For the first badge my Girl Scouts troop earned as Brownies, we held an outdoor meeting to earn the Hiker Badge. I really make it a point to have as many outdoor meetings and/or activities as I can, weather permitting, so that we are spending time getting fresh air, learning about the outdoors, and getting active.
Here's what we did to complete the steps:
1. Decide where to go
We talked about different trails in our area, and I asked the girls if they'd ever been on a hike somewhere before. The trail we chose was pretty simple and short, which I thought would be ideal for girls who may have never hiked before. The trail took us to a scenic overlook in our neighborhood, and then the girls had time to run around in a grassy field and do cartwheels.
2. Try out a hiking skill
I decided to have the girls "practice observation on a neighborhood safari", per the official instructions for this badge. The girls were divided into two groups: one was "plant detectives" and one was "animal/bug detectives". They were supposed to keep their eyes open for anything interesting in either category as we hiked. We saw a rabbit and a fairy house.
3. Pick the right gear
We talked about the types of clothing we wear on a hike (closed-toe shoes, pants, jackets, hats) and things we should bring with us (bottle of water, bug spray, sunscreen, snack).
4. Pack a snack for energy
That was a good segue into talking about what makes a good snack to bring on a hike. The girls said the snack should be healthy and give you energy. So then we made our own trail mix out of banana chips, chocolate chips, M&Ms, peanuts, raisins, pretzels, mini marshmallows, and Goldfish crackers. Each girl got her own reusable snack container (purchased in a pack from Walmart), and then she got to add whichever items she wanted to bring with her before we hiked.
5. Go on your hike!
Before we actually hiked, I reviewed the Leave No Trace principles with the girls. And then we hiked!
This was an easy badge to plan. I got some good ideas from the Brownie Hiker Badge Requirements PDF made available for free from Fairbanks Girl Scouts, but you could also find some of the same material in the online Volunteer Toolkit (VTK). I find that if I don't like the suggested activities in the VTK (which I usually do not), Pinterest or Facebook groups have a lot of great alternative ideas. Don't be afraid to tweak the requirements to suit the needs and interests of your girls!
The advance prep needed was buying the trail mix supplies and the badges, of course. We reused any trail mix items for the following month's meeting to create edible campfires. (More on that later!)
Has your troop earned the Brownie Hiker Badge? What did you do to earn it?
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