Social distancing. School from your room. Cancelled sports, absent friends and on-edge parents. Feel like you’ve been grounded?
Girl Scouts knows. And they’re coming to the rescue.
Introducing Girl Scouts At Home – a one-stop shop for self-guided, at-home activities designed to keep you busy, connect you with friends and open up your world just when it felt like it was closing in. Filtered by grade level and adding the opportunity to earn badges from home, this new platform is serving (and saving) girls, parents and troop leaders with a single keystroke.
Not yet a Girl Scout? Not even a problem.
Girl Scouts knows you’ve been busy and they love making new friends. That’s why the program is open to all, completely free and focused on areas like STEM, entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship and life skills. Need examples? Keep reading.
Let’s start with STEM…
Become a space science explorer by observing the moon’s cycle or learn the basics of coding using step-by-step algorithms, earning a STEM badge while you program! Running out of video games? Design your own…or explore engineering projects that let you glimpse potential future careers. For high school girls thinking about college applications, check out the Think Like An Engineer Journey and hear what senior Girl Scouts want you to know.
Now on to Entrepreneurship…
Think like an entrepreneur by learning tools to transform that idea you’ve been doodling in the margins of your notebook into an actual business. From Inventor patches to Philanthropist badges, Girl Scouts can help turn longtime dreams into real ways to make a difference…and no, you’re not too young to start.
Then head Outdoors…
Explore how to use natural resources wisely and respect wildlife, and then share your findings with the world! Make a video documenting your eco-treks, paint or sketch whatever you see outdoors and post photos of your surroundings. Patches available here too? Definitely – see how to earn your Outdoor Art Maker badge here.
Finally, some Life Skills…
Because in times of social distancing, delving into the science of happiness and finding techniques to improve our mood in healthy ways is exactly what we need. From earning a grade school Good Neighbor badge on to working on a community-based high school Gold Award, Girl Scouts’ Life Skills activities can help keep you calm in the chaos. Exercise you can do indoors or out? Yep, they have that too.
The assortment of offerings is impressive and the energy palpable – a welcome dose of positivity in uncertain days. “Girl Scouts has always been a resource in times of crisis,” explains Celia Tellez, Girl Scout USA’s VP of Program Strategy and Development:
“With so many parents facing the stressful realities of social distancing, Girl Scouts at Home provides a sense of continuity and fun for current Girl Scouts, and something exciting for those new to the organization. At the same time, many parents are looking for ways to support their girls to build resilience and make a difference; the self-guided resources at Girl Scouts at Home helps them to do both from the safety of home.”
Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo agrees, adding that while Girl Scouts have endured many hardships in their 108-year history, they “have always led the way to reach out and bring people together.”
Girl Scouts’ timing couldn’t be better.
Opening up the badge-earning program to girls everywhere allows for new accomplishment and goal-setting. Sifting categories by grade level helps parents match activities to academics, enhancing the home schools they suddenly find themselves running. And the camaraderie and confidence integral to Girl Scouts since it’s founding now spreads a little farther – forging future leaders ready for the next crisis.
Girl Scouts knows that these are scary times, and by arming every girl with projects accomplished and badges earned as easily under quarantine as they are around a campfire, they are helping put constantly-washed hands to work.
We will remember this time for decades to come, and we will look back not only the things we gave up, but the skills we gained.
The horizons we expanded.
And maybe, through platforms like Girl Scouts at Home, we’ll all feel a little less like we were grounded and a little more like we’ve been lifted.
Stay healthy. Stay safe. And hang out at home with Girl Scouts.