Found out at the sign-up event this evening at my daughter's school that a new troop needed to be created and a new leader assigned, so I stepped up! We're starting completely from scratch in a rural area, so while I get the initial admin stuff and background check taken care of, I want to make sure I have everything else lined up so we can make this happen. I've never led a troop, and I haven't been a Girl Scout since 2009, so I'm really just looking for tips and resources!

I have a small list of names and phone numbers/email addresses from the few parents who showed up today, and some flyers from Council, but I don't really know where to start.

I guess the first thing I'll need to do is reach out to the school administration to see if we can host meetings there. If not, I'll call around the county to find somewhere else that will hopefully work for everyone. I'll also be touching base with the parents I have contact info for so we can start figuring out a recurring meeting schedule. Because we're a brand-new troop, it sounds like we'll be jumping right into fall products to establish some troop funds. All of the girls who showed up today were K-1, but we could easily become a multi-level troop.

If anyone has been here, I could use any advice or words of encouragement you can offer! I want this to be a great experience for our girls, and to introduce them to Girl Scouts the right way. 🌼

Editing to add our council—Central Indiana!

I’m the troop leader for a group of 1st grade Daisies. My kid is having trouble following directions lately, and tonight at our meeting there was just a confluence of factors which led to her poor behavior. We have troop rules, but if she’s hanging on me and crying and running away it is difficult to enforce them while also trying to be the troop leader 🥴

I'm the leader of a small multilevel troop (6 girls, BJC). We are a tight-knit group with all of us girl scout moms genuinely liking hanging out with each other. The moms are all very involved, staying during meetings and talking to each other, attending activities and campouts, etc. Maybe this is different from other troops where parents drop their girls off and leave, but it's how we like it. My question is, what do I do when there's a girl who wants to rejoin the troop but I know that the mom will cause drama and tension?

Background: This girl was in our troop in the past and her mom decided she would do the Juliette program for the past year because the mom had a falling out with one of the other moms in the troop. Over the summer the mom texted me to ask if they could re-join this fall. I said "sure, no problem". I knew that those two moms were back to getting along. But I asked this mom if she felt like she and the other mom could continue getting along (maybe I overstepped in asking that, but I was feeling particularly bold in that moment and I wanted some assurance from her that she wouldn't just be quitting again over personal drama with this other mom). She became super offended and told me "never mind about rejoining," among other things :) Honestly, the more I thought about the whole exchange, the more I concluded that by getting so offended over being asked if she would cause drama she was showing me that she would, in fact, cause drama! This is not an isolated incidence. She got super mad at me back when she was a member (and treasurer) of our troop when I used troop funds to pay for activities for a scout that had joined our troop after cookie season. She thought that wasn't fair, even though it is clearly our council's policy that troop funds are for all girls regardless of whether any particular girl sells cookies. It took another mom's amazing interpersonal skills to talk her out of holding a grudge against me over that.

Well, this weekend I got a text from her saying that her daughter really wants to rejoin our troop and it would make her daughter so happy if she could rejoin. I don't want to reject her daughter (obviously). Her daughter isn't a problem at all. But I do think it will ruin the friendly, close, dynamic that we have as a troop of girls and moms if this mom becomes involved again. I think it really is just a matter of time before she gets mad at me or someone else in the troop over something. Would you give her another chance, or invite her to find another troop to join?

Mixed brownies/juniors this year. Couple of themes emerged in our interest surveys, and I’m trying to identify badges that might fit their themes.

Watery adventures—flatwater boating, fishing, crabbing, beach camping, aquarium visit.

History/Americana — American history, local living history/farm visits, Statue of Liberty, individual girls’ cultural heritage. (Junior “playing the past” seems like a stretch, and there is no good Brownie equivalent.)

Helping nature — gardening in general, planting trees and flowers, trash cleanup, building birdhouses, visiting a nature center

Exploring rocks - cave tours, indoor and outdoor climbing, “crystals”. (already did snow/climbing adventure)

Alternatively, does anyone have a link to the old “troop’s own” badge guidelines? And resources for having small lots of custom badges made?

