Activities for Kids

New Girl Scout Badges Announced for 2020-2021!

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

Entrepreneur Badges

Toy Business Designer  Daisies come up with an idea for a toy, design it, make it better, and share it—just like entrepreneurs!

Budding Entrepreneur Brownies become entrepreneurs by making something, testing it out, and improving their idea to make it the best it can be.

Business Jumpstart  Juniors sharpen their entrepreneurial skills as they come up with an idea for something that solves a problem, get feedback, share their idea, and pitch it to others.

Business Creator  Cadettes think like entrepreneurs as they come up with a business idea that solves a problem, produce a prototype, solicit feedback, improve their idea, then create a business plan and pitch it.

Business Startup  Seniors learn more about the entrepreneurial mindset as they explore what it takes to create their own business.

Entrepreneur Accelerator Ambassadors think and act like entrepreneurs as they bring a business vision to life, learn how to work with a team, and motivate people to take a chance with them.

Access the Badge Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans
  • Hard-copy badge booklet ($2.50 each)
    • available via online shop or in Council Shops mid-August
    • Digital download badge booklet PDF ($0.99 each)

Get the badge: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

Mark Your Calendar

For these virtual events for girls:

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

STEM Career Exploration Badges

One badge per level for Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes

Girls explore their own interests, how those connect with different STEM careers, and how they can use STEM to make a difference. They look at different fields and careers in STEM and create a plan for how they’ll make the world a better place. The badges are “Unplugged” but include optional “Plugged” and in-person components to amplify the activities.

Access the Badge Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans
  • Hard-copy badge booklet ($2.50 each)
    • available via online shop or in Council Shops mid-August
    • Digital download badge booklet PDF ($0.99 each)

Get the badge: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

Mark Your Calendar

For these virtual events for girls:

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

Automotive Engineering Badges

Three progressive badges per level for Daisies, Brownies, and Junior. Girls earn these badges in a particular order.

Girls learn how vehicles are designed, engineered, and manufactured. In each of the badges, they design and build vehicle prototypes that meet sets of criteria and solve problems for others.

Access the Badge Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans each
  • Hard-copy badge booklet ($5.00 for 3-badge pack)
    • available via online shop or in Council Shops mid-August
    • Digital download badge booklet PDF ($1.99 for 3-badge pack)

Get the badge: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

Mark Your Calendar

Week of August 3:

  • In three events for Daisies/Brownies/Juniors, women who work for General Motors in the areas of design, engineering, and manufacturing will talk about how cars get made.
  • A bonus Daisy/Brownie/Junior event will feature GM CEO Mary Barra in conversation with GSUSA’s Sylvia Acevedo.
  • Details to be announced

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

Civics Education Badges

 Democracy for Daisies  Daisies begin learning about the people who work together in their government.

Democracy for Brownies Brownies find out how people in the government decide what rules are made and how they are followed.

Democracy for Juniors Juniors learn more about how their government works—from their town or city to the whole country.

Democracy for Cadettes  Cadettes find out new things about their government—how each branch works, how they work together, and how each piece makes a difference in society.

Democracy for Seniors Seniors expand their knowledge about how their local, state, and national government works.

​​​​​​​Democracy for Ambassadors  Ambassadors become experts on local, state, and national government—and prepare to use that knowledge to inform their voting.

Access the Badge Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans
  • Hard-copy badge booklet ($2.50 each)
    • available via online shop or in Council Shops mid-August
    • Digital download badge booklet PDF ($0.99 each)

Get the badge: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

Mark Your Calendar

Week of August 10:

  • In one event for Daisies/Brownies/Juniors and one for Cadettes/Seniors/Ambassadors, inspiring civically active women will talk about the importance of civic engagement and how girls can use their voices to make a difference.
  • Details to be announced

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

2021 Global Awards

2021 World Thinking Day Award

On February 22 of each year, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world celebrate World Thinking Day by doing the same activities around a shared theme. The World Thinking Day 2021 theme is Peacebuilding. This year, girls will celebrate what it means to be a peacebuilder in the context of the Global Movement. They’ll expand their understanding of these concepts, practice the skills to resolve conflict in peaceful ways, and take action to make their world and communities more peaceful places. Although World Thinking Day is February 22, girls can earn this award at any point during the year!

