Okay, I'll admit it. I'm old school (and old). I've always seen badge requirements as, well, requirements. When the badge insert said pick one of these three, well, I picked one. While I might have tweaked it slightly, like playing softball instead of baseball because I had a softball, I didn't figure that tennis is a game with a ball, so playing tennis is like baseball. When I joined some online Girl Scout groups and found that many people were "adapting" the badges much more in the manner of substituting tennis for baseball rather than substituting softball for baseball, I raised my eyebrows, but as someone else said, "there are no badge police", so I pretty much kept my mouth shut. Still, what happens to program integrity when "everyone" is "adapting" things too much?
For the record, I think much of today's Girl Scout program is overly idealistic and aimed more at grant writers than at girls. I've made my opinions about Journeys and TAPs well-known on this blog, so I won't mention them here, but I will say that it seems to me, based on things I've read and the badge requirements themselves, that one of the goals of the program writers was to get girls out of their meeting rooms and into the community, or, at the least, to get leaders to bring the community to the meeting. Many of today's badges, in the badge packet requirements, ask the girls to visit someplace, or to speak with an expert on something.
A few years ago GSUSA came out with Volunteer Tool Kit which offers scripted meeting plans for all the badges. Last year I wrote an article on VTK and in it compared the VTK plans to the ones in the First Aid badge insert. I found them to be somewhat different, with the VTK plans being easier and less expensive to implement. Those who wrote the VTK plans seem to
have realized that Brownies are not going to take a field trip for every
badge and that leaders have better things to do than to arrange
multiple guests/speakers during a Girl Scout year.
Making Games is on my troop's list for this year so I thought I'd take a look at the badge insert for the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting, as well as the VTK plans and see how alike or different they were. Also, since many leaders use the River Valleys plans, and they are put out by a council, and, therefore, one would expect, follow the rules, I looked at them as well. Here is what I found.
Requirements
According to the Badge Explorer, the requirements for the Making Games badge are:
Use your imagination to make up new games.
- Try a scavenger hunt
- Make up a mystery game
- Create a party game
- Change the rules
- Invent a whole new sport
When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to create new games and share them with others.
Try a Scavenger Hunt
The badge insert gives you a choice of three different types of scavenger hunts: Find ten things you can find, ten things you can see, or ten things you can feel. In each case girls are asked to make a list and then to find the things.
In VTK, troops are given the choice between an indoor scavenger hunt and and outdoor one. In either case, rather than listing ten things as the badge insert says, each girl describes one thing and then all the girls try to find the described objects. I'd say the VTK plan is similar to the badge insert but not exactly the same activities.
The River Valleys scavenger hunt is done the way the VTK one is--or since the River Valleys plans are older, I'll say that VTK adopted the River Valleys activity.
In VTK, troops are given the choice between an indoor scavenger hunt and and outdoor one. In either case, rather than listing ten things as the badge insert says, each girl describes one thing and then all the girls try to find the described objects. I'd say the VTK plan is similar to the badge insert but not exactly the same activities.
The River Valleys scavenger hunt is done the way the VTK one is--or since the River Valleys plans are older, I'll say that VTK adopted the River Valleys activity.
Make Up a Mystery Game
For this requirement, the badge brochure's choices are a mystery hunt from clue card to clue card, making a mystery box (shoe box with a hand-sized hole in it, filled with 12 objects for others to identify) and a who's who game where girls draw the name of a famous person and put it on their forehead and then ask friends questions to ascertain whose name is on their forehead.
The VTK plan gives a choice between the mystery box and the who's who game, except that the who's who game, instead of using famous people, uses things from nature. Actually I think it would be interesting to play the game both ways, and then talk about how many games are variations on a theme. Again the plan is similar, but not quite the same.
River Valleys goes in a different direction, and plays "Going on a Picnic", which is a leader-directed game. The group sits in a circle and the leader tells them there is a trick to the game and they have to figure it it out. She begins by giving her name and telling what she is going to bring on a picnic--with the item starting with the same letter as her first name. The next person then says her name, and what she will bring. The leader either tells her she can bring it (if it starts with the same letter as her name) or that she cannot. Once they have solved the mystery, they think about other mysteries they could use to play this game, and test them by playing additional rounds. Obviously this is very different from the badge insert but it does involve a mystery. River Valleys also offers a Bullfrog and Flies game where one girl is a bullfrog who sticks her tongue out at flies who then die. A chosen detective tries to identify the girl who is the bullfrog.
