Unfortunately, the Brownie Inventor badge has been retired and replaced with less specific Maker Badges. Because I knew in advance that the Inventor badge was going away, I purchased the badges for my troop at the start of the school year. As of this writing, Girl Scouts of North Carolina still has some badges available to order online.
I think it's a shame that badges such as Inventor, Potter, and Painting have been taken away in favor of Create and Innovate, Craft and Tinker, and Art and Design. I really liked the old badges, giving girls hands-on experiences with specific forms of art and creation. My girls are very into arts and crafts, so we did the Painting badge during a camping trip and the Potter badge during a visit to a local pottery studio.
But that's just me. Girl Scouts didn't ask for my opinion when they changed the badges. Luckily, I planned ahead and ordered the retired badges that we wanted to do before they were all gone.
Here's what we did to earn this badge:
1. Warm up your inventor's mind
I found a great PowerPoint presentation online that basically laid out the whole meeting for me. It was a St. Patrick's Day-themed meeting so that the girls could build leprechaun traps. I planned this meeting specifically for March so that we could tie this badge into St. Patrick's Day.
The first part of the presentation is a "How to Be An Inventor" video featuring the Kid President.
2. Find ways to solve the problem
After talking about leprechaun lore and reading How to Catch a Leprechaun, I gave the girls blank paper and pencils and asked them to draw up some plans for their leprechaun traps.
3. Make a list of needs
Once the girls had their ideas, I asked them to write down supplies they might need. Each girl brought a cardboard box to the meeting, and I provided a variety of craft supplies. None of them wrote down a list; they just went off in search of the materials they'd need.
4. Solve the problem
To solve the problem of how to catch a leprechaun, the girls turned their boxes into traps. Some of the girls worked individually, while others teamed up and worked on something big.
5. Share your invention
I took a photo of all the girls with their boxes and shared it to our Service Unit's Facebook page. It was Pi Day during Girl Scouts week, and sharing their STEM inventions earned them all an entry into the daily Girl Scouts week prize drawing.
The girls really enjoyed designing and decorating their boxes. I'm glad we got to earn the Inventor badge this year before it's gone for good.
Did your Brownie troop do the Inventor badge? What do you think about the new Maker Badges?
Comments
Post a Comment