Review: Art and Design for Daisies

GSUSA released new "Art and Design" badges for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors as part of the new program material for the 2023-2024 year.  This is the first in a series of posts looing  at the badge for each level, using the VTK plans as my source.  I have not seen the new badge inserts published by GSUSA and have no intention of buying them.  If you have them, I'd love to hear your comments.

I wrote this post on-the-fly as I was reviewing the material, so what you are getting is my initial impressions as they come.  

Requirements:

Per VTK, the five short requirements  are 

Find out how to be a maker to turn ideas into art and to solve problems with design.

1. Discover art and design
2. Experiment with your medium
3. Be inspired by a subject

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how makers create art and designs.

VTK Plans

In case you are not familiar with this blog, I review badges as they are written in VTK.  I do not try to imagine what the badge could be, and review that.  In my opinion, if GSUSA does a good job writing badges, I should be able to pretty much implement the plans they write.  If I am critical of a badge it is because of what GSUSA wrote or failed to write.  

Opening Activity

The Daisy plan is designed to cover two meetings.  The first meeting begins with girls being given crayons and paper and being told to draw whatever they want to draw.  Their drawings are discussed during opening circle.  

 Explore Art and Design

VTK offers the choice between a field trip to someplace like an art gallery, maker space or other place where art is done or displayed or having a guest speaker who is involved in art or design.  A list of vocabulary words is given.  The other choice is to  have a discussion using those words and then to have the girls search their surroundings for examples of art and design.  

Experiment with your medium

First there is a discussion about shapes, colors and the various media that can be used to create art.  Following that girls either use one medium or more to create a work of art.  

Second Meeting, Opening Activity

At the second meeting, girls begin with drawing supplies, paper and things in various shapes.  The girls are to pick one shape and draw anything they like, using only that shape.   In other words, their drawings have to be all circles, all rectangles etc.  

Be inspired by a subject

First, there is a discussion of the words "subject" and "Inspire".  For the project you choose between design or art.  The design activity has girls brainstorming for things inspired by their subject/something they care about such as a toy for an animal or sweater for person. Then the girls use craft supplies to make a model or they draw their creation.  The art activity has the girls using their chosen subject to inspire a piece of artwork in whatever medium the leader chooses.  The talking points have vocabulary words on different types of paintings such as murals and still life.  

Resources

VTK includes a variety of resources to help with this badge, including:

1. A two-page printable called "Overview" which guides the leader through preparing for the meeting;
2. A two-page printable called "Meeting Overview" which is similar but not quite the same; 
3. A six page printable version of the VTK plans.  If VTK gives an option of A or B, then that part of the script is in red and very hard for these old eyes to see and
4. Materials list:  This was useless because it did not include the materials for the art projects since you get to pick the medium

Under Meeting Aids, VTK provides a handout on using a salad spinner to do spin art, a handout on colors and shapes, a list of vocabulary words and definitions, a family handout for the Art and Design and Craft and Tinker sets of badges, and a six page handout on Girl Scouts and makerspaces.  

My Comments

I like it.  I still think GSUSA needs to tighten up their writing and quit giving us the same thing multiple times and ways, but overall, I think most troops will enjoy this badge as written.  

One thing I like is that the meeting plans include suggested project ideas.  Those listed for a single-medium project are spin art, using traditional media like colored pencils, clay or paint, using non-traditional media such as cardboard or aluminum foil or using digital media.   For a multi-media project they suggest an up-cycled sculpture made of recyclables, combining crayons and watercolors, using found objects and paint to make a mobile, or using markers and magazine pages to make a collage.  

I started this post as a look at the badges for all three levels, but it got too long so I revised it.  Nevertheless I did start to look at the Brownie plan and I think that GSUSA has gotten the message that leaders want badges they can do at all levels.  The Brownie badge begins with the same field trip or speaker that begins this one.  There are plenty of art project that would meet the requirements for both levels.  

The badges in this series come with lists of vocabulary words. While I am sure no Girl Scout leader wants to spend a lot of time teaching vocabulary, I do think it is important to try to use these words and explain the concepts when doing the badge.  

I think GSUSA got this series right.  I'll be writing about the Brownie badges shortly.