Silver Award Projects Compilation


Members of the WAGGGS-L have been very generous about sharing their projects to show what has been done and to spark ideas. I hope this site will help you "Go for the Silver!"

- By far, the most ambitious project my troop did was 8 girls who collaborated on a training video for troops to use in Outdoor Skills (cooking, cleanup, firebuilding mainly). Each girl had a specific part (director, props, script, soundtrack, all were actors, etc.). We 'filmed' it in slide format. The local cable station worked with us to transfer it to videotape (using 1/2" master tape) as well as to do the voiceovers in their sound studio. A grant from Chevron allowed us to make about 80 copies which we distributed all over the Council (San Francisco Bay). Made the tape 6 years ago and it's still in use and I still get the occasional compliment.
- Quilt for AIDS babies (very good project for my girl who was hospitalized with anorexia and could not get out of bed.)
- One girl collected toiletries, including sending out lots of letters to dentists (for toothcare products) and dermatologists (for skin care products) then assembled them into kits and donated to the women's homeless shelter.
-A small group sewed stuffed teddy bears and planned a party at our county's juvenile cottage (kids under 12?). They spent the afternoon playing games, doing crafts, refreshments, etc. and gave each child a bear as a party favor.
One project was shared by two girls. They planned, organized and ran a Teddy Bear Picnic! Had all brownies bring their teddy bears! Had contests! Best dressed, biggest, smallest etc! ribbons for all! made a paper teddy bear, played games and had a snack. Also a parade of teddys! also a small hospital area and bears that needed fixing!!
Another was Painting State capitols on a Map of the United States on school play ground.
A Winter Celebration Day! for Daisys they came and learned how other cultures celebrate the holiday of Chrismas! The made crafts and played games of the different cultures.
Another was leading a brownie troop on learning the promise in spanish and showing at Girl Scout in gathering! also information learned about Mexico for thinking day.
A Library Day!!! Reading to little ones in town at library making story related crafts and games!
Brownie Play Days for all levels of Brownies!!! All earned a Try-it! Movers
Hi! My girls are building a wheelchair access to our local scout hut for their silver award.
My troop (4 girls in all) were all top students and had all earned the Reading IPP. Our SU had "adopted" a local charities efforts at providing a "safe place" for children after school and on weekends in some of our worst neighborhoods. They were getting old HUD type houses and fixing them up for educational and fun places for kids to go. My SU was providing birthday gifts for each child throughout the year. My troop decided to build a library for one of the new centers. We solicited book donations from all of the troops in our SU as well as anyone we knew and our own personal collections of childrens books. Each book was sorted and catalogued according to our old friend, the Dewey Decimal system. They purchased with proceeds derived for a garage sale specifically designed for this project, a build it yourself cabinet for many of the books. They built the cabinet (all by themselves-it's not like I could help) and shelved the over 800 books that they collected. They collected posters, etc for decoration of the room. They made several sit-upons for use in the room and developed a simple check out system that required little maintenance for the volunteers running the center. They donated rubber stamps that stated "property of safe house" and stamped it in each book. The charity, called "Neighbor for Neighbor" was thrilled. This particular charity does not receive any United Way type funding and runs strictly on donations from churches, individuals, etc. Another Cadette troop, the following year redecorated and filled their food pantry. A wonderful charity doing wonderful things for our community.
The other troop with whom we merged, had a completely different project but just as worthwhile. The 3 girls in that troop lived in a neighborhood where a creek ran through the back of several homes. The erosion problems necessitated the city coming in and wanting to just fill the creek up and move on. It was a bit of a blight in the area. With the help of the Army Corp of Engineers, the girls designed a new idea, clean up and save the creek that so many of them had grown up playing in. They received a grant and a donation from the local homeowner's assoc to do it. They organized a clean up day and got several volunteers from the neighborhood, the neighborhood middle school, etc to come in and help do the work. They made a lovely path with railroad ties, gravel, etc., and generally cleaned up the area and helped to prevent further erosion. They saved a greenbelt in the city.
7/8/98 A few days ago I received an email from a Cadette Girl Scout who had found our troop's page. She was asking if I would be willing to put a link on our page to her troop's page, where they had information on their troop Silver Award project. I checked out their site, and I am impressed! Cadette Girl Scout Troop 1229 of Brandon, Florida is working with the creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series (with GSUSA's approval) to create _Chicken Soup for the Girl Scout Soul_. They are gathering stories about experiences people have had with Girl Scouting.
