Brownie Inventor Badge

There are five steps to the Brownie "Inventor" badge.  They are:

1. Warm up your inventor's mind
2. Find lots of ways to solve the same problem
3. Make a needs list
4. Solve a problem
5. Share your invention

1. Warm up your inventor's mind: Come up with fun and different things you can make from circles.
Using the Think in Circles exercise in the badge workbook, Maya created circles!  Lots of circles!

2. Find lots of ways to solve the same problem: Making music. 
With her brothers, Maya created music from a variety of household items.  They:
tapped spoons together,
banged pots and pans,
banged lid tops,
knocked spoons against the wall,
strummed runner bands,
knocked lids against pots,
tapped chopsticks together,
hit wooden spoons against each other,
closed doors of cabinets to the beat of a song,
tapped water glasses with spoons,
turned a metal bowl upside down and tapped with hands for drums

3. Make a needs list: Mornings.
Maya created a list of things for her parents based on their morning routines and what they need to get done each morning.

4. Solve a problem: Mind Map.
Using the Mind Map exercise in the badge workbook, Maya identified a household problem (a broken cabinet door in the kitchen) and created solution ideas.

5. Share your invention: Draw it.
Maya drew out her idea for how to fix the kitchen cabinets and discussed it with her dad.  They talked about why the wood glue was a good idea but that, due to the type of break and age of the cabinet, that her plan wouldn't work and new cabinets need to be bought.