The Outdoor Junior Journey for Girl Scout Juniors

Junior Girl Scout Leaders can extends their scouts’ new exploration and leadership skills to the outdoors. The Outdoor Junior Journey makes this easy and builds on the outdoor journeys from daisies and brownies. It also extends to the outdoor journey for cadettes, seniors, and ambassadors. While the Girl Scout Outdoor Journeys build upon the skills learned at the previous level, it is not required to have completed any previous outdoor journey. Leaders can introduce any skills needed into the Junior Outdoor Journey.

While you do not need to complete each journey in the set, the journey concepts do build and go more in depth with each progressive level. The Outdoor journey series focuses on learning the skills needed for camping, hiking, and exploring the outdoors safely. In addition, the outdoor journey often focuses on learning first aid skills and gaining knowledge about animals in our world.

The Outdoor Junior Journey specifically focuses on combining learning the skills necessary for camping in the outdoors, especially camping in a way that is environmentally friendly. Your scouts will gain an appreciation for nature and the animals that live in their communities. Moreover, they will discover more about animal habitats and how to protect these habitats today. The junior girl scouts should also take part in an outdoor take action project focused on helping their environment.

Outdoor Journey Key Concepts and Vocabulary

Even though the Junior Outdoor Journey is a bit different than the other journeys available, the scouts will still explore a few key concepts and vocabulary on their way to earning the rewards. Your girl scouts will learn so much more about their environment and ways to enjoy the outdoors in a safe manner.

What are the Goals of the Outdoor Junior Journey?

The Outdoor Junior Girl Scout Journey has a few key takeaways for the girls. This journey asks the scouts to explain 6 main goals while they learn more about camping in the outdoors. The first two goals focus on earn the Junior Animal Habitats badge, the next two goals main focus is the Junior Camper badge and the final two goals are the focus of the Eco Camper badge.

1. Junior Girl Scouts investigate the habits and habitats of wild animals, especially those of endangered animals.
2. The scouts will take steps to help protect animal habitats.
3. Juniors plan an overnight camping trip, including items to bring, activities to enjoy, and meals to prepare.
4. Scouts learn new camping skills such as reading a map, tying knots, building a campfire, cooking or hiking.
5. Your troop learns different ways to prepare a campsite with minimal impact to the environment.
6. Your girls will apply the Leave No Trace principles.

What is a Habitat?

As your Junior scouts focus on earning their animal habitat badge, they will need to understand habitats. While habitats are where animals live, they can include so much more. Animals need shelter, but they also need food and water. So the water sources and food sources in the area are also part of the animal’s habitat.

It is important to help the scouts recognize that animal habitats are much bigger than just a home. Animals need more than just one tree or burrow to survive. This is especially true when discussing endangered animals. For Juniors, endangered animals may seem like a very removed idea, however, if you do a little research, you might just find a few endangered species in your community. For many people these may include a species of bird, bat, or insect.

What is a Minimal Impact Campsite?

Minimal impact campsite is a big part of the Junior Eco Camper badge and involves setting up a campsite that changes the environment as little as possible. Often times people forget when we set up camp that we are intruding on the local wildlife around us. So it is especially important to help our Junior Girl Scouts to take steps to set up a campsite that is environmentally friendly. Remember, a campsite is more than just your tent too! Where you prepare food, use the restroom, play, and sleep are all part of your campsite.

There are a few key steps to setting up a minimal impact campsite. This begins with the location of your campsite. Try to find an already established campsite or other flat, durable surface that is likely to stay dry to set up camp. You will want to ensure you are at least 200 feet away from nearby water sources and hiking trails. Not only will this help to protect your girls from wildlife, but it will also help to keep the water sources safe for the local animals as well. Moreover, you will decrease the number of mosquitos by being farther away from the water.

As you are camping, have a plan to carry out everything that you bring in. This includes all your trash and food scraps. This helps to protect the plants and animals, but also keeps the water sources in the area clean as well. When setting up your campfire, be sure to have a safe campfire location like a fire ring or fire pit. These help to contain the fire and keep your scouts safe too.

If you plan to use wood from the land, use sticks that have already fallen to the ground and are easy to break with your hands. It will take some time to gather enough wood, but this will help to protect the environment. And remember, keep your fires small. Only build as large as you need to accomplish your goals.

