Girl Scouts of the USA - Program Resources

The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting

The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting is now available at our Bedford, NH and Williston, VT stores! Come get your copy today! Curious about the Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting? Listen to our pre-recorded webinar, here.

The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting. Girls at each grade level will have their own Girl’s Guide; there will be six publications. The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting will include: a variety of badge offerings, handbook sections covering traditions and history, Cookie badges, an awards log, and much more.

• There is a Girl’s Guide for each of the six Girl Scout levels.
• The Girl’s Guide will come in the form of a binder so girls can add to it as they go along.
• What’s great for girls? The new badges offer girls variety, choice and relevance. Now, girls, parents and volunteers will have an easier time understanding the requirements for badges.
• In addition to the awards they are earning through the Journeys, the Girl’s Guide gives girls the opportunity to earn Legacy badges, Financial Literacy badges, as well as Cookie Business badges at each level.
• The Girl’s Guide is the girl’s fluid program backbone. The facilitator’s guides are found with the journeys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s Happening with Badges?
Skill-building badges remain an important part of the Girl Scout program. As promised, Girl Scouts of the USA is working on new badges for all age levels, Brownies – Ambassadors, and new content for Daisies to enjoy as they earn their petals. The new badges will offer a great mix of tradition, variety, fun and challenge. Each level’s badges will have a different shape. To simplify things, all shapes (except the petals) will be referred to as badges, not “Try-Its”, “Interest Project Awards”, etc. All the information about these new badges will be coming your way soon, in the new Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting. Check this page in the coming months for more information.

How will the Journeys and the new badges work together?
Journeys engage girls in exploring Girl Scouting’s three keys to leadership: Discover, Connect, Take Action.
Badges provide skill-building opportunities in a variety of topics that are part of the Girl Scout legacy (like nature, art, cooking, sports, first aid and more) and topics girls love, like design, photography, animals and car care. The new badges will have fun ideas about how earning them links to each girl’s Journey experiences.

What happens to the existing badges and other resources like Studio 2B?
Some are being revised (see Legacy badges below) while some are being retired. The goal is for all Girl Scouts in the United States to be participating in the national program – Leadership Journeys and The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting – by June 2012.

Here’s a few of the categories of badges that will be available:

Legacy Badges – To honor the past and keep badges relevant to today’s girls, new content will be incorporated into the topics that have been a part of Girl Scouting since the beginning. These badges will be offered for Brownies through Ambassadors: Artist, Athlete, Citizen, Cook, First Aid, Naturalist and The Girl Scout Way.

Financial Literacy Badges – These awards will be offered for Daisies through Ambassadors. (Daisies will have two “leaves” to add around their Daisy petals.) Through these badges, girls will learn how to: use money wisely to reach goals, be educated consumers, develop business skills for the workplace, become independent women who can support themselves and give back to their communities.

Cookie Badges – These badges will also be offered for Daisies through Ambassadors. (Daisies will, once again, earn two additional “leaves” to add around their Daisy petals and Promise Center.). Earning these badges, girls will learn business skills, through the practical application of the cookie sale.

Some other categories of badges will include religious recognition, lifesaving awards, specialty badges and more.