide you with a free complimentary template so that YOU can do this meaningful project with the little girls in your life, whether they be daughters, friends, students, girl scout troops, or any other group!
We hope you enjoy it. <3
Brave Little Girl “I Am” Project
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This is a beautiful idea! How long do you think is the minimum time needed for the girls to create these?
I’m leading a Brownie troop meeting next week and want to use this along with a Leadership lesson I’m giving – about girls being proud of their talents. I have enough time, but want to be sure I don’t cut this part short.
Thank you!!
They will be able to complete this in a couple of hours. But be sure to have them use a VERY THIN layer of paint on their canvas so that it dries quickly. You might even have them apply their base coat by scraping it on with a credit card instead of using brushes. In my experience, they LOVE to use lots of paint, and waiting for it to dry can really hang you up. Another way around this is to have them apply their background paint and then give your leadership lesson while it dries, then return when the paint is dry for adding the collage portion. They can also cut out their word strips, etc., while the paint dries. I hope that helps. Have fun!!!! xoxo kathy
Hey, Diane!
I’m doing this for our Brownies as well! We have 17 girls that we break into 3 groups, and we send them to stations for 25 minutes each. The first week, I had them draw their faces and make construction paper hair and glue it to the portrait page. Last week, I had them paint their canvases (I had a blowdryer to speed them along). Tonight, we will be cutting out out portraits and gluing them with their affirmation words to the canvases we painted. It’s a little difficult packing everything up and lugging it back and forth, but the girls have had a chance to really work hard on each part of the process.
FABULOUS, Eden!!! Thanks for sharing how you are making it work spread over three weeks. We’d love to see photos!! Give our love to your Brownies!!! XOXO
Hi Melody,
I love this and would love to do this with my 7th grade mentoring group. What instructions did you give to the girls to get them to produce such amazing work? Also, what instructions did you give the moms? I am assuming that you had the mothers give advice to their daughters. This whole project is AMAZING. Great job!
Hi Adriana! So glad this project will work for your group! Here’s what Melody said: we gave them each an 8×10 canvas, paint and brushes and mod podge, along with scissors and print outs of the PDF. We set out a few trays of lace and trim and this and that…then we turned on some music and let them be. What they came up with was beautiful!:)
We’d love to hear how to works out for you and your group!! xo, Kallie
This is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing. What a wonderful way to explore self worth and individuality! I love it! Looking forward to doing this project with my young women’s group!
Awesome idea, would like to use it for our girl scout troop. Tried downloading PDF and the words pages have a black background and can not see most of the phrases/words.
Hi, Nicole –
Here is the pdf link… I tested it and don’t see the black background that you’re seeing. So one thing that might help is to right click on it and do a Save As, to save it to your computer. Then open it in Adobe Reader and print from there.
Have fun with this project!!
xo
kathy
I love these “I AM” boards. I am wanting to do them with my church young womens group and am wondering what notes you used to put inside the hearts of each girls canvas. Thanks for this amazing idea!
Hi Denise! This is really late…sorry for that!!! Your question slipped through and I just barely saw it!
The little notes that the girls put in their hearts are the words on the last 3 pages of the PDF.
Hope that helps!! xo, Kallie
wowwwwww! !!! love it!!!!
I run a group for girls aged 10-13 who have witnessed family violence and have anger related/self harm issues, at the Womens Shelter that I work at. I found this activity you did and have it planned for the girls on TUESDAY!!!! This is perfect timing for the PDF! Thank-you ever so much Beautiful Talented Women!!!
I came across this when working on a post for my own blog related to Girl Scouts. I’m loving the idea of this board and I think I might actually make one for myself! I think it would be a wonderful and inspirational tool to remind myself (even at 29) that there are many reasons to love myself. Thank you for sharing this post and the wonderful pictures too!
Thank you for this! My Girls Are Powerful Girls’ Group will work to incorporate this into our Determination “Vision” Board activity this month. I may also try to incorporate this into another activity i have plan for the girls when we discuss their Personal Power!
Thank you, Kathy Wilkins, for this most needed project of yours. Thanks for the templates too. Definitely going to use it. A few of my colleagues and I discovered an urgent need for a girls club at our school for the grade 5s to 7s ( 11-13 years old). We just began this last term of school, but will be full-time next year. It is going well so far, but we are looking for advise, ideas, topics, activities and websites to assist us in creating a curriculum for the year. Any ideas please. Thanks again.
Love it. Can you please explain more in detail how you apply the drawing are template to the canvas. Also did the girls paint the hair and what? Thanks.
