When my troop earned this badge, we were right in the middle of a transition from there being two money leaves to two money badges. So we actually earned the Making Choices leaf, but when I went to purchase them, I found that you could no longer buy them because they had been replaced with the My Money Choices badge. (Pretty terrible communication with troop leaders there, Girl Scouts.)
Not a big deal because the requirements were basically the same but still a tad frustrating.
Here's how we earned this badge:
1. Find out what you need and want
I gave the girls a worksheet from the Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) and asked them to circle the items on the sheet that were photos of things families NEEDED. Then we talked about what the girls circled. Do people NEED a bed? Do people NEED a video game system or is that a WANT?
Our next activity was to go shopping. I had cut out images of needs and wants from grocery store circulars, and I asked the girls to shop by picking five items to bring home for their family. Then, I asked the girls to make two piles with the items they picked: one is a NEEDS pile and one is a WANTS pile. We talked about which items they considered NEEDS and which items they considered WANTS. And how sometimes it can be hard to determine which is which.
2. Set a goal and save
I used a Setting Goals Chart worksheet from the VTK and went around the room asking each girl to tell me something they want. We wrote down each girl's answer on the worksheet: food, toys, and elephant were some of their answers. Then we wrote down how much we thought each item cost. I gave the example of each girl earning $5 a week at their job, and then we used math to figure out how many weeks it would take to save up enough money to purchase each item on the list. That's called setting a goal!
3. Explore how to make choices with money
I tried to talk to them about Take Action projects, but honestly, at this age, I think it just went over their heads. So we did a mock Take Action project where they had to shop for a homeless girl. I brought in some items from home: shoes, jar of peanut butter, pencils, bookbag, stuffed animal, etc. I asked the girls to go through the items and prepare a care package of items the girl NEEDS. Then we did the same exercise but preparing a care package of items the girl WANTS.
We talked about why NEEDS are important (those are things needed to live) and why the WANTS are important (those things can help the girl feel less sad and lonely).
I tried to reinforce that what a person needs and wants are both important, but it's up to you to decide what's important. And if you can't afford to buy something, you need to set a goal and save your money.
Did your troop earn the Making Choices leaf or did you earn the My Money Choices badge? What activities did you do to earn the badge?
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