The Rosary Patch for Scouts

As a child I loved Girl Scouts.  When my oldest daughter wanted to be a Girl Scout, I realized that if there was going to be a troop at her school, I was going to have to volunteer to lead it.  I had a great time, but when my youngest showed up, and my older daughter switched schools I knew it was time for a sabbatical.  Now I'm back, finishing my first year of Daisies with my six year old.  One thing we did this year that I'd like to tell you about is the Rosary Patch.

There is a National Catholic Committee on Scouting which is affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America.  Besides the Boy Scout religious awards, they also sponsor religious activities which may be used by any youth group, including Girl Scouts of the USA.  The Rosary Patch program has five different patches--one for each set of mysteries and one about praying the rosary.  In our parish all troops work on the same patch the same year so that by the time a boy or girl has been in scouting for five years she/he has earned all of them.

This year we did the sorrowful mysteries.  The requirements are here. The lady who pushes the program has made up sheets with the questions which she distributes to all troop/den leaders.  I put together a coloring book on the sorrowful mysteries--there are lots of them online, but since Daisies are in kindergarten I looked for one that kept the gore to a minimum.  We looked at each picture, talked about what it meant and then answered the question.  I wrote the very short answer on the board and they copied it.  Then we made one-decade hand rosaries out of pony beads.

If you'd like your child to participate in this program and receive this patch but she/he is not in a troop in a Catholic parish, you can do it at home and order the patch.