Four Badges or Other Earned Awards
Earn a Journey Award
What’s a Journey? It’s a themed collection of activities and leadership exploration completed over several troop meetings. Journey recognition includes 1–4 awards, depending on the grade level and the topic. A Journey is completed with a Take Action project and the experience of creating a small change to make the world a better place. Journey Take Action projects are important practice for Highest Awards. So important, in fact, that earning one Journey is a prerequisite to earning the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards!
Journey awards are earned as a set, unlike badges which are earned individually. Some Journey topics are designed for 10–13 troop meetings. The STEM Journey can be completed in about 4–8 meetings. The Outdoor Journey is unique; it is a collection of three existing outdoor skills badges that can take about 6–8 meetings to earn. Use the Journey curriculum books from the Girl Scout Shop or the year plans in the Volunteer Toolkit to help you plan ahead. Some troops successfully complete the bulk of their Journey in a day-long Saturday session or a weekend trip away.
Available Journeys
Find available Journeys in each grade level. A brief description of each Journey is included in the Award and Badge Explorer.
Choose from these topics:
• It’s Your World Change It! Advocacy and Leadership
• It’s Your Planet Love It!
Environmental Science and Conservation
• It’s Your Story Tell It!
Relationships and Communication
• Engineering: Think Like an Engineer
Design-Build Concepts
• Computer Science: Think Like a Programmer Problem Solving and Patterns
• Outdoor STEM: Think Like a Citizen Scientist
Data Gathering and Analysis
• Outdoor: Adventure Skills and Group Camping
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Brownie Inspiration
Here are three Take Action projects showcased by Girl Scouts of the USA. These stories illustrate the potential big impact of a small idea. Who knows what your girls may accomplish!
It’s Your Story—Tell It!
Brownie Girl Scouts Become Social Entrepreneurs
It’s Your Planet—Love It!
Brownies Inspire School to Save Water
It’s Your World—Change It!
Brownies Convince City Hall to Build Sidewalk
Multi-Level Troops
Journeys are great for multi-level troops! Journey topics have a progression of skills for each grade level. The common topic makes it easier to plan large group events, outings and activities for different ages of girls.
Troop leaders can read up in the Volunteer Toolkit for activity ideas appropriate to each grade level and then choose the one most appropriate to most girls. Or, offer two activity options: one for younger girls and one for older girls.
Remember, it’s okay to adapt and modify the material for your unique troop composition. We call it honoring the spirit of the badge. It’s okay to creatively adjust the contents to help girls achieve the larger goal of the earned award.
gsnwgl.org | 888.747.6945