Junior Business Jump-Start Badge Activity

Activity Details

Time needed: 30–45 minutes

Materials needed:

• Materials to make or draw a prototype such as cardboard, paper, string, clean objects from your recycle bin, rubber bands, paper, pens, or crayons 

Setup: 

Most people feel a strong personal attachment to the town, neighborhood, or city that they call home. It is where we live, play, and spend most of our time. Our communities are almost like living things and they need new ideas in order to grow. 

You are going to come up with an idea that could help your community grow.

Activity: 

Entrepreneurs are people that solve problems to make our lives better. Sometimes they create something brand new and sometimes they look at familiar products and come up with improvements to make them even better.

Every entrepreneur starts with an idea! Ideas can come from observing your surroundings and being curious about how things work. Everyone has the ability to come up with an idea—it’s what you do to bring it to life that makes you an entrepreneur. 

How can you use your own creativity and imagination to improve something about your community?

Take out a sheet of paper and sit in a space that inspires your imagination. It could be next to a sunny window, under a tree, or at a nearby park. And if you can, taking a walk around your neighborhood might be an even better way to get your creativity flowing! As you sit or walk, ask yourself these questions:

• What do you love about your community? Is it a favorite park or bike path? Is there a way you could make it even better?
• Is there something that you would like your community to have that’s not already there?

Think about places like your local park, favorite store, or place of worship. Maybe you could come up with a way to make a playground more fun for kids with physical challenges or something that could make a street crossing safer. 

Now, choose one idea and build or draw a prototype! A prototype is a quick way to show your idea to others or to try it out. It can be as simple as a drawing, or it could be a 3D model made with things like cardboard, paper, string, rubber bands, or things you might find in a recycle bin. 

Use your imagination and be creative! You can work on your own, with a partner, or in a small group. Then share what you come up with!

Reflection

Think about these questions:

1. Is there a female entrepreneur you can talk to about how she developed her prototype for her product or tested her idea for her business?

2. What from this experience can you take into other parts of your life?

3. How can you share what you’ve learned with other girls?

Troop Leaders:  The instructions for all badge steps are available free of charge in your  Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.

Girl Scouts at Home activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming and optimized for use at home during a period of social distancing.

Adapted from Step 1 of the Junior Business Jumpstart badge. Purchase the badge booklet to complete all requirements and earn the badge. 
 

Made possible by a generous gift from Susan Bulkeley Butler, author of Become the CEO of You, Inc.