Girl Scouts take pride in recognizing the traditions and special days that make up Girl Scouting. Girl Scout Week is a perfect example of how Girl Scouts and Girl Scout volunteers come together and showcase their Girl Scout spirit. Girl Scout Week 2023 started on March 12 and concluded on March 18. Girls had a great time participating in the many fun activities throughout the week, including birthday parties, outdoor activities, ceremonies, community service, exploring Girl Scout traditions, and much more.
The tradition of celebrating Girl Scout Week is lively, but did you know that from 1919 to 1953, Girl Scout Week was observed in the fall? It included Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday (October 31), and each day of the week had a different focus:
Sunday Girl Scout Sunday
Monday Homemaking Day
Tuesday Citizenship Day
Wednesday Health and Safety Day
Thursday International Friendship Day
Friday Arts and Crafts Day
Saturday Out-of-Doors Day
During the National Council Session (NCS) in 1953, it was decided to combine Girl Scout Week with Girl Scouts’ birthday and celebrate during the week that includes March 12.
Why March 12?
On March 12, 1912, Juliette Gordon Low held the very first Girl Scout meeting in Savannah, Georgia, making March 12 Girl Scouts’ birthday.
Since the NCS in 1953, Girl Scout Week has started with Girl Scout Sunday and ended with Girl Scout Jummah/Sabbath/Shabbat Saturday.
Girl Scout Jammah/Sabbath/Shabbat Saturday, as a part of Girl Scout Week, was established to spread awareness of Girl Scouting at places of worship, to share the Girl Scout legacy of service to others, and deepen girls’ connection to their faith and Girl Scouting.
Everything in Girl Scouting is based on the Girl Scout Promise and Law, which include many common principles and values found across religions. Therefore, during Girl Scout Week, faith partners join us to help girls celebrate the connections between their faith and Girl Scouts.
Girl Scout Week connects Girl Scouts across the globe.
We hope you had an unforgettable experience celebrating this historic Girl Scout tradition.
Girl Scout Week is a time to celebrate Girl Scouts as ground-breakers, big thinkers, and role models.
This guide offers many ideas for girls to choose their own way to be a G.I.R.L. (Go-Getter, Innovator, Risk-Taker, Leader)™.
Saturday, March 9: Celebrate Girl Scout Week Early!
Girl Scout Daisies and Brownies, you are cordially invited to a Victorian style high tea, just like Juliette Gordon Low held for her friends that very first Girl Scout meeting. Join us at the Vernon Hills Gathering Place, 650 N. Lakeview Parkway, from 12:45-3 p.m.
Wear your party clothes and learn about the manners of the Victorian era while enjoying some delicious afternoon treats. You will take home souvenirs and a patch. This is a girl-only event for Daisies and Brownies.
Wear your Girl
Scout uniform to worship. Talk with your Girl Scout
sisters and family to connect with a local place of worship and learn about how
Girl Scouts can be represented on Girl Scout Sunday.
Host a Girl Scout Cookies and milk party after worship. Bring Girl Scout Cookies (and possibly sell some, too), share what your cookie sale goals are, and talk about the skills you have learned from the Girl Scout Cookie program.
Earn your ‘My Promise, My Faith’ Award. Work with your family and faith leaders to earn the pin to celebrate the connection between the Girl Scout Promise and Law and your faith.
Make new friends. Talk to someone from a different culture, religion, town, school, or neighborhood.
Monday, Mar. 11: Unleash Your Inner Go-Getter
A Go-Getter is
bold, honest, and determined to succeed. Goal-oriented and ambitious, she’s
also a life-long learner who believes no challenge is too difficult.
Set a goal to achieve a big objective. Is it a Journey Summit Award, straight As, mastering a new routine, or scoring a goal? Create a plan to work hard to make it happen.
Learn a new
skill. Celebrate your love of learning. Practice
a skill that will help you explore something you’ve always wanted to try.
Create a
motivational mantra. Go-Getters get back up and try again when
they fall down. Create a mantra or saying to encourage yourself and others to
be determined to succeed.
Fill a box to donate. Collect items that you, your family, or your friends no longer need and donate to a local charity.
Tuesday, Mar. 12: Celebrate the Girl Scout Birthday
March 12 is the Girl Scout Birthday! On this day in 1912, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled a group of eighteen girls from Savannah, Georgia, for the first-ever Girl Scout meeting.
Help more girls get access to the Girl Scout experience! Make a gift of $10 in honor of our founding year, and receive the Family Partnership fun patch (pictured above)! Family Partnership donations go toward helping girls who are facing hardships become Girl Scouts; supporting our awesome volunteers; and keeping our camps fun and pristine.
Wear your Girl
Scout uniform to school to celebrate your Girl Scout sisterhood. Today,
over 3.2 million girls and adults are active Girl Scout members, and over 50
million women are Girl Scout alumnae. In honor of the Girl Scout Birthday, take
a moment to recognize and celebrate all that Girl Scouts of the USA has done for
local communities across the country!
