Your Turn to Talk: Junior Maker Badges

I hate it when I take a survey, and at the end, believe that even though I answered all questions honestly and accurately, I didn't really get to express my opinion about whatever because of the questions that were asked (or not asked) or the choice of answers.  For that reason, whenever I do a survey, I put a "say whatever you want" question at the bottom so no one has to feel that way--despite any other problems they may have with my survey.

I recently surveyed members of Girl Scout leader Facebook groups who led Juniors about this year's new Maker badges.  This post is a compilation of their "say whatever you want" answers.

•  Keep these and bring back the retired ones - my girls are crafters!!!
• I know that this is mainly about Juniors, but we really liked how we could combine the Brownie Craft and Tinker with some things our Juniors were doing.
• Our troop didn't like these badges. We originally thought they might and planned to do more but pivoted. They love crafts but these strayed too far from that. They much preferred the drawing and jewelry making from year 1.
• My troop already completed the drawing badge and the jewelry badge, so when I reviewed the new tinker badge requirements they seemed so general and I wasn't inspired to plan anything with the girls. We additionally already had a pretty full schedule.
• Co-Leader had planned the drawing badge. We did the Maker badge because it was closest fit to what was already planned for the retired badge.
• I like the idea of these badges, but they feel really similar to many of the other design badges (how is the art and design badge at all different from digital game design or app developer??). The broadness of the scope makes it more difficult to plan, rather than easier.
• I only look at VTK a couple of times a year if I'm truly uninspired in how to lead a badge. I prefer to use the badge booklet materials as inspiration and design activities that accomplish the intended learning goals.
• We did not do any of these new badges. My girls would be bored to tears with all the talking to do the badges as written! Luckily I had ordered Drawing and Jeweler badges last spring in anticipation of them being discontinued. We did Drawing badge over 3 meetings this winter and it was one of the girls’ favorites this year! Jeweler is on track for next year.
• I have girls who are asking me to learn to sew. I may try to work either Art and Design or Craft and Tinker around to try and teach them to hand sew a fleece hat for next cookie season, and I’ve been thinking about a string art project too. It’s going to take some thinking to figure it out. Tin punch art is also another possibility.
• We went to a Roller Skating workshop that advertised earning Craft and Tinker, but taking wheels off and skate and putting them back on didn’t seem like earning a badge, and the girls were bored with all the talk before we got into taking the skate partially apart. I did not purchase the Craft and Tinker badges for those girls who attended. Not a single craft to take home! At least they were given a Roller Skating back patch, which I felt much more appropriate.
• The old craft specific badges were great, these new ones feel like homework
• This survey makes me feel like I missed the point of the badges. Maybe I only saw the badge steps and not all of vtk. And adapted to cover the steps
• We completed the retired drawing badge and plan to do the jewelry badge next year.
• I like the idea of badges that can be flexible to use with different projects. The basic goals of Create and Innovate were exactly what we were focusing on in our robotics team work.
• I cannot understand why they would retire some of the most popular badges and replace them with these. There is no reason they could not coexist. I do have girls interested in some of them and probably will do next year, but looking at the VTK and the badge booklets, there’s way too much talking and analyzing and not enough doing.
• These badges are all LONG with many required projects that make them take many meetings, like journeys. Our scouts were not interested in spending that much time on one badge.
• My troop had actually voted on both the jeweler and drawing badges at the end of their last year as Brownies. The interest in jeweler was on the lower end, but drawing was very high, so I planned to do it. Once it was retired, though, I wasn’t going to bother - I just don’t have the energy to hunt down retired badges - I thought I might do a drawing fun patch or something instead. However, I did find someone in St Louis who is doing art and design with a drawing focus, so I’m hoping to give that a try as a virtual event. We may have been interested in the new badges had they been available when we voted, but since they weren’t out yet they weren’t included in the voting.
