Celebrating 100 Years of World Thinking Day!
World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide Our Friendship Fun activities for Girl Scout Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors.
“Global sisterhood widens your point of view, makes you more empathetic to the world around you, and builds understanding when you realize how much of a bigger world there is and your role in it.” — Quote from a Girl Scout
Join Girl Scouts and Girl Guides in over 150 countries to make a difference on a global level! Every year on February 22, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world celebrate World Thinking Day. Each year has a special theme, such as helping the environment, ending extreme poverty, making sure all kids can go to school, or speaking up for fairness and equality. On this day, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere honor their global community by doing activities around a shared theme. We’re celebrating 100 years of World Thinking Day in 2026—what an exciting birthday! This year’s theme is Our Friendship. We invite you to join in as we explore our worldwide Girl Scout/Girl Guide community and celebrate the friendships that connect us all around the globe. Earn your World Thinking Day award in four steps: 1. Explore what World Thinking Day is all about. 2. Experience it with purpose by taking part in meaningful activities.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to empowering girls and young women in the world.
3. Investigate this year’s special theme. 4. Share what you’ve learned and commit to building a better future. Ready to think big and explore issues in your community
Let's get started!
and beyond? © 2023–2026 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use. This material is proprietary to GSUSA and may be used, reproduced, and distributed exclusively by GSUSA staff, councils, Girl Scout volunteers, service units, and/or troops solely in connection with Girl Scouting. Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide | 2
STEP 1: Explore
World Thinking Day. World Thinking Day is one of the most popular events in Girl Scouting. Find out how it started, what’s changed, and why it’s so important!
Choice 1: Make art about the World Thinking Day story. With your friends, create a poster, mural, or collage showing the story in three parts and include this year’s theme as part four. See The World Thinking Day Story in Four Parts.
Choice 2: Sing “The World Song” and create your own song. Gather your friends to listen to the video by Melinda Caroll* or see the activity online here. Sing the song with friends, family, your troop, your community, or at school. You can even create props. For instance, you could draw a flag to hold while singing or tie a ribbon around your group to show unity. You could also take turns singing each line, use hand movements to act out words, or come up with a drumbeat or claps for the rhythm. After you sing “The World Song,” create your own song or poem. Make it about this year’s World Thinking Day theme. *Credit: Melinda Caroll Music, https://www.melindacarollmusic.com/
Choice 3: Write a message for your future. On a piece of paper, write or draw your vision for what you want to happen in the future. Think about things that would make the world a better place, such as:
The World Trefoil symbol’s background is blue to represent the color of the sky. The outer ring’s gold band represents sunshine. The inside gold leaves stand for the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise. There are two gold stars: one is for the Girl Scout Promise and the other is for the Girl Scout Law. The center gold compass needle is the safeguard between the Promise and Law. The gold base underneath the compass is the flame of international friendship.
⇨A cleaner planet ⇨ Education for all girls ⇨N o more poverty ⇨N o one goes hungry ⇨C lean water for everyone ⇨A n end to all wars ⇨ Kindness ⇨H ealthcare for all people ⇨E qual rights for all people Next, decorate a cardboard paper towel tube using markers, stickers, and any other craft supplies you have. Share your message with your troop, then put it into the cardboard tube. Store it somewhere safe until next year’s World Thinking Day. When that time comes, share what you wrote with your Girl Scout friends and family. Why is this vision important to you? Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide | 3
STEP 2: Experience World
Thinking Day with purpose. World Thinking Day is more than just thinking. It is knowing that you have the power to make a difference alongside your global community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. Create an experience for World Thinking Day that helps you learn more about the world and your place in it.
Choice 1: Investigate what’s global in your community. Plan a field trip with your troop or with a family member to explore what’s global in your community. You might discover a parade, fair, exhibit, or festival celebrating culture. Who is participating in this cultural event? Where did the culture originate? Ask someone to help you check calendars in your community center to find an event with a global connection. Or explore your neighborhood to find signs of culture in your community. It might be the food at a restaurant or the practices used at various places of worship, or books for your age group in the library that explore various cultures. Draw or make a list of everything you find and create a journal about what you learned about various cultures.
Choice 2: Get to know someone from another culture. There are many cultural differences among people who grew up in the United States, and there may be even more between people who grew up in a country outside of the United States. Let’s learn! Connect with someone in your community—maybe in your own troop or family—who grew up outside of the United States. Ask if they’ll speak to your troop about the culture they were raised in and what it was like coming to a new country. Think of ideas together and invite one or more of these people to a meeting where you can ask questions. Make sure to come up with ideas for questions beforehand. Ask your guest if they can bring something from their culture to show the group, such as a food or a piece of clothing. Is there a special dance or song they can teach you from their home country? Or maybe they can teach you how to say hello or show respect to adults in their culture.
