Happy Girl Scout Week!
Girl Scout Week 2023 is March 12th – 18th! We have created exciting activities for every day of the week so your troop can celebrate! These activities can occur this week, or you can review them to potentially use in future meetings. It’s always a good time to celebrate our Girl Scout traditions.
- Sunday, March 12: Girl Scouts Birthday
Today’s theme: Today is Girl Scouts Sunday and the Girl Scouts Birthday! On this day in 1912, Juliette Low held the very first Girl Scouts meeting. Today we invite you to attend a place of worship and then throw a Girl Scouts birthday party!
- Activity idea: Today is a great day to hold a birthday troop meeting! We’ve created a fun, low cost, birthday-in-a-box that you can sign up for here. You can also attend a place of worship and discuss the experience with your fellow Girl Scouts. Did you notice any similarities between the service and your Girl Scouts experience?
- Swap idea: In honor of the Girl Scouts birthday, we encourage you to make a puffball cupcake! You will need a cupcake liner, puffball, beads for decoration, cardstock, a candle, glue, scissors and markers. You can cut out a tag from the cardstock, glue the cupcake liner to it, then glue the puffball into the cupcake liner. From there, you will glue beads to the top of the puffball and glue a candle into the center. Last, you will write happy birthday and the year on the tag! Happy celebrating!
- Volunteer idea: Today we invite you to discuss faith, Girl Scouts, and the importance of volunteerism with their Girl Scouts. You can also learn more about Girl Scouts Traditions here.
- Social Media: Show us how you’re celebrating the Girl Scouts birthday today with #girlscoutsbirthday
- Activity idea: Today is a great day to hold a birthday troop meeting! We’ve created a fun, low cost, birthday-in-a-box that you can sign up for here. You can also attend a place of worship and discuss the experience with your fellow Girl Scouts. Did you notice any similarities between the service and your Girl Scouts experience?
- Monday, March 13th: Make a Change Monday
Today’s Theme: We all know that Girl Scouts make the world a better place. What better place to start than showing kindness to your neighbors?
- Activity Idea: Today, we want to encourage our Girl Scouts to show kindness wherever they can! Unexpected good deeds are a lovely surprise for the recipient, and make you feel good as well. How do acts of kindness change the world around you?
- Swap Idea: “Daisy” was Juliette Gordon Low’s nickname as a little girl. In 1984, when Girl Scouts were naming the newest, youngest group of Girl Scouts, they decided to honor young “Daisy” and all she would grow up to achieve. For our Daisy SWAP, we used buttons, pipe cleaners, hot glue, and, of course, a safety pin.
- Volunteer Idea: Today, we encourage you to commit an unexpected good deed and share your passions with your troop! Are there any causes that everyone cares about? Can they be incorporated into your troop meetings?
- Social Media: Show us your acts of kindness with #girlscoutsweek
- Activity Idea: Today, we want to encourage our Girl Scouts to show kindness wherever they can! Unexpected good deeds are a lovely surprise for the recipient, and make you feel good as well. How do acts of kindness change the world around you?
- Tuesday, March 14th: Take Action Tuesday
Today’s Theme: We are looking around to see how we can help our greater community.
- Activity Idea: How can we “help people at all times”? Today, we encourage you all to look around your community and brainstorm what you can do to be of service. Have you volunteered before? We invite you to search for community service projects you would like to accomplish and discuss them with your troop and family. There’s a good chance one of your friends would like to participate as well!
- Swap Idea: Did you know that, in order to fund her Girl Scout headquarters in 1914, Juliette Gordon Low sold her strand of rare matched pearls? In doing so, she said, “Jewels are not important, but my Girl Scouts are. They need the money more than I need pearls.” To celebrate this spirit of giving, we’ve created a swap to represent the pearl necklace. All you’ll need to recreate it is shiny paper, yarn, glue, pearl stickers, and of course, a safety pin. Show us your swaps on our social media channels!
- Volunteer Idea: Today we are asking our volunteers to participate in a mini online training blast and sign up for upcoming trainings. You can easily take our Youth Protection Program or Online Camping Skills for free! Have you already taken these trainings? You can lead the charge for other adults in your troop to get trained as well. We suggest you check out today’s blog post about our in person trainings and the free training credit we offer per troop. While you are thinking about taking action, today is a great day to think about the social causes that matter to you. How can you incorporate your passions into your routine?
- Social Media: Show us how you take action today with #girlscoutsweek
- Activity Idea: How can we “help people at all times”? Today, we encourage you all to look around your community and brainstorm what you can do to be of service. Have you volunteered before? We invite you to search for community service projects you would like to accomplish and discuss them with your troop and family. There’s a good chance one of your friends would like to participate as well!
- Wednesday, March 15th: Change the World Wednesday
Today’s Theme: We are learning about the Girl Scouts Impact and how our traditions can change the world.
