Our amazing Junior Girl Scouts troop recently earned their Detective badge with a spooky twist. They seemed to really enjoy the activities so I wanted to share!
The Detective badge really focuses on being observant, following clues, and discovering facts. The five steps for the badge include:
- Practicing the power of observation
- Communicating in code
- Understanding Fingerprints
- Trying out detective science
- Following the clues of a real mystery
Because we had this meeting in October, I really wanted to add a spooky twist on it…which the girls seemed to really enjoy!
Step 1: Practicing the Power of Observation
To achieve step one, we did a quick “spot the difference” worksheet, linked here. This task was simple as it just required the worksheets and markers. After a few minutes, I opened for a discussion for the girls to talk about what they caught, their strategies, etc.
Step 2: Communicating in Code
For this step, we attempted invisible ink! I gave each girl a white sheet of paper and a couple of q-tips. I then had lemon juice that they could dip their q-tips in to write their secret note. Each girl was assigned to write a note to their friend to their left. In an ideal world, setting them out in the sun would have created the heat necessary to see their message…but for whatever reason, it didn’t work for us. This really helped us with a discussion as several of the girls had done this activity before so we talked about other ways to get the message to be visible to include hair dryers, ovens, etc.
Step 3: Fingerprint for Fun
This was my favorite step! Each girl was given a white balloon and then took their turn with the inkpad. They inked their thumb, placed it on their white balloon, and then we gave them a baby wipe to clean their thumb. Once everyone had inked their balloon, the girls blew them up to see their fingerprint in a much larger way. They were able to compare their fingerprints to others, identify differences, and really appreciate the uniqueness of our fingerprints.
Side note, make sure to remind the girls to not blow their balloons up and then let it loose on a friend. This would be a great way to spread COVID and other fun germs…and there is no need to cover anyone in the vid! 🙂
Step 4: Trying out detective science
For this step, we really just opened up for discussion on different types of tools or sciences that detectives use to solve mysteries. We talked about evidence, magnifying glasses, DNA, and handwriting detection or graphology.
Step 5: Following the clues of a real mystery
For this step, the girls went on a spooky scavenger hunt around their school’s playground. I found an amazing hunt with clues online, linked here. I printed their clues and found Halloween decorations from around my house to match. I arrived to their meeting early and had them all hidden before the girls arrived. The treat at the end was, of course, candy!
I had hid the clues in all corners of the playground so they were running back and forth…which was great to get some physical activity in as well! 🙂
This was a really fun badge to put together and very easy to conduct outside safely with COVID-19 restrictions. I was nervous that the girls would think it was lame but they seemed to enjoy it! See their awesome smiling faces! (And a silly photo bomber little brother in the background…smh!)