What are the Leave No Trace Principles?

Leave No Trace is a big part of scouting. Basically this means that you will leave no trace that you were there besides your footprints. The next travels should not be able to tell that your Junior Girl Scouts camped here.

Teach your girls to stay on the marked trails to protect the plants in the area. Shortcuts through the land can trample plants and flowers destroying local habitats for animals. While hiking on these trails, scouts should leave everything they find except garbage. See an amazing flower, discover a unique rock, or spot an interesting animal, take a picture instead of the item. This helps to protect the environment. Always remember to respect the wildlife and other visitors too. Observe from a distance and try to keep noises down so as not to scare away the animals who live here.

Preparing before you go will help you to follow the Leave No Trace principles too. Bringing the right gear ensures that you have everything you need, including ways to trash your trash by bringing it with you when you leave. You can also ensure that you have the proper safety items for building a campfire. As always, keep your fire small, only big enough to complete your goals, and be sure that the fire is completely out before sleeping or leaving your campsite.

• Know Before You Go – plan ahead and prepare everything you need, including having a plan to pack everything when you leave.
• Choose the Right Path – find durable surfaces for camping and stay on established hiking trails.
• Trash Your Trash – dispose of waste properly which may include packing up your trash and carrying it out.
• Leave What You Find – leave all plants, rocks, animals, and historical items as you found them. Take a picture instead.
• Be Careful with Fire – have a plan for building a campfire, including keeping the campfire small, using sticks from the ground, and putting out your fire
• Respect Wildlife – observe from a distance and be sure to clean up all food you bring so wildlife don’t learn to depend on humans
• Be Kind to Other Visitors – use a quiet voice and share the trails with others

Other Key Vocabulary for the Junior Girl Scout Outdoor Journey

Girl Scout Junior Journey Books and Materials

The Outdoor Junior Journey works a little differently than the other journeys. Instead of buying a separate handbook and leader’s guide, you will need the badge packets for Junior Animal Habitats, Junior Camper, and Junior Eco Camper. We usually just buy one copy of the badge packet, but you could also buy one per girl in your troop. The Junior Animal Habitat packet comes with the aMUSE Junior It’s Your Story Tell It Activity Set and the Junior Camper packet comes with the Get Moving Junior It’s Your Planet Badge Activity Set, while you will need to separately buy the Junior Eco Camper packet.

However, leaders also have the ability to access the journeys and badges in the Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit, which is an amazing resource for leaders to access the material for free. Buying handbooks, badge guides, journey books, and badges can be very costly, so the Volunteer Toolkit is a great free resource. You’ll also want the to purchase each badge (Animal Habitats, Camper, and Eco Camper) and the take action project badge to display on your Junior Girl Scouts’ vests.

What are the Girl Scout Junior Outdoor Journey Requirements?

The Outdoor Junior Girl Scout Journey requires the girls to earn the three different Junior Girl Scout badges and complete a Take Action Project. The Outdoor Junior Journey requirements can be met over a few different meetings or in just one day. We will present both methods below for Girl Scout Leaders and their troops to choose the best way to meet the Girl Scout Junior Outdoor journey requirements.

The Outdoor journey badges are separate Junior Girl Scout badges but they do overlap in multiple areas. We find it best to complete them together; however, that is not a requirement. For our troop, we found earning Camper badge while earning the Eco Camper badge to be helpful since there is so much overlap. Finally the Animal Habitats badge worked well at the end for us. As we worked through the journey awards, we often did circle back to previous skills to reinforce our learning.

Your troop will need to apply what they learned to a take action project to earn the Outdoor Junior Journey. Then these badges can be displayed proudly on the front girl’s left side of their vest (or the right side when looking at the vest). While the badges are not a set like some of the other Junior Girl Scout Journeys, they should be displayed together.

Animal Habitats Junior Badge

To earn the Animal Habitats Junior badge, the scouts will learn more about wild animals and their habitats. They will explore endangered animals, their habitats and learn more about protecting animal habitats, especially while camping and enjoying the outdoors.

1. Find out about wild animals
2. Investigate an animal habitat
3. Create an animal house
4. Explore endangered habitats
5. Help protect animal habitats

Animal Habitat Badge Activities

Opening Activity – 5 minutes. Ask the girl scouts to list as many wild animals near their home as they can.

Explore Endangered Animals – 20 minutes. Pick one region where endangered animals live. The Junior Animal Habitats packet includes the Arctic, Gulf of Mexico or the Amazon Rainforest. However your scouts can pick any endangered area. Allow your scouts time to research the endangered habitat to learn more about why it is in danger? What is happening to the animals? How are peoplel trying to help the habitat? How are the animals adapting, if they are?

Baby Animal Habitats – 10 minutes. Research a few baby animal habitats to learn how different animal moms and dads care for their babies. How are the homes different when they are babies?

Explore an Animal Habitat – 30 minutes. Go outside to a local animal habitat, this is easy if you are camping. Keep a list of the animals that you see and their special features that allow them to live here. These may include thick fur, wings for migrating, special claws for digging, protection features, etc. Then take some time to clean up the area. Pairs well with Junior Geocacher Badge, Junior Outdoor Art Explorer Badge, Junior Digital Photographer Badge, Junior Girl Scout Way Badge and Junior Space Science Investigator Badge.

Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes

To Save Time When Earning the Animal Habitat Junior Badge

If your troop would like to complete the outdoor journey in just one day, we recommend combining a few parts together. Open with visiting an animal habitat while the scouts list all the animals who live here and those they actually see, listing their special adaptive features.

Your troop can complete the Endangered Animal and Baby Animal Habitats research prior to the Outdoor Junior Journey. Another option is to combine both research options together, while learning about the endangered animals habitats, also research about the baby animals in the same location. Learn all about the baby animal homes and how animal parents care for their children.

Camper Junior Badge

When earning the Junior Camper badge, your girls will learn all about planning a camping adventure including preparing food when camping, tying knots, building a fire, and hiking.

1. Start planning your adventure
2. Gain a new camping skill
3. Find your inner camp chef
4. Try a new activity
5. Head out on your trip – and have some nighttime fun!

Camper Badge Activities

Opening Activity – 10 minutes. Use the knot tying guide on page 5 of the Junior Camper packet to have the girls practice tying a square knot, a clove hitch, and a bowline. The square knot is great for joining two different ropes that are the same thickness, while a clove hitch helps to fasten a rope to a tree or post. The bowline makes sure that the loop won’t slip and is often used when sailing.

Planning Your Camping Adventure – 30 minutes. Work with your troop to plan your camping adventure. Why will you camp? What will you need to bring? What meals will your prepare? How will you prepare them? How will you ensure you leave no trace in your area? What will you do while camping: hike, explore, rock climb, archery, etc?

Cooking – 30 minutes. Make a meal together either using one pot, foil, or cooking on a stick. Pairs nicely with Junior Simple Meals Badge

Leave No Trace Activities – 15 minutes. Teach the girl scouts how to leave no trace while camping. Then play a game, make a skit, or try another activity to show what they learned about leaving no trace.

Enjoy a Campfire – any amount of time desired. Build a campfire with your scouts. Let them practice and take charge using page 7 of the Camper packet for Junior Girl Scouts. Be sure to have a bucket of water near by and keep your fire only as big as you need. Make s’mores or another special treat, tell stories or sing songs around your campfire with your scouts. Pairs nicely with the Outdoor Art Explorer Junior Badge and Junior Girl Scout Way Badge

Total Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes plus length of campfire

To Save Time When Earning the Junior Camper Badge

We planned out camping trip a few weeks before our actually trip. Depending on what your girls want to try on their trip, you can add in a few additional badges when planning.

Since you are planning to have a bonfire later in the evening, you could skip the knot tying and instead teach the scouts how to build a fire as their new skill. The cooking and leave no trace activities pair well with Eco Camper Junior badge, which will save you time while working on both simultaneously.

Junior Eco Camper Badge

The Junior Eco Camper badge focuses on camping while leaving minimal impact on the environment. This helps the scouts learn to keep animal and plant habitats save while sharing the wonders of the outdoors with others.

