Created as a Gold Award project, this website serves to connect troop leaders with resources that will encourage them to complete engineering badges offered by the Girl Scout organization. Oftentimes, girls are not exposed to STEM in an engaging, hands-on way from a young age, and they feel discouraged from pursuing an education and career in a STEM field, especially engineering. By encouraging more troops to complete these badges, more girls will have the opportunity to gain confidence and experience in STEM which may inspire them to pursue higher-level STEM education or a job in the field. 

The resources are divided by age group and sorted by badge. Select the troop level from the menu and scroll to find the appropriate badge. Each badge's section includes video resources and instructions on how to use the videos in the activity to make planning the completion of the badge as smooth and simple as possible.

Allow the girls to try different ideas and work through them

Part of engineering is trying an idea and being unsuccessful. Through these mini failures, the girls will gain resilience and perseverance as they learn to pivot and try a new idea when one doesn't work out as planned. Even if the girls don't finish with a successful build, they will know how to keep going and try again when things don't work which is a skill they will use time and time again.

Provide hints, not answers

As the girls work through obstacles and challenges, ask questions and provide hints to steer them in a new direction, but don't provide them with the answers directly. Part of earning one of these badges is learning how to problem-solve when a part of an idea doesn't work as planned. Questions that challenge the girls to focus on a specific part of their design and determine why it isn't working will enable them to think critically and carefully analyze a design or project for ways it can be improved or revised.

Don't skip on the reflection

The final activity and closing circle of each badge is a chance for the girls to reflect on what they have learned and how they can apply these skills in the future. Through earning one of these badges, girls gain valuable design and problem-solving abilities they can apply beyond Girl Scouts, so make sure to show them all that they have learned during the activity. For groups that may not have had a successful design, this reflection also ends the activity on a positive note as the girls can see all that they did accomplish despite the setbacks they faced.