Brownie Make Your Own Badge: Yoga Elf

Maya is really enjoying her year as a Brownie and decided to create her first "Make Your Own Badge".  As a yoga instructor, I was really excited when she decided that she wanted to learn more about yoga!  Here is a link to our Yoga Elf badge requirements.

There are 5 steps to complete in the Brownie Make Your Own Badge process.  They are:

1. Pick a topic.
2. Learn.
3. Do.
4. Share.
5. Make your own badge.

Part 1.  Pick a topic.
Maya often asks to do yoga with me, but other than moving her body, she hasn't really explored yoga.  She decided that she would create a "Yoga Elf" badge that explored yoga.

Part 2.  Learn.
Maya decided to learn about the following aspects of yoga: how yoga started, what to wear when doing yoga, how to become a yoga teacher, and basic yoga postures.  In order to learn these things, she came up with the following options: talk with a yoga instructor, practice yoga at home, read books or websites on yoga, or attend a yoga class.  Maya decided that she would do several of these, including practicing yoga at home, researching yoga in books and online, and talking to a yoga instructor.  In addition to chatting with me about yoga, she talked with a fellow teacher friend of mine and kept her interview with her badge work.

Part 3.  Do.
Maya wanted to learn something that she could do on a regular basis, and we decided that the basic foundation of most yoga classes is the Sun Salutation.  She learned a simple version, and decided that, in order to earn the badge, she would practice it 7 times for 7 days.  She made a video of doing a Sun Salutation.

Part 4.  Share.
Maya came up with the following ways to share her knowledge about yoga.  Some possibilities are: teach the sun salutation to other kids, attend a yoga class and participate, or do a presentation about yoga to friends and family.  Maya decided to help teach her brothers yoga.  She took time out of our daily gym to teach the kids how to do yoga with her (and she did well with it!).

Part 5.  Make your own badge.
We played around with the Make Your Own Badge software and Maya came up with a badge that encompassed yoga (a hand that she says represents doing a headstand) and a world (because yoga is practiced all over the world).

When she completed her Yoga Elf, requirements, she added this neat certificate to her badge book!

Beyond the Badge: Maya had so much fun doing this that she signed up for a Brownie yoga workshop through our GS Council.

Did you decide to become a Yoga Elf?  Great job!!  You can print out the requirements and a certificate for your badge book!