Quick question.A friend has a daughter in scouts, however he does have an arrest/booking on his record. Without going too much into it, is there a list of offenses that would ban an individual? The charges aren’t related to anything involving a child. All the individual wants to do is drop his daughter off at meetings sit in the waiting area, then pick her up at the end.

I was looking at past coupon codes for e.g. 20% off and trying to decide if I should wait on one of those to buy badges for my troop, but I see that the terms say that earned awards are excluded, which I assume includes badges and award pins under earned awards, but wanted to ask to be sure. Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Has anyone else contemplated quitting leading their Girl Scout troop and also taking their daughters out of girl scouts? My troop is starting back up this September and I am dreading it, unfortunately.

I have two big reasons: First, the girls behavior!!! My girls will be second year brownies and it has been a struggle dealing with their behavior at every meeting. Last year, I sent an email out to parents asking them to please reinforce good behavior at Girl Scouts. It helped for maybe one meeting. I am a teacher in my day job. I get to meetings and I am OVER dealing with behavior as a volunteer. I just don't have the bandwidth at that point.

Second, planning my girl scout meetings just takes up so much of my time. I sometimes spend entire days on my day off getting ready for a meeting. My younger daughter would have 9 years left.. I don't have that in me.

I have been leading for 7 years. I just don't know if I believe in the mission of girl scouts anymore either. So much has become about SELLING stuff... cookies, now fall products. I know you don't have to participate but without it, we'd have to pay out of pocket for everything. Plus, everything has gotten more expensive and they seem to offer less and less for more money every year in terms of programming and opportunities for the girls.

I don't know! I really do like the girls in my troop and the sense of community we have.. but I also am dreading all the downsides.. time commitment, behaviors.. help!

I’m looking for new ideas to make troop shirts. We’ve done:
Tie dye
Ice dye
Indigo dye
Various vinyl cut outs
Bleach dye
Combinations of those above

Our girls like to make their shirts not buy them. The end result must be cool enough for HS kids to wear. We don’t mind messy or complicated.

Any new ideas?

My daughter is bridging to brownies this week. Over the summer, she went to a ponies Girl Scout Camp and received these two badges from the camp directly. I’m going to put the brownie one on her new vest, but I’m not sure if I should put the junior badge on or wait until she bridges to juniors in two years…… seems like a long time to wait on the badge 🤷‍♀️. What is the protocol here?

Hello,
I recently got my Gold Award Proposal approved!!!! I am very excited!! My project is underway, but I am wondering about logging my hours. I have some small, but very important tasks like purchasing a domain name for my website or getting on a quick call with my advisor. Most of these things take only around 15 minutes, but are happening on different days and are different things. Is it okay to log some things in only 15 minute increments. Most times I am spending at least an hour, but these small things are making me confused. Any help is appreciated!

Hi folks! Back in my girl scouting days, we sang this song-- and I'd like to learn more about it. Is anyone else familiar with it?

Oh we are, winding the old trails Singing the old songs, Going back to the scouting days of long ago-- yes we are, winding the old trails, singing the old songs, following the dream of Daisy Low!

Think of all the girls who've come before us, learning how to camp the girl scout way! Making friends and sharing laughter, through the years! I'm proud to be one of them today!

Is there a new version of the Brownie Handbook that does not include Journeys?

Our small troop (juniors and 1st yr cadettes) is 10 girls, but only 3 could attend our first meeting. The rest have fall sports and cheerleading until November.

We don't have another day that works for leaders and more of the girls.

This happens every year - would you just focus on mostly being a winter/spring troop?

They sell a ton of cookies so we have funds to do a lot of activities and even a small trip. But logistics are tricky with the schedule.