Choice 3: Make a personal connection. Ask your troop leader to help you find international pen pals to exchange ideas on leadership and how they’ll make the world a better place. Have your troop leader browse the WAGGGS member organizations and check individual country websites to research their pen pal programs. You can also spend time with a friend or family member who has traveled to another country or comes from a country outside of the United States. Look on a map to find the country your pen pal, friend, or family member is connected to. Have a conversation to learn what their experience was like living in the country. What foods did they typically eat? What was the common form of transportation? How did they like to spend their weekends? You might find that things are more similar between the two of you than you realized! Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide | 4
STEP 3: Investigate this year’s
World Thinking Day theme.
The theme for World Thinking Day 2026 is Our Friendship. In Step 1, you explored what World Thinking Day is all about. Every year on February 22, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world celebrate friendship and their global bonds—it’s like one big, worldwide friendship! The very first World Thinking Day took place in 1926. Now it’s 2026, which means we’re marking 100 years of friendship, fun, and making the world a better place. That’s a whole lot of good deeds, good times, and good friends! Hand in hand and heart to heart, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere make the world a better place. Be part of this shared experience. Pick one of the activities below to celebrate the special friendships that connect Girl Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere. Choice 1: Discover how Girl Scouts was founded in friendship. Juliette Gordon Low, lovingly called “Daisy,” is the founder of Girl Scouts. Daisy has been honored in many ways for her work. In 1979, she was added to the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2012, then-president Barack Obama The U.S. Mint’s American
awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Daisy has appeared on
Women Quarters Program
postage stamps around the world—and in 2025, the U.S. Mint even released a
ran from 2022 through
quarter with Daisy’s image on it!
2025. Each year, this program honored five
Daisy passed away in 1927. Most of her awards and honors came after her
important American
death—but they’re still a big deal! They celebrate what she did in her amazing
women. Juliette Gordon
life.
Low quarters were made in 2025 only, but they'll be
Daisy earned every bit of this praise through her hard work and big ideas.
around for decades yet to
But did you know her inspiration came from across the ocean? Daisy learned
come. So be sure to check
about a group called the Girl Guides that started in England. She loved the
your quarters whenever
idea of girls learning new skills, having fun, and building lifelong friendships,
you get them—you might
so she started her own Girl Guide troops (called “patrols” at the time) right
just see Daisy’s face!
here in the United States. The idea took off—and just as Daisy had hoped, friendships bloomed! The name changed to Girl Scouts a few years later, but the connection between Girl Scouts and Girl Guides has stayed strong ever since.
To learn more about this special bond, read A Global Movement, Founded in Friendship at the end of this guide— or ask an adult to read it with you!
Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide | 5
Try This Activity: Celebrate Daisy’s story by making a rubbing or drawing a copy of the 2025 Juliette Gordon Low quarter. You can ask an adult to help you find the real quarter and show you how to make a rubbing with paper and a crayon. Or, if you have a picture of the quarter, try drawing a copy yourself! Use your artwork to decorate your notebook, journal, or anything you like. Daisy’s image will remind you of the powerful friendship that connects Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all around the world. Choice 2: Map the WAGGGS World Centres. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) runs five World Centres. These are special places where Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world come together to learn, grow, and make new friends. Many girls who visit form lifelong friendships! Since 1932, more than 200,000 youth members have visited the centres. They have taken part in fun, meaningful programs that build their skills, boost their confidence, and strengthen their connection to our global community. Try this activity: The five World Centres are:
Ask an adult to help you find and print a world map. You
• Our Chalet—Switzerland
could also look at a map and draw the outlines of the
• Nuestra Cabaña—México
continents on your own paper. Next, find and mark the
• Pax Lodge—United Kingdom
location of each World Centre. Then, draw the symbol for
• Sangam—India
each centre in the correct spot on your map. (Kusafiri’s
• Kusafiri—Africa Region
location changes every year, so choose any place in Africa that you like.) What’s one World Centre you’d love to visit one day?
Choice 3: Learn about a WAGGGS Member Organization.
Go Further
WAGGGS has nearly 11 million youth members around the world, grouped into
In Step 4, you’ll share what
“chapters” called Member Organizations. There are 153 Member Organizations.
you’ve learned. Before moving
Each one has its own uniform, traditions, motto, songs, and much more.
on, consider what you learned about another Member
Let’s explore one! Ask an adult to help you find a world map, either printed or
Organization. What is it like? What do its Girl Guides do? How
digital. Close your eyes and point to a random location. You could also pick a letter
is it similar to and different from
and find a country that starts with that letter. Then ask the adult to help you look
your Girl Scout council?
up a Member Organization in or near the country you chose. (They can find this information on the WAGGGS website.) How is that organization different from Girl Scouts? How is it the same? As a Girl Scout, what do you have in common with the Girl Guides you’re learning about?
Planning to share at a World Thinking Day event? Talk about what it’s like to be a Girl Scout or Girl Guide outside
Feeling inspired? Don’t stop there! Choose another country and learn about a new Member Organization. Keep exploring as long as you like—there’s a whole world for you to discover!
the U.S. Your newfound global knowledge is worth celebrating!
Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2026 Activity Guide | 6
STEP 4: Share what you learned
and commit to a better future. Share what you learned about World Thinking Day with
Next, come up with some ideas for ways you and/or
others! Did you connect with someone to learn about
your troop can help. Then make a plan to help. This
their country or culture? Tell your friends about it and
might be a troop Take Action project or one you do on
share what you discovered. Did you explore something
your own.
interesting about the World Thinking Day theme? You could share that instead.