• My troop was not interested in these badges because they seemed too generic. We were disappointed to see specific skill badges retired and replaced with these catch alls.
• These are engineer design process badges, not art badges. Nothing wrong with them. However. 1. We already Have plenty of design process badges and so these badges do Not fill a need. 2. They retired perfectly good and well-liked art badges. And apparently many leaders didn't get the memo, based on how many are on FB saying their girls earned the old artistic badges and now are desperate to buy the actual badges.
• The girls each chose their own project and therefore did different things for the form/fit/function step. They had a great time working on this. We have a professional artist as a troop parent volunteer with a wide variety of material expertise so that parent actually picked the badge to lead, not the girls, and this was the first badge they actually completed as a troop (the troop just formed in January and we have primarily been doing the Outdoor journey badges). The hardest part of this badge, since everyone was working on their own projects, was allowing them enough time to complete everything. We ended up sending some work home for some folks and still needing filler work for others.
• Any badge that has more “doing” than talking I’m here for! Hoping these new badges have a significant amount of hands on activities- I’ll definitely be looking for that when I consider them for next year.
• Thanks for asking!
• The old badges encouraged a variety of experiences and skills for the girls. Many troops are using the new ones to fit what they were planning to do anyway.
• Some of the new ones sound more like science than art…our girls are not interested in that.
• Judging by internet posts, many leaders find the new badges too open-ended and are not sure how to implement them. The old badges could always have been tweaked for local situations anyway.
• They should have left the other badges and added these as new badges.
• We read through the badge descriptions & they were very vague. I much prefer to have a more narrow focus & more clearly written directions. Because of this, we chose not to do these new badges & we likely won’t do any next year.
• We looked into the maker badges but they seemed so extensive and complicated. The girls opted to pick other badges because of how difficult these badges appeared.
• My girls chose to do things like painting, jewelry making, baking, etc. and I found older badges from previous times and we did those.
• I am torn on the rewrites. I do like the flexibility so that you don't have to draw at the Junior level, you could paint or do ceramics or make jewelry or etc. While we did Art & Design as a program through the local art museum, it is one we could also easily have designed on our own for our troop.
• The Create & Innovate one is a little more intimidating with the portion "think bigger." Given the language for the step, it sounds like girls really have to make the thing at this bigger scale. Once you read the material inside the brochure, you discover that that is not necessary, they just have to think about how they would do it. This is one of many places on many badges where I think they get ambitious with the language for the five steps but really don't expect as much as those steps imply.
• (I would also cite some of the step language on the Flowers Badge, where the last step has to do with "flower code," but that really goes more with step 4, and step 5 is really just about learning how to create an arrangement of some sort. This is not directly analogous to what is happening on C&I, but I think it is a wider problem, especially given that our council's attitude is that the five steps are the important part rather than following the specific choices for each step outlined in the brochure.)
• We will almost certainly do Craft & Tinker next year in 5th grade.
• I like these badges, although I miss the badges they replace (and also miss the badges from years ago with SO many options and ideas!). I think the focus on designing and making things for other users is helpful at this age--it gets the girls thinking about other people and their experiences.
• Your survey is wayyyyyyyy to long!!! Engagement will be way down for the lower part of the survey because people will want to be finished then your data is skewed (double master in this)
• We got the badges they retired and did them drawing and jewery making
• We read the badges and frankly they were crap. So we went ahead and earned the retired badges while we could still get badges for them. The girls were very happy with both Jeweler and Drawing. This change was a huge miss by GSUSA.
• Prefer the jewelry, painting, drawing pottery badges, not Sue if these even need to be three separate badges
• My troop focuses on outdoor adventures and outdoor skills. We wish Girl Scout would put more resources into camps and camping.

