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From Basketry to Robotics, merit badges are where Scouts meet the wider world. These posts share counselor tips, workbook debates, new badge announcements and the stories behind favorite badges.
637 posts · 2007–2020
24 posts
“Pioneering is practical and character building: the two essential ingredients of any program material for Scouts.” (Lord Baden-Powell) Pioneering Merit Badge, which as we all know used to be required for Eagle, should give Scouts a taste of pioneering! Of course they should be taught about safety and gain some general knowledge, but much more…
There's always more questions about merit badges… … then I have useful answers because the vast majority of problems with merit badges are structural rather than procedural. But I hate missing an opportunity for a good, old fashioned rant. Listen in while I climb on my soapbox and opine about what I think the problem is…
I was in the local Scout Shop last weekend and saw something new posted near the merit badges. There is an award called the Complete Angler that can be earned by Boy Scouts who love to fish. The requirements seem fairly simple.
The merit badge counselor is one of the coolest jobs in Scouting. These volunteers introduce Scouts to a topic about which they are passionate and knowledgable. At the very least, a merit badge counselor helps a young man earn a merit badge for his sash and get one step closer to the next rank.
Looking for merit badge counselors? Then the newest Scoutbook feature has the answer! At the National Annual Meeting in May, Scoutbook announced the creation of the Scoutbook Council Administrator position and three initial features connecting councils with Scoutbook units: A Messaging feature for Scoutbook units, available for leaders, parents, and youth (with youth accounts) Sharing…
Neil Armstrong wasn't your typical Boy Scout. While the other boys in Troop 25 out of Sandusky, Ohio, were horsing around at meetings and campouts, "Neil was buckling down to learning things like the flag semaphore code and first aid," one of his troopmates told Scouting magazine in our March-April 1970 issue.
The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have completed their weeklong summer camp for the year. Once again, the troop went to Many Point Scout Camp which is located northwest of Park Rapids in Minnesota. Only four Scouts of the troop attended camp because the older boys will be going on a high adventure trip…
Story by Lido Vizzutti of the Montana Council Scouts gather around a beaker of water and oil during a visual lesson in liquid viscosity in the Chemistry Course at Merit Badge University 4. (Photo credit: Lido Vizzutti) We are told to never stare directly into the sun – and for good reason.
You don't have to swing like Spieth or blast it like Bubba to earn the Golf merit badge. You do have to know about golf's rules, its equipment and its lingo. (Like: Was that a hook or a slice I just hit?
It's a question every Scout will face: Once I finish requirements for merit badges and rank advancement, who signs off? Is it the Scoutmaster? The merit badge counselor? My senior patrol leader? Mom or Dad? The answer is all of the above.
My scouts asked my to give a class on the Scouting Heritage Merit Badge, which I'm a counselor for. It's a great one since it teaches about the founders of Scouting in America and how the program has changed over the years.
Aside from Eagle Scout, merit badges are probably the most visible and iconic part of Scouting to those not involved in the program. "Did you get a merit badge for that?" is sometimes asked when someone does an extraordinarily good deed – a social currency akin to earning "brownie points" for anything from volunteering for
In honor of this week's release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I thought I'd share the top five merit badges Superman would have no trouble earning.
In honor of this week's release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I thought I'd share the top five merit badges Batman would have no trouble earning.
Troop 117: Merit Badges Earned in 2015 : The troop earned 117 merit badges by my count in 2015. The breakdown is shown in the image above.
The list of merit badges earned in 2015 is out. I updated my infographic on them. Mostly it is the same as last year, give or take 10% on any given badge. The top 13 are Eagle required, all being awarded over 47,000 times (which makes sense with over 50,000 Eagles being awarded each year).
The 2015 merit badge rankings are here, and the winner is clear. More Scouts earned one merit badge than any other, and it wasn't close.
The troop decided to add a "Game Day" to the calendar this year, which seemed like a great idea to me, particularly for a winter activity. I have a great passion for games of all sorts (my other pastime when not scouting, though that blog doesn't get the same love as this one), and even…
Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, there's a fourth way to earn the Snow Sports merit badge. Snowshoeing joins downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.
Requirements for the Eagle-required Cooking merit badge have been revised for 2016, with better organization, fewer redundancies and a focused approach.
I have recently accepted the position of advancement coordinator for Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68, so I have been checking out the 2013 Committee Guidebook to see what my new responsibilities will be, and how much work I have gotten myself into.
There's no official recommended order for earning merit badges. So which merit badge makes the best "first merit badge" for Scouts?
It's the job of the Merit Badge Maintenance Task Force to keep our current library of pamphlets and badge requirements up-to-date, relevant and fun.
The future is officially here. There are now 20 different interactive digital merit badge pamphlets available, including every Eagle-required merit badge.
