Volunteer Resources

Looking for something different to do with your girls? Out of ideas for troop meeting activities? Try GSEP’s Ready to Run Programs! Designed to be used by volunteers with girls, these programs include facilitator guides, suggested timelines, and a list of necessary materials. Some of the programs even have supplemental handouts for girls!

If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about Ready to Run programs, please email us. 

The Outdoors Are In!

Want to embrace the outdoors with your troop but not sure where to start? The Get Outdoors Challenge Patch will walk you through the steps to leading your troop to outdoor success.

Here's how it works:

Complete as many activities as possible on the 2019-2020 Get Outdoors Activity checklist. To earn a patch, a girl must complete at least 10 activities from her grade level (two can be from a younger grade level) and 30 activities from the all ages list.
When you've checked off the required amount of activities, stop by a local council shop to purchase your patch.
Share the fun and show off your outdoor skills by submitting photos and videos for our Get Outdoors photo album!
Post your photos to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using #GSEPGetOutdoors.

Questions? Contact us at memberservices@gsep.org, subject line Get Outdoors! Challenge.

STEM Superstars Guide

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and Netflix have joined forces to empower young girls to envision their futures in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Centered on Project Mc², a Netflix original series from MGA Entertainment Inc., the collaboration takes STEM beyond the small screen with hands-on experiences for Girl Scout troops and the debut of a STEM Superstars Guide (PDF), an online resource that encourages Girl Scouts across the country to discover just how exciting, fun, and rewarding STEM can be.

Be a Friend First (BFF)
is designed to supplement the aMAZE! Journey. The aMAZE! Journey gives middle school girls valuable skills to develop healthy relationships, prevent bully behavior, and become peacemakers in their schools and communities. In BFF, girls get to explore thorny issues like peer pressure, stereotyping, gossip, and cliques through engaging role-plays, creative writing, games, and discussion exercises. They can also create and lead projects in their schools and communities to tackle bullying issues on their terms and turf! Healthy relationships are the solution to bully prevention. BFF inspires girls to lead one another – with friendship! Check out the GSEP created Cadette: Be a Friend First curriculum, based on the aMAZE! Journey. This program gives girls valuable skills and tools to figure out relationships and gives them confidence to prevent bullying behavior.

Diversity 101 
is designed to help groups of girls (whether it is in a troop setting or programmatic setting) build positive identities and gain a mutual respect for all the diverse backgrounds and cultures found in Girl Scouts across the globe. This step-by-step curriculum has fun and engaging activities from girls of all ages!

Friendship Circle
We have designed a Friendship Circle program for Daisies through Juniors. This is a great resource for leaders who need help bringing their Troop together and creating a safe, fun environment for all the girls. Girls will get to know themselves and each other, build a team, learn about friendship while making new friends, and practice useful skills to resolve conflict.

• Daisy Friendship Circle 
• Brownie Friendship Circle
• Junior Friendship Circle

Daisy Jam
Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania has designed a Daisy Jam program as an introduction to Girl Scouting for new Daisies. This is also a great resource for new Daisy Troop Leaders who need help getting started. This program could be used by Service Units over the summer or by Troop Leaders at the beginning of the year. Girls will learn about the various parts of the Girl Scout Law and how it plays a part in their daily lives. Additionally, girls will learn how to take care of their planet, help change the world around them, and then tell their own story to others through fun, hands-on activities and projects incorporating activities from the Leadership Journeys.

Please note: This series does not replace the Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting or the Leadership Journeys.

Daisy Jam Series

Do You Know Juliette Low?
Games, Songs, Skits, Crafts and Learning Activities Celebrating the Birthday of Our Girl Scout Founder. Download it here.

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!
It all started with a phone call on March 12, 1912. . . check out this activity packet here.

Healthy Habits
In partnership with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Girl Scouts has developed three “healthy habits” booklets for volunteers to use in conjunction with the It’s Your Planet-Love It! Journey. The Healthy Habits booklets relate to the Journeys and encourage girls to lead active, healthy lifestyles.

These step-by-step leader guides promote fun, easy ways to achieve “energy balance” through awareness of:

Energy In: the calories you get from eating and drinking.
Energy Out: the calories you burn from physical activities.

• Healthy Habits for Daisies
• Healthy Habits for Brownies 
• Healthy Habits for Juniors

Imagine Your STEM Future
Girls love science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A recent study by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI)—“Generation STEM: What Girls Say About Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”—shows that 74 percent of girls find STEM interesting and 82 percent see themselves as “smart enough to have a career in STEM,” but only 13 percent of girls interested in STEM choose a career in it. This is a big problem—not just for the girls but for the U.S. economy.

Imagine Your STEM Future is a four-session series designed to encourage 9th-12th-grade girls’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and math careers, while inspiring them through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Each unit includes an opening ceremony, one group activity, two hands-on activities, and a closing career exploration, and can be done in one 90-minute session or two 45-minute sessions.