Brownie Maker Badges: Survey Results

 

When GSUSA introduced the new Maker badges in the summer of 2023, I wondered what people would think of them, and how they would actually do them.  My off-the-cuff guess based on years of reading Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders was that people would probably do crafts and pass over much of the design talk/information given with these badges.  I decided while I was reviewing these badges over the summer and fall of 2023 (see my archives on the bottom right side of the screen for posts) that I was going to run a survey in the spring to see what actually happened.  This post is about the results of my Brownie survey.  

Your Turn to Talk: Brownie Maker Badges

I recently surveyed the members of Girl Scout leader Facebook groups about this year's new Maker badges.  Since I get really annoyed when I finish a survey and do not think, because of the wording of the questions, or the types of questions asked, that my opinion was really heard, I always finish my surveys with a "say what you want" question.  Here is what people had to say about the Brownie Maker badges.  I also picked up some comments that were made on Facebook in response to my posts asking people to take the Brownie survey.

Brownie Maker Badges: What Crafts Did You Do?

I recently promulgated three surveys on Girl Scout leader Facebook pages in which I asked questions about the Maker badges GSUSA released this year, one survey per level.   The post gives some of results from the Brownie survey.  To read other posts in this series, click on the "Maker Badge Survey" tag beneath the post.  

Art and Design

The Brownie Art and Design badge focuses on color, line, texture and composition in art.  VTK offered a number of suggested crafts, and gave written directions for making a paper quilt. Only two troops chose to do the quilt. 

Of the 28 troops that responded, 71% chose to come up with their own crafts, 4% used the VTK ideas and 25% used one of GSUSAs ideas and one of their own.  

The VTK plans call for two drawings as pre-meeting activities and two crafts .  36% of troops did two drawings and two crafts. 21% did one drawing and one craft.  11% did two crafts and no drawings. 

Projects people did to earn this badge were:

• We did a 3 marker challenge where they had to blindly pull three markers out of a bag then make patterns with them inside their name in block letters. I drew their names ahead of time. Each letter had to be a different pattern.
• We had one meeting where we learned all the techniques, then the next meeting we just supplied every art supply we could, and let the girls use their imaginations.
• We did drawings, most girls drew rainbows on their own, and a multi-media sculpture using a foam block as a base and pipe cleaners, beads, wire and other materials.
• Went to a local art museum that used to lead painting badge. They tested new badge with our group. Museum tour, discussion of lines, shapes and forms, and made one art piece to go with each.
• We had 5 stations. Mosaic frames as mentioned, draw a picture based on favorite song, panograms, for lines I had girls draw on each other's backs and the girl being drawn on had to put it on paper for abstract art, and I added Trefoils decorated with edible markers for snack
• I provide a drawing half completed and they had to use symmetry to complete the picture. (Half of a butterfly, half of a cat, etc.)
• There was a council-wide program for this badge and the girls made several Christmas crafts.
• Paper collage self portrait, air dry clay, watercolor techniques
• Pottery
• Draw the person in front of you, explore materials and create something, a group mosaic
• We went to a pottery studio and did 2 projects, we also had a free craft times to create anything, painted with bubbles, painted with out a paintbrush
• Primary color clay, watercolor painting
• Painting. We replaced the painting badge with this new badge.
• We shaped clay into sculptures or cutouts for ornaments, and pressed in natural items such as holly branches and pinecone to create texture. After drying, the girls painted them to add color.
• We also did self-portrait painting projects
• We went to an art studio and the teacher had them do a semi-directed project while she taught them about all the required subjects
• Felt pennant banner
• We did symmetry with shapes and our bodies
• Folding painted paper for symmetry, pottery
• Create a color wheel, shadow silhouette (black paper and chalk), still life pencil sketch, Andy Warhol emotions with puffy paint (acrylic paint and shaving cream)
• We did a favorite things collage with stickers and their own drawing.
• 3 seasons painting, fold in half butterfly painting
• The girls designed their own clothes for scarecrows including patches and hat.
• Had lots of supplies and mediums and told them to make something using at least 3 mediums and let them go for it
• Clay sculptures at an art studio after a lesson on art and design

Create and Innovate

On the Brownie level this badge focuses on the design process to solve problems and user-centered design.  The VTK plans call for two different crafts and 67% of the troops did two different crafts. 8% only did one and 25% did three or more.  

VTK offered detailed instructions for three different crafts. Only 25% of troops used at least one of these.  VTK also offered a variety of other possible crafts for each meeting.  25% used one of GSUSA's ideas for the first meeting and 33% used one of the ideas for meeting two.  

