Spending time in the outdoors is a cornerstone of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and has been since Girl Scouts’ inception. Our all-girl environment and proven programming show girls the benefits of spending time in the world beyond walls in ways that encourage them to take healthy risks and overcome their fears.

The research is clear: outdoor experiences like the ones Girl Scouts offers most definitely foster leadership skills in girls. At Girl Scouts, girls get the chance to experience the great outdoors and all the wonder and adventure it entails.

Girls are forces of nature! They are resilient, curious, strong, and bold! That’s why Girl Scouts collaborated with The North Face to develop 12 Outdoor High-Adventure badges for girls in grades K to 12 to explore nature and embrace exciting outdoor adventures. These experiences, like backpacking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, and tree climbing, give girls the confidence to support one another, take healthy risks, and spend dedicated time in nature. It doesn’t get better than that! But, wait—it does!

Girls have more choices! You may already know that in the new Outdoor High-Adventure badges girls choose from one of two paths to complete a badge. For instance, a girl who wants to do the Senior Snow Adventure badge can either challenge herself by camping out in the snow and exploring the winter wilderness or by advancing her rock-climbing skills on a two-day trip—EPIC!

Thanks to this new programming, Girl Scouts will be prepared to inspire even more G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ spirit in girls as they create their own outdoor adventures and develop crucial leadership skills, preparing them for a lifetime of exploration and success.

GSUSA Blog – July 19, 2019