1. Learn the Leave No Trace Seven Principles
2. Plan meals with the environment in mind
3. Prepare a minimal impact campsite
4. Have fun with Leave No Trace
5. Take a Conservation Hike

Eco Camper Junior Badge Activities

Opening Activity – 20 minutes. Make a meal plan for your camping trip. Write out the different meals you will need to prepare food and don’t forget the snacks too! We made a table showing the meals needed each day and the days of our trip so we could easily plan out our food. Remember to prepare a snack for your conservation hike and plan to make a no-trash meal. Trail mix can make an amazing conservation hike snack.

Setting up Your Campsite – 20 minutes. Provide time for the scouts to set up their campsite including a sleeping area, campfire ring, and kitchen area. Be sure to teach them how to do this in a way that minimally impacts the environment.

Learn the Leave No Trace Principles – 15 minutes. Introduce the seven Leave No Trace Principles and create a troop poster. Then play the leave no trace game Eco Friend or Eco Foe found in the Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit or Surface Hopscotch found on page 9 in the Eco Camper packet.

Conservation Hike – 30 minutes to 1 hour. Time for the hike depends on how long your girls want to hike. As you hike make notes about plants and animals that you see as well as any problems with the area, including trash, abandoned campsites, other hikers, signs of erosion, etc. Pairs well with Junior Geocacher Badge, Junior Outdoor Art Explorer Badge, Junior Digital Photographer Badge, Junior Girl Scout Way Badge and Junior Space Science Investigator Badge.

Cooking – 30 minutes. Make a no-trash meal either using one pot or cooking on a stick to meet both the Eco Camper and Camper badge requirements. Pairs nicely with Junior Simple Meals Badge

Total Time: 1 hour and 55 minutes

To Save Time When Earning the Junior Eco Camper Badge

In the meeting where you are planning for your camping trip, take time to plan out the meals you will cook. If you have time, practice making a no-trash meal so that you are prepared for your camping trip.

As your troop arrives for the camping trip, provide the girls a checklist for setting up camp using the minimal impact camping tips found on page 5 of the Eco Camper packet. The girls can use the beginning time to work with their families to set up their campsites and get ready for camping, including storing food and personal supplies.

Another way to save time is to teach the Leave No Trace Principles during your hike. When you take a snack break, play the Leave No Trace game with your troop.

Outdoor Take Action Project Ideas for Junior Girl Scouts

Choosing a Take Action Project for the Junior Outdoor Journey can be fairly simple and accomplished during your camping trip, especially when camping with younger girl scouts. Remember, a Take Action Project is more than community service. Instead this is a project that continues to give back to the community year after year. Pairs well with Junior Animal Habitats Badge, Playing the Past Junior Badge, Junior Social Butterfly Badge

For these take action projects below, we focused on helping our environment. Each Take Action Project involves the outdoors or educating people about outdoors.

1. Create a Leave No Trace Printable Poster for each troop in your Girl Scout service unit. Add this poster to a binder for new leaders.
2. Work with your camping location to strategical place garbage cans and recycling bins to encourage others to use them when they have trash.
3. Create a list of minimal impact recipes and cooking strategies for your Girl Scout service unit. Add these to a binder for new leaders.
4. Locate invasive plant life near your camping site. Check with the campground hosts on their protocol for handling the invasive species. Make a sign to educate others on the invasive species and how the campground encourages visitors to help.
5. Learn about the animals near your campsite. Speck with a campsite host to learn about the best ways to protect the locale wildlife while hiking and camping safely. Make a pamphlet to educate others on the wildlife, where to see them, and how to keep themselves and the wildlife safe.
6. Create a butterfly garden to beautify the campgrounds and provide a safe space for butterflies to rest during their migration.
7. Create bat houses to hang outdoors to provide a safe hibernation place for bats safe from White Nose Syndrome.
8. Build a community herb garden for community members to use to pick their own fresh herbs. Be sure to add information about using the garden and caring for the herbs.
9. Build a special project for your campgrounds. This could include benches for taking a rest, an archery range for scouts working on their archery badges, a community garden to teach more about flowers, seeds, and plants for those badges.
10. Working with your campsite hosts to create signs to visually mark the hiking trails so that future hikers can easily follow the trails without fear of getting lost.