These are the projects people did for Create and Innovate:

• I don’t remember. Event was held by another group.
• I don’t recall. I didn’t run the program.
• Friendship Bracelets and Mothers Day gratitude jar
• Bridges but with an assortment of materials, balloon powered cars, basket weaving
• Sun catchers, seed balls, painting, drawing,
• Seed balls
• Cat toys out of felt and fleece. Leftover fleece from fleece tie blankets. All were donated to the humane society.
• My girls designed their own scarecrows, made a pattern for clothes, cut and sewed the clothes, sewed the head, assembled the scarecrow and designed the face. Hands down, one of their favorite projects and they learned a ton while doing it.
• Journals
• Girls chose their own projects

Craft and Tinker

Brownie Craft and Tinker looks at form, features and function of crafts and the process of tinkering--changing it to make it better.  The plans call for two different crafts. 25% of the troops did one craft, 35% did two and 40% did three or more.  

VTK provides written directions to make a musical instrument, sculpt a coil pot, make a mask or make a paper basket. 35% of the troops who did this badge did one of these.  VTK also suggested a variety of other crafts and 25% of the troops did one of those, while the rest came up with their own projects. 

Here are the projects people did:

• We made a pinch pot, coil pot, then they were allowed to make something that met some kind of need.
• Hand sculpted pottery
• Leprechaun traps out of recycled materials
• We made recycled paper hearts and then the girls painted them. We took them to a local assisted living facility.
• They sketched and created their wings for their Fly Up Bridging ceremony.
• Birdhouse, coil pot, wood picture frame
• Used hand sewing to make felt needle book. Used machine sewing to make pillow case.
• Cross stitch pictures and frames
• The girls made a variety of objects using play doh and circuits
• Pop up science toy
• Duct tape purses, tissue paper outfits, string art, clay pots with lids
• Leather stamping, personalizing a photo frame as a gift, homemade suncatchers using gemstones, multimedia canvas art, yarn weaving/finger-knitting.
• clay work, twig picture frames, box cars out of recyclables, homemade beads from paper
• Each girl made her own depending on what she wanted (decided from exploring form, fit, function): My troops have a rather sizable hoard of all sorts of craft supplies, so I just brought it all in and gave them free reign. We did this badge at the beginning of the year, so I honestly cannot remember what any of them made, haha.
• Fleece tie blankets, bean/seed mosaic, birdseed ornaments for measuring.
• My girls designed their own scarecrows, made a pattern for clothes, cut and sewed the clothes, sewed the head, assembled the scarecrow and designed the face. Hands down, one of their favorite projects and they learned a ton while doing it. We did this badge series and the Create and Innovate series
• Made bracelets with told, make a sit upon with materials meant for something else, make a sock puppet to learn sewing and having a toy
• We did string art and made stamps and then stamped what we suggest could be a sunbather… but mostly was just free form art.

My Comments

I love reading about the variety of things troops were able to do with these badges, and I think that's what GSUSA was going for.  For a group not dedicated to a particular craft (like the knitting club or the painting club) is it more important to learn techniques associated with a particular craft to to learn how to think about crafts in general, and then to apply that knowledge to a lot of different crafts?  

Daisy Maker Badges: Survey Results

 I recently asked members of a variety of Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders to respond to surveys about the Maker badges released in the summer of 2023.  This post is one in a series that review and comment on the results of those surveys.  In particular, this post will focus on the responses of Daisy leaders. 

Who Responded

Only 21 people responded to the survey, and of them, only 15 had done one of these badges.  Therefore I absolutely do not claim the survey is representative of the thoughts of most Daisy leaders today.  12 of those who responded led Daisies only, 9 had multi-level troops. 28% were first year leaders, 38% had been leading for 1-3 years and 33% had been leading for three or more years. 

Did Their Troop Earn the Badges?

As noted above, 15 of the respondents' troops earned one or more of these badges this year.  I asked those who did not earn them if they had reviewed the badges and rejected them or whether there was another reason.  All had other reasons.  

52% of those who responded plan to do at least one of these badges next year.  38% may do so but 9.5% said they were not interested.  