I do recommend visiting their website and reading more about their project. The URL is http://www.ij.net/troop1229. They do ask for names and addresses, but they need that information for publishing reasons, should your story be used. Stories may be up to 1200 words in length, and they are also accepting poems, cartoons, etc. Stories may be funny, heartwarming, etc, but the main element needed is a strong emotional impact.
Please submit stories as soon as possible.
Thanks DJ for your compilation
What have our girls done? One designed the SU web site -- getting a free sponsor, securing the certificate, working with our council on things that could and could not be included, training leaders in managing the webpage, etc.; one girl ran the Earth Matters patch program for Junior Girl Scouts in our SU -- she secured a place (the National Wildlife Center), found consultants, trained helpers, purchased supplies, kept registration and health and safety information on each girl, etc.; one girl developed the Association newsletter -- working with 5 SU managers, the Assoc. team, etc.; my daughter ran the Sing America patch program at our encampment -- she was in charge of all ceremonial music, developed a program to teach the girls songs from different countries, put together an evaluation form, etc.; another girl ran our Older Girl bridging weekend -- she developed the flyer inviting all bridging Junior and bridging Cadettes to camp for the weekend, she trained the Cadettes and Seniors on the bridging requirements, kept track of registration, purchased supplies, etc. These were big projects! Each girl did her best, rolled with the punches and developed a new sense of self-worth. And her Gold Award won't be quite so hard because she has developed the tools needed to carry out a big project.
A local church was in need of teachers for their VBS in the summer and some of our girls used that as a Silver project it was a full week and the girls were classroom teachers, recreation teachers, craft teachers etc. They all had there own area and other members of the troop worked as helpers if it wasn't their project. We did this 2 years in a row and the girls that used it as their Silver wanted to do it again because they got so much out of it.
1 girl planned and operated a Halloween Party / Haunted House with the help of the other girls playing roles in the haunted house. It ran an entire Sat. Open to the community and the admission was a personal care item for a local "living closet". We won recognition for make a Difference Day that our SUM sent in (we didn't know she did it at the time) It just happened that it fell on that day. She also planned a lot of games the kids could win prizes and they had a lot of fun.
One Cadette taught a Brownie troop how to bake cookies, including measurements, etc. and went with them to deliver them to a local nursing home. Shetaught them kitchen safety and then made up a brochure about kitchen safety.
They hosted a dinner that pointed out how people in the world are hungry. They served some people rice and water (the poor), others a simple meal (the middle class) and still others had quite a spread (the rich). They invited people from the community and passed out slips at the door on which socioeconomic background each person was to represent.
My troop of 11 Cadettes recently completed their Silver Awards. After several of them completed their Leadership hours at Day Camp last summer, they saw a need to teach leaders more songs and games. They came up with a day of workshops for leaders and their daughters. The girls named their event the HAMSTER Project (Happy Aprilfool'sday Meeting Scouts Teaching Exciting Revelations, but more commonly known as Happy Awesome Magnificent Scouts Teaching Exciting Revelations). We even made hamster t-shirts for our troop! One scout was the event organizer and was responsible for publicity, registration, scheduling, layout of the site, keeping the event on task during the day, etc. Other scouts alone or with a buddy chose a theme and developed a workshop around the theme. We had Animals, Camping, Happy Trails, Ceremonies, Hugs and Kisses, and Creative Hamsters. The Creative Hamsters did only crafts, but others taught a combination of songs, games, crafts, and/or ceremonies. They also prepared booklets of additional ideas that were given out to the participants. We did not charge for the event which may have been a mistake because 40 of the 80 registered did not attend. That coupled with a rainy day required the girls to really think on their feet and make changes and adapt throughout the day. (Fortunately I participated in the event with my younger scout, which made it easy to mind my own business and let the girls handle things!) It turned out to be a wonderful learning experience for the girls and they received great feedback from those who attended. Our SUD said it was the most fun she had had at a GS event with her daughter. I am sharing what we did, but with a caution: the girls need to "own" what ever projects they decide to do. I also gave them information about what some other troops had done, but they did not want to copy other's ideas.
Two girl's Silver Award project benefited the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area. Working under the direction of Muriel Kotin of the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, they planned and procurred materials, plants and trees to be made available for a morning project of weeding, watering and planting of native trees and plants to benefit the birds and visitors of the wildlife area. Two troops were invited and all plants/trees were planted. This project is still ongoing, because the girls continue to tend to the plants/trees by watering via buckets from the only water source a stream. This has been quite an experience, the girls have learned alot.