The VTK plan gives a choice between the mystery box and the who's who game, except that the who's who game, instead of using famous people, uses things from nature. Actually I think it would be interesting to play the game both ways, and then talk about how many games are variations on a theme. Again the plan is similar, but not quite the same.
River Valleys goes in a different direction, and plays "Going on a Picnic", which is a leader-directed game. The group sits in a circle and the leader tells them there is a trick to the game and they have to figure it it out. She begins by giving her name and telling what she is going to bring on a picnic--with the item starting with the same letter as her first name. The next person then says her name, and what she will bring. The leader either tells her she can bring it (if it starts with the same letter as her name) or that she cannot. Once they have solved the mystery, they think about other mysteries they could use to play this game, and test them by playing additional rounds. Obviously this is very different from the badge insert but it does involve a mystery. River Valleys also offers a Bullfrog and Flies game where one girl is a bullfrog who sticks her tongue out at flies who then die. A chosen detective tries to identify the girl who is the bullfrog.
Create a Party Game
The badge insert has you making variations of pin the tail on the donkey, making up a new game that uses objects and music, or creating a new kind of relay race,
I'm not sure what the VTK plans offer to fill this requirement, and they give no clue.
The River Valleys plans have a couple of dance games--dance until the music stops, and then _____ and the girls talk about variations that can be done. While different from the VTK plans, I think this activity meets the goal as stated on Badge Explorer.
I'm not sure what the VTK plans offer to fill this requirement, and they give no clue.
The River Valleys plans have a couple of dance games--dance until the music stops, and then _____ and the girls talk about variations that can be done. While different from the VTK plans, I think this activity meets the goal as stated on Badge Explorer.
Change the Rules
For this requirement the badge insert has the girls inventing new ways to play tag, changing the words to Duck Duck Goose or coming up with variations on how to play hopscotch.
VTK has the leader directing a soccer-like game where the girl nearest to the ball when the music stops is out, or doing a relay race, where the girls choose the relay actions. While I can see how the relay race idea is similar to the ones in the insert--take a game the girls know and have them change it, I don't think a game similar to one they play, with the leader directing the changes, meets the same goal. The VTK plan is very different from the insert.
VTK has the leader directing a soccer-like game where the girl nearest to the ball when the music stops is out, or doing a relay race, where the girls choose the relay actions. While I can see how the relay race idea is similar to the ones in the insert--take a game the girls know and have them change it, I don't think a game similar to one they play, with the leader directing the changes, meets the same goal. The VTK plan is very different from the insert.
River Valleys has the girls playing a leader-directed game of moving around and making noise. When someone rings a bell, the rules change, and the person who rang the bell gets to call out the next noise and movement. This sounds like a fun game, but, to me, does not meet the intent of the girls coming up with a new way to play an old game.
Invent a Whole New Sport
The badge insert asks the girls to invent a new sport to play on either a baseball field, a basketball court or a soccer field.
The VTK plan has the girls tossing beanbags, frisbees and balls into various containers, and then inventing a game to play with them. I'd say this one is pretty close to the insert and gives some direction to the activity.
The River Valleys plans use spinners to tell groups of girls what equipment they are going to use, how they will score, how they will move, and something they cannot do. Girls then develop a game within those parameters. Like the VTK activity, I think this one is close to the original, and yet gives it some direction. River Valleys also has the girls making board games, which, to me, aren't a sport.
The VTK plan has the girls tossing beanbags, frisbees and balls into various containers, and then inventing a game to play with them. I'd say this one is pretty close to the insert and gives some direction to the activity.
The River Valleys plans use spinners to tell groups of girls what equipment they are going to use, how they will score, how they will move, and something they cannot do. Girls then develop a game within those parameters. Like the VTK activity, I think this one is close to the original, and yet gives it some direction. River Valleys also has the girls making board games, which, to me, aren't a sport.
Other Stuff
Besides the activities listed above, VTK has the girls playing a brief guessing game about their snack, creating a board game, and designing either a mini-golf course using milk cartons as holes or an obstacle course. They sound like good activities that the girls would enjoy, they just don't seem to tick any of the boxes.
I have mixed feelings. I am spirit of the badge person (ie what are they trying to accomplish and what can I do that works for our girls) The constant field trips was a serious downer for us, so it's interesting that the VTK has less. I think you might be right for older girls who are leading themselves more that they might want a cleaner interpretation. BTW for Making Games we did that Fair Play at the same time (over 2 meetings) and culminated in a field day that the girls loved.
ReplyDeleteI love the flexibility. As a new leader the pick 1 is boring. I love to look at Pinterest and be creative- within the spirit of the badge of course.
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