Throw a
birthday party for Girl Scouts! Celebrate with
birthday cake, party games, and more. Invite your sister Girl Scouts and
friends who are not yet Girl Scouts. Ask all of your guests to bring a birthday
gift to donate to a local charity.
Write a Girl Scout letter of thanks. Thank someone who has supported you or your troop. Use our Thank You template.
Tuesday’s Deal: In celebration of the Girl Scout Birthday, everything is 12% off March 12 and 13 at all Gathering Place Shops (in store only)!
Wednesday, March 13: Innovate!
Thinking
outside the box is an Innovator’s specialty, so she’s always looking for a
creative way to take action. She definitely knows how to get things done.
Solve a problem
in a creative way. Whether it is a broken shoelace or a
polluted beach, Girl Scouts innovate to find unique solutions. Find an
imaginative solution to an everyday or community problem.
Invent
something new. Think outside the box and find a new way
to do something. Share your idea with other Girl Scout sisters or your family.
Create a work
of art. Choose your favorite type of art and make
a masterpiece that looks like something that no one has ever seen before.
Thinking of you. Make and deliver cards to a senior center or hospital.
Wednesday’s Deal: In celebration of Girl Scout Birthday, everything is 12% off March 12 and 13 at all Gathering Place Shops (in store only)!
Thursday, March 14: Be a Brave and Bold Risk-Taker!
Courageous and strong, a Risk-Taker is keen to try new things and to embrace the unfamiliar. She’s ready to step up and break the mold if that’s what it takes.
Do something
new. Girl Scouts explore the world around them.
Do something that you’ve never done before.
Eliminate “can’t” from your vocabulary. Think about the times you’ve said “I can’t (do something).” Try something that you thought you couldn’t do.
Break the mold.
Be the first person you know to try something. Share with your
friends and family about your experience.
Be brave. Commit to raising your hand in class when you know the answer, have something to share, or have a question.
Friday, March 15: Show the World You Are a Leader!
A Leader is
confident, responsible, and committed to changing the world for the better—and
she’s happiest when others join her in taking the lead!
Be a role
model. Lead younger girls in celebrating Girl
Scout Week activities and being G.I.R.L.s!
Lead a Take Action project. Make the world a better place when you Take Action to solve issues in your community in a sustainable way.
Invite the
community. Welcome your community to your Girl Scout
Week celebrations or Take Action projects.
Selfie moment. Post a Girl Scout memory, photo, or experience on social media. Be sure to tag us at @girlscoutsgcnwi and use the hashtag #girlscoutweek
Saturday, March 16: G.I.R.L. Agenda and Girl Scout Sabbath Day
Be a catalyst
for change in your community—and the world. Champion your views, influence
leadership, and advance the G.I.R.L.
Agenda to make the world a better place. Every girl has a voice. Every girl’s
voice is important.
Get inspired. Find
a problem big or small in your community. Think of a way you and others can
solve it and let your voice be heard.
Get prepared. Take a stand and be an advocate for an issue that is important to you. Share with others why you are so passionate about this cause.
Get mobilized. Unleash your inner leader and make the world a better place.
Rest and Reflect. Take this Sabbath Day to reflect on all your work with Girl Scouts. Let those moments inspire you to create new and innovative ways to share with the world what it means to be a G.I.R.L.
Saturday’s Deal: Visit our Gathering Place Shops 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for surprise deals and treats.
Community service is at the cornerstone of what it means to be a Girl Scout, which is why more than 100 girls are gathering in Vernon Hills this weekend to celebrate National Girl Scout Day with the Birthday in a Bag Bash.
This Saturday, March 12, marks the 104th birthday of Girl Scouts and girls from Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana (GCNWI) are paying it forward by assembling Birthday in a Bag supplies at Gathering Places across the council. The service project invites girls to gather items, such as boxed cake, canned frosting, candles, balloons, streamers and a small toy for children at local food pantries.
“We wanted to be a part of this project to be able to help make a person’s birthday special,” said adult volunteers Karen Huber and Sue Siegel of Girl Scout Cadette Troop 40651 in Park Ridge.
Through a combined effort, GCNWI Service Unit 405 and five troops at St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge brought in donations to in cake mixes, pans, cans of frosting, plates, napkins, tablecloths, birthday candles, and balloons to fill 50 birthday bags. The bags were then delivered to the parish food pantry and will be shared with the Maine Township Food Pantry and Our Lady of Angels Food Pantry.
“The girls enjoyed being part of this effort,” Huber and Siegel said. “They also had fun deciding which items to put together in the bags, such as yellow cake and pink frosting or chocolate cake with white or chocolate frosting.”
The Birthday in a Bag Bash also kicks off #100DaysOfGold to commemorate the centennial of the Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. The council-wide initiative encourages girls to participate in 100 days of doing good in their communities starting on March 12 and going through June 20.
“We’ve already been given so much in our lives, yet there are some who struggle to find basic necessities,” said Marie T., a Girl Scout Cadette with Troop 40651. “It’s our time to pay it forward and give these people what every human deserves.”
