Today’s busy Girl Scout volunteers have been
asking for easy ways to guide girls through the wealth of experiences that Girl Scouting offers. Those
requests were answered with Leadership Journeys for each grade level.
Easy-to-use companion adult guides accompany each leadership journey and are
designed to help volunteers guide girls easily through fun and meaningful
experiences. The adult guides will also help volunteers to understand and
observe the impact of the program on girls’ lives.
Click on the grade level
below to preview the Journey resources that are available.
Daisies I Brownie I Juniors I Cadettes I Seniors I Ambassadors
Getting Started with Journeys – and Beyond!
Wondering what Journeys are, or how to use them with
girls? Want to help girls customize their Journey experience by adding in
badges, cookies, camping, and events? Read on for some tips and ideas for getting started!
Step 1: Explore Journeys
Fun and
Direction: the Adult Guides and Girl Books
Each Journey has two books: the adult guide and the girl
book. The girl book is just that – a book for girls with stories, activity
ideas, and ways to reflect on their experience in Girl Scouts. Girl books are
used in meetings, and also provide girls a way to stay engaged with Girl Scouts
outside of meetings.
The adult guide for each Journey provides all
the information and activity ideas you need to provide your girls with an
amazing Girl Scout experience. Each adult guide includes:
- Explanations of Journey themes
- Sample
session outlines and activity descriptions
- Tips for encouraging girls to
choose and complete activities
- Tips for supporting girls as they take on
leadership
- Ideas for Take Action projects
- Steps for earning the
awards
Each Journey contains a set of sample
“sessions” related to the Journey theme. Each Journey session is customizable
for troop needs: a session can take place at one troop meeting, a series of
troop meetings, or as part of an outing, event, camp or trip.
The sample sessions in each guide give you
the step-by-step directions you need to bring the journeys to life, and include
plenty to do during your Girl Scout year. Remember, though, you don’t have to do
everything exactly as laid out in the books. You can add or subtract sessions as
needed; you can also customize the activities in each session to meet the needs
of your girls. However, if you’re super busy (and who isn’t?), you can rest easy
knowing that the adult guide will give you a clear plan for each session – you
don’t have to change a thing!
Step 2: Complement Journeys with Badges, Cookies, and More!
In keeping with the “journey” theme, “side trips” such
as badges, cookies, camping, and events are the natural complement to badges. A
journey gives girls a consistent experience that ties their whole year together.
Badges, try-its, cookies, camping, and events enable girls to further explore
topics of interest.
Invite Girls to
Customize!
Before girls even
open their journey books, ask what the journey’s theme means to them. Maybe the
theme ignites a discussion that helps the girls chart their course for the year!
Probe to find out what the girls are most interested in accomplishing and
enjoying over the year. This is your chance to encourage girls to dig
deeper:
- Which badges can the group work on to
deepen their skills in this area, or another area of interest?
- Can they
organize and plan a field trip to find out more about the topic?
- Are there
events that tie into their interest?
- Can the girls find an expert in the
field to invite to their meetings?
Each adult guide also has more tips for
customizing the journey. Did the Junior “Agent of Change” journey spark an
interest in animals or animal shelters? Maybe girls will want to earn their Pet
Care or Wildlife badges, or earmark money from the Girl Scout Cookie Program
Activity to fund a Take Action project benefiting their local shelter. Are your
Daisies inspired by the stories in the Daisy Flower Garden? Maybe they’ll want
to visit a farmer’s market, eat garden veggies, or explore a working farm! There
is a world of possibilities waiting for your girls.
Step 3: Enjoy!
Finally, you can
step back and watch how the girls - with your knowledge, support, and guidance -
have an enormously fun and rewarding experience. You can take pride as girls
earn exciting awards, enjoy time-honored Girl Scout ceremonies, and learn how to
care for their world. Most of all, the Journeys and their “side-trips” give you
the tools you need to make a difference in the lives of girls.