The retired Girl Scout badge programs had so much to offer both leaders and girls. Here are 6 reasons why leaders may want to use these, instead of the present program.
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One of the most popular conversations in the Girl Scout Facebook groups is the price of badges. When the price increased from $3.00 to $3.50, it caused quite an uproar.
I can’t blame leaders for being upset.
One leader did the math, and she figured out that each scout had to sell 6-7 boxes of cookies to cover the cost of one badge! While the math may differ from Council to Council, the fact is that your troop has to sell a lot of cookies in order to purchase a badge. With some Councils now charging $6.00-$7.00 for a box of cookies, sales will most likely decrease, making it even more difficult to earn the money necessary to fund your troop.
One leader wrote that she followed the badge requirements, and instead of buying the actual badge for $3.50, she purchased fun patches instead. I admire her outside the box thinking for making troop funds stretch even farther.
If you do not want to buy fun patches because you want your troop to show off badges they earned on the front of their uniform, you can still earn badges from the retired Girl Scout badge programs.
In 2010, when my troop was in elementary school (Brownies and Juniors), the old program was retired. Council shops were selling badges for as little as 25 cents each! Based on what my girls told me in the first meeting survey, I bought the retired Girl Scout badges based on their interests. At that time, a new program badge cost $1.50, so I was saving a significant amount of money.
Note-Daisy badges are recent. There are no retired ones to earn.
If you want to continue to help your girls earn badges and learn much needed skills, here are 6 reasons to use Retired Girl Scout badge programs.
6 Reasons to Use Retired Girl Scout Badge Programs
It Costs Less Money to Use Retired Girl Scout Badge Programs
Retired badges are significantly cheaper than present day badges. In the Girl Scout Facebook Buy and Sell groups, you will often find older badges for $1.00-$1.50 (except the old Interest Project IP badges. They average $3.00 each). That is a HUGE savings! Imagine you have 10 Brownies. It would cost $35.00 for your troop to earn a new badge or $10.00-$15.00 if you use the retired Girl Scout badge program. Do the math…your troop can earn 2 or 3 retired badges for the cost of one new badge.
Another resource for retired Girl Scout badges is this website, Treasure Hunters Badges. Sharon has run her online shop for years, and she is also the admin for the GS Treasure Hunters Facebook page. You will pay at least $2.00 per badge, but if you are looking for larger quantities or are not on Facebook, this is another money saving route to take.
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or on eBay
Many Retired Girl Scout Program Badge Requirements Can be Found Online for Free
In this blog post, 11 Place to Find Requirements for Discontinued Girl Scout Badges, I share many ways to find the requirements you need, and eight of the eleven are free. Again, your troop is saving money.
If you purchase the badges in one of Facebook groups, many leaders will take a photo of the requirements page if they have them.
Retired Girl Scout Badge Programs Offer More Variety
When the new badge program came out in 2011, there were only a handful of badges. Over the years, more have been added, and many are STEM related. While some STEM is necessary, in my opinion and that of other leaders, then newer badges lean far too much on this and not on outdoor skills or hands on activities.
I own the old badge books. Here is what I found:
57 Brownie Try Its (2000 edition)
104 Junior Badges (2001 edition)
78 Cadette/Senior IP badges (from the 1997 book). There was no Ambassador level at that time.
This does not count programming from previous years, like the Junior Badges and Signs book from the 1990s. There are even more badges you can earn from those books.
These badge books are divided into sections, so you can clearly see what category your troop prefers.
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or on eBay
Retired Girl Scout Badge Programs Offer More Choices Within a Badge
The new badge leaflets offer three choices within each step. If you do not like those, you need to research something different on your own time. In the retired badge programs, this is how it worked:
Brownie Try Its-Complete four activities. Six different choices were offered.
Junior Badges-Complete six activities. Ten different choices were offered.
Cadette/Senior Interest Project Badges These were built differently. There are organized into four categories, with different completion requirements for each category. Each category has 4-6 choices.
Retired Girl Scout Badge Programs Require No Guest Speakers
We’ve all been there. Your girls have chosen which badges they want to earn, and almost without exception, a guest speaker is required to lend her expertise.
The retired badge programs were built so leaders or the girls could lead it. Of course, you can have a guest speaker once in a while to give yourself a break. For example, for the retired Brownie Careers Try It badge, I hired a woman who created her own cupcake decorating party business. She discussed with the girls how and why she started her business, the great parts of owning her own business and its challenges, and then she taught the girls how to decorate their own cupcakes using professional tools.
That was the only guest speaker I had during our two years of Brownies.
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or on eBay
The Retired Badge Program Was Simpler and Easier to Follow
In a nutshell, I found it far easier to use the old badge program. What was required of me, the leader, was laid out better. The choices for each activity were easier to implement. Many of today’s badge offerings are open to interpretation, leaving leaders to figure it out. Leaders are volunteers who have busy lives. Just tell us what to do in the simplest way possible.
Retired Girl Scout Badges are Official
Even if a badge is retired, it is always official. While the size of the badge may not align with today’s badges, that’s fine. Your girls will have more badge earning opportunities and choices with the retired programs.
There are no uniform police, so earn away!
Have you used the retired Girl Scout badge programs? Did you enjoy leading them? Did your girl enjoy earning them?
