How My Troop Made This Girl Scout Junior Vest Swap

My troop had never made a Girl Scout Swap before, and I decided it was high time that they did.  I needed a craft to fill in any extra time I might have during our 3.5 hour canned/boxed food drive community service project meeting held in my home.  As a teacher for twenty-five years, the first thing I learned is that idle hands make trouble!  Keeping my girls busy was key to our success.

I found this adorable Junior Vest Swap idea on the Girl Scouts of Nassau County website (it is no longer available on the site to link to).  It was perfect for my girls who are flying up to Juniors in May.  I contacted my childhood best friend who lives across the country to ask if her daughter’s troop leaders, who also have a third grade Brownie troop, would love to receive the Swaps.  They have ten girls and so do I.  They wanted them, and the wheels were set in motion!

The craft calls for green foam, but being resourceful I decided to use green felt that I already had in my Girl Scout craft bin.

Here is how I did it.

All photos taken by Hannah Gold.

I did an image search for a Junior Girl Scout vest and found this one.  I copied it and traced it onto the felt.  I was able to fit five of them on one sheet.  Of course, I made two extra-one for me to do in advance and one just in case one of my girls needed to redo one.

While I used some cut out tabs out of another piece of felt in a different shade of green, my daughter made badges by using a hole puncher.  I made the Council and GSUSA strips out of foam shapes that I cut up.

I packaged each one individually so that each girl had her own kit.

It was a quick craft and the girls enjoyed making it for a sister troop.