If you review the plans for these badges across different levels, it appears the plans were created in order to allow multi-level troops to work on the badges together.  53% of those who earned one of these badges on the Daisy level had Daisies only.  20% had a multi-level troop and had all the girls do the same thing before awarding them the badge for their level.  13% have a multi-level troop where each level works independently and 13% did some of the work as a whole group and split by levels for other things. 

Art and Design

Of the twenty people whose troops earned one of these badges, 10 earned Art and Design. Of those, 2 attended a program, two created plans based on the steps in Badge Explorer and 6 said they reviewed the plans in VTK or the badge insert but created their own plans for the badge.  No one said they followed VTK or the badge insert pretty closely.  

The plans in VTK call for it to take two meetings of about an hour to earn this badge.  Three people said it took their troop one meeting of an hour or less, three said it took one meeting over an hour, two used two meetings of an hour or less and two used two meetings over an hour each.  

Both VTK and the badge insert list vocabulary words and the "Explore Art and Design" step in VTK works on learning those words via a guest speaker or field trip, or by a discussion.  Four troops had guest speakers, three did a vocabulary discussion, one did a field trip and two did not do any of these. 

"Explore Your Medium" in VTK begins with a discussion about shapes, colors and various media.  Three troops had that discussion. Four leaders tried to work the words into the directions for the craft, one said she might have used a few of the words and two chose "no" as the response.  "Be Inspired by a Subject" also began with a discussion.  Three people said they did not have the discussion, three tried to use the words but did not follow the script and 4 said they had the discussion.  

VTK provides opening activities for meetings--things for the girls to do as they arrive that do not directly meet a badge step.  For this badge the opening activities are drawings.  One troop did this because of the VTK plans, four always draw when they come in, and five did not do the drawing.  

If you follow the VTK plans you will do a craft and a drawing at each meeting.  None of those responding did that.  Four did one drawing and one craft, two did one craft , one did two crafts and one drawing and one did one drawing and three crafts.  

For "Be Inspired" the troop has to choose between a design activity or an art activity.  Six leaders made that choice, four let the girls pick. Nine troops picked art. 

I asked people to rate the badge and gave three choices.  The responses:

• GSUSA and Stanley did a great job with this badge--5
• We skipped all that talking and enjoyed our crafts--5
• My troop did not like this badge--0

Create and Innovate

Of the fifteen people who earned one of these badges, only two earned Create and Innovate.  One created a plan using the steps on Badge Explorer and one attended a program. Both did it in one meeting, one was an hour or less and one, more than an hour. Neither did VTK's suggested opening activities of building a tower from cups or tossing a ball around while naming objects that could be useful to a particular user.

Discussion topics for this badge included the vocabulary words and problems crafts solve. Both troops had those discussions. Both also discussed user-centered design and the design thinking process as well as the problems solved by their craft and how they could improve it to better solve the problem.   

The VTK plans call for doing two crafts, one at each meeting. One of the responding troops did one craft, the other did three.  Neither did the paper mache piggy bank for which directions were provided. One of the troops did a VTK-suggested craft. VTK also has the girls sketching their improvements to the craft but neither troop did that.  

Both troops enjoyed the badge and both leaders said they tried to accomplish GSUSA's goals for this badge. 

Craft and Tinker

Of the fifteen troops who earned one of these badges, eleven earned Craft and Tinker.  One attended a program, two used Badge Explorer to come up with plans and eight looked at VTK or the badge insert before coming up with their own plans.  Two did in in one meeting of an hour or less, four had one meeting of more than an hour, one had two meetings of an hour or less, three had two meetings of an hour or more and one took three meetings of an hour or  more.  

VTK's opening activity for this badge is to supply a variety of craft materials and to allow the girls to make whatever they want.  Eight troops did this; three did not.  None used the opening activity for meeting two--looking at items brought in by the leader and then sketching another use for the item other than its usual use. 

Step one is "Learn the Basics". The VTK plans have the girls using rulers to measure things, and then discussing whether certain things are tools or materials.  Three troops practiced measuring, seven did not.  Ten discussed tools and materials, one did not. 

Six of the troops  used one of VTK's suggested projects for the first meeting; five did not. 