Hi, Karen –
Just have the girls cut out the face parts they want to use and mod podge them to a canvas or canvas board or even to card stock. They add features and hair and clothing with paint or markers or crayons or really anything, or they cut out hair or clothing etc from paper or fabric and use mod podge to collage them in place. You might give them some ideas from our library of art technique videos in the free area of our Soul School dashboard at my.bravegirlsclub.com . Have loads of fun!
Hello Kathy, thanks for responding back. I bought water paint to use on our canvas, but it is not working well. What other paint can I use? Thanks for your help!!
Acrylic craft paint (the kind you can buy for 50 cents up to a dollar or so for a 2 oz bottle) will work great. That’s what we use!
I would love the template to work on with my girls. Can you please share this amazing project with me?
Hi, Heather — A link to the pdf can be found at the bottom of this post. Have fun with it!!! XOXO
I’ve got the template , but there are no “smiling” faces- just “smoochy” lips (as my son says) Do you have a template with the smile faces as well?
We are doing a sleepover for my daughters b-day and this is the main project for the night- It’s coming up, soon, please let me know asap- Thanks!
Jennifer
Hi, Jennifer – Unfortunately we don’t have the additional images for the other faces or lips that are shown on the collages that the girls did. However, because it is collage, you could possibly find lots of other images of lips and collage those in place. Some of the girls drew their own features in, and they turned out darling. I hope the sleepover is super fun, and happy birthday to your daughter! xoxo kathy
Thank you for sharing the details and PDF’s of this project. We had our first Brownie Troop meeting this week and used the materials to launch our Discovery Quest. The portraits are beautiful. Thanks for the wonderful idea.
How can I get this template? It is wonderful and would fit right in on our Girl Scout Journey we will be doing. Do you do camp programs or girls groups to visit and do this as a workshop? Where are you located? Thanks
Hi, Pamela – Thanks for your inquiry! There is a link to the project PDF at the bottom of the blog post (above on this page). We hope you and your girl scouts LOVE it!! At this time we don’t have camps for girls or do this as a workshop, but it will be great experience for your girls and it is very easy to lead yourself. It will be fantastic!! We are located in Idaho. XOXOXO
This project is absolutely adorable and so purposeful. I would like to do it with a group of girls that meet at my house monthly. Would you mind sharing a basic list of supplies that you had available for them to use? Also, did you use decoupage to attach to the canvas? Thanks so much for making the template available…so generous of you!!
This is a great project. Thank you for the template! Are the templates of the girls smiling faces also available? The art work is lovely. Thank you!
Can I plead get the I am templates. I would love to do this project with my GA’s.
Hi, Laura – This project is available in our Free Content. Just register as a Free Member at my.bravegirlsclub.com and then you will be able to access this project (along with lots of other great free stuff) in the Free column at my.bravegirlsclub.com. Enjoy!
Thank you for sharing, it sounds like a great project to do with my art students in the classroom. Some of these kids don’t hear very often how special they are. They need to be reaffirmed and internalized that they are loved and appreciated just the way they are; they don’t have to try to be somebody else.
Thank you so very much for sharing such a wonderful project in pictures, in words and especially in a free download to do ourselves! This is something that I am so thrilled to do since it’s a project that I’ve wanted to do but just didn’t know how to. My daughter and I will hopefully be able to do it soon. (I’m currently trying to put our house on the market and I’ve been packing up and lots of our creative stuff is packed already.) Thanks again!
Just found this on Pinterest, and like several others, I would like to use this in the fall for a back to school start up activity. So great to pull us all together as a class, and to share that each of us has gifts and talents. Did you create your faces? I think the blank ones would be fine for the boys, but is there also a face with features for those not feeling so artistic and inclined to create their own?
I would love to use this at my youth girls conference
I know this is the Brave GIRLS Club…but is there any thought to having a boys version, too? I would LOVE to do this with ALL of my kids! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing craft!!! We’re going to do it for our next meeting to help meet our Brownie Quest requirements – just love it!!
What glue(s) do you recommend? Is Modge Podge a good bet you think?
These are amazing! I am going to do this with my Brownie Troop. I do have a question about the hair…what is the easiest way for the girls do it…paint?…scrap paper? Thanks 🙂
Hi there! Another Girl Scout Leader wanting to use this with her troop. I have printed the PDf, but my question is, What did the mod podge it to and what were the supplies to make it colorful?
Was it paint or scrapbooking paper? the boards are they art canvas or poster board?
