Daisy Craft and Tinker: My Review

 During the fall of 2023, GSUSA released three new "maker" badges for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors.  This post will take a look at the Daisy Craft and Tinker Badge.

Requirements:

According to Badge Explorer, Daisies find out how how to make objects and then tinker to make them better.  They:

1. Learn the basics
2. Craft with purpose and
3. Tinker with your craft

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to craft and tinker to make useful objects.

Opening Activity

As an opening activity for meeting 1, VTK recommends having a variety of craft supplies available and asking the girls to make anything they like from those supplies.  These creations can be discussed in opening circle.  

Learn the Basics

There are two suggested paths for this step.  The first is called Find the Right Tool.  First the meanings of craft, tool, material and maker are discussed.  Then the girls discuss some crafts/makers and the tools and materials they use.  Next, the girls are given rulers, and it is explained that makers use rulers to measure and the girls use the rulers to measure various things. Finally, the girls do a leader-selected craft, but before doing so, look at the provided materials and tools and identify whether each is a material or a tool. Projects suggested in VTK are constructing an upcycled building with used Styrofoam, using screws and nails; making a fruit salad using a plastic knife, an apple slicer and a spoon; a simple sewing or knitting project; and sculpting from clay using tools. 

The other option is to Find Crafts and Inventions Around You.  Again there is a discussion of the meanings of craft, tool, material and maker and of how various makers use different materials and tools. The ruler exercise is also repeated. The difference is that instead of making something, girls search their environment for crafted objects. The leader asks questions of the girls regarding the crafts. The purpose of the discussion is to explain how things are made, why, and what they are made of and made with.  

Opening Activity 2

For the second meeting the leader is to have a variety of useful objects available.  As girls come in, they pick one and answer the question "What is it used for?".  They then sketch other ideas for how the object could be used.  For example a mug is for drinking but it can also be used to hold things.  The girls discuss their ideas during opening circle.

Craft With a Purpose

The first choice for Craft with a Purpose is Solve a Problem.  After discussing the use of some things they use in daily life, why they use them and how they could be better, the leader explains that a craft is a piece of art that has a purpose, and that makers create them with features and that the person who uses the craft is a user.  Then the girls brainstorm crafts they have seen and the purpose thereof.  Next, the girls brainstorm problem they have seen and crafts that could be the solution.  Finally, they talk about the craft they are to make. They are supposed to identify the purpose of the craft, the parts it needs to fulfill its purpose and any features that could be added to make it more useful.  After the discussion, the girls make the craft.

Suggested crafts are a paper fan, a bag for books, a birdhouse or a beaded necklace.  

The other option is Make a Gift.  The discussion is the same as above, except that the girls pick someone to give the craft to and imagine how that person would use it.  Suggested crafts are a pinch pot, a pillow, a picture frame or a coin purse. 

Tinker With Your Craft

While VTK offers the choice of Add Something New or Change It Up, both steps involve  discussion of the word tinker, meaning to change something to make it better or more useful. The girls brainstorm how, using materials supplied, they could either add something to their prior craft for change it up, to make it better or more useful.  Girls first sketch how they would change their craft and then change it.  The discussion focuses on making it better for its purpose. 

After the crafts are finished the girls share them and describe the purpose, parts, features, user, tools and material, and how they tinkered with the craft. 

VTK Resources

VTK offers a variety of resources to help leaders with this badge:

• Badge/Award overview is a 2 page (printed) document that helps the leader prepare for this badge
• Meeting Overview is another two page document going over the badge for leaders
• Meeting Plan is a four page document that includes the scripts given in VTK
• Materials List:  This is pretty useless because there are so many choices for the crafts
• Words to Know:  12 vocabulary words with definitions
• Project Idea: Sculpt a Pinch Pot. Gives directions on how to make a pinch pot and suggestions about how to tinker with it
• Making for Families: A two page document included with all the new badges this year
• Get Making with Girl Scouts:  a seven page document on how to incorporate Making into your Girl Scout Activities

My Comments:

I once heard that Girl Scouts was all about the three C's:  Camping, Crafts and Cookies--and it was not said in a complimentary way.  I have seen (and yes, I'll admit, have had my troop make) crafts of somewhat dubious value.  They are good for filling up a large block of time and, for the most part, girls, especially Daisy-age girls, enjoy them.  

I like the way this badge seeks to teach girls words involved with making things and the way it encourages them to think of how they can craft useful things.  I have mixed feelings about the very open-ended nature of the crafts.  I like the idea that just about any craft I want to do with the girls would fit into this badge. We can make jewelry, make containers out of just about anything, do pottery, sew or even do something as simple as a paper fan.  On the other hand, I'd really rather see badges devoted to particular crafts that helped me as a non-crafty leader know what is important to teach about that craft.

This is also a badge I could see taking more than two meetings, depending on the crafts you pick.  

I haven't looked at the older girl badges yet, but I'm assuming that the same projects could be used for all the girls in a Daisy through Junior troop.