Any girl scout junior troop leaders/moms here?

[sarahsthreads]

DD1 got this set of badges and I have no idea what they are or where to put them. She says her troop leader said they're "real" badges (vs. "fun" badges that go on the back of the vest) but I can't find them on the GS website or anywhere else. There's no identifying information, they're just adhered to a card.
3581

Help?

Sarah :)

[dowlinal]

I believe they go on the front of the vest on your daugher's lower right side. http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/for_volunteers/where_to_place/junior/#

[sarahsthreads]

That was my first thought too…except they're quite a bit smaller in diameter than the badges she's already earned. And I guess my OCD might be showing a bit because I really don't understand why I can't find them anywhere on the list of "official" badges they can earn. Plus I have no idea if they're the iron-on kind or not. They're actually sticky on the back.

I don't do drop-off/pick-up for scouts because it's a night I work, I guess I'm going to have to ask DH to ask the troop leader and hope he can remember the information by the time I get home! ;)

Sarah :)

[minnie-zb]

Some of the councils have their own badges they've developed over the years. I would guess these fit in this category, but I think it is more than okay to send an email to the scout leader and ask her to help you identify them. That is not a crazy request!

[egoldber]

I think those are older badges. I seem to remember my older DD having a couple of those. Girl Scouts re-did all the badges a year or so ago.

[minnie-zb]

I think those are older badges. I seem to remember my older DD having a couple of those. Girl Scouts re-did all the badges a year or so ago.

Good point! She may have bought a bunch of the old ones before they were gone. Some leaders did this.

[Gracemom]

I'm a second year junior leader and I've never seen those. I would definitely ask the leader. I would rather that than what happened with one of my girls. Her mom just put all the badges on the front, even the fun patches. I had to tell her to re-do it. I felt bad that she had to do extra work.

Have you ever used badge magic? It's super sticky double sided tape you cut to the badge size. I use that for everything!

[kristenk]

I'm wondering if they're "Make Your Own" badges. The only weird thing about that would be that you can only earn 1 per year, I believe, so getting 5 at once wouldn't really work for Make Your Own badges!

[american_mama]

I was leader to a Junior troop which is now a Cadette troop, plus a leader to a Brownie troop. Those badges puzzle me. If the leader says to treat them as badges, I'd put them on the bottom of your daughter's vest or sash. On a vest, you start on the right side.

Other than being a circle shape, which is standard for Junior badges, what you have is plainer and less pictorial than most Girl Scout badges. As other said, I think they are either older badges, maybe a special category of badge, or possibly council-specific badges. But they also look different than the 12 older badges which DD1 earned in 2011 (last year I think they were available). DD1's older Junior patches have more elaborate pictures and all but one of the circles are all trimmed in dark green thread. I'll update with a photo. You can buy or design patches on many websites, although none of those are official Girl Scout patches. Maybe the leader did that and designated these patches as a badge for doing X activity?

Here's what they aren't: the current official Junior badges are all trimmed in light purple thread. The official Make Your Own Badges (it's a partnership with Girl Scouts, see https://www.gsmakeyourown.com/) appear to also be trimmed in light purple for Juniors, plus the designs are also more detailed than what you have, plus I couldn't find a dollar sign there, although the search function is virtually useless (my current troop used this site a few months ago). The current Journey awards do come as one set, like you received yours, but the patches all interlock in some way, plus what you have does not match the three current Junior Journey options.

They all come together in one set? Did the packaging show any official Girl Scout logo on it? If so, maybe there were older badge sets that girls earned together, different from the individual badges. Yours do seem to have a common look to them.

I will ask a Girl Scout volunteer who seems to know everything and is very responsive to emails.

[ha98ed14]

I'm a second year junior leader and I've never seen those. I would definitely ask the leader. I would rather that than what happened with one of my girls. Her mom just put all the badges on the front, even the fun patches. I had to tell her to re-do it. I felt bad that she had to do extra work.


Why did she have to redo it? One girl in DD's daisy troop, her mom ironed on all the petals before the girls actually "earned" them. (We all ordered our badge sets individually.) It wasn't a big deal; eventually they would earn all them. The leaders just let it go. None of the other girls complained. I see no reason she *had* to redo it.

[sarahsthreads]

I was leader to a Junior troop which is now a Cadette troop, plus a leader to a Brownie troop. Those badges puzzle me. If the leader says to treat them as badges, I'd put them on the bottom of your daughter's vest or sash. On a vest, you start on the right side.

