Free Planning Printable!

I wrote this article last year before we added the “Into the Outdoors” program area. So here is a new and updated version of it, fresh off the press to help you organize your brand new Guiding Year!

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It’s the time of the Guiding Year when we start to look at the goals our unit set for badges. In our own Sparks unit, our girls have already earned and received five badges, two challenge crests and 3 special interest badges (we award these at our discretion!)

Some have earned another four badges, yet to be awarded to the girl. Some are just a couple of activities short of a badge. Usually this happens when a girl misses an instant meeting, or joined our unit late.

When they are only a couple of activities short of a badge that all the other girls have earned, I try to offer a make-up activity or two. Some girls don’t care, which is fine. Some care very much, which is also fine! So I provide an opportunity to earn the badge, but leave it up to the girl and her family to complete if they choose. I will go into more detail on that in another post.

Tracking the entire unit’s progress on badges isn’t always easy! Of course there’s the Generic Badge tracker, which is a spreadsheet and provides space for you to track all activities, and the GF platform as well. I admit I don’t use the GF platform to track activities, it’s just too cumbersome at this stage in it’s evolution. I do award badges there, though. I use the spreadsheet to track our activities, which is great! However, it is not very easy to look at and capture who has earned which badge and especially who has been awarded which badge!

That is where my handy Badge Earned/Awarded Tracker comes in!

It’s best to keep it going from the start of the year, but it’s a big help if you’re just jumping in now to see where your unit is at! Better yet, it’s good for all branches of Guiding!

It’s super easy to use, and if you access it through Google Docs you can modify it for your own needs!

I just put in my Sparks’ names, then place a checkmark where they’ve earned a badge and then circle it when they’ve been awarded the badge. Easy-peasy, summer-breezy!!

There’s even a special spot to track the program area badges:

Get your copy here: