The Badge Archive

Who Can Earn It?

Ages 10-14 can earn:

• Pen Pal (Community Life) – In 1953 Girl Scout Handbook (Page 497-8)

Note – two versions of Pen Pal (with the same badge image) were offered in 1953. The Community Life version was carried on in 1963 while the International Friendship version was retired.

Ages 9-11 (4^th-6^th grade) can earn:

• Pen Pal – In 1963 Junior Girl Scout Handbook (Page 349)
• Pen Pal – In 1977 Worlds to Explore Junior Badges and Signs (Page 45)

Retired in 1980.

• No version was included in the 1980 Program.
• No version was included in the 2011 Program.

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Requirements

1953 Girl Scout Handbook

Our Summary of the 1953 (Page 497-8) activity choices:

You must do the four following activities:

• Practice writing the following 6 letters to someone you know: Thank you note for gift or visit, Letter giving interesting news, Letter telling of a recent event you participated in (could be a troop meeting), Letter with something funny, Invitation to attend a meeting or party, Letter to either a younger or older person than yourself.
• Correspond with a pen pal (relative, friend in another city/state, friend you don’t see regularly anymore).
• Correspond with a pen pal in another country AND keep the letters you receive to share with your troop.
• After you correspond long enough to know each other well, compare your recent letters with your first ones. (If you did not keep a copy of what you sent, compare the early received letters with the later ones.) Decide what was interesting, valuable, and if this was a successful activity.

Pick four of the following activities:

• Tell your pen pal something special about where you live (history, people who live there, industry/occupations, beautiful/interesting locations).
• Teach someone else about what the current cost to mail and ship things are. Include the cost for normal mail and First Class.
• Practice wrapping a package to postal requirements – including addressing them correctly and using the right label. Learn the different costs for the different speeds and special services USPS has for mailing packages.
• Learn hobbies & main interests of your pen pal and send info you learn about them. If they are a scout, tell what GSUSA scouts do and find out what Girl Guides or their equivalent do in their country.
• Exchange safe photos of family/friends, your area, pets, or your town OR make and exchange homemade gifts OR add sketches, photos, or printed pictures about the topics you write of in your letters.
• Find your pen pal’s approximate location on a map.
• After you correspond long enough to know each other well, draw a picture of your pen pal and write something explaining her personality, interests, and hobbies to share with friends/family/troop.

1963 Junior Girl Scout Handbook

Our Summary of the 1963 (Page 349) activity choices:

You must do the five following activities:

• Practice writing the following 6 letters to someone you know – or an imaginary friend: Thank you note for gift or visit, Letter giving interesting news, Letter telling of a project you participated in (could be a troop/school project), Letter with something funny for a sick friend, Invitation to attend a meeting or party, Letter to either a younger or older person than yourself.
• Share the practice letters with friends/family/troop and get feedback to improve format, grammar, or layout of the letters.
• Correspond with a pen pal (relative, friend in another city/state, friend you don’t see regularly anymore). Do the following 4 things: (1) Exchange hobbies & main interests of your pen pal, (2) Write about something from your Girl Scout experiences, (3) Include sketches, photos, or printed pictures about the topics you write of in at least one of your letters, and (4) Tell your pen pal something special about where you live (history, people who live there, industry/occupations, beautiful/interesting locations).
• Practice wrapping a package to postal requirements – including addressing them correctly and using the right label.
• After you correspond for at least 4 letters, and feel you know each other well, decide what was interesting, valuable, and if this was a successful activity.

1977 Worlds to Explore Junior Badges and Signs

Our Summary of the 1977 (Page 45) activity choices:

You must do the five following activities:

• Practice writing the following 6 letters to someone you know – or an imaginary friend: Thank you note for gift or visit, Letter giving interesting news, Letter telling of a project you participated in (could be a troop/school project), Letter with something funny for a sick friend, Invitation to attend a meeting or party, Letter to either a younger or older person than yourself.
• Share the practice letters with friends/family/troop and get feedback to improve format, grammar, or layout of the letters.
• Correspond with a pen pal (relative, friend in another city/state, friend you don’t see regularly anymore). Do the following 4 things: (1) Exchange hobbies & main interests of your pen pal, (2) Write about something from your Girl Scout experiences, (3) Include sketches, photos, or printed pictures about the topics you write of in at least one of your letters, and (4) Tell your pen pal something special about where you live (history, people who live there, industry/occupations, beautiful/interesting locations).
• Practice wrapping a package to postal requirements – including addressing them correctly and using the right label. Find out how to pack a fragile object. AND Learn the different costs for the different speeds and special services USPS has for mailing packages.
• After you correspond for 2 or more letters, and feel you know each other well, decide what was interesting, valuable, and if this was a successful activity.

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