For meeting two, VTK has the girls sketching another use for a useful item.  No troops did this. 

For the second step, VTK gives a choice between Solve a Problem or Make a Gift. 64% chose to make a gift; 9% did not do either.  27% chose solve a problem. 

As with other badges in this series, there is a lot of discussion modeled in VTK. When asked if they had the discussion about crafts being art with a purpose, users, and features, 54% said they did.  18% said they tried to cover the basic concepts but did not have a direct discussion.  27% said they did not have such a discussion.  

As VTK suggested, 64% of troops brainstormed problems they have seen that could be solved with crafts. 36% did not.  Before doing the craft, VTK said girls should discuss the purpose of the craft, the parts it needs to fulfill that purpose and any features that could make it more useful.  54% of troops had that discussion, 45% did not. 27% of the troops did one of the crafts suggested in VTK for the second meeting, 72% did not. 

For the step "Make a Gift" the VTK script tells girls to pick a user for the craft before making it, and to imagine how that person would use it.  73% of troops did that, 27% did not.  45% of troops used one of the VTK suggested gifts; 54% did not. 

The final step for this badge is "Tinker with your craft".  It begins with a discussion of the word "Tinker".  54% of troops had that discussion.  The rest did not have a real discussion but the leader told them that Tinker meant to change something to make it better. VTK has the girls sketching how they would change the craft to make it better or more useful.  Only 9% of the troops did that. All the troops had the girls show off their crafts and identify the purpose, parts, features, user, tools, and materials.  

Of the eleven troops who did this badge, two did one craft, three did two crafts and six troops did three or more. Eight troops tried to accomplish GSUSA's goals for the badge and used the crafts as carriers for information.  Two said they had a craft they wanted to to and this badge seemed like the best fit and they skipped most of the discussion.  One was mainly interested in teaching the girls how to do the craft, not in all that design talk. 

When asked if the girls enjoyed the badge, 72% said they did, and that they did most of the discussion/non-craft activities.  One said they enjoyed it but skipped all that discussion and two said the crafts were fine but that they lost the girls with all that talking.  

Family Connection

VTK provided family handouts for this series of badges.  Of the troops that worked on Art and Design, nine did not send those handouts home; the other troop made paper copies for everyone. With Create and Innovate, one troop sent it home and the other did not.  With Craft and Tinker, one answer they could pick is "I didn't know it was there" and that's what 8 of 11 of people said.  1 saw it and didn't send it home, 1 emailed it and 1 copied it.  

My Comments:

When I first saw these badges (check my archives for the summer and fall of 2023 for review of them) I liked the way they seemed to be designed to allow multi-level troops to do much of the work together. 

Looking at the three badges at three different levels, they teach some terminology, encourage the design thinking process, and teach girls to sketch a plan before they do things.  They also teach that things can always be improved.  I seriously wondered what percent of troops would actually follow the processes that teach those skills, as opposed to just doing a craft and calling it good.  While the sample size for this survey is very small, I'll admit that more people were discussing more things than I thought  would. We'll see if that holds true when I look at the other levels.  

I agree with what was said over and over in my comments section, both on the Daisy level and on the other levels that these badges are fine, but GSUSA should have introduced them and not retired the individual craft badges.  

This post is one in a series about surveys about these badges.  The plan is to have, at each level, one post of comments (not yet published as of this writing), one of projects and one with survey results like this, per level.  Click the "Maker Badge Survey" label below to find all the posts written as of the time you are reading this.  

Daisy Maker Badges: What Crafts Did You Do?

This is one of a series of posts created from the results of surveys I did on the "Maker" badges GSUSA released this year.  There are three badges:  Art and Design, Created and Innovate, and Craft and Tinker.  Rather than being focused on how to do particular crafts, these badges are very open-ended as to what crafts can be used, and instead focus on general artistic, design or creative principles.  While the VTK plans offer a variety of suggested crafts and even give full-fledged instructions for some, in general, according to my surveys, leaders chose to do their own thing.  

Twenty people responded to the Daisy survey, and of them, fifteen had done one of these badges, so the sample size of this survey is very small and should not be considered representative of much of anything.  

