Keeping up with today’s girls – A Brownie update

When a girl joins GirlGuiding New Zealand, if she’s between seven and nine years old, she joins our Brownie section.

At Brownies, girls find their passions and develop more independence. They start to take charge of what they do and work towards badges that encourage them to work as part of a group. Other badges enable girls to explore their personal interests – from science and technology to creative arts and conservation.

To lead girls on adventures, our volunteers follow a balanced programme of fun outdoor and indoor activities that provide girls with the opportunity to achieve goals, do things by themselves and begin to explore individual differences.

Last year, an amazing team of volunteers, alongside staff members, started a review on the Brownies programme to ensure the programme is challenging for today’s girls – it offers activities and experiences focused on girls as go-getters, innovators, risk-takers and leaders. The result of this team effort led to an updated, challenging and innovative programme that is simplified and aligned with our other sections (Pippins, Guides and Rangers).

“The main differences between the previous programme and the revised programme is the increased girl choice across the programme”, our awesome Programme Adviser, Angela Cave, told us. Taking this into account, the team focused on including a greater range of STEM type activities across the programme, including technology and science. The structure of the programme was also adapted so that it is easier to transition from Pippins to Brownies, and from Brownies to Guides, always enabling girls to set their own goals and achieve them.

Our girls are at the centre of our decision-making process; this means we are a girl-led organisation where girls choose their own path and grow into confident and empowered young leaders.

You might be surprised at which well-known kiwi women started out as Brownies. We hope to tell you more in the following months! If you know of some awesome and well-known local ex-Brownies, let us know. Send an email to [email protected].