Celebration for the Outdoor Junior Journey

Every Girl Scout journey offers opportunities to individualize and customize the journey to best meet the needs of your scouts. However, ceremonies and celebrations are such an important part of Girl Scouts and journeys. Your troop should decide how they want to celebrate their progress and completion of the journey. Some troops love to celebrate after earning each award, while others would rather have one big celebration after the completion of the entire journey. The choice is really up to your troop and your time restraints.

Same goes for the journey award badges. You can hand these out to the girls as they complete each step or have one ceremony where you hand out all four badges at the same time. Our girls love the instant recognition; however, we find that more badges are lost this way or never end up on their vests. So we have usually opted for certificates to show the progress after each step and presentation of badges at the end of the journey.

The most important part is to allow your girls the opportunity to plan the celebrations throughout the journey or the celebration at the end of the journey. By allowing the girls to plan the celebrations, they will take more ownership and enjoy them even more.

Girl Scout Junior Badges that Pair Well with the Outdoor Junior Journey

The Junior Outdoor Journey pairs nicely with a few Girl Scout Junior badges. Some of these badges are easier to pair than others, but each one can tie to the Outdoor Junior journey. We find it most helpful to pair badges when we have a month or two to complete a journey. When we are trying to complete a journey in a day, this is often much more difficult. However, our plan does help to meet at least a few requirements of the badges which Girl Scouts suggest pair best with this journey.

If you are completing the Outdoor Junior Journey at a campout, adding in Junior Geogracher, Outdoor Art Creator and Space Investigator Junior badges are fairly easy since they can fit into already planned activities and extra time here and there.

Geocacher

The girls begin by preparing for their adventure. Learn a little about geocaching by talking with an expert or visiting an official geocacher site. While on the geocaching site, be sure to find a Travel Bug and follow it’s trip on a map.

Next the scouts learn to use a GPS receiver by either locating or hiding objects using GPS coordinates. They also make a trade item. This pairs nicely with the Conservation Hike if you plan your hike where geocaches are available or ask each scout to create and hide one. To pair with the Space Investigator badge you could ask each girl to create a box for one of our planets to place at specific points along the hike. The girls can place one special trade item inside their geocache box such as a friendship bracelet or SWAP. The girls can either search for the boxes together or individually.

Outdoor Art Creator

As your troop enjoys hiking or observing wildlife, create art inspired by wildlife. This can be a painting, sculpture, collage or any other medium of art your scouts love. If you plan to complete a drawing, you can pair this with the Junior Drawing Badge.

Plan to bring along a camera and take photos of items from multiple angles and distances to create micro and macro photos to share with the other girls. After your hike, work with the girls to design outdoor art they would love to see in their campground. This can be a drawing or an actual piece of art you add to the campground or hiking trails with the proper permission. This could even make a wonderful Take Action Project.

While on your hike, bring along some salt dough. Recipe found in the Outdoor Art Explorer Junior packet on page 5. As your girls find awe-inspiring nature items, they can make an impression in the salt dough without needing to take the nature item with them. This will allow the scouts to follow the leave no trace principles while capturing the beauty of nature.

Finally, during your campfire program, plan to sing outdoors. Sing a few songs together as you enjoy your special campfire treats and views of the nighttime sky.

Space Science Investigator Junior Badge

Turn your conservation hike into a solar system walk by placing small objects along your path using the steps for modeling the solar system in the Space Science Investigator badge. You can incorporate this with the Junior Geocacher badge requirements by creating planet based geocaches to place along your hike.

With your girl scouts, discover more about space by finding your age if you lived another planet using the Space Sciences Planet Ages website through Girl Scouts. Then print and create your own star wheels to use on your nighttime hike while exploring the campground right before the bonfire. Be sure to look for the moon, specific constellations using your star wheels, any planets, and the brightest stars.

Finally, end with creating a piece of art, a skit, song, or short story about space. This requirement can tie nicely with the Outdoor Art Creator Junior Girl Scout badge.

Simple Meals Junior Badge

The Junior Simple Meals badge fits perfectly with any camping trip with your girl scouts since they will need to eat during their adventure. While planning for your camping trip, speak with an expert or tour your kitchen to learn about which tools you will need to prepare your food and clean up.

