Here's how your child can earn interest badges

What are interest badges?

Girlguiding loves badges. Interest badges are a big part of that! Girls take the lead on what interest badges they choose to do, but they can also be done in unit meetings as well.

They inspire girls to build on their independence, try activities they've never thought of before or dive deeper into a passion they love.

Earning an interest badge on its own is a great achievement, but together it becomes part of the Girlguiding programme. In all sections, earning interest badges helps go towards section awards.

There are...

• 24 interest badges for Rainbows (4 per theme).
• 36 interest badges for Brownies (6 per theme).
• 48 interest badges for Guides (8 per theme).
• 36 interest badges for Rangers (6 per theme).

Learn more about our programme.

How does my child start a badge?

We let girls take the lead. They get to choose what badge they do, either individually or as a group, and how they do it.

1. Girls choose an interest badge they want to do. They can look through the badge books to see what options they have. Remember, we have 2 badge books available for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides. Rangers can find their badges online and in their little badge book. Learn more about badge books.
2. Girls let their leader know they’ll be doing it (just in case they’re doing it as part of their unit meetings).
3. Girls then choose when to do them – with their friends after school, at home, during the holidays, at the weekend or on a school night.
4. Girls think about how to complete the challenges. Each interest badge has 3 challenges, and every girl can decide how to do it themselves – but we do give them some ideas and inspiration!
5. When they’ve finished, girls show their leader what they’ve been up to, so their activities can be signed off, and they get their shiny new badge.

Read more about how interest badges work.

What do I need to do as a parent or carer?

• Look through your child’s badge book(s) to discover what they could do.
• Always tell the volunteer who runs your child’s local unit what badges you might be doing at home.
• Be prepared to send in any ‘evidence’ of your child completing their challenge activities. This might be sending photos or videos to the unit email address. Or it could be bringing in physical things to the next meeting!
• Offer support and encouragement when they need it, but step back and let them take the lead! 

What happens if my child has done the work but hasn’t got the badge yet? 

The volunteers who run your child’s unit will carefully review what every girl has done to earn their badge. If there’s an opportunity for your child to challenge themself some more, the leader will explain what else could be done to earn the badge. 
 
Some leaders buy badges after the girl has earned it, so it could be they’re waiting for it to arrive before it’s awarded!  

Get some badge inspiration

Check out how other parents and carers are supporting their child to complete interest badges at home.

Ada's adventures at home

Ada has done 2 Rainbows interest badges with her parent at home. Fruit and veg and family tree. All she needed was some crafts material, access to food cupboards and a parent on hand to help if needed.

Take a look at some of her activities!

For the fruit and veg badge, Ada made a picture of lots of different types of fruits and vegetables. She created a rainbow of colours and tasted new foods. She’d never eaten pomegranate or coconut before! After that, we put them into a smoothie and she made up a song about her favourite fruits and veg. She presented this to her unit.' - Jemma,  Ada's parent.

Ada has just completed her Rainbow Bronze award which means she's completed a certain number of hours with Girlguiding, both with her unit and by completing interest badges at home.

For the family tree badge, she created a tree based on her family using her hands for all the different branches, she wrote a list of all the important people in her family, and who they were related to her. She took this and presented it to the unit.' - Jemma, Ada's parent.

A masterpiece made of gingerbread!

Autumn is working towards her Brownie Gold award and chose to complete our local history interest badge.

After brainstorming iconic landmarks and local treasures, Autumn choose to investigate King's College Cambridge. 

I took Autumn to visit so she could photograph the building and take a look around. She told all the lovely curators why she was there and they suggested interesting things to spot!' - Rowena, Autumn's parent.

Autumn didn't stop there. To complete her interest badge, she created a magnificent structure made out of gingerbread, wafers, sweets and icing!

Autumn's mum was on hand to help buy ingredients, oversee the baking and be an extra pair of hands to hold the gingerbread together. 

She wants to complete her next interest badge in either zero waste, collecting or mindfulness. 

Diving deeper into passions

Isbella completed our Guide's craftvism badge independently outside her unit so she could dive deeper into the passion she has to make a difference. She created a poster about Fairtrade which was displayed on her village noticeboard.

'I picked Fairtrade to be the cause for my interest badge because I believe in helping other people and making a difference and that is exactly what Fairtrade does. Fairtrade helps to make workers feel safe and protected and I want everyone to feel like they can go to their place of work or their home without being in any fear of danger.'

Helping girls make friends and try new things

Sophie (left) and Kenzie (right) completed all their Rainbow interest badges at different units before they met at Brownies. They've been great friends ever since!

The 2 girls took just over a year to complete their badges and did them all at home with their families. They kept scrapbooks with photos, posters and writing about each badge.