So what is a Tween Tribe anyway?
It’s a group of girls getting together every couple of weeks to have fun, do creative stuff, make friends and talk about what’s going on in their lives.
Who are Tribes for?
Girls.
Tween Tribes are for 3rd-6th graders.
What do you do?
We listen to original stories written just for Tween Tribe.
We do cool arts and crafts, like creating Wisdom Boxes and Talking Sticks.
We perform. Some days we dance, sometimes we make up our own plays or cheers, sometimes we do yoga. We discover how to use our bodies for expression and creation. We discover how wise we are, and that we can handle anything.
We talk and listen to each other.
Why do you do all this?
Girls in Tween Tribe become not just friends, we become Tribe sisters. We cheer each other’s successes and give each other support through the tough stuff.
As leaders, we want you to find out how to make really supportive, great friends. As you head into middle school, junior high school and high school, you may find that girls start being mean to each other. We hope that Tribe girls will know how to handle the "mean girls" (and know how to avoid becoming one).
Why do girls like Tween Tribe?
Well, here's what they say:
“I like to make new friends and see old friends.” -Shayla.
“In Tween Tribe, the teachers are going to like you and it’s going to be fun.” –Amanda
“Happiness, humor and friendship.” -Nicole
“I love learning about friendship. I learn how to make friends!” –Mia
“It’s fun fun fun!” -Tara
Who are the teachers?
The Tween Tribe stories and activities are created by two moms, Sarah Suatoni and Macdara MacColl. They teach the Tribes, along with other women. All the teachers love hanging out with girls, and find they learn a lot from the girls, too. They all believe that girls have tosn of wisdom inside them, and that there's nothing better than having a circle of Tribe sisters to rely on. Sarah used to be a professional dancer (!), and Macdara is a published writer of short stories, reviews and newspaper articles. She also worked in the theater as a stage manager (ask her what that means some time). Some of the teachers know how to drum, or belly dance, or other interesting stuf! Want to know more? Meet the teachers.
What do you talk about?
Everything and anything. We especially like to talk about what’s going on in your life that you can’t always talk about anywhere else. Here's what some girls have shared:
“All my friends are in a different class. I don’t know many people at my school, even though I’ve been there 3 years.” -Lena
“I feel sad because my friend isn’t playing with me anymore. She told me over the summer that she decided she didn’t want to be my friend.” -Dani
“I miss my good friend who moved overseas. I really need her now and she’s not here.” –Kristin
What do girls discover?
We learn how to make friends. We learn how to handle it when our friends don’t treat us right. We learn how to feel really good about ourselves. We find out that we have a lot of wisdom inside of us. We write our own stories and wise sayings. Here’s some we wrote:
If it is love, take the chance -- get loved. -Tara
Being kind is an adventure. -Clementine
Respect is easy to want and hard to find. -Olivia
Chase your dreams. -Elinor
If you beleieve in your heart you can do anything. -Clementine
And sometimes, we just get silly and have fun!
Click the play button to see some Tween Tribe cheers.