The Louisville Zoo and the black-footed ferret SAFE program welcome Girl Scouts across the country to help us save black-footed ferrets (BFFs) and earn a very special patch. The Girl Scout Cookie Program mascot is the beloved black-footed ferret this year and we want to celebrate with you. Facilities across the nation will help offer patch earnings through BFF learning programs.
To participate in the patch program and earn your patch, follow the steps below.
Watch and Learn
All programs can be used at an event, or program, or viewed at home.
Play and Learn
Each activity is linked to a downloadable PDF or printable version with directions.
They are all adjustable for age appropriateness.
Activity | Time Needed | Additional Info |
| Home on the Prairie Board Game | 5 Minutes – up to 2 Hours | 2 to 6 players ages 5yrs and up (cards require reading) Players try to survive in the prairie as either a prairie dog or BFF. The game can be downloaded, printed, and played with any dice you have available. The game can be made more advanced for older scouts w/provided options. |
| Black Footed Ferret True or False | 2-10 Minutes | 10 True or False Statements for players to test their knowledge. You can make a quick game of it or use as talking points for an extended version. |
| Night Sight Activity | 10-20 Minutes | 6-20 players in a large space inside or outside Players test their ability to survive underground. Taking turns players will be either the BFF or the prairie dog. Blindfolds and a noise-making shaker are needed. |
| Prairie Tracks and Scat Matching Game | ~10 Minutes | Identify who left that track or scat and match them to the prairie animal. BFF Braid Enrichment ~ 5 Minutes per braid BFF’s love to pull and fight things. One of their favorite enrichment items is a paper braid that caretakers hang from their exhibits. Facilities can make this a fun activity to complete and at home groups can make them and bring/mail them to their closest facility. |
| Coloring pages, Mask Making, Word Searches and Mazes | 5-20 Minutes, depending on how many you complete. | These pages contain fun puzzles, coloring sheets, drawing pages and more that you can download, print and utilize for your own event/program or at home fun and learning! |
| Tunnel Take Over Tag | 5-20 minutes | Minimum of 5 players needed. In this version of Tag, a BFF tries to take over a prairie dog tunnel. Players can take turns being the BFF and the Prairie Dogs. |
| Risks of Repopulation: Bottleneck Genes | ~15 min. per round. | 3rd grade and up. Can be played by yourself or in groups. This game is played with beads and printed gaming pieces. Players use the beads and pieces to learn about genetic diversity and the importance of the Species Survival Program. Will you survive? |
Other suggested Resources
The following resources are larger curriculum options that can be used for multi-day learning or picked apart and utilized as needed. There are fun short activities in each one that you can use to fill programming or for at home fun and learning.
Links coming soon!
Curriculum Options | Additional Info | |
| US Fish & Wildlife WILD About Black-footed Ferrets | This is a 95-page document full of wonderful information, teaching curriculum, activities and more. | |
| Toronto Zoo Teacher Activity Guide Grassland Ecosystems & Black-footed Ferrets | This is a 72-page Activity Guide with lots of teaching guides, curriculum, and activities. | |
| Tomel Huron – 8 page learning and activity guidebook in Spanish | For our Spanish-speaking families, this is a great short activity guide. |
Share Activity Ideas
Share the love! We want everyone to love black-footed ferrets as much as we do. Choose one of the ideas below or come up with your own unique way to spread BFF love. Check out our creative BFF “Share” activities resources.
Activity | Time Needed | Additional Info |
| Pledge Action | Varies | Implement a pledge to action (ex. pledge to talk to 10 people about BFFs) |
| School or Community Campaign | Varies | Start a school/community campaign/drive (ex. no mow zone/month or using solar chargers to charge your phone for a certain amount of months) |
| Informational Items | Varies | Create informational items about the BFF and share them during cookie sales, on social media or publicly in some other way. |
| Seed Packets | Varies | Create native prairie grass seed packets to plant or give away. |
| BFF Bracelets | Varies | Make BFF bracelets and hand them out in your community. |
Click Below to get your Patch
