Monday, May 8, 2023

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


Welcome back to my very weird series in which I am listing, week by week, topic by topic, every single Council's Own Girl Scout fun patch program that your Girl Scouts can earn from everywhere!

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. This list is essentially just my own research written down for easy reference.

This week's category: Reading and Writing! This includes fun patches about literary characters or genres, fun patches that support literacy, and fun patches that incorporate reading or writing challenges. 

I was a little disappointed that there weren't more Reading and Writing fun patches. Reading and writing are my favorite things, sure, but also the favorite things of many of the kids in my Girl Scout troop! I suppose that part of the problem might be that it can feel tricky to keep assigned reading and writing activities from feeling too school-ish, but there's so much scope for fun. When my Girl Scout troop had a Percy Jackson meeting, they made and battled monster pinatas, created their own card game, figured out which Greek god or goddess had secretly parented them, and just generally had a glorious time diving into Greek mythology and children's fantasy.

For this list, 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.

READING AND WRITING


Library Love GSC

Library Love, Girl Scouts of CitrusBecome familiar with your library and the services that it offers through this fun patch program. This fun patch pairs well with the Cadette Book Artist badge, or for a younger Girl Scout troop planning a field trip to the public library.


Living Like Laura, Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western IllinoisLearn about Laura Ingalls Wilder while immersing yourself in the pioneer life. This fun patch program pairs well with the Junior Playing the Past badge. 

Reading Diva GSWCF

Reading Diva, Girl Scouts of West Central FloridaRewards Girl Scouts for reading. You could pair this with a school or community reading program, or a book drive service project.


Read to Lead GSLE

Read to Lead, Girl Scouts of Louisiana EastRead widely and explore activities that advocate literacy.


Summer Reading GSAK

Summer Reading, Girl Scouts of AlaskaCreate and complete a summer reading goal and try other literacy activities to earn this fun patch. Thsi is a good fun patch program for Girl Scouts to work on independently. 


Here's a look at my complete fun patch series:

  • Arts and Crafts
  • Culture, Diversity, and Equity
  • Games and Sports
  • Geography/History
  • Outdoors
  • Practical Life Skills
  • Reading and Writing
  • Science
  • Service Learning
  • Social-Emotional Skills
  • Technology, Engineering, and Math
Follow my Craft Knife Facebook page for more Girl Scout resources as I exhaustively compile them!

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