The meeting supplies that make organizing, transporting and running troop meetings a whole lot easier.
After years of leading troop meetings, I’ve accumulated plenty of supplies—but there are a handful of things I reach for over and over again. These are the things that have actually survived years of meetings, field trips, badge work and general troop chaos.
Some keep our meetings organized. Some help activities run more smoothly. And a few solve those oddly specific troop leader problems you don’t know you have until you’re standing in front of a room full of girls. 😂
These are 10 things that have genuinely earned a spot in my troop leader toolbox.
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My Top 10 Leader Tools
Collapsible Rolling Cart
If you’ve ever tried to carry three tote bags, a box of craft supplies and snacks into a meeting at once, you already know why this is No. 1. A rolling cart keeps all of our meeting essentials together, makes getting everything in and out so much easier, and collapses down for storage between meetings.
Reusable Mesh Pouches
These were a game changer the first time I sorted our badge steps into these bags. No more “where did that go?” and no more frustration when my “Leader Assistants” went digging through the cart for the next activity and left everything else strewn across the meeting space.
Now, I prep everything ahead of time, toss each activity into its own pouch with the activity instructions and pull out exactly what we need for that activity. Even better, they’re reusable year after year.
Clipboards
We’re adding these to our troop supplies this year for all of those badge activities that take us away from the table—or completely out of our regular meeting space. Each girl will decorate her own clipboard at one of our first meetings, and then we’ll use them for badge work on the go all year long.
Jumbo Wooden Craft Sticks
Every girl in our troop has her own jumbo craft stick with her name on it. I keep them together and pull them out anytime we need to choose teams, volunteers, partners or who gets to go first.
It sounds ridiculously simple, but this has eliminated so many rounds of “But she got to go first last time!” That alone is worth the $5. 😂
They’re also handy for dividing girls into smaller groups when we’re rotating through badge activities. It’s one of the cheapest things in my troop leader supplies—and probably one of the most frequently used.
Bonus, “Name Picker” also makes a great Kaper chart job!
Visual Timer for Kids
This one is going into our meeting toolbox for the first time this year. Badge meetings can get busy, and sometimes what you planned to spend 5 minutes on suddenly consumes 27. I’m hoping a visual timer will help everyone see how much time we have left, stay on task and keep our meetings moving without me constantly announcing how many minutes we have left.
Silhouette Cameo
Definitely the splurge on this list—and something that I purchased long before I was a troop leader—but mine has paid for itself many times over. I’ve used it to make troop gifts like hair bows and hangers, cut out approximately a million shapes for activities, and make name labels for our name sticks.
Is it necessary? Absolutely not. But if you’re already a crafty person, you’ll find a surprising number of troop uses for it.
Dry Erase Job Tickets
These are perfect for reusable kaper charts—and they’re one of my favorite ways to reuse activity pages. Slip your printed pages inside, add a dry erase marker, and girls can complete activities without using a fresh copy every time. I use them all the time with Badge Buddy printables, especially for activities I know I’ll use again.
Bluetooth Speaker
Never underestimate the power of a good playlist at a troop meeting. We use music during crafts and activities to keep the energy up—and, somehow, having music playing also helps keep the conversation volume at a much more manageable level. It’s one of those tiny things that can completely change the feel of a meeting.
Badge Adhesive
I quickly discovered that not every troop family has the time to sew or iron every badge and patch onto a vest. Badge Magic lets my girls apply their own badges almost like stickers, which means those hard-earned badges actually make it onto their vests! Even my youngest girls can take ownership of adding their new badges.
CampSnap Camera
This is the newest addition to our troop toolbox, and I’m SO excited about it. I’m surprising my girls with a new Kaper job: “Troop Photographer!” This screen-free digital camera will let them document meetings from their point of view instead of always having an adult behind the camera.
I can’t wait to see what they capture—and I’m already thinking about ways we might work it into a Digital Photography badge meeting, too.
Those are the things that have earned a spot in my troop leader toolbox. Some keep me organized, some keep our meetings moving, and some simply make troop life a little easier (and more fun).
And because being a troop leader comes with approximately 847 things to remember, I’ve put all of my troop leader favorites together in one place. You can find everything on my Troop Leader Must-Haves Amazon List—including the supplies above and a few more things I use throughout the year.