Access the Award Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans

Get the award: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

2021 Global Action Award

Every year, the Girl Scout Global Action award addresses the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. In 2021, the award focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. Girls can earn their Global Action Award by discovering what climate action means, connecting with the issues in their community and around the world, and completing a Take Action project to make the world a more sustainable place.

Access the Award Requirements

  • In the Volunteer Toolkit (free!) in 2 meeting plans

Get the award: available via online shop or in Council Shops ($3.00)

Click here to get this information in a downloadable/saveable/printable PDF format.

Featured

This Alum Promotes Anti-Bias in Tech

Dr. Nicki Washington’s Brownie troop in Durham, North Carolina, was one of the first settings outside of school in which she engaged with people of a variety of backgrounds and identities. She expected, whether on a whitewater rafting trip, campout, or cookie sale, the experience to be inclusive.

Most of the kids in the group lived in predominantly white neighborhoods and Nicki lived in a predominantly black neighborhood, but when it came to troop activities, everyone worked together as a team.

“It forced all of us to start engaging with each other at a young age outside of school,” said Nicki.

Today, all of Nicki’s work emphasizes inclusion. Next month she’ll take on a new position in the computer science department at Duke University, where she will teach a course on race, gender, and computing. Nicki will also continue to research cultural competence in computer science—a focus of her work for years.

The first Black woman to receive a PhD in computer science from North Carolina State University, Nicki never planned to go into academia. She did however grow up tinkering with computers, which were always around because her mother was a programmer for IBM.

“I graduated from grad school in 2005 and worked for a year. Then I decided I was going to apply to teach part-time at Howard [University]—just one course. At the time, Howard was also looking for someone for a full-time position,” she explains.

“I never had any desire to go into higher education, but Howard had never had a Black woman on the faculty in computer science. I thought, this is an opportunity for young women who didn’t have a mom like mine to see themselves in me.”

In 2018, after nearly a decade at Howard, Nicki wrote and self-published the book Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field, which led to her recognition by Essence magazine as one of 15 Black women in America disrupting the tech industry.

As part of her research today, Nicki explores how the lack of cultural competence in computer science results in the creation of biased environments, that in turn lead to biased technologies.

“People are responsible for the irresponsible technology that’s created,” she explains, citing facial recognition programs that are biased against darker skin tones as an example of an irresponsible technology.

“I hope to correct this bias by teaching students early in their academic careers about bias and racism,” she says. “Then they graduate and know what to look for and what not to do, even if they [aren’t part of] a marginalized group.”

She’s excited about this next phase of her career.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and even the last few weeks have called attention to that,” she says, referencing the protests and marches nationwide that continue to call for racial justice and equality.

“There’s a lot of work I can do in this space to create impactful change that isn’t just for a fleeting moment.”

Activities for Kids

The Escape Game: At-Home Virtual Escape Room

TEG Unlocked is an at-home adventure packed with evidence, puzzles, and an online dashboard designed to create a digital version of an escape room style experience. It will require deductive reasoning, critical thinking, a dash of teamwork, and a bit of wit!

HOW DO GIRL SCOUTS PLAY THE ESCAPE GAME (TEG) UNLOCKED?

  • Recommended for 2 – 4 Girl Scouts with an Adult Moderator.
  • It is recommended that each Girl Scout and the Adult Moderator (must have a current GSUSA membership) have a laptop or desktop computer with internet access.
  • All virtual program guidelines set forth by GSUSA and Girl Scouts of Citrus must be followed, including never to record activity, take pictures of the screen, use last names and girls must complete the GSUSA Internet Safety Pledge and turn it into the designated adult.
  • Each person must register through The Escape Game’s online store via a Girl Scout specific URL and then they will be emailed an individual password to log in.
  • Due to the challenging nature of the activities, TEG Unlocked is recommended for Cadettes and up.
  • Average play time per volume is 60-90 minutes; however, it is not timed and there are built in hints.
  • Other technology devices and a pen and paper may be needed.

