Skating Merit Badge

Seventy steps drawn so the four options of requirement 2 can be compared before one is chosen, because the published page prints them as one long list and never says that they differ in size, in season, in what has to be booked or bought, or in whether they need a facility at all. Answering the question empties the page of the three options not taken.

3 steps (68 parts inside them). 66 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Skating Merit Badge

No questions answered

This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 2 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.

Which of this applies to you

You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 2 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.

Answer the questions

The steps

Stage 1 of 3

1 step

1. Hazards and first aid, the only work every option shares Requirement

Two parts, both explanations, neither of them on skates. This is the whole of what a Scout doing the ice rink and a Scout doing the skatepark have in common, and it is the part that can be prepared at home before anybody decides which option to take.
2 parts
- 1(a). The hazards, and four things to do about each Often forgotten
- 1(b). Ten injuries and illnesses, and first aid for each Often forgotten

Stage 2 of 3

1 step

2. One of four options, and it decides the rest of the badge Often forgotten Requirement

ICE SKATING, ROLLER SKATING, IN-LINE SKATING OR SKATEBOARDING. Not two of them, not a bit of each. The stem also carries a condition that is easy to miss and applies to every step underneath: all of this is done working under the supervision of an experienced adult.

ONE SENTENCE ABOVE THE OPTIONS GOVERNS EVERY STEP BELOW THEM, AND IT IS STATED ONCE. "Working under the supervision of an experienced adult, do ONE of the following options." That condition is not attached to the first item on the list, and it is not repeated anywhere inside any option. It applies to all fifty seven steps underneath it, on whichever option is chosen, including the ones that are explanations rather than skating. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT IS THAT NO PART OF REQUIREMENT 2 IS HOMEWORK. Requirement 1 can be prepared alone at the kitchen table; nothing in requirement 2 can. Somebody experienced has to be present, and finding that person is part of choosing the option.