• Imagine Your STEM Future Volunteer Guide 
• Imagine Your STEM Future Girl Book

Independence Hall and Benjamin Franklin Parkway Patch
If you are planning to be in Philadelphia, download this educational and fun patch program. Patches can be purchased at our council shops.

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Girl Scout Patch
In working toward the PHS Patch, girls will gain knowledge and skills to promote greening and its power to improve lives, build relationships, and transform communities. Check out the program here.

Science and Engineering
Do you and your girls want to explore and learn more about the fields of science and/or engineering? Would you like to promote the fields as career options for your girls? Are you looking for new activity ideas to use during Troop meetings? Through fun, hands-on activities and experiments, the Science Sampler and Engineering Sampler programs expose girls to what is possible in the fields of science and engineering.

You don’t have to be a STEM expert to try science and engineering programs with your Troops! These Ready-to-Run programs have all the instructions, supply lists and age-appropriate scientific explanations so you can have fun with the girls and introduce them to fields of interest where girls are underrepresented, and career opportunities abound!

• Engineering Sampler for Grades K-5 
• Science Sampler for Grades K-5 
• Science Sampler for Grades 6-12
  

Be sure to also check out GSEP’s Imagineer Series! This program helps girls explore and learn more about the fields of science through fun, hands-on activities and experiments.

• Imagineer Series Grades 2-5 
• Imagineer Series Grades 4-8

Scout the Vote
The national, state, and local election process will be at the top of the news until Election Day in November. In fact, it has already started. The election process provides a vivid backdrop to develop positive values (Discover), feel connected to your community (Connect), and educate and inspire others to act (Take Action).

The Girl Scout role in any election is to provide an accurate, age appropriate, non-partisan interpretation of the election process and to instill a commitment to participatory citizenship. Check out the Scout the Vote program here.

The purpose of this K-12^th grade patch program is to engage and empower Girl Scouts to understand the voting process in a patriotic non-political manner, eagerly anticipating their right to vote, and encourage and enable women to exercise their right to vote. When you have completed the activities for your grade level, patches can be purchased at our council shops.

The Schuylkill River Heritage Area Patch
The Schuylkill River Heritage Area has teamed up with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania to create a new opportunity for Girl Scouts to learn about the Schuylkill River Heritage Area. The patch encourages girls to explore the region, learn about its history and protect the environment. It is designed to be fun and educational with a variety of activities that will appeal to Girl Scout Troops of all levels, from Daisies on up. Learn more here.

Solar United Neighbors
Are you ready to learn more about solar energy and the positive impact it can have on the community and the environment? Solar United Neighbors has developed a Sun Patch program for the Girl Scouts of Eastern PA Council. Check out the Solar United Neighbor’s guide to learn more about solar energy and earn a Sun Patch.

Strong Girls Healthy Meeting
The Strong Girls Healthy Meeting Patch helps Girl Scouts of all ages make healthy habits the norm during troop meetings and events and spread these habits to their friends, family, and community. Work with your sister Girl Scouts to complete the patch program requirements and then purchase your patch at a local shop. Learn more here. 

Think Before You Post
The Think Before You Post patch program aims to educate girls, brownies through ambassadors, across the country about the dangers of the internet, how to post responsibly, and ways that they can help combat cyberbullying. It teaches girls how big the internet is, how to utilize social media, and the importance of being kind on the internet. Students who are new to the internet are not aware that everything on the internet is permanent, and it is much easier to say something hurtful online than it is face-to-face. Work with your sister Girl Scouts to complete the patch program requirements and then email thinkfirstamerica@gmail.com with the number of requested patches and a mailing address. Check here for more information and program requirements. 

Up All Night MEdia Journey
Journeys allow girls to delve into a topic, become experts, and develop a Take Action project to better their community. While it’s best for girls to work on Journeys over time to fully engage with the topic and understand the process of planning a change-making project, we understand how busy they can be! That’s why we’ve designed the Up All Night MEdia Journey weekend.

Sun Safety Patch
Your skin is your body's coat. It protects you from cold and heat. It keeps your insides in and the bad stuff - like germs  - out. Did you know that your skin is your largest and fastest growing organ? It's important to take care of your skin by protecting it from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and indoor tanning ebds. Overexposure to UV can cause skin cancer, the most prevalent cancer in America. Outrun the Sun, Inc. a nonprofit organization supporting sun safety and skin cancer prevention, is offering Girl Scouts a new Sun Safety Patch. You can earn this special patch by being a sun safety advocate. Learn ways of protecting your skin and also teach others through hands-on activities and social media. Upon completion of the program, you may purchase the patches at a GSEP Shop. Learn more here. 

Pennsylvania Paraoptometric Association's Vision Awareness Patch Program
PPA is an association committed to enhancing the quality of eye care. We believe the activities required for the girls to earn the patch will make them more aware of the importance of eyesight and good vision care. The girls’ efforts may even spark an interest in Optometry or related fields. 

• Patch Program
• Completition Certificate