42 new Girl Scout badges that’ll help you change the world

Get ready to choose your own adventure!  Girl Scouts of the USA announced 42 new Girl Scout badges and one new Journey on July 16, all of which allow girls to make their own choices about how they want to experience and influence the world.

The badges enhance the organization’s existing girl-led programming, offering girls everything from adventuring in the snow or mountains to learning how to use coding to solve problems they care about.

Outdoor badges

The new programming for girls in grades K–12 includes 12 Outdoor High Adventure badges, designed for girls to explore nature and experience exciting outdoor adventures like backpacking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, and tree climbing—giving them the confidence to support one another, take healthy risks, and spend dedicated time in nature.

These are the first Girl Scout badges that members can earn by choosing one of two self-directed paths (funded by The North Face).

Girls who attend one of our summer resident or day camps this year could fulfill requirements for some of these badges! For example, girls can earn the new Climbing Adventure badge by tackling the rock walls at El Ranchito or Osito Rancho.

Thanks to a grant from The North Face, GSGLA will soon announce additional trainings for troop leaders so they can help their girls earn these badges, including more backpacking trainings to prepare girls for the Trail Adventure badge. Keep an eye out for adult training opportunities on our event calendar.

STE(A)M badges

Also for girls in grades K-12 are 18 new Coding for Good badges, which not only teach girls the basics of coding but also detail how every stage of the coding process provides girls with opportunities to use their skills for good.

Girls will learn about algorithms through age-appropriate, creative activities, such as coding positive memes to spread a message about a cause they care about, designing a digital game to educate people about an issue, and developing an app to promote healthy habits.

Every Coding for Good badge includes a plugged-in and unplugged version, so all girls can learn the foundations of coding, regardless of their access to technology (funded by AT&T and Dell).

The new programming for girls in grades 6–12 includes:

• Nine Cybersecurity badges, created in partnership with Palo Alto Networks, through which girls learn about the inner workings of computer technology and cybersecurity and apply concepts of safety and protection to the technology they use every day. Activities range from decrypting and encrypting messages, to learning proper protection methods for devices, to exploring real-world hacking scenarios.
• Three Space Science badges, through which girls explore topics such as the universe and their place in it, properties of light, and inspiring careers in space science (funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and led by the SETI Institute).
• Think Like a Citizen Scientist, a Girl Scout Leadership Journey, during which girls participate in interactive activities to practice observation techniques; collect data; and share their findings with real-world scientists through an online network. Girls then use their newly-honed skills to take action on a community issue of their choice (funded by Johnson & Johnson and The Coca-Cola Foundation).
• To prepare girls in grades 6–12 to pursue computer science careers, GSGLA is hosting a Cyber Challenge event at UCLA on Oct. 19. Girls will learn crucial cybersecurity skills by completing challenges, such as running traceroutes and identifying phishing schemes (funded by Raytheon).

GSGLA volunteers can access badge requirements and information in the Volunteer Toolkit. Badges and requirement pamphlets will be available to purchase in GSGLA stores in early August.

Our Volunteer Conference on Aug. 17 will include a workshop and an information table all about the new badges. That’s one more reason to register before July 29!