World Thinking Day

2024 Activity Guide

Our World, Our Thriving Future:
The environment and global poverty
Fun activities for Girl Scout Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors.
 “World Thinking Day is a time for [Girl Scouts and Girl]
Guides all around the world to stop and think about our
sisters; especially those living in poverty, forced to fight in
war, or suffering from the impact of a natural disaster.”
— Rachel, Barbados

Join Girl Scouts and Girl Guides

in over 150 countries around the
world to make a difference on a
global level!

On February 22 of each year, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides

celebrate World Thinking Day. Each year has its own
theme, such as helping the environment, fighting
poverty, achieving gender equality, or making sure
everyone has access to education. On this day, Girl
Scouts and Girl Guides everywhere will honor their
global community by doing activities around this
special theme.

Here are the four steps to earn your

World Thinking Day award.
1. Explore World Thinking Day.
The World Association of Girl Guides
2. E
 xperience World Thinking Day
and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest
with purpose. voluntary movement dedicated
3. I nvestigate this year’s to empowering girls and young
World Thinking Day theme. women in the world.
4. Share what you learned and commit
to a better future.
Ready to think big and explore meaningful issues in
your community and beyond? Let’s get started!

© 2023 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 2024 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.
The World Trefoil symbol’s
Choice 2: Sing “The World Song” and create your own song. background is blue to
Gather your friends to listen to the video by Melinda Caroll* or see the activity represent the color of the
sky. The outer ring’s gold
online here. Sing the song with friends, family, your troop, your community,
band represents sunshine.
or at school. You can even create props. For instance, you could draw a flag
The inside gold leaves stand
to hold while singing or tie a ribbon around your group to show unity. You for the three parts of the Girl
could also take turns singing each line, use hand movements to act out words, Scout Promise. There are two
or come up with a drumbeat or claps for the rhythm. After you sing “The gold stars: one is for the Girl
World Song,” create your own song or poem. Make it about this year’s World Scout Promise and the other
Thinking Day theme. *Credit: Melinda Caroll Music, https://www.melindacarollmusic.com/ is for the Girl Scout Law. The
center gold compass needle
is the safeguard between
Choice 3: Write a message for your future.
the Promise and Law. The
On a piece of paper, write or draw your vision for what you want to happen
gold base underneath the
in the future. Think about things that would make the world a better place, compass is the flame of
such as: 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 2024 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 2024 Activity Guide | 4
 STEP 3: Investigate this year’s
World Thinking Day theme.

The theme for 2024 World Thinking Day is Our World, Then, draw the three stages of growing a tree.
Our Thriving Future: The environment and
global poverty. Choose one of these activities to find 1. S
 tart with the seed. Seeds are different
out more. depending on the type of tree. Pine trees, for
example, come from seeds from a pinecone.
Choice 1: Find out about Trees of Peace. Some seeds are found inside nuts. Some
Think about your favorite food. Take a peanut butter seeds can be big and others small. Draw any
and jelly sandwich, for example. Where do the seed for your tree!
ingredients come from? The bread comes from wheat
that is grown from the earth. The peanuts come from a 2. D
 raw the sprout. Once you’ve planted your
plant, too. And the jelly might be made from fruit juice, seed in the earth, a tiny stem will pop up
which comes from fruit grown on land. All of these with maybe a few leaves. This is a sprout!
foods need healthy soil and water to grow. The same is It’s a delicate time for your tree because so
true for all foods that we eat. What happens when our many things can happen. It might not have
climate changes and we can no longer use land to farm enough water or too much water, there
and grow the food we need? might be a fire, or it might become food for
animals and insects. How do you want to
Many women live in places where they farm for their protect it?
food. They need trees to help keep the land, soil, and
water healthy. Without trees, these women can’t grow 3. N
 ow draw your tree all grown up! What do
enough food for their families. the roots look like underground?

Wangari Maathai was an activist who wrote a

book called Wangari’s Trees of Peace. When she
was growing up in Kenya, she was surrounded by
trees. Many years later, she was shocked to find
whole forests being cut down. So, she gathered
the women in her community, and they started
planting trees together.

Borrow Wangari’s book from your local library to

read out loud with friends or family. Why do you
think it was important for the women of the village
to plant trees? What do you think would have
happened without the trees?

Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2024 Activity Guide | 5
Choice 2: Explore composting and recycling and play a game.
In the United States, we throw away a lot of food scraps and yard waste.
When this waste ends up in landfills, the rotting process releases a
greenhouse gas that harms the environment.

