We’re sick again, and definitely not a fan. Hoping that it’s just a fluke of 2025 that we were sick so often, and that 2026 will prove to be less filled with sickness…
Several weeks later, I’m finally back to writing this and I’m still sick, but at least the rest of the family seems to be feeling better! Here is everything Juliette has earned since I last posted.
Create and Innovate
So this one was a little weird. We went through a lot of ideas and then she changed it up in the middle.
- Make something to solve a problem.
- Make something for someone else.
- Make something even better.
Step one was about brainstorming your idea and drawing a sample of what you were planning to make. Juliette decided to make Cub a storage garage for all of his vehicles. He already had a bunch and received even more for Christmas. He loves to play with them, but they take up a lot of space. Juliette brainstormed and drew the garage she wanted to make him. Then she decided to make a completely different project. Apparently Cub was using scissors and she was worried that he would cut himself. She chose to make gloves that he could wear to prevent cuts, but she used material that was easy to tear and cut and wasn’t ideal for the task. For step three, I showed her a pair of kitchen gloves that were made to prevent cuts when using a knife. We discussed the design and material and what differed between my gloves and hers so she understood a little more about designing better products.
STEM Sisters Cybersecurity Challenge
Juliette is in STEM Sisters again this year! She absolutely loves it. The first quarterly (October, November, December) challenge topic was cybersecurity. Since Juliette already earned her cybersecurity badges, she needed to do four other activities to complete the challenge as a Daisy. She attended the STEM Sisters first quarter virtual meeting and did the code breakers activity in the booklet (there were 5 encrypted messages that she used a cipher to decode). The phishing activity was interesting because she hasn’t used email yet. We discussed common signs of phishing and looked at sample emails to determine which were phishing and which were legit. That was her favorite activity of the challenge. My favorite was the cyber safety poster. She drew a picture of the poster she imagined, then we went into Canva and recreated it together. She chose to change pictures, had me type some safety tips, and made it so much better. It was a lot of fun to work together.
Roller Coaster and Model Car Design Challenges
- Make a model of a car that can roll down a ramp.
- Create a ramp for the car to roll down.
- Test the ramp roller coaster.
- Build a car that can move on different surfaces.
- Test your car on different surfaces.
- Race your car on different surfaces.
Juliette attended a virtual NASCAR program to complete these badges. The same woman who taught the Automotive badges last year was back to teach two out of three mechanical engineering badges. All materials were supplied by NASCAR upon paying the registration fee. They started by looking at cars and racetrack designs and seeing how both are designed to make race cars move faster. Then they made their cars. They used cardboard they folded into boxes and a variety of materials. Although the host shared how she was making her car, she told the girls that they could be creative and make theirs differently. It was up to them as the engineer and designer. Once complete, the girls were able to test their cars.
Next the girls made their roller coasters. Using materials (supplied by NASCAR) that could be found around the house, they took small cups, paper plates, rolled cardboard (like toilet paper rolls), jumbo popsicle sticks, scissors, and tape, the girls cut and bent and taped everything together to create a ramp that resembled a roller coaster. It looked like the perfect size for a matchbox car. I believe she also earned a NASCAR fun patch from this program.
Fun with Movement
- Groove to the music.
- Move it outdoors.
- Move big, move small.
This was a fun badge. We turned on music and had a dance party. We had a few times outside while working on the badge, but with severely cold temperatures, we chose to stay inside and do the recommended activity, Daisy Says… move like an animal. I named different animals, then Juliette and Cub tried to act out their movements. We also changed it around and they had me guess which animal they were imitating. Although I don’t remember the specific big movements we discussed for the badge, Juliette had a lot of fun overexaggerating each one to make it as big as possible. It took a few extra days to finish this badge because she was also overexcited and we needed to find a calm time to act out small movements (like blinking, wiggling fingers or toes, reading, or writing).
An Update on Progress
There is a limited amount of time left for Juliette as a Daisy. Even though she technically has eight months, the service unit bridging ceremony will be in June, in under 5 months. We’ll see if she can earn every badge like she wants. I think there are 22 left to earn. Here’s the update/plan:
- After completing the NASCAR program, Juliette just has the Board Game Design Challenge to finish up the mechanical engineering set.
- She has asked to work on the Toy Business Designer badge, so we’ll start that this week.
- We are working on the God is Love Medal, which is part of the faith programming for various scouting organizations and created by the National Catholic Committee for Girl Scouts and Camp Fire. I shared it with our Religious Education coordinator and she said that she’d be able to sign off when Juliette completes the program.
- STEM Sisters is providing Think Like an Engineer badges for any STEM Sister that completes that badge/ journey, so that’s definitely on our to do list along with the 5 Flowers, 4 Stories, 3 Cheers for Animals! Journey, Think Like a Programmer Journey, and the Daisy Outdoor Journey (likely when it’s warmer, but we’ll see).
Badge Numbers 35, 36, 37, & 38
- Promise Center (and Home School patch)
- Democracy for Daisies (and 2024 Election patch)
- Make the World a Better Place
- Honest and Fair
- Space Science Explorer (and Mars patch)
- Friendly and Helpful
- Animal Observer (and fun patches: Girl Scouts of Hawai’i, Queen Liliʻuokalani, WWII Remembrance, I Love to Travel, Cruise Ship, Hawaiian Luau, STEM Sisters, Space Science)
- Considerate and Caring
- Courageous and Strong (and My Promise, My Faith Pin Year 1)
- Responsible for What I Say and Do (and Daisy Global Action Award Year 1)
- Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey
- Respect Myself and Others
- Robotics 1: What Robots Do (Robotics fun patch and Total Eclipse)
- My First Cookie Business (GS Council CEO, GS Council, and Cookie Rally fun patches, and Cookie Entrepreneur Family Pin Year 1)
- Respect Authority (Safety Award Pin and World Thinking Day Award 2025)
- Use Resources Wisely (Techie, Booth Sales, Gift of Caring, 200+ bar, Embrace Possibilities, 2025 Year bar, Charm patch with Embrace Possibilities charm, My First Cookie Sale 2025, STEM box)
- Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout
- Good Neighbor
- Automotive 1: Design (NASCAR)
- Automotive 2: Engineering
- Automotive 3: Manufacturing
- Craft and Tinker
- Cybersecurity 1: Basics
- Cybersecurity 2: Safeguards
- Cybersecurity 3: Investigator
- Eco Learner (Chemistry, Weird Science, and Meet-the-Pro Chemistry, Robotics, Space Science)
- Between Earth and Sky Journey
- Robotics 2: How Robots Move
- Robotics 3: Design a Robot (Stall Catchers fun patch)
- Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden Journey (Daisy Journey Summit Pin)
- Money Explorer (2025 Lunar New Year – Year of the Snake, Big Sister, Police Department Visit)
- Daisy Snow or Climbing Adventure (Outdoor)
- Digital Leadership (Summer Reading, Read Across America, Outdoor meeting, STEM Sister Superstar)
- Art and Design (STEM Sisters, STEM Sister Early Bird, STEM Sisters 2025/2026, Brought My Bestie)
- Create and Innovate (Cybersecurity)
- Model Car Design Challenge (NASCAR)
- Roller Coaster Design Challenge
- Fun with Movement