UPDATE ON GOLDIEBLOX KITS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING BADGES
November 2017

What is the availability of GoldieBlox kits?

Last year, GSUSA partnered with GoldieBlox to offer specially priced kits that troops could use to earn their Mechanical Engineering badges. Due to supply chain limitations, GSM can no longer order the kits at the special $99 Girl Scout price. Here is the current inventory status:

• Daisy kits – Out of stock. No more kits can be ordered. There are 137 backorders on kits that will not be satisfied. You will be notified by email if your order is cancelled.
• Brownie kits – GSM has a limited number of kits in stock. Orders will be processed on a first come, first served basis. Once the remaining kits have been sold, no more kits can be ordered.
• GSM will post an FAQ on the e-commerce site to inform customers of the inventory status.

How will girls earn their Mechanical Engineering badges if they don’t have GoldieBlox kits?

GSUSA is creating “unplugged” or “DIY” Mechanical Engineering badge requirements for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors. (“Unplugged” or “DIY” means that the activities can be done with common household objects rather than a special kit.)

Daisies and Brownies will have two options for earning their Mechanical Engineering badges:

• they can use the unplugged/DIY version.
• They can use GoldieBlox kits if they have them.

Juniors will use the unplugged/DIY badge requirements only. There are no GoldieBlox kits for Juniors.

How can volunteers and girls get the new DIY requirements?

PDFs of the new DIY requirements will be posted on the VTK by 1/31/18.

The PDFs will also be posted on the GSM e-commerce site for free download from 1/31/18 – 6/30/18. After that time, the fully designed badge booklets will be available for sale as either a downloadable or printed booklet.

How can volunteers get the current GoldieBlox requirements?

Troop leaders who have GoldieBlox kits can find the current GoldieBlox badge requirements on the VTK. The current GoldieBlox badge requirements and physical badges are not included in the GoldieBlox kits.

What about the physical badges?

The physical badges will remain the same for Daisies and Brownies. Juniors will have three new badges, which will be available by Back to Troop 2018.

And a final note…

We’re grateful to GoldieBlox for their collaboration and for their diligent efforts to find a solution to the inventory issue. As engineers say: Let’s try something new. We will either succeed or we will learn something. We succeeded in creating new STEM badges that are fun for girls to earn and easy for volunteers to facilitate. We learned a great deal about meeting demand for program-related products. We’ll use that knowledge as we continue to test new ways to give girls a great STEM experience.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions, please contact:

• GoldieBlox kit orders: shopcustomerservice@girlscouts.org
• Program: STEM@girlscouts.org