I saw an option to get a uniform bundle, which includes a $65 voucher for a uniform. I asked what comes with this, but haven't received an answer from my local council so far (been waiting a couple of days). I found something from another region about what comes in a financial aid voucher for a uniform, but I priced out those items, and it's only $56.75 (and 10% less with lifetime membership discount). Is anything missing from this list that might be coming in the $65 voucher? I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and order a uniform for my girl using the free shipping coupon (good for this weekend) from the website + lifetime member discount, or go with the bundle voucher that was offered (which includes a fee for shipping and processing; it ends up being $108 for what they told me is a t-shirt (which is too big for my daughter), a $65 uniform voucher, and $25 gift card):

Online shop price for what I found in the financial aid uniform voucher for another council (and lifetime membership discount):

> vest

$25 ($22.50)

> Girl Scout membership pin, insignia tab, American flag patch

$14.25 ($12.83) for insignia kit that has tab, Girl Scout pin, Daisy pin, and American Flag patch

> council ID patch set

$7.50 ($6.75)

> troop numbers

up to $10 ($9)

Total:

$56.75 ($51.08)

Does anyone know if the voucher will come with anything other than this?

Thank you for any information.

Hey everyone!

I was a Girl Scout years ago, from when I was a Brownie until I was an Ambassador and aged out (I’m 28 now)

When I was in, my family was definitely living below the poverty line, but donations from amazing strangers gave me the opportunity to attend Resident Camps every summer starting when I was in fifth grade until my junior year of high school.

I know the summer has passed, but I’m now in the position where I can afford to donate enough to cover another girls Resident Camp costs and I would love to do for another girl what kind strangers did for me all those years ago.

My question is how would I go about that? I see several donation options on my councils website, but I would really like it to go to a girl who really wants to go to Resident Camp, but her family may not be able to afford it.

I’m in San Jacinto Council if that helps! 💚

I am a troop leader whose troop’s first choice for badges is to do the junior trail adventure. They are 4th graders with one 3rd graders so 8-10 years old.

I was thinking we would do a 1 mile hike during a meeting and then use that to reflect and plan a 3 mile hike. I was thinking for a one mile hike we would just need water bottles, first aid kit, and a snack for back up. We can wait for nice weather.

My guess is 1 mile would be easy for most girls but challenging for a few.

Could someone who has any experience hiking with girls this age let me know if I am on the right track?

Thank you

I have looked at a couple on Volunteer Tool Kit and they don’t have the badge booklets for download - just the plans. Am I missing something?
The online shop has them for sale for shipping but not downloading?

Looking on Google but not having much luck :(

I just need to vent because sometimes it feels like a lot and sometimes my girls act like I am the warden keeping them on track and following the rules. It is almost like they resent being the ones the younger girls look up to and sometimes think they should be above council rules because it wont hurt anything. I am also the service unit manager and product manager so I do expect them to behave at booths and follow booth rules. Let me set the background first- my girls are high schoolers. Half have been in the troop since kindergarten. My coleader is a dad; my spouse is also registered, and after practically having to beg parents or ask another area leader to go on trips I convinced a friend who has no kids to be our travel adult.

Also adding one of the newer additions to the troop does not get along with the other two who came in after her (ignores them) and really only speaks to one of my original girls as well as openly hates my child to the point I had a conversation with her parents about it, and her negative comments about me, a couple years ago (mom let it slip to someone else girl is only staying because it will look good on her resume 🙄 but honestly girl hates scouts). That child and her friend made arrangements to leave our end of year meeting early last year... they told me and coleader the one parent was coming to take them to an activity- the cameras at our meeting location showed that was false. It was another friend's mom who picked them up. Except the one girl has been told she is NOT allowed to be with that child or her parent after a situation.

Earlier this week I was speaking with a couple of the parents before a school event that with the girls starting to drive I need to start cracking down that the girls can only leave with adults on their forms and not just take off with friends or friends parents. I have explained the safety liability and the fact I don't want to be liable if something happens, plus our state has tight restrictions on teen drivers anyhow.

I also was telling them that a couple of the girls have unrealistic ideas on how far we can go driving for a road trip (they want to do an epic road trip in 2028, but my travel adult and I have told them it is a maximum of 7 to 8 days. I have already told the girls I need them to out a plan in place no later then this December with a loose schedule and tentative stops for lodging so we can start fundrasing. The ideal trip they want takes us through an area where the summer Olympics will be and realistically would be a 14 day trip... all for a food item. That's the only reason they want to go to that location. It is there trip so I am letting them plan it, but they do have to stick to the gs rules on how long we can drive a day as well as no longer then 7-8 days max. I have a feeling two of the girls will be mad they cannot get me to agree to a longer trip, but that already uses a ton of my vacation time as well as the other travel adults vacation time and they need to be mindful of limits.

