Swaps are small crafts that we trade with other scouts or give away.  They are usually only an inch or two in size and attach with a safety pin.  Traditionally they are pinned on a swap hat.  This hat could be part of your troop identification in a certain color, with your troop number decorated on with fabric paints.  They are also sometimes referred to as potlatch.  The origin is Native American. Swaps can be simple or elaborate, made from recyclables or expensive materials.  They can also be purchased items.

        Each girl decides how many swaps she wants to make.  This is the same number she will receive.  Larger troops may want to make several kinds of swaps so that the girls will have more opportunities to trade.  Probably 10-15 per girl is a good number to aim for.

        Some ideas for swaps will follow.  Swaps can be made during a troop meeting, during a special meeting called for the express purpose of making swaps, or examples shown at the meeting, with the swaps to be made at home.  A mother/daughter night for the younger girls, would be an easy way to produce lots of swaps at one time.  The cutest ideas would follow the theme for the activity planned, i.e., cowboy boot for a jamboree, a musical note for a sing-a-long, a speech bubble for Thinking Day, birthday cakes for Juliette Lowe's birthday, Hobo pack on a stick for hiking, a toilet brush or soap on a rope for camping, etc.  We attended a large song-fest on the Mall in Washington, DC.   We ran out of swaps and began to write our troop number on anything we could find, including bandaids from our first aid kit (don't worry - we left a few band aids for emergencies.)

        You can have samples and demonstrate your ideas or just provide an assortment of beads, ribbons, felt, pipe cleaners, etc. and let their imaginations run wild. You may want to have your group plan a swap and then consider the cost, materials needed, how long it will take, etc.

        On the day of the swap, each girl will come with her swaps, and will mingle with other girls, trading her swaps for others that interest her. Hopefully, the swaps will have small safety pins attached and can be pinned to a swap hat or jacket. Leaders may want to come prepared with a few extra swaps for girls who were absent when they were made and plenty of safety pins.

        Why swap ? To promote friendship. To learn to talk to other people. To have mementos of a good time. To share our handiwork with other scouts. Girls on wider opportunities and adults at national meetings swap patches and handmade items. These often reflect the area the scout lives in. Camp swapping is a great background for this.

        POTLATCH is the ceremonial exchange of gifts practiced by Native Americans of Northwest Coast tribes. The custom stems from the legend explaining why birds have colored feathers. As the story goes, two Indian girls plucked feathers of a magic bird and distributed the multicolored plumage to the colorless birds living in the forest. From that time on, birds have had brightly colored feathers, and those gifts were remembered at potlatch ceremonies.

        Families were summoned to the potlatch by a messenger carrying a bundle of sticks representing the number of people to be invited. The ceremony included speeches, songs, dances, games, races and refreshments. The host and members of his family were costumed and enacted legends about their heritage. The gift giving came last of all, just before the guests departed. Since potlatch gifts were symbols of the families status in the village, they were often quite elaborate, often being carved boxes, canoes, dishes, jewelry, mats and baskets. The potlatch ceremony was celebrated to commemorate the births, deaths, marriages or coming of age or members of the group.