There are many materials on the Web that you can use for your Girl Scouts. This badge program is specifically designed to target materials for Girl Scout leaders. Others may find it beneficial too if they work with youth groups. Half the battle is knowing what is available.
Note: Some of the below mentioned items have applications that run on smart phones.
Steps
Before you start
1. Your own records.
The Web is in a constant state of change. What you found yesterday may be gone today. If you find something you think you might need, save a copy. You can always destroy the copy later if you don’t need it, but trying to recreate something from memory takes a lot of effort. You can save:
- HTML pages — make sure to include graphics
- PDFs — free PDF creators such as doPDF allow you to “print” to a PDF
- Print — only print the pages and information you need, storage may become an issue
2. Going “wayback”.
www.archive.org/web/web.php
Use the Wayback Machine to find Web sites that have been removed back to 1996. You must know the URL to get to the site. I have gotten information from my legacy council, SWAP information and more.
Official Sites from GSUSA
3. Girl Scouts of the USA.
www.girlscouts.org
This is the main site for GSUSA. You’ll find links to the other sites in this section within these pages. Items you can find on this site include:
- Information about Girl Scouts
- History of Girl Scouts and Juliette Low
- News for the Girl Scouts
- Program information for higher awards
- Cookie pin requirements (current year)
- Full list of items girls can earn per level
- Images of where items go on uniforms
- Studies and publications for the Girl Scout Research Institute
- LEADER magazine
- Training at Edith Macy
- Girl Scout Shop
4. Girl Scout Central.
www.girlscouts.org/gs_central
Girl Scout Central is the place for girls’ programming, activities and more. If you just want to know what is happening now, this is the place to start.
5. Girl-specific site.
forgirls.girlscouts.org
This site features all the new programming for each level, designed for the girls themselves. Areas include:
- Girls 5-9
- Girls 10-12
- Teens 13-17
- Blogs by Journey
- Travel (destinations)
- Badges (with statement of what the girls will have done)
6. Imagine Engineering.
www.girlscouts.org/imagineengineering
From the LEGO League to running a workshop, girls and adults can learn more about engineering. There are many links to additional information. This is definitely a great place for learning and even finding a mentor.
Moving away from GSUSA, but still official
7. Your council.
Each Girl Scout in the United States belongs to a council. One of the first things you should get is your council’s site address. Here you’ll find information that will affect you and your girls the most. Items you might find on the council’s site include:
- Camp information
- Council-sponsored events
- Girl events
- Adult learning
- Community opportunities
- PDFs of all print publications
- VERB (Volunteer Essentials Resource Book)
- Staff directory
- Council own programs
8. Other councils.
www.girlscouts.org/councilfinder
Just because you don’t belong to a council doesn’t mean they don’t share. While some items are not accessible without a password, a large number are. You can find a full listing of the councils in the USA at the above URL.
9. World’s Strongest Girl.
www.worldsstrongestgirl.org
Started by the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, this site has captured girl interest across the country. This site is for girls only. For each girl, the world’s strongest girl is herself. They can learn through the stories they share with others.
10. WAGGGSS.
www.wagggs.org
WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) is a site for Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. All Girl Scouts are automatically part of WAGGGS. This site will give you a world view of the scouting movement. Items you might find on this site include:
- Thinking Day activities
- Worldwide activities
- Patch programs
Other sites, not Girl Scout specific
11. Patchwork Designs.
www.patchworkdesigns.net
Patchwork Designs provides embroidery, silk screening, patches and programs for kids of any age. The basic requirements are available for free. The books are great if you’re unfamiliar with a topic. Items you can find on this site include:
- Pictures of the patches they have available
- Requirements lists for the patches
- Books you can purchase to make earning the patches easy
- Service project ideas / patches
- Thinking Day ideas / patches
12. Making Friends.
www.makingfriends.com
While mainly selling craft supplies, Making Friends also has thousands of craft project sheets, recycled ideas and free printables. Items you can find on this site include:
- Craft projects searchable by type, materials, occasion, theme and holidays
- Kit programs for various levels (sets of 12)
- Paper doll Girl Scouts
- SWAP ideas and instructions
- Girl Scout-specific crafts
13. Scouting Web.
www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb
Scouting Web hosts a huge set of links to sites on the Web to find information you need for your troop, self and “just because.” Be warned, you can lose hours on this site. Items you can find on this site include:
- Links for awards and badges
- Links for activities and events
- Links for levels and rank
- Links for troop resources
14. YouTube.
www.youtube.com
YouTube is a site that hosts video clips. Some are only a minute long. Some are in pieces because of them long length. There’s a little bit of everything for you here. Items you can find on this site include:
- Vintage videos such as “The Golden Eaglet”
- Discussions of various people from GSUSA
- Craft instruction
- Songs and actions
Note: You can save the videos from YouTube for future reference. Follow the directions online.
15. Wikipedia.
www.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia with content gathered from experts (and sometimes not-so-experts) on the Internet. In other words, anyone who logs in can make adjustments to it. For this reason, the content on Wikipedia changes daily. Items you can find on this site include:
- Information and history of Girl Scouts
- Information for Thinking Day (countries)
- Information on WAGGGS
16. Facebook.
www.facebook.com
Facebook is a social networking site that allows you to connect and share with people in your life. Many organizations have pages to connect with volunteers and supporters. Things you can do on this site include:
- Keep track of people
- Post notes on your “wall” for your friends
- Follow groups you’re interested in, such as Girl Scouts
- Share photos
- Play games
- Create a fan page for your troop
17. Yahoo! Groups.
groups.yahoo.com
Yahoo! Groups has a variety of groups for everything from general Girl Scout information to specific level information and more. Here are a few groups you might want to check out. Make sure you search for more specific groups.
- greenbloodnews
- AllGirlScouts
- Girl-Scout-Swaps
- greenbloodtraditions
- Scouting Links Newsletter
18. Enrichment Project.
larajla.com/enrichment-project
Designed to help adults learn more than they can then share with the youth they work with, learning is broken into badge programs. Categories include:
- Communication
- Crafts
- Games and Sports
- General
- Groups
- Hobbies and Recreation
- Holidays
- Outdoors
- Performing Arts
- Personal and Health
- Recipes and Nutrition
- Service
- STEM
- Web
- World
Sites to Explore
- www.bellaonline.com/Site/GirlScouts
- gsleaders.org
- www.volunteermatch.org
- www.praypub.org
- www.callingpost.com
- www.fieldtripfactory.com
- www.worldthinkingday.org/en/home
- www.gsswaps.net
- www.juliettegordonlowbirthplace.org
- www.dosomething.org
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