WHAT DECIDES THIS ANSWER IS WHERE YOU CAN GET TO, NOT WHICH SPORT YOU LIKE, AND THE PAGE NEVER SAYS SO. Ice Skating needs an ice rink, with opening hours, admission and usually hired skates. Roller Skating needs a roller rink, on the same terms. Skateboarding needs a built skatepark, because one of its steps asks you to drop in from coping and there is no version of that in a driveway. IN-LINE SKATING IS THE ONLY OPTION THAT NEEDS NO FACILITY AT ALL: flat pavement, a gentle slope and a curb, all of which exist within a short walk of most homes. AND IT IS ALSO THE LONGEST, at sixteen steps against thirteen for the shortest. So the shortest list is not the least work once the travelling and the admission are counted, and the free option is the biggest one. That trade is invisible on the published page.
66 parts
- 2(A). Option A, Ice Skating Optional May not apply THIS IS THE ONLY OPTION WITH A SEASON IN IT, AND THE ONLY ONE THAT ASKS YOU TO RESCUE SOMEBODY. 2(A)(2) wants the preparations for skating outdoors on NATURAL ice and how to make an ICE RESCUE, and neither half of that can be picked up at an indoor rink, because neither situation exists there. Read it as a piece of knowledge to be studied rather than a skill to be practised, and expect a counselor to ask about thickness, about what you do not do, and about reaching rather than going. THE OTHER THIRTEEN STEPS ARE RINK WORK and a rink is a business: opening hours, public session times, admission and hired skates. Nine of the fourteen steps are on the ice, which is several visits rather than one, so find out when the public sessions are before this option is chosen.
- 2(A)(1). Safety and courtesy on the ice Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(2). Natural ice, and how to make an ice rescue Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(A)(3). The parts of an ice skate, by type Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(4). Carrying skates at the rink and in transit Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(5). Storing skates for a season Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(6). Forty feet forward, then a snowplow stop Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(7). Glide on two feet, then on each one Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(8). Stroking from a T position Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(A)(9). Glide backward, twice your own height Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(10). Skate backward twenty feet Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(11). A 180 around a cone, both ways Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(12). Forward crossovers, in a figure eight Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(13). The safety of racing, explained not done Optional May not apply
- 2(A)(14). A hockey stop Optional May not apply
- 2(B). Option B, Roller Skating Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(1). Safety and etiquette on the rink Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(2). The parts of a roller skate Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(3). Five steps of skate care Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(4). A hundred feet each way, and stopping Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(B)(5). Glide fifteen feet on each skate Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(6). A forward crossover Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(7). Backward, on two skates then on one Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(8). A forward slalom, two feet then one Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(9). A backward slalom Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(10). Once round the rink, bending twice Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(B)(11). Two spins, or a hop, skip and jump Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(12). A stepover Optional May not apply
- 2(B)(13). Forty feet with a ball, and back Optional May not apply Often forgotten THIS STEP NEEDS EQUIPMENT THE RINK MAY NOT HAVE. A basketball dribbled at least 40 feet and back, or a hockey ball pushed with a stick the same distance and back. A roller rink is not obliged to keep either, some do not allow balls on the floor during a public session at all, and a stick is less likely again. ASK BEFORE THE VISIT RATHER THAN ON THE NIGHT, and if the answer is no, bring the basketball yourself and check that bringing it is allowed. This is the only step in this option that depends on an object rather than on a skill.
- 2(C). Option C, In-Line Skating Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(1). Safety and courtesy on wheels Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(2). The parts of an in-line skate Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(3). Required gear, and recommended gear Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(C)(4). Four steps of skate care Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(5). A hundred feet of linked strokes Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(6). Glide fifteen feet on each skate Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(7). Stop on command, on the heel brake Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(C)(8). A forward crossover Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(9). Forty feet of forward swizzles Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(10). Forty feet of backward swizzles Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(11). A lunge turn, at speed, around an object Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(C)(12). A mohawk Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(13). Four one-footed slaloms, downhill Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(C)(14). Passing from behind Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(15). Three ways round something you did not see Optional May not apply
- 2(C)(16). On and off a curb, two ways described and one done Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D). Option D, Skateboarding Optional May not apply Often forgotten THIS OPTION ASKS YOU TO BUILD THE EQUIPMENT AND THEN TO USE A FACILITY, AND BOTH NEED ARRANGING BEFORE IT IS CHOSEN. 2(D)(7) is "build a board by assembling all pieces (deck, wheels, trucks, hardware, and grip tape) in the proper order", and it is THE ONLY STEP ON THE WHOLE BADGE THAT ASKS FOR ANYTHING TO BE BUILT. A complete board bought ready to ride has already had this done to it by somebody in a factory, so this requirement decides what gets purchased: parts, or a board that will be taken apart. 2(D)(13) IS THE OTHER ARRANGEMENT: dropping in from coping needs the steel lip along the top of a ramp or a bowl, which means a built skatepark and not a driveway, a car park or a kerb. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY OPTION WITH A CHOICE INSIDE IT, three trick families out of five, and two of those five need a rail, a ledge, a ramp or a bowl as well.
- 2(D)(1). The history of skateboarding Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(2). What skateboarding is good for Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(3). Right of way, signals and warnings Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(4). The gear, and wearing it correctly Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(5). Street and vert, and what is in a skatepark Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(6). The anatomy of a board Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(7). Build the board yourself Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(8). Keeping a board running Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(9). Regular or goofy, and which you are Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(10). Push, cruise and carve Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(11). Two ways to stop Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(12). An ollie, and a variation on it Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(13). Drop in from the coping Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(14). Three tricks, from five families Optional May not apply Often forgotten
- 2(D)(14)(a). Flat ground tricks Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(14)(b). Flip and shove-it tricks Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(14)(c). Grind and slide tricks Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(14)(d). Air and grab tricks Optional May not apply
- 2(D)(14)(e). Footplant tricks Optional May not apply

Stage 3 of 3

1 step

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. One of four options, and it decides the rest of the badge.

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.

This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.