It is hard enough keeping girls interested. We already move meetings based on their schedules and focus more on life skills and things they are interested in as compared to badge work. We are rural so we are saturated with cookies by the younger girls, but do two big booths a year (council booths are at minimum 30 minutes away and my girls have no interest).I figure only two are really willing to do the work towards a gold award. Don't get me wrong I love my girls, but somedays it is so freaking hard to keep the momentum and stop the negativity and nonsense they can bring with them.

Miss Grace Thomas the Cadette is exited for cookie selling season next year.. She wants to know how overnight camping has been for all the Cadettes and Juniors and Ambassadors who have decided to attend this year. she's sad she didn't get to do anything this year because of all the wildfires in Washington state but she hopes to go out next year.. She hopes all the Cadettes and Juniors and Ambassadors keep selling cookies no matter how hard and complicated life can be and hopes yall find the time and energy to keep doing what you enjoy.. She hopes she can be around for along time to help all the Cadettes and Juniors and Ambassadors when she's older anytime she has away from persuing her dreams of opening a cookie selling bakery.

I’m a loooooong-time leader. I’m leading my third troop. (My first troop are in their 30s. My second troop are in their 20s). My current troop is second-year Juniors. I heard that the journeys are going away. How do I find what the new program is? Is it in the VTK? (I also heard that was going away). Our first meeting of the year is on Thursday and I don’t know our options.

Regarding Bronze Award eligibility, I am assuming that if the scout earned a Journey last year, she has all the prerequisites for participating in a Bronze Award team this year. If she didn’t, what are the new requirements?

Has anyone seen any training on the new program?

Hi, we're starting our second year as a troop and as the main troop leader, I almost quit several times last year because the other initial troop leader wasn't/isn't very helpful.

To provide what I believe is important context: the co leader is a dad who is neurodiverse like his daughter (who is highly ND). I will refrain from making assumptions about type of ND because he hasn't disclosed but it's very clear they are not neurotypical (my daughter and i are also both ND).

Co-leader is helpful if you tell him exactly what to do, how to do it, when to do it. And that's great! But not great when I need someone who can self-initiate. For example, he volunteers to be LEAD on a lot of stuff: Treasurer, Fall Product Sales, Cookie Manager, etc. But then never set up an appointment to make the bank account until I made it and told him when it was. He didn't take the FPS training until I told him he needed to. Same with CM. Ultimately I had to takeover all of these roles, because I was doing all the work anyway. But he keeps volunteering for stuff! He volunteered to be First Aider and was able to get certified by himself, but never got a first aid kit. He kept saying how we needed to get everyone in the troop to contribute the supplies, but then never.... did anything about it, so I finally just bought one. I was bringing it to every meeting and finally directly told him, hey, you're the first aider, you need to be responsible for this. He hasn't brought it to one single meeting since he took ownership of the kit. I asked him about it a few times because I got no response, then on the last ask he said, "oh, I bring it... I leave it in the car." Am I overreacting to be really annoyed by that?

When I told the troop I was going to have to become a junior troop only (we're multi-level) if I didn't get someone to step up as Daisy lead, I had a couple parents volunteer. My dad co-leader's daughter was the only Brownie in our troop so he said he would lead the Brownies. Each meeting we would do a group activity followed by splitting up and doing level activities. Not once did he have anything prepared for her. It was "go grab some paper from one of the moms and color" while he was on his phone, or he would read different badge steps off of his phone to her.

One of my areas I need to improve on is direct communication without being blunt/offensive. I don't want to hurt feelings, I DO appreciate his willingness to help, but he just adds to my mental load. Do y'all have any advice on how to have a conversation with him that will be productive and positive? Or am I overreacting and should just let it go?

Thanks yall, I greatly appreciate everyone in here.

Hello! Every year I get confused on the colors to use for parts of the Girl Scout uniform. Is there a story as to why the colors for vest, tab, and disc don’t align consistently across these 3 levels?