- Activity Idea: Have you ever heard of a time capsule? It is a box that is stored away in a safe place for many years to store memories! Today, we want to encourage you to reach out to an older Girl Scouts alumnae and ask them about one of their favorite Girl Scouts traditions! It could be a song, an activity, a memory, or whatever comes to mind for them. You might find that we are all connected in a massive community with a global impact!
- Swap Idea: Every year, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) hosts the annual World Thinking Day, which encourages Girl Scouts across the country to learn more about Scouting in other cultures. One World Thinking Day tradition is the exchange of SWAPs between Girl Scouts representing different cultures. We decided to make a cowgirl hat in Girl Scout green to represent Nashville, using a painted bottlecap, foam, gem stickers, and of course, a safety pin.
- Volunteer Idea: Today, we challenge you to think about the Girl Scout impact and how we can make a difference in Middle Tennessee. We encourage you to research a Girl Scout tradition from another council that could potentially be utilized in our area!
- Social Media: Show us your Girl Scouts Impact with #girlscoutsweek
- Activity Idea: Have you ever heard of a time capsule? It is a box that is stored away in a safe place for many years to store memories! Today, we want to encourage you to reach out to an older Girl Scouts alumnae and ask them about one of their favorite Girl Scouts traditions! It could be a song, an activity, a memory, or whatever comes to mind for them. You might find that we are all connected in a massive community with a global impact!
- Thursday, March 16th: Thankful Thursday
Today’s Theme: Find a hidden heroine in your life and thank them for their service.
- Activity Idea: It feels great to be recognized for a job well done! Often, there are hidden figures in our lives that support us and help us to become our best selves. They deserve thanks for their support and everything that they do! We would like for you to identify a hidden heroine in your life and thank them in a way that feels special to you. This could be in person, by writing a thank you note, making them a fun treat, etc. We look forward to seeing how you celebrate these hidden heroines!
- Swap Idea: Girl Scout cookie season wouldn’t be possible without the hard work from Girl Scout volunteers, leaders, and cookie parents. To say thank you, we’ve cooked up a fresh batch of Cookie SWAPs! They’re not quite as good as Girl Scout cookies, but they’re pretty close. We used shiny paper, felt, a popsicle stick, glue, markers, and of course, a safety pin to create this SWAP.
- Volunteer Idea: The Girl Scouts volunteers are the reason this program succeeds. We encourage you to thank one of your leaders or volunteers today! Today is also a great day to look into Adult Awards and nominate a volunteer for an award.
- Social Media: Who are you thankful for this #girlscoutsweek?
- Activity Idea: It feels great to be recognized for a job well done! Often, there are hidden figures in our lives that support us and help us to become our best selves. They deserve thanks for their support and everything that they do! We would like for you to identify a hidden heroine in your life and thank them in a way that feels special to you. This could be in person, by writing a thank you note, making them a fun treat, etc. We look forward to seeing how you celebrate these hidden heroines!
- Friday, March 17th: Girl Scout Spirit Day/ Jummah
Today’s Theme: Today we are celebrating our Girl Scouts spirit by wearing green and taking a moment to learn something new about observing Jummah in Islam.
- Activity Idea: Show your Girl Scouts spirit today by wearing green! We also invite you to read a few prayers that relate to your Girl Scouts experience and see if you can find any similarities!
- Swap Idea: Since you’re dressing up for Girl Scout spirit day today, we wanted to show our spirit with some festive uniform SWAPs. These are easy to customize with your favorite badges, patches, and journeys. We used felt, foam, markers, puffy paint and of course, safety pins to bring these miniature creations to life!
- Volunteer Idea: Today is a great day to wear green and proudly support Girl Scouts! In addition, we would like for you to discuss the practice of observing Jummah in Islam. Do you notice any similarities between Sunday services, Jummah and the Sabbath?
- Social Media: Show us your Girl Scouts spirit this #girlscoutsweek
- Activity Idea: Show your Girl Scouts spirit today by wearing green! We also invite you to read a few prayers that relate to your Girl Scouts experience and see if you can find any similarities!
- Saturday, March 18th: Girl Scout Sabbath/ Service Saturday
Today’s Theme: We are taking time to learn about the Sabbath and finding a community service project to accomplish.
- Activity Idea: Over the course of this week, we have explored Christianity and Islam. Today we invite you to learn more about Judaism and the Sabbath! To conclude the week, we also want to encourage you to participate in a service project that you brainstormed earlier in the week. There are endless amounts of ways you can help people at all times.
- Volunteer Idea: As role models to your Girl Scouts, we encourage you to participate in the religious research and service projects as well! This is a learning opportunity for all ages.
- Social Media: Show us your Girl Scouts service this #girlscoutsweek