Other than being a circle shape, which is standard for Junior badges, what you have is plainer and less pictorial than most Girl Scout badges. As other said, I think they are either older badges, maybe a special category of badge, or possibly council-specific badges. But they also look different than the 12 older badges which DD1 earned in 2011 (last year I think they were available). DD1's older Junior patches have more elaborate pictures and all but one of the circles are all trimmed in dark green thread. I'll update with a photo. You can buy or design patches on many websites, although none of those are official Girl Scout patches. Maybe the leader did that and designated these patches as a badge for doing X activity?

Here's what they aren't: the current official Junior badges are all trimmed in light purple thread. The official Make Your Own Badges (it's a partnership with Girl Scouts, see https://www.gsmakeyourown.com/) appear to also be trimmed in light purple for Juniors, plus the designs are also more detailed than what you have, plus I couldn't find a dollar sign there, although the search function is virtually useless (my current troop used this site a few months ago). The current Journey awards do come as one set, like you received yours, but the patches all interlock in some way, plus what you have does not match the three current Junior Journey options.

They all come together in one set? Did the packaging show any official Girl Scout logo on it? If so, maybe there were older badge sets that girls earned together, different from the individual badges. Yours do seem to have a common look to them.

I will ask a Girl Scout volunteer who seems to know everything and is very responsive to emails.

We have the first (innermost) circle of the Journey badge set they're working towards, it's definitely not that. And these just came stuck to a card, no packaging. She's earned one "older" badge (the drawing/art one) and one "newer" badge (the social butterfly one - don't even get me started on why this is a badge vs. say SEWING ON YOUR OWN DAMN BADGES. ahem. moving on.) and these look nothing like those.

If your contact doesn't know, I'll email the troop leader and see what she says - I guess I'd rather have them on the vest by the next meeting than have to wait for DH to ask and possibly not get the answer (or the question) right. (Seriously, the man is an engineer, you would think "attention to detail" would be his middle name, right?)

I'm also kind of glad nobody else knows what these are, because it really was making me nuts that I couldn't find them on any official list of badges! :)

Sarah :)

[kristenk]

Please email the troop leader! I've been googling off and on throughout the day and can't find anything that resembles the badges you posted! It's been making me a little crazy (and very unproductive!), so I'd love a definitive answer! lol

[Gracemom]

Why did she have to redo it? One girl in DD's daisy troop, her mom ironed on all the petals before the girls actually "earned" them. (We all ordered our badge sets individually.) It wasn't a big deal; eventually they would earn all them. The leaders just let it go. None of the other girls complained. I see no reason she *had* to redo it.

She didn't leave any room for the many badges we earned this year on the front. The fun patches are very large and there is only room for them on the back. The girl noticed anyway that it didn't look like the other girls' vests. I think the girl might have done it since her mom taught her how to sew. They are the only ones in the troop that actually sew the badges on. Everyone else uses badge magic!

[missliss55]

I co-lead a 2nd yr junior troop (started when they were kindergarten daisies) and I haven't seen badges like that. Any badges go on the bottom front along with the journey awards (which go on the right side when looking at the vest). Fun patches go on the back. I also agree with emailing the troop leader. That reminds me I have a few more patches to sew on my juniors vest so we can get it ready for bridging this weekend on the Golden Gate bridge.

[kristenk]

Any update on the badges?

[Gracemom]

I co-lead a 2nd yr junior troop (started when they were kindergarten daisies) and I haven't seen badges like that. Any badges go on the bottom front along with the journey awards (which go on the right side when looking at the vest). Fun patches go on the back. I also agree with emailing the troop leader. That reminds me I have a few more patches to sew on my juniors vest so we can get it ready for bridging this weekend on the Golden Gate bridge.

What a great place to bridge!! Our girls are bridging on a new contemporary bridge here in Dallas. Should be fun!

[s7714]

They look like they could be retired try-its or "council's own" badges. Either would go with the official badges on the front right. My 2nd year Junior has one from our council that you can't find online or even from the council's stores to earn as a troop--you have to attend their specific event to get them.

[american_mama]

My very experienced GS did not recognize them either and suggested they might be old council own Junior badges. Apparently, each GS Council use to have many badges with their own requirements and anybody could earn them. She also said you can still earn the old badges and wear them, although I haven't heard any troops doing that since 2011 in my area.

[sarahsthreads]

OK, I just had to email the troop leader about something else so I tacked on the badge question. I will update when I find out!

Sarah :)