Pottery Merit Badge

1. Safety with a potter's tools, equipment and materials Requirement

The precautions that must be followed for their safe use and operation, explained to your counselor.

2. Clay bodies and potter's wheels Requirement

Explain (a) the properties and ingredients of a good clay body for (1) making sculpture using the hand-building method and (2) throwing on the wheel; tell (b) how three different kinds of potter's wheels work.

3. Two drawings of pottery forms Requirement

Each on an 8½-by-11-inch sheet of paper. One must be a historical pottery style; the other must be of your own design.

4. Sixteen pottery terms Requirement

Explain bat, wedging, throwing, leather hard, bone dry, greenware, bisque, terra-cotta, grog, slip, score, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, pyrometric cone and glaze.

5. Make pottery, and decorate every piece Requirement

Four parts. Each piece is to be painted, glazed or otherwise decorated by you.

4 parts

• 5(a). A slab pot, a coil pot and a pinch pot
• 5(b). A human or animal figurine, or a decorative sculpture
• 5(c). Throw a functional form on a potter's wheel Often forgotten
• 5(d). Load and fire a kiln, or describe how

6. The ceramic industry in the United States Requirement

Explain its scope, and tell some things made other than craft pottery.

7. Explore pottery. Do ONE Often forgotten Requirement

The badge states the choice, with your parent or guardian's permission and your counselor's approval.

3 parts

• 7(a). Visit a kiln yard at a local college or craft school Optional May not apply
• 7(b). Visit a place that features pottery Optional May not apply
• 7(c). The historical and cultural importance of pottery Optional May not apply

8. A career in pottery Requirement

Find out about career opportunities in pottery. Pick one and find out the education, training and experience required. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 2. Clay bodies and potter's wheels, 3. Two drawings of pottery forms and 5 others.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.