Survey Results: Badges

Thanks to everyone who responded to my survey.  This post will cover questions about the badge program.  A previous posts listed people's comments about badges. 

What Awards Did Troops Earn?

GSUSA divides today's program into four "pillars"--STEM, Outdoors, Life Skills and Business/Entrepreneurship.  Life Skills is a catch-all for anything that does not fit the other categories.  I asked what troops at various levels earned last year.  

Girl Scout Leaders: Your Turn to Talk about Badges

 I recently asked a bunch of members of Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders to respond to a lengthy survey on Girl Scout Programming.  The final question was a free space for them to say whatever they wanted to say.  Since these folks were nice enough to participate, I think giving their comments space on my blog is important.  The comments I am putting on this post all deal with badges.  I have edited them for clarity, punctuation, and to make the post more readable, but the thoughts belong to those who responded to the survey, not to me.  Feel free to add your comment in the comments section below.

Daisy Create and Innovate

 If you look at the previous posts on this blog, you will see that this year GSUSA introduced three "Maker" badges for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors.  All these badges focus on planning and conceptual concepts, not on the skills to do particular crafts.  The third badge in this set is Create and Innovate and this post will look at the Daisy version of the badge.

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.  

Art and Design Junior Badge: My Review

 

This year's new badges include a series of Art and Design badges at the Daisy, Brownie and Junior levels. I have reviewed the Daisy badge and the Brownie badge already. This post will look at the Junior badge.  

Requirements

According to Badge Explorer, the requirements for the Junior badge are: 

Examine and explore different styles and elements of art and design.

1. Discover art and design around you
2. Make art about a subject
3. Experiment with the elements
4. Explore composition
5. Design an art display

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to turn ideas into art and design projects

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.

Cadette Woodworker

 

Well, this past year I moved from leading little girls to leading big ones.  It has been different.  One badge we enjoyed was  Woodworker badge. We ended up doing it over three different meetings.  

Requirements:

According to Badge Explorer, girls will:

Find out how to use wood to make stylish, useful things for yourself and others.   

1. Swing a hammer 
2. Keep it level
3. Use a screwdriver 
4. Saw some wood 
   
5. Build something yourself    

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to use some basic tools to make simple woodworking projects.   

Swing a Hammer

For Swing a Hammer, we did string art.  I bought some wooden heart shapes from Michaels, along with some small nails.  We had a few hammers, I brought mine and I asked the girls to bring one if they had it.  We ended up with enough.  

After instruction on how to use a hammer, each girl pounded nails around the outside of her heart.  We then hit up our craft stash for year or embroidery thread to use as the string.  Girls could pick how they wanted to do the string part. 

Keep it Level

For this requirement, I gave the girls a list of things around the room to check to see if they were level. Then I had them draw some level lines.  Yes, it was lame, but it got the point across.

Use A Screwdriver and Saw Some Wood

We did one project that combined these requirements.  I picked up some paint stirrers at Home Depot (free, thank you) and some screws that were about as long as two paint stirrers are thick.  

We talked about block letters and I gave each girl four paint stirrers to use to create a letter of her choice.  They had to decide how long they wanted each piece to be and to mark them where they were supposed to be cut.  

Using a saw and miter box, we cut the paint stirrers into the right sized lengths and then using the screwdriver and screws, connected then.  Then the girls got to paint them as they chose (paint from supply cabinet). I'm not sure if there is better quality wood available for this project but we did have some problems with the screws splitting the wood on the paint stirrers.  We just used another one, but if you have more high quality wood available you might want to price it.  

Build Something Yourself

We made toolboxes using the kits from Home Depot  Once the girls got them together, they painted them.  We had more kits than we needed which turned out to be a good thing as we had a couple of mistakes that were most easily fixed by starting over with new piece.  

My girls like to make things so this was right up their alley.  It was not too expensive and taught them new skills.  They also seemed happy with their projects.  I call that a win.  

For what it is worth, my troop is Juniors and Cadettes and they all did these projects.   Cadettes got a badge and Juniors had fun.  After this we did the Junior Jeweler badge and the situation was reversed. 

