All worksheets / Inventing
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Inventing guides you through the process of taking an original idea from a sketch to a working model. You will study patent history, analyze intellectual property, and interview someone who holds a patent. Requirement 7 is the core: designing, building, and testing a real prototype to solve an everyday problem you have identified yourself.
Every requirement for the Inventing merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
In your own words, define inventing. Then do the following:
Do ONE of the following:
Do the following:
Discuss with your counselor the types of inventions that are appropriate to share with others, and explain why. Tell your counselor about one unpatented invention and its impact on society.
Choose a commercially available product that you have used on an overnight camping trip with your troop. Make recommendations for improving the product, and make a sketch that shows your recommendations. Discuss your recommendations with your counselor.
Think of an item you would like to invent that would solve a problem for your family, troop, chartered organization, community, or a special-interest group. Then do the following, while keeping a notebook to record your progress.
Build a working prototype of the item you invented for requirement 6. Test and evaluate the invention. Among the aspects to consider in your evaluation are cost, usefulness, marketability, appearance, and function. Describe how your original vision and expectations for your invention are similar or dissimilar to the prototype you built. Have your counselor evaluate and critique your prototype.Note: Before you begin building the prototype, you must have your counselor's approval, based on the design and building plans you have already shared.
Do ONE of the following:
Discuss with your counselor the diverse skills, education, training, and experience it takes to be an inventor. Discuss how you can prepare yourself to be creative and inventive to solve problems at home, in school, and in your community. Discuss three career fields that might utilize the skills of an inventor.
Scouting America last revised the Inventing requirements in 2023. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/inventing/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
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