What’s a Kaper Chart and Why Should I Use One?
Troop meetings are where the magic happens. You’re exploring the solar system with your Daisies and Brownies, digging into forensic science with your Cadettes, or planning a week-long backpacking adventure with your Seniors. But then there are the decidedly less magical aspects of meetings, like sweeping the floor, distributing snacks, and taking attendance. It’s a lot to juggle. So, how do you get Girl Scouts to pitch in? Enter the Kaper Chart.
A Kaper What Now?
A “kaper” is a job or chore that must be done. A “kaper chart” is a Girl Scout tradition of divvying up these troop responsibilities. The chart lists all the jobs that are available and who’s in charge of each one. Girl Scouts usually rotate jobs—this ensures that everyone learns how to handle all sorts of different responsibilities and makes sure that the same Girl Scout isn’t saddled with the same duty for every meeting, event, or trip. Kaper charts look different for each troop and can change as troops move into different program grade levels. As Girl Scouts progress, they can take on more responsibilities. You can have a specific chart for meetings, and another for field trips or camping.
How to Make and Use a Kaper Chart
There are no hard-and-fast rules for creating and using a kaper chart, but there are a few things to consider to make them work for you and your troop:
What’s the general structure of your troop meetings? Do you take attendance, recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law, play a game, work on a badge, clean up, and then close with a Friendship Circle?
What could your troop be responsible for? For example, given your meeting structure, Girl Scouts could have kapers such as attendance taker, Promise and Law leader, game and song leader, activity assistant, clean-up crew, and Friendship Circle captain.
Would your Girl Scouts be able to accomplish the kapers solo or are some jobs better suited for small groups? If you’re going to break them off into groups, how many Girl Scouts will go into each group?
How will you rotate through the kapers?
Once you’ve figured out how you’ll use the kaper chart, you and your troop can decide what you want your chart to look like—a spinning wheel model, a chart with everyone’s names on clothespins, or a dry-erase board? Pinterest is a great place to search for ideas, whether you want to keep it simple or make it a whole art project! Be sure to include your troop in the design process too—after all, they’ll be the ones using the chart the most! And though they’re called kaper charts, your kaper chart doesn’t need to be a chart. Some troops stick with “To do” and “Done” cans—the kapers are written down on popsicle sticks that Girl Scouts pick and then place in the “Done” can when the job is completed.
Whatever style kaper chart your troop comes up with, Girl Scouts of every program grade level (even the youngest Daisies) can and should help with the details of running a meeting. They might not carry out the kapers perfectly—the floor’s “clean-ish” or someone accidentally dumps a box of crackers on the table while passing out snacks—but messing up and trying again is part of the learning-by-doing process. Remember that the most important benefit of the kaper chart is that Girl Scouts have a sense of ownership of their meetings. This is an important building block to leadership development!