Composting our food and yard waste is one way to solve this problem. If you
put that waste—things such as banana peels, apple cores, carrot tops, tea
leaves, and dead flowers—in a compost bin with earthworms, nature will
break it down in a way that releases less harmful gas. As a bonus, the waste
will also turn into material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. So,
not only are you preventing greenhouse gases, you are also reusing the waste
Make the Girl Scout
for good!
Tree Promise

Recycling also keeps trash out of landfills. Recycling turns paper, plastic, One of the biggest ways
glass, and aluminum into new products. This means items like cereal boxes, that poverty affects the
environment is through
milk cartons, plastic bottles and bags, paper, and aluminum cans get a whole
deforestation, which
new life. means when trees are cut
down and not replanted
Decorate one empty box with a sign reading Compost. Decorate another and forests are destroyed.
empty box with a sign reading Recycle. On each box, draw the items that
You can help reverse this
can go inside it.
cycle by spreading the
word about how important
Then play this game with friends. Draw or write things that can be recycled it is to preserve and care
or composted on small pieces of paper or index cards. Ask friends to take for our trees.
turns picking a card or paper and tossing it into the box where they think it
Look at the illustration
belongs. When you’re done, see what’s in each box.
on top of The Power of
One Tree meeting aid in
Choice 3: Play a money game to find out what equal this activity packet. This
pay means. handout shows why trees
In many jobs, women are not paid equally to men. Women earn about are important to us. Look
at the Our World, Our
80 percent of what a man gets in the United States. This means that for
Equal Future, and the
the same work, a man will earn one dollar and a woman will earn 80 cents! Girl Scout Tree Promise
And actually, the number is not the same for all women: data suggests that meeting aid at the end of
women who are Asian/Asian-American/Pacific Islander will earn 93 cents, this packet.
women who are White/European will earn 83 cents, women who are Black/
Read the Girl Scout Tree
African-American will earn 70 cents, women who are Latina will earn
Promise out loud with your
65 cents, and women who are Native American/Indigenous will earn 51 cents. Girl Scout troop and then
sign it.
This doesn’t just hurt the women, it hurts the whole family because they
will have more difficulty paying for their home, food, and basic needs to live.

Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2024 Activity Guide | 6
When the environment creates hardships for women and girls, equal pay
becomes even more important.

Find out what unequal pay looks like. You’ll need play money (dollar bills and
coins). Use your play money to create these three piles of money:
Did you know that Girl
Scouts launched the
Pile 1: Imagine that a man just got paid $5 for the same job you did.
Fair Play, Equal Pay®
Put $5 in pile 1.
Gender Parity Initiative
to engage organizations
Pile 2: C
 ount out 80 cents times 5 and put that in pile 2. (You can use to take action now to help
a calculator or have an adult help you with the math.) How much build a more equitable
do you end up with compared to the man’s $5? You did the same future for women and
job—does that seem fair? girls? We believe gender
should not be a barrier to
equal opportunities for
Pile 3: N
 ow put the money that should have been paid in the “company's
leadership and success.
pile” (pile 3). This would be 20 cents times 5. This is the money the
company keeps that should have been fairly paid to you.

Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2024 Activity Guide | 7
 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
A pledge is a promise or agreement you make with
Day event.
other people and agree to keep. Come up with a
Ask your troop leader to help your group plan an
pledge for yourself and your group to sign that
event that can show what you’ve learned. Think about
honors this year’s World Thinking Day theme.
creating flyers or a poster with the message you want to
Create a pledge using this model:
share. Have food or music from countries you may have
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
This year’s theme is ________________________
with experience in global issues, especially one that
___________________________________________
connects to the theme you learned about. Find out from
I learned about _____________________________
your guest speaker how you can make a difference.
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
When you are done with all four steps, make sure you
adult’s help), present it at school, or display your
celebrate! Working with your global Girl Scout and Girl
message in a community center.
Guide community to explore this year’s theme and earn
your World Thinking Day award means you’ve helped
Choice 3: Plan a project. make the world a better place.
The best way to help with a problem is to Take Action.
First, think about what the problem is. Write it down.

Daisy, Brownie, and Junior World Thinking Day 2024 Activity Guide | 8
 For All Girl Scouts (K –12) | World Thinking Day 2024

The World Thinking Day

Story in Four Parts
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 his wife Olave Baden-Powell, who
founded the Girl Guides.

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 World, Our Thriving Future: The
Environment and Global Poverty.

Detailed choice activities, meeting tools, and additional resources and materials can be found within the Volunteer Toolkit on my.girlscouts.org.
© 2023 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All rights reserved.
 DAISY, BROWNIE, JUNIOR | 2024 World Thinking Day Award

The Power of One Tree

Absorbs Heat

Helps cooling costs

Captures air Creates

pollution jobs

Boosts local retail sales

Shades
the street

Water
⇨ A tree can capture 10–40% of the rainfall it comes into contact with,
depending on species, time of year, and amount of rain that falls in the
storm.1

⇨ Over the course of 20 years, a single red maple tree can intercept 27,000
gallons of rainwater, avoiding 4,800 gallons of runoff.2

Climate
⇨ A large tree absorbs 40–50 pounds of carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas
that causes global warming—per year.3

⇨ Over the course of its life, a single tree can capture and store one ton of
carbon dioxide.4

Forest Products
⇨ According to estimates calculated by the University of Maine, one tree
can produce around 8,333 sheets of paper.5 The average office worker
uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year.6

⇨ “An apple tree can yield up to 15–20 bushels of fruit per year and can be
planted on the tiniest urban lot.” 7

© 2021 GSUSA. 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.
People
⇨ A single tree can capture 3.5 pounds of air pollutants—like ozone, dust
and particulate matter— per year.8 Air pollutants like fine particulate
matter are a major cause of asthma and other respiratory problems.