  • One girl loves animals so she collected old blankets and towels to be used in an animal rescue center.
  • Two girls organized a clothes drive, collected clothes from the school's lost and found, washed and sorted them and donated them to a shelter.
  • I had one girl help start a babysitting service for our service team. This was to help our leaders who had no sitter, and could not come to leader meetings. It was totally planned and carried out by two Cadettes.
  • Another project was landscaping for a habitat house. A group of Cadettes planned and carried out a landscaping at a habitat house, They were able to get the plants donated.
  • Preparing and taking a Junior troop on its first campout
  • A project to make sleeping bags for homeless
  • A school uniform drive (here middle schoolers wear uniforms--khaki or navy bottoms and white shirts with collars) asking for donations of the required pieces to benefit needy kids
  • A project to restock a local food pantry; organizing a service unit event
  • Establishing a perennial garden at an elderly day care center
  • A "parent's night out" at a local church with the donations going to a homeless shelter (donations were cash or items needed at the shelter like razors, socks, underwear, etc); shoe boxes stuff with school supplies to send to Romania (or wherever the need is at the moment)
  • Book collection to restock a school library damaged in a flood
  • Preparing a resource book for Girl Scout troops (and other groups) on how to work with the elderly--activity suggestions and places to go.
  • Collected over 800 books from donations and built a library for a "safe house" project in a disadvantaged neighborhood where kids can go after school. They built a cabinet (the kind that you buy and put together), Organized the books via Dewey decimal, decorated the room and devised a checkout system. More than enough work for 4 girls and very community minded.
  • Brownie Ideas Galore! (1 girl) Surveyed past and present Brownies and Brownie leaders in order to collect their advice to new Brownie leaders. She collected information by telephone, over the Internet, and in face-to-face discussions. Then Compiled the results into a booklet,
  • Instant Program Workshop (2 girls) They developed a workshop of games, songs and crafts for parents volunteers helping troop leaders. They also developed a packet of resource materials for the workshop participants. They ran 2 sessions for 25+ parent volunteers and Brownie leaders.
  • Learning About Ponies (1 girl) She organized and ran a museum special about horse care for our local Children's Discovery Museum. She prepared and gathered the materials, Made the arrangements for the ponies which were part of the exhibit, recruited members of a local 4-H horse club to serve as explainers, and recruited the adult supervision needed to make this a safe event for the over 100 children and parents who attended.
  • Resurfacing a town softball field (1 girl) (ongoing) She is making arrangements with the appropriate town officials and organizing work parties to get a much used softball field resurfaced.
  • Organizing a quilt service project for a local shelter in her school in such a way that this project will be ongoing and run by students in future years (proposed project) (1 girl)
  • For their Silver, my five Cadettes wrote and filmed a camping techniques training video. In preparation, they had produced a flag ceremony training video the year before. The camping techniques video took a weekend of camping to produce and covered basic safety, trail blazing, fire building, outdoor cooking and cleanup.
  • Oral Histories for Archives: 2 girls doing taped interviews of area long-time GS adults
    I can pass along again what my daughter did. She made lap quilts for a nursing home. She involved the community first by getting the fabric mostly donated by stores and friends, and secondly by involving a neighbor who is a master quilter. She made a movie about how to make the quilts also.
    Silver award projects completed by girls in our troop
    • -One girl organized a Games Festival for 100 Brownies and their leaders.
    • One girl surveyed current and former Brownies and Brownie leaders and compiled a resource for new Brownie leaders.
    • One girl compiled a council resource on Sangam World Center based upon her visit with her family.
    • One girl organized an encampment for her historical group, including workshops open to the public
    • Two girls organized enrichment workshops on games, songs, and crafts for adult volunteers working with Daisy & Brownie troops (these were run during a SU encampment. The adults attending appreciated the workshops, the encampment directors appreciated having something to occupy the 'extra' adults!)
    • Three girls organized activities for a SU Daisy/Brownie encampment.
    • One girl organized a SU cookie kickoff roller skating event & included a food drive
    • One girl organized a quilt making project at her school and donated them to a shelter
    • One girl organized a garden planting to extend (double in size) the existing water wise demonstration garden at our local water district office (the original was a girl's Gold Project--hers included garden design, organizing planting, soliciting donations, and researching & preparing a pamphlet on water wise gardening. The water district was so pleased, they wanted to extend the garden. The Silver project was to organize the work days and materials for the planting.)
    • One girl developed an activity sheet on simple machines for our local science museum.
    We had several different projects (13 of our 14 girls earned the Silver Award):