A Note from the Founder – Celebrating 19 Years of Curiosity – January 19, 2026
– Kerry Cordy
January 19 marks a milestone that means a lot to me personally—our 19th birthday.
Nineteen years ago, I sat at my kitchen table with a notebook, a dozen half-formed ideas, and the simple hope of creating a program that would help kids learn real skills, build character, and discover what they were capable of. I had no idea it would grow into a community of homeschoolers, troop leaders, families, and clubs across the country—all using curiosity as a catalyst for learning.
What started with a handful of badges and a tiny group of girls is now a program serving thousands, with more than 1,200 badges across every age level, new content every month, and leaders who bring the program to life in ways I never imagined.
If you’ve been with us from the early days, thank you for believing in this vision. If you’re new, welcome—you are helping shape what the next 19 years will look like.
Want to celebrate with us?
- Choose a badge you’ve never tried before
- Host a mini birthday party at your next meeting or homeschool day
- Write a letter to someone who inspired your learning this year
- Create a time capsule (and earn your Time Capsule Badge!)
- Send us a photo or memory from your journey with the program—we’d love to feature your story
Nineteen years is a long time for any grassroots program, and I’m incredibly grateful for every family who has chosen to learn with us. Here’s to another year of growth, exploration, and curiosity—untamed as ever.
New Badges Added
Ice Sculptures – Discover the beauty, skill, and science behind frozen art. Try your hand at simple sculpting, study famous ice festivals, or experiment with melting and refreezing techniques.
Perseverance – Build grit and determination through challenges that require effort, patience, and follow-through. This badge is all about sticking with it—even when it’s hard.
Battery Power – Explore how batteries work, test different types of battery-powered devices, and try building a simple battery from household materials.
Annual Badge Sale – All Month Long!
It’s time for our Annual January Badge Sale! For the entire month, all badges are 10% off, whether you’re stocking up for a new troop, finishing a unit study, or just getting a head start on the year.
This is the only site-wide badge sale we offer each year, so it’s a great time to:
- Bundle badge orders to save on shipping
- Print out your trackers and see what’s missing
- Let your kids pick a few they’re excited to try
Discount automatically applies at checkout—no code needed.
Leadership Spotlight: Snack Coordinator
Don’t underestimate the power of snacks to fuel a good meeting! The Snack Coordinator is in charge of organizing, preparing, or assigning snack duties for club or troop gatherings. Most create a snack rotation list and call to remind members when it is their turn to bring snack. If for some reason a member cannot bring snack, it is the snack coordinator’s job to find a substitute. This role teaches planning, nutrition awareness, communication, and teamwork.
Try rotating snack responsibilities monthly or by school semester depending on how often you meet. Make the term long enough for the child to learn the responsibility, but short enough that more kids get a chance to serve..
Beating the Mid-Winter Slump
January can be long. Kids feel stuck inside, schoolwork can feel stale, and everyone starts craving something new.
A few ideas to keep curiosity alive this month:
• Start a mystery badge every Monday without telling the kids what it is. Give clues daily based on activities and see if they can guess what the badge is by Friday.
• Plan an indoor Mini Olympics with events like sock skating and straw javelin. Track scores and celebrate efforts.
• Schedule a midwinter “mini awards night” to celebrate effort so far (See the Hot Cocoa ceremony below).
• Host an indoor campout and work on badges like Smores, Storytelling and Indoor Forts.
Small injections of novelty can lift everyone’s spirits and reignite momentum.
New Blog: Creative Ways to Combine Badges
One of the best parts of the Curiosity Untamed program is how flexible it is—but sometimes that flexibility can feel a little overwhelming. If you’ve ever stared at our massive badge list wondering where to begin, you’re not alone.
To help make planning easier, I’ve just added a new blog post featuring over 20 themed badge collections, each with five badges that work well together. These curated collections are designed to help you plan engaging multi-badge projects that connect naturally across subjects and skills.
Whether you’re exploring the stars, diving into ancient cultures, or getting hands-on with practical life skills, these collections help kids see how topics interconnect—and give you an easy way to turn curiosity into deeper learning.
A few examples from the blog:
- Moon and Stars: Astronomy, Planets, Lunar Science/Moon, Aurora Borealis, Alien Life
- Leadership in Real Life: Take the Lead, Teamwork, Responsibility, Confidence, Attentiveness
- Lights, Camera, Create: Animation, Stop Motion Animation, Digital Movie Making, Drama, Story Telling
Check out the full list and get inspired to combine your badges into something bigger.
Ceremony Idea: Hot Cocoa & Highlights
Creative way to present awards in January
Host a low-key winter ceremony with a cozy theme. Invite members and families to bring a mug, and serve hot cocoa with optional toppings. (Try working on your Hot Chocolate Badge too!)
Set up a small display area with each member’s completed badges, photos from the past season, or quotes about what they’ve learned. As you present awards, share short reflections or anecdotes—either from leaders or the kids themselves.
Optional: If you are working on your Perseverence badge add a “Perseverance Wall” where each child writes something they stuck with, even when it was hard.
Community Service: Perseverance Through Volunteering
Use the Perseverance badge as a launch point for community service this month. Many organizations are short-staffed after the holidays, and committing to help regularly—even when it’s inconvenient—is a perfect way to put perseverance into action.
Ideas:
- Commit to cleaning a park once a week for a month.
- Volunteer at a local shelter or food bank with a regular shift.
- Set a service goal (e.g., 10 hours in January) and track progress.
Encourage kids to reflect on what made it hard and what made it worth it.
Perseverance – The “Tower Challenge”
Perseverance is best learned through real effort—not lectures. This activity gives kids a physical, measurable way to practice sticking with something that doesn’t work the first time.
Supplies Needed
• A stack of 3×5 index cards
• A timer
• A notebook or worksheet for recording attempts
Challenge Overview
Kids build a free standing tower using only index cards. No glue, no scissors—just folding, stacking, testing, and trying again.
The tower will fail. That’s the point. The lesson grows each time they rebuild.
Instructions
1. Set the Goal
Explain:
“You’re going to build a 2 foot tall tower in 5 minutes using only index cards. You can fold them or keep them flat. It may not work on the first try. Your job is to keep trying, make adjustments, and improve each time.” If 2 feet is too easy, set a higher goal, but keep the 5 minute mark.
2. First Attempt – 5 Minutes
Start the timer. Let kids build without help. When time’s up, measure the tower and write down the height.
3. Reflect Briefly
Ask:
• What worked?
• What fell apart quickly?
• What would you change?
Kids record one sentence or draw a quick sketch.
4. Repeat until the height goal is met.
Encourage small adjustments—new bases, new folds, different stacking shapes. Record the height of each 5 minute attempt.
6. Final Comparison
Look at all measurements. Talk about what changed and why each attempt was stronger. Now that they met one height goal, do they think they could make it taller and still stay within 5 minutes? How would having more time allow them to build higher?
Optional: Instead of a set height goal, set a time limit of 30 minutes and challenge them to create the tallest tower they can. Discuss how each time it falls, they learn something that can help them make it taller or stronger.
What Kids Learn
• Persistence produces better results
• Failure is data they can use
• Improving over time builds confidence
• Small adjustments lead to big gains
Perfect not only for the Perseverance Badge, but also for Engineering, and Physics Badges as well.
