Get Outdoors with 7 Amazing Girl Scout Activities
Just the Way Juliette Gordon Low Intended
The experts agree – getting outdoors is good for your mental, emotional, and physical health. This summer, encourage your girl to change her screen time to green time and GO (get outdoors) with Girl Scouts’ fun, free, and low-cost outdoor experiences.
Our founder, Juliette Gordon Low was considered radical for thinking girls as well as boys, should spend time outdoors. She believed hiking, studying plants and animals, and boating led to improved physical fitness, an appreciation of the natural world and would encourage conservation.
Early badges were earned by girls who could steer a boat by the stars, identify trees by their leaves and bark, and find and purify water for drinking. Talk about trailblazers!
Today, we carry on Low’s mission to get girls outdoors. The following activities will have your girl excited and inspired about the environment. And they aren’t just for her. Friends and family (including little brothers!) can join in.
- Download the free Girl
Scouts Love the Outdoors guide for more than 44 hands-on
activities that show your love for Mother Nature. Art to Atmosphere,
Bikes to Bugs, you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find to jump-start
conversations and dig into environmental extras. For grades K-12 and
each level may earn the Girl Scouts Love the Outdoors patch.
- Juniors can earn the Go
Fish Georgia Badge, created by local Girl Scouts. Join the
estimated 1 million plus Georgia anglers who enjoy the hobby. Learn
about native fish, visit a fish hatchery, and cast a rod at one of
the state’s many streams, lakes, and impoundments.
- Ready to rodeo? Registration
is open for troops to join this exciting September weekend
program at Camp Misty Mountain which focuses on roping and
maneuvering your horse through the barrel racing pattern. The
weekend ends with a mini rodeo for girls to show off their new
skills.
- Take the Girl
Scout Tree Promise and help protect the earth from climate
change. Download the free toolkit and help Girl Scouts reach their
goal of planting 5 million trees nationwide. The kit will help your
girl choose the best tree for her neighborhood, offer how-to’s on
planting, and ways to honor a loved one with her planting. Many
municipalities offer free or reduced-cost saplings. Be
sure to check your area for opportunities like this one.
- Become a Girl
Scout Ranger through the National
Park Service. Bike, hike, paddle, and explore local NPS sites
like Georgia’s Cumberland Island, the close-by Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, or even the national historic site Andersonville
Cemetery. Girl Scouts can earn fun patches, work towards a Girl
Scout Journey, or even plan a service or Take Action Project. Check
out our step-by-step guide.
- Are you
looking for area adventures? Check out our Anytime
Activities where you can find links to our many outdoor partners
and explore hundreds of miles of trails, nature preserves, and
outdoor education centers.
- From outdoor art to water conservation to building a solar oven, you can find activities for an afternoon, a day, or a weekend. Programs are suitable for your girl, her troop, or her family.
Want to try your hand at outdoor cooking in your own backyard? Follow these instructions to make your own solar cooker. With a little help from the sun, you'll be serving up s'mores for the 4th of July celebration.
