When I was a Junior Leader, I tried to theme my end-of-the-year recognitions. Our girls loved neon green and yellow so I did the stars in those colors. The star part had everything that went on the front of the vest/sash and the shooting part had all of their patches. At our year end bridging/court of awards we had earned our Sign of the Satellite so I did a shooting star. We studied Egypt all year as our country for Thinking Day so I made pyramids with poster board and had the badges and patches inside of it. Last year I did several great ideas for handing out patches and badges to my Junior troop.

At a C of A, the patches were attached with double-stick tape.

We made trefoil shapes out of poster board as a troop - tied it into GS traditions. Cut out of poster board a sash the correct color and attach the patches/badges on them. The size of the wreath depends on how many badges they have earned. Use straight pins to attach the badges to the wreath. If there is material left over a bow can be added. Get one of those straw wreaths (one for each girl) wrap the wreath in fabric, you can have the girls bring in fabric they like. Here is an idea I have used to present badges to a troop of Junior Girl Scouts. If their instructions are hazy to you, feel free to contact them for an additional explanation! Enjoy celebrating the achievements of your girls! My two favorite (though probably not very original) ways are to (1) staple them all onto a wide ribbon with a pin at the top so the ribbon can be fastened to the vest/sash, and (2) stapled directly onto the vest/sash so parent knows exactly where to sew it! The latter takes a good stapler (one of those little wimpy ones won't work) but the girls liked it the last time we did it this way. Making their achievements special goes a long way to our ultimate goals of retention and helping our girls grow strong… We've left in the email addresses of those who submitted ideas. The girls love pomp and circumstance, they love mementos, they love to be showered with attention, and the parents love seeing their little darling honored, too. The key is to allow yourself to be inspired from these ideas and go off in your own direction that works with the theme, the season, or the décor of your Court of Awards ceremony. Beyond Ziploc Baggies…… Creative Ways to Hand out Badges and Patches We gathered these ideas from leaders across the U.S….and put in a few of our own ideas, too.

Sylo patches