Every Council's Own Girl Scout Fun Patch Program That Your Girl Scouts Can Earn from Anywhere: Arts and Crafts

 

I am starting a very weird series based on an obsessive deep dive that I took this month.

My Girl Scout troop enjoys earning Council's Own fun patches, as well as official badges and retired badges. I usually look for a fun patch that they can earn in addition to a badge whenever we're planning a big project or a trip, etc. 

That led me to my current research question: what are ALL the Council's Own fun patches that a Girl Scout could earn outside of the council of origin? 

Fun question, right? Knowing that would make it a lot easier to find one that my troop would want to earn, or perhaps even one that would would tempt them into learning or exploring something new, always a Girl Scout gold standard!

I started my research figuring that I'd knock it out in an afternoon and get the blog post with my whole list published the next morning.

Yeah... the next morning I was still researching. And the next morning. AND the next morning...

Nine days later, I'm finally finished up (Girl Scouts of Wisconsin East was last on my list). The master list is RIDICULOUSLY long, so I'm going to break it down and post by category before I overwhelm you with the many-thousand-worded complete experience.

First category, Art and Crafts! This includes all the fine arts, in ways both experiential and informative, and hands-on crafts. There aren't a ton of Council's Own fun patches in this category, which is kind of a bummer because crafts, especially, are something that my Girl Scout troop tends to enjoy.

Ah, well. Wait until we get to the STEM categories, which have many, many, MANY fun patch options!

For these lists, I only included fun patch programs that fit the following criteria:

1. Girl Scouts can earn this fun patch wherever they are. I did not include any fun patch programs that have site-specific criteria, unless I felt that those criteria would be easy to substitute and still maintain the point of the fun patch program. I also didn't include fun patch programs that require time-specific criteria that have already passed, such as patches programs designed for the 2020 COVID lockdowns. I noted in the description of each patch when substitutions would be required.
2. Girl Scouts can obtain the council's requirements to earn this fun patch. I found several instances in which the council still sells a specific fun patch, but has deleted all the requirements from its website. If I couldn't find an easy link to those requirements from another site, I did not include the patch.
3. Girl Scouts can obtain the physical fun patch. There were also several instances in which councils still host the requirements for a fun patch program, but no longer sell the patch (or, as in the case of a few GSAK patches, they have fewer than ten remaining). If it is unlikely for a Girl Scout to be able to obtain the fun patch, I did not include it. The link to purchase each fun patch is in the caption for its graphic.

ART AND CRAFTS

The Art of Jazz GSLE

The Art of Jazz, Girl Scouts of Louisiana East. Experience and learn to appreciate jazz music.

Eco Art GSC

Eco Art, Girl Scouts of Citrus. Create art on the issue of environmentalism. This fun patch program pairs well with any of the Art badges.

Fashion GSSEF

Fashion, Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Learn about the history of fashion and the fashion industry.

Girls of "Note" GSNETX

Girls of "Note," Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. Learn traditional Girl Scout songs... and sing them! This fun patch program pairs well with the Girl Scout Way badges.

Leatherworks GSSEF

Leatherworks, Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Learn about leatherworking and its history and culture. 

Stylish Artist GSDH

Stylish Artist, Girl Scouts of Dakota Horizons. Try activities from different fields of art.

Next week, I'll post the Council's Own fun patches in the much bigger category of Culture, Diversity, and Equity.