Encourage Healthy Habits in Girls with Girl Scouts

This post is sponsored by the Together Counts/Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital and the Mom It Forward Blogger Network. As always, all opinions are really and truly mine. Girl Scouts emphasis on healthy habits. In this day and age of technology overload, Girl Scouts emphasizes the great outdoors, unplugging, and nature.

I’ve been a long time participant in Girl Scouts, starting when I was a little girl and continuing to today with my own daughters. I have such fond memories of being a Girl Scout and I’ve been having a lot of fun as a leader of my oldest daughter’s troop as well. One thing I really love about the Girl Scouts is its emphasis on healthy habits. In this day and age of technology overload, Girl Scouts continues to emphasize the great outdoors, unplugging, and nature – a rarity in many people’s lives today. One motto of the Girl Scouts is No Girl Left Inside.

No Girl Left Inside

I love that Girl Scouts offers many opportunities to get girls outside! It’s so hard to get kids outside doing things sometimes, but through a lot of different initiatives, Girl Scouts succeeds in offering many outdoor activities. Health and fitness have been part of Girl Scouting since girls ran races in 1912! Juliet Gordon Low (the founder of Girl Scouts) used to stand on her head each year on her birthday to prove she could still do it – something my troop does each year too much to my amusement. Have you tried standing on your head as an adult? It’s not as easy as you might think.

Together Counts Program

The Together Counts program is nationwide program provided by the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation to inspire active and healthy living via physical activity and nutrition, a fundamental underpinning of efforts to reduce obesity. The principle behind the program is called Energy Balance, which just means balancing the calories we consume with the calories we expend.

 

Girl Scouts encourages healthy habits in girls in a lot of different ways. In partnership with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, Girl Scouts developed three “healthy habits” booklets to help guide girls as they learn to lead active, healthy lifestyles (available for download). These free resources for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors, Girl Scout volunteers and families can guide girls in fun, easy ways to achieve “energy balance” and include:

• Between Earth and Sky with Healthy Habits – girls learn about the many plants, trees, and animals that flourish in nature, and also build important leadership skills.
• WOW! Wonders of Water with Healthy Habits – girls discover the many forms and paths that water takes and how to protect it. They also learn how to engage in teamwork, speak effectively to convey a message, and inspire others
• Get Moving! with Healthy Habits– girls learn how to use their energy to protect Earth’s energy and build important leadership skills.

In this technology driven day, camping is still essential to Girl Scouts mission. I was a Girl Scout in Germany (part of the Troops on Foreign Soil program) and my mom was my leader. I loved camping at Camp Lachenwald (Laughing Woods) each year. We had such a great time learning about the outdoors and developing a deep appreciation for nature. My camp was a resident sleep-away camp and I have to tell you, I really, really enjoyed this time away from home. Today’s camps are a little different from the camp I attended by offereing high adventure like kayaking, archery and rock climbing, but it’s also similar with traditional crafts, singing, hiking and cooking over an open fire. I wish I had pictures to share with you from my days at camp, but sadly, I don’t.  Girl Scout camps give girls an opportunity to grow, explore, and have fun under the guidance of caring, trained adults. Find your local council to enroll girls in camp programs.

5 Ways to Encourage Healthy Habits in your Girls

Garden with your daughter.

Do art outside.

Join a Girl Scout Troop.

Go on daily nature walks.

Head to the local water park this summer.

If you’d like to learn more about the Girl Scouts or the No Girl Left Inside initiative, connect with Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital, Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital on Twitter, Facebook, and find out more information about Together Counts on their Website, Blog, Together Counts on Twitter, Together Counts on Pinterest.