Then prepare your meals while on the trip. This should include a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner, dessert, and your own meal, which could include a hiking snack or girl-led recipe.

Junior Digital Photographer Badge

Since your Junior Girl Scouts love taking pictures and sharing memories, this is a perfect badge to add to any camping trip. You will need to learn about digital cameras or photography from an expert, but with so many people having phone cameras, this shouldn’t be too hard. You may even find that one of your Junior Girl Scouts is an expert.

Next, during your camping trip, take lots of pictures to document your experience. The girls should practice editing 3 photos to fix red eyes, change the lighting or filter, or add a special message or stamp to their picture.

Then create a special digital or print photo collage of all the girls’ photos to share with their family and friends to build Girl Scouting excitement.

First Aid Junior Badge

With any hiking or camping adventure, your scouts will need some basic first aid. It can be nice to brush up on these skills right before your camping trip or during the trip. Begin with teaching your girl scouts the steps to take in an emergency such as Check the scene for safety, call 911 or for other help, and Care for the injured person or animal.

This can be paired with a trip to speak with a first responder, which is actually the second requirement for the first aid badge. While speaking with a first responder, be sure to talk about how to handle urgent first aid issues such as allergies, asthma, snakebites, and poison. Then discuss how to care for someone who is more mildly sick with issues such as the flu, cold, or fever.

The girls will need to create a portable first aid kit, which is a must have in their hiking packs when going on a camping trip.

Junior Girl Scout Way Badge

This badge fits in so nicely with any campfire since so much of the badge are stories and songs from girl scouts in the past. During your campfire be sure to share girl scout songs, a story about Juliette Gordon Low – the founder of Girl Scouts, and share special Girl Scout traditions from the past. Simply ask some of the women you know who were Girl Scouts to share their favorite traditions to enjoy during your campfire.

If you choose to make a geocache, you could create a special time capsule of Girl Scouts. Include items that show different ways you live by the Girl Scout Law and your Girl Scout values to place into your geocache.

Before you leave the campground, be sure to leave the campsite better than you found it. Take a moment to clean up extra trash and fix anything that was broken. Tying in your Take Action Project would work here as well.

Shapes in Nature Junior Girl Scout Badge

As you enjoy a hike or camping in nature, spend some time learning more about the shapes found in nature. Explore your surroundings by looking for examples of symmetry, including bilateral symmetry which means the two halves are the same on both sides. Many animals have bilateral symmetry. Your scouts could explore their photos to see which examples of symmetry they have captured. Then search for fractals in nature. A fractal is simply a never ending pattern. You can find these in rivers, tree branches, lightning, plants, and clouds.

Create nature inspired art using circular symmetry. Some plants and flowers have circular symmetry. You scouts can create this art as part of the Outdoor Art Explorer Junior Badge or separately as they explore shapes in nature. As you create circular symmetry, look for examples of the Fibonacci Sequence. The sequence is as follows 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, …. For your Girl Scouts this is easier to understand by explaining the Fibonacci Sequence forms in spirals. The girls may see this in pineapples, cut open apples or bananas, sunflowers, and pinecones. Have the Juniors count the spirals going in each direction to recognize the Fibonacci Sequence in nature.

Numbers in Nature Junior Badge

For this badge begin by teaching your Junior Girl Scouts how to tell time using the sun and their hands. Extend your hands straight out in front of your body with your palms facing in. Line up your index finger with the bottom of the sun. Then look at your pinky finger and the horizon. If your pinky finger is below the horizon, the sun will set very soon. For each width of your hand you can place under your pinky finger is about 1 hour left before the sun sets, each finger width below your pinky finger is about 15 minutes until the sun sets.

As you enjoy a hike, look for natural clues of the changing weather. This can include plants budding or losing leaves, animals making nests or migrating, or the clouds in the sky. While exploring, take a moment to measure the circumference (or distance around the tree trunk) to determine the age of a few trees. The measurement should be taken about 4.5ft from the ground, which is a little shorter than most of your girl scouts. The circumference, in inches, is the approximate age of the tree, in years.

