Earning the Girl Scout Junior Stress Less badge was a lot of fun for my troop. Your girls can still earn this retired badge, which focuses mental wellness.
Updated July 2024
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Note-I have the Girl Scout Junior Stress Less badges in my Etsy shop. You can find them here.
At our second meeting to earn the Stress Less Junior badge, I wanted the girls to learn about stress management techniques like stretching and yoga. My daughter and I tried various yoga videos on YouTube, and after trying many that were just too difficult and too long, we came upon this one by Tara Stiles.
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It was a lot of fun practicing with my daughter. Both of us enjoyed learning new yoga moves and the gentle stretching that Tara demonstrated. There are many different yoga videos on YouTube, so you can choose the one that is right for your girls.
I emailed the parents and told them that the girls needed to bring in a beach towel or a yoga mat for the exercises (again, bring an extra-I had one girl forget). I had already cleared it with our school principal that we could use the hallway to spread out and do our activities.
If you do enough planning or have a contact, you can take a field trip and take a yoga class to help you earn this badge.
We talked about what yoga is and why people do it. Then we did some visualization and deep breathing exercises to help us get centered. Naturally, it was hard for some of the girls to do this, but we pressed on until the giggles stopped.
Then we did the yoga video. The girls enjoyed the stretches and seeing how flexible they were.
Because we had extra time, we worked on our perpetual Girl Scout scrapbook. It was the first time we had gotten to it all year, and we had pictures from bridging in May to our December community service project. If they were younger, it would have taken longer. Most of the girls finished a good portion of the pictures. I will schedule another scrapbooking session in the spring.
What Junior badges have you earned this year?
Is there an older Brownie badge that is somewhat similar? I have a mixed troop with only one Brownie so we all meet and work together.
Hello Jodi! There is the old Healthy Habits Try It. I wrote an article on how to earn it years ago. Here it is:
https://tinyurl.com/y64hz3kk
Please feel free to tweak it to meet your planning needs. There are no badge police and you can earn the spirit of the badge and “stress less” on working your Brownie into your Junior plans. Healthy Habits include exercise, eating right, and a healthy mindset. Good hygiene is also a part of helping stress levels (a hot bath or shower, brushing your hair and teeth, etc).
Please let me know how you incorporated the two badges together!