Get Girls Outside With the Volunteer Toolkit!
Girl Scouts is dedicated to getting girls outside! The outdoors are an important part of our organization, and thanks to generous funding from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA made some enhancements to the Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) to help volunteers and girls get outdoors as they earn badges!
Not sure what the VTK is? Check out more here.
What are these new VTK “enhancements”?
Several Daisy, Brownie, and Junior activities have been updated with options for taking a troop activity outside. And don’t worry — if the weather won’t cooperate on your meeting day, you can toggle back to the non-outdoor focused version of the meeting plan!
The purpose of these updates is to provide easy pre-organized activities that volunteers can do with their girls outdoors.
Why move a meeting outside?
Taking activities outside is a crucial first step that lets girl gain confidence and familiarity with the outdoors so they can progress to more adventurous and challenging outdoor activities as they advance in Girl Scouting.
Just as they had to learn to crawl before they could run, girls must become comfortable spending an hour outdoors before they can move on to canoe trips, camp outs, and backpacking weekends. These activities aim to help the girls and their leaders begin their outdoor adventures in short but fun ways.
What badges and petals have new outdoor options?
Daisy Petals: Lupe, Clover
Brownie Badges: Making Games, Snacks, Senses, First Aid
Junior Badges: First Aid, Simple Meals, Detective, Staying Fit
In your VTK, follow these directions to see a detailed description of a Get Girls Outside:
Select the title of the activity in the Meeting Agenda list where a tree appears. In the Agenda pop-up modal, select the Get Girls Outside! radio button and hit “save” to add it to your meeting plan. You will know that the Get Girls Outside! activity has been added to your Meeting Plan when the tree is green in the Meeting Plan and Year Plan.
Here’s a snapshot of what adding outdoor activities to the Brownie Senses badge looks like:
Having issues?
Here’s a tip from the VTK to help you out: if you have added any of the Get Girls Outside! badges to your meeting plan previously and are experiencing any issues with the new features, you might need to remove the badge and add it to your Year Plan again to see the Get Girls Outside! activity options.
Are you ready to get your girls outside with a little help from the Volunteer Toolkit? Try these new activities today!
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