Badges and Levels and Journeys Oh My -- and Patches Too

 One question that makes the rounds on Girl Scout leader Facebook pages is how the various program parts fit together and how to use them with multi-level troops.  

Honestly, the program we have now was developed with the idea of single grade troops.  There was no consideration given to making the program easy to deliver to multi-aged troops, particularly those at different levels.  Pretty much everyone who has run a multi-level troop has figured it out on her own or learned from through unofficial sources--though recently Volunteer Toolkit has started giving ideas for multi-level troops.  

New Badge Review: Brownie Digital Leadership

This year GSUSA introduced Digital Leadership badges at all levels.  This post will take a look at the Brownie Version.  I have reviewed the plans on VTK and summarized them below.  I have not reviewed he badge pamphlet and do not know what additional information or activities it may have.  

New Badge Review: Junior Design With Nature

 

The third Math in Nature badge introduced this year is called "Design With Nature". Here is what Badge Explorer gives as the requirements:

Juniors use math to plan and organize an outdoor adventure. They'll decide where to go, how long they'll be gone for, and what to bring.

        Steps

            1. Find your hiking pace

            2. Choose a hiking trail

            3. Find changes in elevation on a map

            4. Decide how much food to bring

            5. Pack for your adventure

        Purpose

When Juniors have earned this badge, they'll know about different types of maps. They'll know how to calculate distance, pace, elevation changes, and area.

New Badge Review: Brownie Numbers in Nature

Not long ago I reviewed the new Shapes in Nature badges for Brownies and Juniors, and I was impressed.  The activities seemed fun and the badges touched on important concepts. Unfortunately I'm not as impressed with the rest of the series. Today I'm taking a look at the VTK plans for the Brownie Numbers in Nature badge.  

What Girl Scout Leaders Think of the Brownie Program?

 This is the second post in a series that involves surveying members of Girl Scout Facebook groups about their opinons of the current program. You can read about the Daisy program here.  

Who Replied?

With any survey, knowing who responded is important.  My gut feeling, based on replies to other surveys I've done and responses to posts on those Facebook groups was that people who responded tended to be more experienced than most leaders, and probably had a bigger committment to the program than most leaders.  

What Do Girl Scout Leaders Think of the Daisy Program

 

One part of Girl Scouts that has changed a lot in the last 15 years is Daisies.  Originally it was a one year program focused on learning the Girl Scout Law.  The only "badges" were the petals and since it was often October or November before troops were up and running, they were really enough for the year.  

When my sixteen year old was in kindergarten, the current program started and Daisies became a two  year program.  The awards expanded to include the leaves and the three original Journeys (actually one was added per year for three years so my daughter could have only earned two).

A few years later GSUSA went though a couple of years of "girls' choice" badges and added Buddy Camper and Outdoor Art to the Daisy portfolio.  Then they substantially expanded badge choices at all levels focusing on STEM, and Daisies got even more badges, an Outdoor Journey and three STEM Journeys.  

I was curious what badges and Journeys Daisies work on, how they do them and what they think of them.  Since surveying Daisies is hard, I surveyed leaders who are members of various Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders and at the time I started the post, I had 168 responses.  While I did not gather data about the leaders, in past experience with surveying members of these groups, I have found that those who reply tend to be older than the average Girl Scout leader and tend to have been leading longer than most.  Whether that is true of the respondents to this survey I do  not know.  

Budding Entrepreneur vs Inventor

One complaint I have about recent GSUSA programming is that it seems to be much of the same. The Think Like a Programmer Journey, Robotics progressive badges and Coding for Good progressive badges all focus on algorithmic thinking and simple programming concepts like looping. You could run a troop focused on programming and fill eighteen meetings following VTK plans. I realize few if any troops would do that, but especially as the activities repeat (move something through a maze) I have to wonder if that's what GSUSA thinks troops want.

One of the new badges this year for Brownies was Budding Entrepreneur. While I've never done the Inventor badge, I've looked at it a few times, and when I looked at Budding Entrepreneur I thought they looked similar, so I decided to do this post as a comparison.