Troop 11378: Leading with Creativity

Take a creative Girl Scout troop passionate about art and two troop co-leaders who encourage practicing independence and leadership, and what do you get? The perfect recipe for an inspiring Girl Scout Bronze Award project focused on helping young children use art to better regulate their emotions. That’s exactly what Girl Scout Cadettes Chloe, Lydia, Quataleya, and Winnie from Troop 11378 did.

To earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award, Girl Scout Juniors team up to explore their community, discover a need or issue they care about, and work together to address it and make an impact. Girl Scouts spend a minimum of 20 hours on their project to deep dive into the issue and help make sustainable change.

“I wanted to earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award because the whole troop was working towards this goal, I wanted to help other kids, and I wanted to prepare for earning other Highest Awards,” expressed Girl Scout Lydia. A Girl Scout for the past seven years, Lydia enjoys going camping, selling Girl Scout Cookies, and earning badges—the photography and horseback riding badges being her favorites.

“As a group, we thought about our own interests and realized we all use art in some way to help us calm down, so we took inspiration from that and created a project that introduced other kids to use art in this same way,” shared Girl Scout Winnie, who has also been a Girl Scout since she was a Daisy. Winnie likes camping and archery, and her favorite badges earned are the horseback riding and the detective badge.

For their Bronze Award project, the Girl Scouts created and distributed five “Calming Art” kits to the lower elementary classrooms at their school. The girls first had to pitch their plans to several stakeholders for their permission, including the school’s principal, art teacher, and lower elementary teachers. The girls organized meetings and presented their project with a slideshow to demonstrate their process and goal of supporting students’ mental health. With their art teacher, they learned how separate art techniques help support different areas of emotional regulation.

The group ultimately chose a mandala wheel project that encourages students to doodle to relax, as well as use a color wheel to match colors to emotions. To extend the project’s impact, the Girl Scouts taught one student from each lower elementary class how to use the kit, so those students could then share the technique with other classmates. Each “Calming Art” kit included blank mandala wheels, colored pencils, instructions, samples, and an emotions color wheel. The girls used money they earned from selling Girl Scout Cookies to purchase supplies for their kits.

“I learned and practiced so many new skills, like organization and public speaking,” remarked Winnie. “I had to overcome nervousness when pitching the project to adults and then I had to use clear communication skills when showing the other kids how to use the kits. It was amazing to hear that other kids were actually using the kits! My brother, who is in second grade, came home one day and said he learned it in his classroom!”

Lydia added, “This project helped me advance in Girl Scouting and build my confidence. It was a ton of work, and I learned that there are processes needed to accomplish things. There was a bunch of planning we had to do before we could actually put the project in action!”

“The girls’ Bronze Award project process was so inspiring because they continually got validation from adults that their idea was powerful and worth it, and that there were so many people willing to help them and invest in their idea,” shared Troop 11378 co-leader, Erin, who has been with her daughter’s troop for seven years. Erin was a Girl Scout herself and wanted her own daughter to experience that same magic. Together with her co-leader Raquel, the troop enjoys attending Camp Silver Brook—first as campers and now as Program Aides to support younger troops—and two overnight camping trips a year where they take on new challenges like archery, the low and high ropes courses, and learning proper knife skills.

“The Bronze Award brings so many positive things to girls’ lives and takes leadership to a new level; the girls gained life skills in confidence, responsibility, and independence that they can use for the rest of their lives. It was an invaluable experience because they led the process from start to finish, overcame challenges, got out of their comfort zones, and saw that they can make a difference in their communities. Additionally, this project helped reinforce to the girls—and to their classmates—how to be introspective about their needs and emotions. It taught kids how to take care of themselves and better talk about their mental health,” added Erin.

Their sage advice to other Girl Scouts who are gearing up to earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award? Girl Scout Chloe shared, “Never give up, try as hard as you can, and do it with people you feel comfortable with!”Girl Scout Winnie added, “It takes a lot of time and dedication, but it’s worth it!” Girl Scout Quataleya shared, “Be patient and don’t rush through it.” And Girl Scout Lydia said, “Do something you are passionate about, start small, and remember that there are people to support you along the way!”

Girl Scouts Chloe, Lydia, Quataleya, and Winnie weren’t alone in their Bronze Award achievement. All the Girl Scouts in Troop 11378 committed to earning the Bronze Award. Congratulations to the entire troop for accomplishing this honor!

two girl scouts helping two other classmates with art kits

junior girl scouts presenting powerpoint to teachers at front of classroom

pinning a gold award girl scout on khaki vest

Expanded Paths to Highest Awards

Bronze leads to Silver, and Silver to Gold! Or complete one Leadership Award or Journey (before Journeys retire in Oct. 2026) to get started.

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