Thanks, Shannon
The girls used a variety of things, including paint and printed paper. They are done on canvases and canvas boards. Have fun!
Love this! Thank you for putting it all together and sharing it with us.
What did you use to glue everything down for this project? Is there a specific product I should buy for good results – & do you know if an inexpensive version is available & will work well? I LOVE this project & would like to do it with my Pathfinders (so budget needs to be a consideration). Thanks for sharing & I look forward to reading more about your projects / activities now that I’ve found you 🙂
Hi, Amanda –
We use Mod Podge (or you can substitute a similar collage medium). This is similar to a white glue that you use both under as an adhesive, and over as a ‘sealer’. We hope you love the project!!! Welcome aboard. Love, kathy
I’m so excited I came across this in Pinterest. I am now on your blog site. I saw that you were making a PDF for this craft. I have 22 girl scouts (Juniors) that would love doing this. Is it still possible to have it emailed to me. Love your ideas!!!!
Hi Carolyn – Here is the link to the pdf… have a great time! http://www.bravegirlsclub.com/pdfs/brave_little_girl_project.pdf?15811d
love,
kathy
I work with Girl Scouts and would love to see this implemented into our outreach program within the public schools in our area. I think it would be a great time to start in at the start up of the new school year. I am so excited to share this activity with the girls. I also like the idea of allowing boys to do it, also. They are just as special. We all are. This is just a wonderful self empowering craft for any age. I love it! Thanks so much for sharing such an activity that has purpose. This is also a wonderful keepsake.
This is amazing! LOVE it!
Have you done, or know of, a version of this for boys? 🙂
What a touching post! As the mother of 2 daughters, this seems like a wonderful experience. I hope to create a space for a recreation of this project in the future. Thank you for your post.
can you please share the PDF file!:)
You will find a link to the PDF at the very very bottom of the post. Have fun with it!! xoxo kathy
I figured out how to get the PDF! Thank you!!!
Love this idea! How do I get the PDF instructions?
Thanks,
Sandra
Did anyone ever get the PDF file for this? Love this for the beginning of the year with my gifted pull out kids.
My goodness! This is so absolutely wonderful and incredibly touching! I found a link for this post on Pinterest while looking for activities to do with my daughter’s Daisy troop. I can’t stop crying and I Love you for what you are doing, sharing and living. Thank you and I am now going to read the rest of your blog and find out more.
This is amazing – I love, love, love it!
Please send your PDF file for this project with tempate and words, please
I just saw this on pinterest and wondered if you had a PDF file that you could email me as well? Such a cute idea. I would love to do it with the girls I work with.
I am a Girl Scout leader and would love to do this with my 4th grade girls! Do you have a PDF you would be willing to share? I would appreciate it!
This is wonderful!
would love information and pdf for this…. Thank you soooooo much. incredible on so many levels.
I would love to do this with my daughter as well and maybe even plan a summer Mother/Daughter Day with our mutual friends. We are already planning our summer activities and this would be perfect! They are in the vulnerable tween “mean girl” phase and it is a daily struggle to keep my daughter empowered and not dull her sparkle!
Would you please share the pdf with us too?
Thank you!
Love this idea! Can you also send me the pdf? Thanks!
These are beautiful! What a lovely thing to do with such young girls to make them feel amazing.
Hi! I’m a Brownie leader and came across your gorgeous boards on pinterest.. We’d like to do a meeting on self esteem in which we work on the boards.. yours are gorgeous and especially those faces.. do you mind sharing the template that you used?
Thank you so much!!!
Betsy
WOW! Love this. I found it on pinterest and would love to share this with my girl scouts. Is there a template for the face? It is so perfect. I’ve scoured around the internet but the faces you used are fantastic. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful project.
These are amazing!! I am a Girl Scout leader and am doing a meeting centered on self esteem and learning to love your self. I would LOVE to be able to use your template to teach the lesson. Is there any way you could send me the PDF? Thank you! Have a blessed day!
This is beautiful. I love all the photos of the the interaction. I am a 2nd grade teacher and planned on having the kids use adjectives to describe themselves. I’m going to use inspiration from this site to bump up that activity with encouragement of how wonderfully made they are. If a pdf or template is available, I’d also enjoy receiving a copy. Thank you so much!
I love this idea. Did you just print out a ton of different words and fonts? And are the messages in the hearts from their mothers? If it is at all possible I would love a template for the face and maybe some of the words?
Thank you for your inspiration.
