+pezCollector Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'm new to geocaching. My daughter is a new Brownie. Does anyone know if there are any patches my daughter can earn while geocaching? I'd like to take her troop of 6-year-olds out during the summer to find an easy cache. Being able to earn a patch would be an added bonus. Thanks. Art a.k.a. pezCollector Quote Link to comment
+5 Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'm in the same boat, well kinda...My son is a Cub Scout, working on his Wolf Badge. I haven't seen any badge yet that I could apply geocaching to, but I'm hoping to find one. Quote Link to comment
+Marky Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'm new to geocaching. My daughter is a new Brownie. Does anyone know if there are any patches my daughter can earn while geocaching? I'd like to take her troop of 6-year-olds out during the summer to find an easy cache. Being able to earn a patch would be an added bonus. There are some caches around my area where your daughter could find a cache and also earn her "talk with a homeless person" patch. --Marky Quote Link to comment
+GRANPA ALEX Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 Your profile does not give your location but each State has a central council . . . for example, in NC it is the Pines Of Carolina Girl Scout Council in Raleigh - the State Capital with local branches in major cities. You may check with your State for information AND to make a suggestion, if one is not available. Maybe GC.COM can be sourced for the patches . . . Quote Link to comment
+Camo-crazed Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I believe that you can submit suggestions for new badges in cubs (I used to have a book somewhere around here that would tell me) Quote Link to comment
+YuccaPatrol Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I bet she could earn her first-aid patch while geocaching! Quote Link to comment
+denali7 Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 local hobby stores (the places that sell uniform items) usually sell badge books for each step. i'm not sure about brownie badges, it's been a while since flyensquirrel was a brownie, but later on there are orienteering and other outdoor badges with you could certainly tie in caching skills. you have to do several activities to earn each badge, so i'd get the brownie book and check out all the outdoor badges. they give you a bunch of suggested activities for each badge, and you have to do a certain number, but i forget how many for brownie badges. you could introduce caching easily with any navigation, mapping, environmental, or even geography or learning about other places badge. you have to do the right amount of activities per badge, but you can be a little creative about your approach--that's what makes each troop unique! have fun. Quote Link to comment
+Lil Elephants Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 (edited) I'm in the same boat, well kinda...My son is a Cub Scout, working on his Wolf Badge. I haven't seen any badge yet that I could apply geocaching to, but I'm hoping to find one. For cub scouts, check out the requirements for the Map & Compass Beltloop award. If you're teaching them *how* to geocache and not just taking them for a walk and exchanging toys, then the requirements will be a piece of cake. Edited February 20, 2005 by L'il Elephants Quote Link to comment
+5 Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 Thanks, I'll look for it... Quote Link to comment
+Enspyer Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I volunteered last fall to help run a geocaching workshop for brownie and junior girl scouts, I think. They gave the girls generic geocaching patches. My younger sister (who participated as a girl scout) says she did not earn any badges, but I'm sure the activity could be used towards one. The event was I did was run by the CNY Girl Scout council which coordinated with a troopleader/geocacher who also brought the state organization NYGO into the picture so locals could be contacted to volunteer. Quote Link to comment
+Brian - Team A.I. Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Aha! A thread I can shed some light on again. As was stated before, orienteering badges/patches/pins can be awarded for Geocaching. There is also the Cub Scout Leave No Trace Award that can be directly tied to CITO, and scouts can even perform a service project by helping place a cache with the cooperation of a community entity. Just this past weekend, I took my Bears to the local zoo to implement a multi-stage cache I've been working on developing with the zoo staff for the past 6 months. They each helped me drill a hole and mount the clue (yes, with the blessing of the staff), and were admitted into the zoo for free because they were volunteering their time. I didn't really need their help getting it done, but doing so helped to reinforce part of the Cub Scout Promise, which is "to help other people". The zoo cache is such a well received idea by the Education Director at the, that they will be awarding a custom designed pin/certificate to each cacher who finds all stages and returns with the proper information. These pins are being sponsored by a local outdoor company in town, so it's really become an awesome community effort. As soon as the pins are made, I'll be awarding each of the Scouts a pin for their 'brag vest', to show my appreciation for their help. Another idea is to release a TB that is 'owned' by the Den/Troop/Pack/whatever, and used perhaps once per month to dive into geography a bit by monitoring its travels. You could also add a different spin and make it a scout-related item that travels between scout groups in different cities. I've been in discussions with a Cubmaster in AZ to send a pack TB to as its first destination. Quote Link to comment
+legofamily Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Interesting discussion. I'm a Cub leader in Canada. Scouts Canada has a "Pack Specialty" badge, where you identify a unique skill not covered by other badges. See Pack Specialty Badge . At first, we were considering taking our pack on a cache hunt, but now we're also thinking of creating criteria for making our speciality badge about geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+MOphoto Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 It's been a few years since my daughter was involved in Girl Scouts, but I believe you have the ability to create a custom badge for your Troop at each level of Girl Scouting. This would allow you to design your own requirements, and have that badge remain with the Troop long after your daughter moves on to another level. There is probably some approval process required by the Council, but I doubt it's very stringent, especially on a topic that many have little knowledge of. Good Luck!!! Quote Link to comment
+TeamK-9 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Girl scouts provided lunch for my most recent hiking outing. Those Tagalongs sure are good on a cold, snowy day... Quote Link to comment
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