Have your girls ever been interested in robot development? If your looking for ideas to learn how to create and design, build and program, and later present and show off a robot with your girls, you have come to the right place. Using some of these activities below to teach your girls how to present their robots and participate in robotics competitions. Below are a few ideas to get you started.

We partnered with CodeSpeak Labs, which specializes in computer science education for kids, to bring you these resources.

Before jumping into some ideas, do you want to skip all the planning? If so, use this Activity Booklet with presentation activities and competitions that teach girls how to showcase robots. These activities include making a slideshow, presenting, and doing a robot competition. With step-by-step activities, you can’t ask for a easier way to run your meeting. Learn more and get yours today!

Be sure to also checkout these other activities your girls will love:

• Create And Design Robots Activities
• Build And Program Robots Activities

Improv– short for improvisation– might seem like an odd recommendation for a robotics badge, but it’s a great way for the girls to warm up to performing and presenting.

Here’s an example activity called 7 ­Things:

• Girls stand in a circle. One girl begins by asking another girl by name to list 7 things that ______. The question that fills in the blank should be simple and easy (i.e. things you bring to beach, things you eat for breakfast, etc.).
• The rest of the people in the circle simultaneously shout “Ahhhh!”, in anticipation of the answers, and then proceed to shout “Yes!” after each answer.
• The circle of girls will count the seven answers and will clap to indicate the end of the round.
• The girl who just answered will then ask a new 7 things that ____ to another student in the circle by name.

Whatever improv activity you do, here’s some key things to keep in mind:

• Get the girls used to saying things out loud.
• No wrong answers.
• Practice supporting each other (Instead of rejecting things, always use “Yes, and…”).
• Continue until all students have gone.

This great video explains the relationship between software and the hardware it controls. Robots are an example of hardware.

This is actually part of a series of videos made by Code.org. If you have more time, continue to explore the other videos on YouTube.

One awesome feature of these videos is they include lots of female engineers!

Many robotics competitions for older students use LEGO Mindstorms robots. This LEGO Boost robot is like its younger sibling.

It’s great for younger kids who love LEGO because they can build 5 different robots using the same set of blocks. There are many pieces (847!), so it’s a lot to keep track of.

You use their app on a tablet and put together coding blocks to program the robots. It’s entirely visual, which can be fun but frustrating at times when there are icons that aren’t as intuitive.

It’s $140 on Amazon, which is a lot less expensive than the LEGO Mindstorms set.

If you don’t want to spend the money to buy equipment or spend time planning, our Activity Booklet has step-by-step instructions on how to design robots. All you need are pencils and paper!

Well of course give them the badge to display proudly on their vest, they earned it! You could also do a fun patch. Here is a real cute one:

Additionally If you are like many leaders we want to award our girls when they complete something even beyond just the patch. One great way to show achievement is with a certificate. Don’t worry you don’t have to make them, I found a resource that has done all the work for you and all you have to do is print them and customize the certificates with each girl’s name, badge or award earned, date, and troop leader. Editable certificates perfect for awarding girls after earning a badge.

If you have a multi-level troop you may want to use one of the variations to this program that is geared toward the age of your girls.

K – 1st grade activities:

• Create And Design Robots Activities
• Making Robot Move Activities
• Life Of A Robot Activities

4th – 5th grade activities:

• Creating And Designing Robots Activities
• Build And Program Robots Activities
• Present And Show Off Robots Activities

6th – 8th grade activities:

• Create And Design Robots Activities
• Build And Program Robots Activities
• Present and Show Off Robots Activities

9th – 10th grade activities:

• Create And Design Robots Activities
• Build And Program Robots Activities
• Present And Show Off Robots Activities

11th – 12th grade activities

• Create And Design Robots Activities
• Build And Program Robots Activities
• Present And Show Off Robots Activities

This Leader Planner is from another amazing blogger named Jen her blog is called “I am StrawjenBerry” With the help of Jen I wrote a blog post explaining everything you will get in this planner. It has everything you need to plan your troop year. The planner contains your calendar, meeting planners, rosters and badge trackers in one safe place for when you need it. Read more