Write a Pledge Choice 1: Participate in a World Thinking Day event. Ask your troop leader to help your group plan an event that can show what you’ve learned. Think about creating flyers or a poster with the message you want to share. Have food or music from countries you may have
A pledge is a promise or agreement you make with other people and agree to keep. Come up with a pledge for yourself and your group to sign that honors this year’s World Thinking Day theme. Create a pledge using this model:
learned about. Find creative ways to show your guests the problem you learned about and what some solutions
I join my global community of Girl Scouts and
might be. Invite a guest speaker to talk to your group.
Girl Guides on World Thinking Day.
Reach out to your troop network to find organizations with experience in global issues, especially one that connects to the theme you learned about. Find out from your guest speaker how you can make a difference.
This year’s theme is ________________________ ___________________________________________ I learned about _____________________________
What can you do in your home, community, and
___________________________________________
the world?
I plan to share what I learned and make a difference by_______________________________
Choice 2: Create a message.
___________________________________________
With the help of an adult, come up with a message about what you learned and things you want to see
Signed, ____________________________________
happen to help make a difference. You can draw or write your message in a poster, film it as a video, or create a skit or play about it. Then, with your friends, brainstorm ways you can share your message. For example, you could post it on social media (with an adult’s help), present it at school, or display your message in a community center.
Choice 3: Plan a project. The best way to help with a problem is to Take Action.
When you are done with all four steps, make sure you celebrate! Working with your global Girl Scout and Girl Guide community to explore this year’s theme and earn your World Thinking Day award means you’ve helped make the world a better place.
First, think about what the problem is. Write it down. Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2025 Activity Guide | 7
For All Girl Scouts (K–12) | 2026 World Thinking Day Award
The World Thinking Day Story in Four Parts Supports Step 1
Part 1: A Special Day In 1926, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world met in the United States and created a special day where we can all think of one another and express thanks for our community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world. They called it Thinking Day. They chose February 22 because it was the birthday of both Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts and co-founder of Girl Guides (along with his sister Agnes Baden-Powell), and his wife Olave Baden-Powell, who was the Chief Girl Guide.
Part 2: A Birthday Gift In 1932, at the 7th World Conference in Buczek, Poland, it was pointed out that since a birthday often involves presents, it would be a good idea to offer gifts on Thinking Day to support Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world. Olave Baden-Powell wrote a letter asking Girl Scouts and Girl Guides to “Send a penny with their thoughts” on Thinking Day.
Part 3: World Thinking Day In 1999, at the 30th World Conference in Dublin, Ireland, Thinking Day changed to World Thinking Day as a better name to show our connection with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the globe.
Part 4: Coming Together Each year, World Thinking Day focuses on a theme where the whole community of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the globe works together to find ways to help. This year’s theme is Our Friendship.
© 2023–2026 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All rights reserved.
For Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors (K-5) | 2026 World Thinking Day Award
A Global Movement, Founded in Friendship Supports Step 3, Choice 1
The Girl Scout story began in May 1911. Juliette Gordon Low, a young American woman who went by the nickname “Daisy,” was spending a few months in Scotland. While she was there, she learned about an organization called Girl Guides. Launched in England in 1909, this program was designed to help girls develop leadership and outdoor skills, a sense of citizenship, and strength of character. Members would do these things as part of organized “patrols” (the word then used instead of troop). Daisy was inspired! She started her own Girl Guide patrol near her Scotland home that fall, and she organized two more patrols in London when she visited for the winter. She taught her girls how to spin wool and care for livestock, along with knot tying, map reading, knitting, cooking, first aid, and other practical skills. Learning wasn’t the only goal in Girl Guides. Patrol members would also have fun, make new friends, and form lasting bonds along the way. This aspect of Girl Guides was particularly inspiring to Daisy, who loved the idea of helping girls to connect across boundaries of class, culture, and distance. As the months went by, Daisy started to think about her home country of America. She thought girls there would love to be Girl Guides. In early 1912, she decided to put her ideas to the test. She returned to her hometown of Savannah, Georgia. When Daisy arrived, she excitedly phoned her cousin. “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” she exclaimed. Daisy was as good as her word. She immediately formed two Girl Guide patrols, which included a total of 18 members. More American patrols quickly followed. In 1913, the growing organization’s name was changed to Girl Scouts in a nod to America’s pioneer past. But despite the new name, Girl Scouts remained a proud part of the international organization where it had gotten its start. Since those early days, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides together have grown into the world’s largest voluntary organization for girls and young women. Joined under the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) umbrella, these organizations support nearly 11 million youth members. They enrich lives through fun, learning, service, and connection. As a Girl Scout today, you’re part of this rich tradition—and it all started with one woman’s dream of global friendship.
Detailed choice activities, meeting tools, and additional resources and materials can be found within the Volunteer Toolkit [VTK] on my.girlscouts.org © 2025 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All rights reserved.