Whether your daughter is a Juliette or simply a motivated Girl Scout, it’s easy to earn Girl Scout badges on your own. Here’s how to help her make it happen.

How to Earn Badges as a Juliette

1. Tap into vacation time. You’d be surprised what a stop at a museum, sports arena, play or local festival might accomplish. A visit to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival while visiting the grandparents sparked the imagination of my budding artist, who was enthralled by the artists making bronze leaf roses and handmade pottery.
2. Harvest hobbies. My Cadette has developed her hobbies even further by investigating current and retired badges on the subject. She’s done books, art, music, cooking and theater. Each has pushed her in new ways.
3. Share life experiences. Through basic conversations with your child you may learn of lessons she’s learned through youth groups, field trips, after-school clubs or other activities that have met the requirements of all or part of a badge. For example, my daughter earned a council’s own Cake Decorating badge, simply by joining (and loving) the sixth-grade Cupcake Club at school.
4. Look it up! Seriously. So many badges can be completed just through your life experiences. Search through current and retired badge requirements and you’d be amazed. Don’t believe me? See how one weekend campout helped my troop earn multiple badges and parts of others.

Don’t know what a Juliette is? A Juliette Girl Scout is an unofficial term for a Girl Scout who participates in the scouting program outside of the troop. In some councils she is known as an IRG (independently registered girl) or IRM (independently registered member). You often see Juliettes as part of pathway programs, or simply from families (many of them former troop leaders) who simply want to share the Girl Scout experience one-on-one with their daughter.

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