See more info and get started: click here to go to The Escape Game

 

Activities for Kids

Exploring the Solar System: Pocket Solar System

“Exploring the Solar System: Pocket Solar System” is a hands-on activity in which visitors make a scale model of the distances between objects in our solar system. They learn that there is a lot of space between planets, and that our solar neighborhood contains many other interesting features and objects. They can even imagine where they might like to send a NASA mission spacecraft in the future!

Big Idea

Our solar system is vast, and there are great distances between the planets.

Learning Goals
  • There’s a lot of empty space in our solar system—distances between planets are vast!
  • The solar system is made up of eight planets and many other objects orbiting the Sun.
  • NASA’s science missions are exploring our solar system, and beyond.

Get the printable resources here: https://www.nisenet.org/catalog/exploring-solar-system-pocket-solar-system

Activities for Kids

Aviation with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

DESCRIPTION

This course is a project of the Woman in Aviation International Chapter at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide. It is a self-paced Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), designed for learners 8-17 that celebrates Girls in Aviation Day! In the course, ERAU-WW provides learners with some of the best information related to aviation and aeronautics available. We hope you learn a lot, explore what we have to offer, and have loads of fun!

Sign up your young learner today and get excited about girls in aviation.

To be eligible for enrollment in this course learners must be at least 13 years old or must have a parent or guardian sign up for this course on the behalf of their child.

OBJECTIVES

  • Explain aviation terms in language applicable to an 8-17 year old audience.
  • Explore aspects of flight such as lift, gravity, thrust and drag.
  • Identify major parts of an airplane.
  • Describe the flight characteristics of a helicopter.
  • Discuss the goals of space exploration.

Target Audience: Children 8-17 years old.

Course is offered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Enroll Now (available through May 31)
Activities for Kids

National Museum of Natural History – Virtual Tours

The Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.

See available tours
Activities for Kids

EcoAction: Virtual Field Trip

April 15, 2020

Celebrate Earth Day with Boeing and Discovery Education as we highlight the ways Boeing is using advanced technology, engineering, and its dedicated workforce to create a more sustainable future. The ecoAction Virtual Field Trip brings students to various locations around Seattle, Washington to meet STEM experts who are working on sustainability in the air, on land, in the water, and in the handling and reduction of waste.

Date & Time: April 15, 2020 at 1PM ET

It’s on all of us to create a more sustainable world. Join us to see how Boeing engineers and other STEM experts are working on sustainability in the air, on land, in the water, and in the handling and reduction of waste. Hop onboard the ecoDemonstrator test plane to see how an ingenious vortex generator reduces drag on airplanes, step inside a forest to learn about the creation of sustainable biofuels, check out a new permeable pavement, and see how recycling can lead to innovation.

Register Now
Activities for Kids

Think Like a Programmer Journey with CodeCampKidz (Virtual Class)

For Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors

PLEASE READ FULL EVENT DESCRIPTION: Complete your Think Like A Programmer (TLAP) Journey online and learn to code all from the comfort of your own home on your own schedule! CodeCampKidz will guide you step by step as you work through your projects. No experience or previous knowledge is required! When you finish your journey you will have coded a Take Action Project of your choosing and earned your journey award badge. All under the guidance of a live instructor OR on your own!

The Web Development Edition of TLAP is designed for girls who are interested in a Full Code Immersion experience. You’ll not only Think Like A Programmer but code like one as well while overcoming obstacles, building problem solving skills, and developing confidence as an independent coder. Sign up at any time and experience the latest in online learning.

All you need to participate is a modern browser, high speed Wi-Fi, and a computer with audio capability (CodeCampKidz is no longer compatible with Chromebooks). You will have as long as you need to complete your journey. Once you complete the journey, you are more than welcome to continue the fun and the learning; additional learning plans are available for purchase through CodeCampKidz once you complete your journey.