Use shadows to help estimate the height of tall objects in nature. Simply trace your own shadow and the shadow of the object when standing hear the object. Your scouts will need to work with a partner or small group for this activity. They will need to measure their own height, the length of their shadow, and the length of the object’s shadow to determine the height. To find the height of the object (such as a tall tree or building), simply multiply the girl’s height by the length of the object’s shadow. Then divide by the length of the girl’s shadow.

Object Height = (Girl’s Height x Object’s Shadow) / Girl’s Shadow

Finally discover the area and perimeter of leaves. You will need string, a measuring tool, and some graph paper. To find the perimeter of a leaf, simply lay a string around the outside edge all the way around the leaf. Then measure the length of the string. To find the area of the leaf, trace the leaf on a piece of graph paper. Then count the boxes inside the leaf.

Design with Nature Junior Badge

Before beginning a hike, take a moment to look at the trail map. Look at the key or legend to discover landmarks and the scale to determine the length of the hike. Next, look at a topographic map of the same trail (or a different trail if you cannot find one). When the contour lines are close together, the elevation is more steep. When the contour lines are further apart, the elevation is more flat. The scouts will be able to determine how much uphill and downhill hiking they will do on this trail. This is a great step to include when planning out your activities for your Outdoor Junior Journey.

Begin by calculating your walking pace. Plan to use a set distance, such as a quarter mile. You can drive the distance to determine the exact distance or use an activity tracker on a smart watch to help with the measurements. Then time how long it takes to walk the distance. Multiple the total number pace by 4 to find each girl’s 1-mile walking pace.

As your scouts are planning their meals for the camping trip, determine how much water each scout will need. Your Juniors will need at least 8 glasses of water per day of the trip and probably more since they will be active. During hikes and other active activities, they will want 2 cups per hour. The girls can then determine if their water bottles will hold enough water and how they will bring along extra water for their camping trip.

Finally your Juniors will need to pack for the trip. Take some time to explore different size backpacks or suitcases that your girls might bring. You can determine the area and volume of the luggage so that the girls know the largest item that will fit inside and how much total room they have. They will need to strategically back to fit all their necessary supplies in their suitcase or backpack.

Junior Snow or Climbing Adventure Badge

If you will be camping in the snow or a place where the girl scouts can climb, you can plan for the Junior Snow or Climbing Adventure Badge. To earn this badge, your Junior Girl Scouts will need to plan and prepare for their adventure, gather all the necessary gear, set a goal to allow them to train, and go on their outdoor climbing or snow adventure.

You may try a snowshoe hike, sledding, ice skating, rock or boulder climbing, indoor rock climbing, a high ropes course, or any other adventure in the snow or climbing that the girls wish to pursue.

Junior Trail Adventure Badge

Earning the Junior Trail Adventure fits nicely with the conservation hike in Eco Camper. To earn this Junior Girl Scout Badge, simply plan and prepare for your hike, gather all your gear, set your goal, and then go on your hike.

We like to bring along hydration packs with at least 2 liters of water per person, sunscreen and a hat for sun protection, a snack, the trail map, and a whistle at a minimum.

How to Complete the Junior Outdoor Journey in a Day (or Overnight Camping Experience)

Below we include our Junior Girl Scout Agenda for the Outdoor Journey in a Day. We found that a Friday or Saturday afternoon/evening through lunch or dinner the following day worked best for a journey in a day. If your girls can handle a full weekend of Girl Scouts, you may plan to start early in the evening on Friday and continue through the afternoon on Sunday to include the entire Take Action Project or additional badge work.

We’d Love to Connect with You!

We hope you found our Outdoor Junior Journey plans helpful and the are ready to tackle a girl scout camping trip! We had so much fun that we planned a few more journey in a day agendas for our troop. If your scouts are just as excited as ours, be sure to head over to our Girl Scout Junior Guide on the Agent of Change Junior Journey and the aMUSE Junior Journey in a Day.

Leave a comment below and let us know if you’ve tried the Outdoor Junior journey or camping with your girl scout juniors. What worked well for you? What would you have tried differently? Did your girls love the journey as much as ours? Don’t miss our FREE Girl Scout Leader’s Campsite Guide to assist when planning your camping trip. And if you are looking for more Girl Scout leader tips, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter below.

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.

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