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Source: I was in boy scouts and my wife was in girl scouts.
I had trips with kayaking, rafting, hiking, camping, wilderness survival, archery, etc...
Her groups made bracelets at camp and sold cookies.
It's not just your wife. My local GS troop was exactly the same. Not my cup of tea. I quit and joined the Camp Fire Girls. MUCH better experience. I learned the outdoor survival skills. That met my interest.
I'm going to be honest here and admit (as a female) to being VERY disappointed with the Girl Scouts. It was only all about crafts and domestic skills. That's NOT what I wanted from a "Scout" experience. I'm sorry, but I firmly believe the Girl Scouts shot themselves in the foot by being WAY to heavily focused on crafts and domestic skills. In fact, I quit the GS to join the Camp Fire Girls which were MUCH more aligned to the experience I wanted. As a CFG, I learned outdoor survival skills.
I do understand this, and sympathize with the girls who want to do more than crafts and mugging people outside of grocery stores to sell their cookies.
I do understand this, and sympathize with the girls who want to do more than crafts and mugging people outside of grocery stores to sell their cookies.
You got it! My Camp Fire Girls experience was amazing! Fun! Adventurous! And taught me outdoor survival skills I still have to this day!
I do know of one Girl Scout Troop that does some outdoor stuff, but good luck trying to get a girl into it. The leaders only want a certain number of girls, and will turn you away if there's not an open spot. I've heard - but this is rumor - that they'll also turn the girl away if they don't like the mom. Even with their more outdoorsy activities, there are still lots of crafts, and none of the high adventure that older scouts can do.
The main thing that separates a lot of the Boy Scout Troops is that there is a very strong emphasis on letting the youth lead. They're the ones that plan the meetings, and if the meetings suck for six months, then the next scout to take over gets to improve things. They take attendance, they make sure advancement is being done, the older ones teach the younger... it's a good program, and despite girls asking GSA to make changes so that they're closer to the BSA program, the national organization hasn't been willing to do that.
My other complaint with Girl Scouts is that they stay in their classroom groupings. For many of the meetings, the girls you are with all day in school are the same ones you are with at Girl Scouts. This pattern is used for Cub Scouts, but when the boys get to Boy Scouts, all the ages meet together. The emphasis is on older boys mentoring the younger boys, and the troupe is, as much as possible, run by the most experienced scouts. It is "boy lead." Leadership is learned in a way that could never happen with the structure of Girl Scouts.
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