⇨ A mature tree can reduce peak summer temperatures by 2°–9°F.9

⇨ “The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-

size air conditioners operating 20 hours per day.”10

⇨ “Trees absorb and block noise and reduce glare. A well-placed tree can
reduce noise by as much as 40 percent.”11

⇨ A single large tree can produce approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per
year.12

⇨ While lifespan varies by species and growing environment, trees

generally live to be 50 to 300 years old.

⇨ The tallest tree in the world is a Coast Redwood named Hyperion,

growing in Northern California’s Redwood National Park. It’s 380 feet
tall! 13

More general facts/facts about more than one tree:

⇨ In one year, an acre of forest can absorb up to twice the carbon dioxide
produced by the average car’s annual mileage.14

⇨ Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning

costs by 50%.15

⇨ Trees increase property value of your home by 10–20% and attract new
home buyers.16

⇨ Trees can reduce crime and improve perceptions of business districts.17

⇨ One study showed that hospital patients whose rooms had a view
of trees recovered more quickly and were less depressed than those
looking out at a brick wall.18

⇨ Students with trees outside school windows have higher test scores and
graduation rates after controlling for other factors. High school students
with more natural features like trees outside classroom and cafeteria
windows showed higher standardized test scores, graduation rates, and
intention to attend college, after controlling for socioeconomic status
and other factors.19

⇨ After a walk in the park or playing in green spaces, children with ADD
displayed fewer symptoms.20

2
⇨ Eight in ten species found on land—that’s over five million and
counting—live in forests.21

⇨ More than half of U.S. drinking water originates in forests. Over 180
million Americans in over 68,000 communities rely on forests to
capture and filter their drinking water.22

This content was provided by American Forests as a resource for the Girl
Scout Tree Promise.

1 https://extension.psu.edu/the-role-of-trees-and-forests-in-healthy-watersheds 2https://www.itreetools.org/
3 https://www.itreetools.org/
4 https://www.itreetools.org/
5 http://conservatree.org/learn/EnviroIssues/TreeStats.shtml
6 https://www.pca.state.mn.us/quick-links/office-paper
7 https://www.treepeople.org/tree-benefits
8 https://www.nrpa.org/globalassets/research/nowak-heisler-research-paper.pdf
9 https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands/using-trees-and-vegetation-reduce-heat-islands
10 https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r9/home/?cid=STELPRD3832558
11 https://www.taketwoenvironmental.com/how_trees_help_the_environment
12 https://www.thoughtco.com/how-much-oxygen-does-one-tree-produce-606785
13 https://www.livescience.com/28729-tallest-tree-in-world.html
14 https://www.itreetools.org/
15 https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/protocols/forest%20old/ctcc.pdf
16 https://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/increase-your-homes-value-with-mature-trees
17 Wolf, Kathy. Journal of Arboriculture 29(3): May 2003 “Public Response to Urban Forest in Inner-City Business Districts”
18 https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/how-nature-resets-our-minds-and-bodies/274455/
19 Matsuoka, R. (2008). High school landscapes and student performance. Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan.
20 Faber Taylor, A. & Kuo, F. (2009). “Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park”. Journal of Attention Disorders 12(4).
21 http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/05/forests-housing-rare-and-endangered-species-lost-12-million-hectares-trees-2001
22 https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/national-forests-grasslands/water-facts

3
 DAISY, BROWNIE, JUNIOR | 2024 World Thinking Day Award

Our World, Our Equal Future,

and the Girl Scout Tree Promise

There is a climate crisis.

The past 10 years have been the warmest
in centuries. Because of climate change, we
have more natural disasters like wildfires,
droughts, hurricanes and floods.

The climate crisis has a larger

impact on girls and women.
In general, women spend more time
acquiring food, fuel and water, or
struggling to grow crops.

Trees are one solution to

climate change.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps
heat in the atmosphere. Trees help stop climate
change by removing carbon dioxide from the
air and storing it in the trees and soil.

Girl Scouts are taking the lead in protecting our planet

by taking the Tree Promise.
Our Goal? To plant 5 million trees in five years and to protect and honor new and existing trees.
This will help reduce climate change and benefit our communities. Girl Scouts everywhere are being
called to action to plant, protect, and honor trees in their backyards, camps, communities, and
states—across the country and even across the world.

© 2021 GSUSA. 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.