My daughter’s Brownie Troop will be headed to Camporee this weekend. It’s going to be an exciting weekend and one of the things they look forward to most is Girl Scout SWAPs. In keeping with the camp theme, this year we made Superhero Girl Scout SWAPS.
If you aren’t familiar with SWAPS, they are a Girl Scout tradition. SWAPS stands for “Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.” They are small tokens of friendship made by Girl Scouts to exchange with other Girl Scouts they meet. Typically they are attached to a safety pin and worn on a vest, lanyard or hat.
In keeping with the camp theme of superheroes vs villains, these little superheroes will be perfect SWAPS. But they are cute (and easy) even if you aren’t trying to match a superhero theme.
Superhero Girl Scout SWAPS
Whenever I can, I like to show my Girl Scouts how to make crafts out of upcycled materials. Since my girls collect Pop Tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, there is never a shortage of Pop Tabs around.
The best part, my girls made 500 of these SWAPS for less than $15! That’s a whole lot of SWAPing for not very much money. (I really didn’t mean for them to make so many, I just gave them the materials and they kept making!)
Skill level = Brownies and up.
Materials
- Pop tabs
- Craft foam
- Sharpie
- Ballpoint pen
- Safety pins (size 2)
- Cape template (download here)
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
Directions
Have your Girl Scouts trace the cape template on the craft foam using a ballpoint pen. If they trace the shape with the first shape right side up and the next upside down over and over, you can maximize the number of capes made per sheet of foam.
Cut out the capes.
Have the girls write “GS” on the middle of the cape and their Troop number at the bottom of the cape with a Sharpie or ballpoint pen.
Use the foam scraps to cut tiny masks. Use a Sharpie to create eyes.
Hot glue pop tabs to the front of each cape and the masks to the pop tabs. (Note, the adults did the hot gluing for safety reasons.)
Place a safety pin through the pop tab.
Trade with other Girl Scouts!
The girls made piles and piles of SWAPS and had a great time. We also used this activity to complete our last step for the “Making Friends” badge.