Register Now

Confirmations: This program is completely virtual and the registration is rolling, which means we will continue to accept new girls throughout the entire Spring season(January 6th – May 17th). Confirmations for the class, containing a link to create your CodeCampKidz account and details on how to participate, will be sent out every Monday to girls who registered the previous week. Please note that the automatic response containing a receipt that you receive upon registering is not the confirmation email. The confirmation email will be sent from a Girl Scouts of Citrus staff member. We appreciate your patience with the confirmation emails, as this program is rolling admission and we are continuously accepting new girls.

How do you receive your badge?: Once girls complete the journey, they must submit proof of their completed Take Action Project to receive their badge. A badge request form will be provided in your confirmation email. This form will need to be sent to vkatz@citrus-gs.org with the subject line “Think Like A Programmer Journey Badge Request Form�?. Badges will be sent via USPS.

Refunds: Since this is an ongoing registration, we will not be able to offer any refunds or cancellations for this program.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact vkatz@citrus-gs.org. Confirmations for this program will be sent from vkatz@citrus-gs.org.

Activities for Kids

At-Home Activities from NASA

Looking for hands-on science and engineering fun at home? Find ideas to build, design, launch, and solve with online resources from NASA.

Here’s one example we love: Make an ocean ecosystem you can eat?! Yes, please!

Make an Ocean Ecosystem Dessert

It’s hard to imagine life on Earth without oceans. The air you breathe used to be an ocean breeze. The water you drink was once in a cloud over the ocean.

The ocean is also important to the many species of plants and animals that call the water their home. This community of organisms is called an ecosystem.

Human-caused climate change is warming our planet, and the oceans are
feeling the heat. Plants and animals in the ocean ecosystem are sensitive to
changes in the ocean’s temperature. Some organisms can adapt to the change, but others can’t survive the warmer temperatures. Since so much life is dependent on these waters, it’s important to keep the oceans healthy!

Scientists are monitoring the temperature of the ocean with an instrument called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The satellite measures the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean’s surface.

With this activity, learn to make a cool and tasty version of the ocean ecosystem at home!

What you’ll need:
• 1 large clear bowl (deep and 10+ cup capacity)
• 2 – 6 oz boxes of blue gelatin dessert mix
• Red licorice twists
• Gummy fish
• Scissors
• Mint leaves
• Hot water
• Cold water
• Measuring cup (not pictured)
• Spoon (not pictured)

What to do:

1. Make the ocean water. Follow the directions on the box of blue gelatin dessert mix by pouring 4 cups of hot water into the bowl with 2 packages of blue gelatin powder. Stir for 2 minutes. Once the powder is dissolved, mix in 4 cups of cold water. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for approximately 45 minutes. (Note: This amount of time should allow the gelatin to become a thick liquid that is only slightly firm.)

2. Make the coral. While the gelatin is in the refrigerator, use the scissors to cut the red licorice strips into short sections that are only a few inches long. The licorice will represent the coral in your edible ecosystem.

3. Make the seaweed. Cut the mint into segments approximately 2 to 3 inches long. The mint leaves will represent the seaweed in your edible ocean ecosystem.

4. Remove gelatin from refrigerator. After 45 minutes has passed, remove your gelatin from the refrigerator. It should be thicker than liquid, but not completely firm. If the gelatin is still very runny, place it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and check it again.

5. Assemble your ocean ecosystem. Once the gelatin has become a thick liquid, begin placing your seaweed (mint), coral (licorice), and fish (gummy fish) in the ocean of blue gelatin. Push each item into the gelatin with your finger. Be sure to place some of your fish, coral, and seaweed right next to the glass so that they’re easy to see. When you’re done, jiggle the gelatin a bit to repair the holes.

6. Refrigerate gelatin again. Place gelatin in the refrigerator for another 2 to 3 hours. This will allow the gelatin to become totally firm.

7. Enjoy your tasty ocean-themed dessert!

Check out dozens of activities and project details here: https://www.nasa.gov/stem-at-home-for-students-k-4.html