LOVE the project and your organization! We wish you were in CT! Like many others, we would like to do this project with our school and are interested in some of the templates you used (i.e.- descriptive words, faces, etc.). We are hoping to implement this project for “Self-Love” month in January. Thank you for all that you do!
I would also be interested in a template used for the faces to make this project with my Daisy Girl Scouts.
I just sent an email as well, my Brownies would love this, and I think it will be Perfect for our journey work, “It’s your Story” Thanks so much for the inspiration!!
Absolutely love this. would love to do this with our girls discipleship class. If you dont mind me asking but did you use a certain template for the face.
Veronica and Kim and Paige…if you will please just send an email to support@bravegirlsclub.com (or click on the HELP link over on the right side of this page and complete a Support ticket)…Jeff or Malary will send you the pdf so you can have the patterns to use in your classes. We would love to give them to you! xoxo
What a fabulous idea! I am a Brownie Girl Scout leader as well and would love to be included for the PDF file. My girls/moms would LOVE this!
I would love the pdf too please! I am a school cousnelor in Alabama and would love to do this activity with my girls group called B.R.A.G. (Being a Really Awesome Girl)
Thanks!!
This is an awesome project!! We are going to do it with our Junior Girl Scout troop in Dubai next week. Do you have a file you could share with me with all the words used to describe the girls. I’m working on one here but thought I would ask. Thanks!!
Hi, Kim – We are working on putting together a free pdf for you…we will send it to you as soon as it is done. It will be perfect for girl scouts!!! Hope we’re not too late…we’ve been at Brave Girl Camp most of the month. XOXOXO
We are leaders for Brownies (Girl Guides) in Canada and would love to do this with our girls. We are wondering if there was a template for the face that you used?
Hi, Dawn – We are working on this for you, too! We’ll email you the pdf as soon as we get it completed. We think the Brownies will love it! Give them hugs for us! XOXOXO
Please please please have another mother-daughter camp. i will be the first to sign up! XOXO
Beth
Страхотна идея!!! Поздравления!
I love this idea! I would like to use it on the first day of school with all of my 5th graders, boys and girls. Did you type up all the descriptive words and print them out ahead of time or did the girls request certain words and you printed them out? Awesome idea to build self-esteem and a great getting-to-know-you activity!
Love, love, LOVE this post!! What a fabulous activity… I’m already thinking about how much my high-school students would benefit from this. Girls are bombarded with so many messages from the media, this is a powerful activity to build confidence about their unique beauty.
Thanks for sharing!
Addie
Wow! I just arrived here (this post) via pinning the link on my girl scouts pinterest board. So inspired and wanting to be so much more for “my girls.”. (and my own girls!) Would love to attempt a project like this! Thank you for your beautiful post! I can’t wait to explore your blog!
These projects are seriously so gorgeous and so touching they made me cry! What lucky girls to have you do such an amazing project with them!!!!!
I am super excited to take this course with my 10-year-old daughter. I wasn’t able to attend any of the camps, so this will be the next best thing. I loved Soul Restoration and I’m sure this will be a great experience for me and Isabella.
Thanks for offering this!
Thank you Ladies for listening to the call to bring mothers and daughters, side by side to experience the unique gift of femininity they share. Having my two daughters, ages 15 and 12 are one of my life’s greatest gifts. I hope one day to experience your workshops with each of them.
I was working on my soul book the other day when my daughter walked in and asked me what I was doing. I explained it, and the next time I looked up she had her cardboard cut out and asked me how I taped it into a book. I asked her what kind of book she was going to make thinking it would be for her drawings….she said she was going to make a soul book too. She has been writing her own affirmations…Stuff that wasn’t in the curriculum I was using. I was blown away! And her book was/is amazing and it came from her naturally! We are doing this mother daughter class! ABSOLUTELY! Did I mention she is almost 15 and I realize facing her own battles and outside influence. YOU all have been such a blessing! I had no idea what I had influenced by my own soul searching. That my pain made me seek help which in turn is giving her inspiration. Wouldn’t it be great if every girl that has been to these camps and takes this class finds a way to always follow peace so coping with those big scary happenings can be easier on them than it was on us? Thank you Brave Girls Club. Thank you Kathy and Melody.
the pictures alone brought tears to my eyes. I would love to share such an experience with my two young daughters someday. you have beautiful gifts which you share so freely – merci beaucoup.
How precious! Great job! Girls do not spend enough time focusing on their true positive attributes. Perhaps I need to make one for myself.. Love the project! Keep up the great work! 🙂
MELODY! PURE AND profound. God bless this gift you are sharing with our young ladies…xo Chrisanne