You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business, and future careers as you earn merit badges. There are more than 130 merit badges. Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time. You don't need to have had rank advancement to be eligible.
Pick a Subject. Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.
Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or sister or other relative, or a friend.
Call the Counselor. Get a signed merit badgeapplication from your Scoutmaster. Get in touch with the merit badgecounselor and tell him or her that you want to earn the merit badge. Thecounselor may ask to meet you to explain what is expected of you and tostart helping you meet the requirements. You should also discuss workthat you have already started or possibly completed.
Unless otherwise specified, work for a requirement can be started at any time.Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to know or do.You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. Many troopsand school or public libraries have them.
Show Your Stuff. When you are ready, call thecounselor again to make an appointment to meet the requirements. Whenyou go take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. Ifthey are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writingwhat you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirementto make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the thingsrequired.
Get the Badge. When the counselor is satisfiedthat you have met each requirement, he or she will sign yourapplication. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so thatyour merit badge emblem can be secured for you.
Requirements. You are expected to meet therequirements as they are stated—no more and no less. You are expected todo exactly what is stated in the requirements. If it says "show ordemonstrate," that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn'tenough. The same thing holds true for such words as "make," "list," "inthe field," and "collect," "identify," and "label."
The requirements listed here are the official requirements of theBoy Scouts of America. However, the requirements presented here mightnot match those in the Boy Scout Handbook and the merit badge pamphlets, because these requirements are updated only when the Boy Scout Requirements book is updated. The only significant difference is that as new merit badges are introduced, the requirements are posted here.
If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition of the pamphlet is introduced, he should continue to use the same merit badge pamphlet and fulfill the requirements therein to earn the badge. He need not start all over again with the new pamphlet and possibly revised requirements.
Merit Badge Requirements
Below is a list, in alphabetical order, of all of the current merit badge subjects. Click each subject to see the requirements for that merit badge.
The sites listed below have workbooks for all merit badges and are a very useful resource.
 | US Scouting Service Project http://usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/list.asp The USSSP is the largest collection of reference & resource material geared to the American Boy Scouting programs found on the internet's World Wide Web! We do this with your encouragement and support! |
 | MeritBadge.org meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Wiki to provide Scouting resources for all areas of scouting. Lists each of the Boy Scout ranks along with workbooks both in PDF and Word format. Also offers workbooks for merit badges and many other Scouting awards. Also, contains a discussion forum. |