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Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Pottery
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Pottery is the art of shaping moist clay and transforming it through intense heat in a kiln. You will learn about clay bodies, drying stages, and chemical glazes. Requirement 5 is the workshop test: throwing or hand-building two functional vessels, decorating them, and seeing them through bisque and glaze firings to completion.
Key Requirements Covered:
- Clay Properties & Preparation
- Hand-Building: Pinch, Coil & Slab Construction
- Wheel Throwing & Centering Techniques
- Kiln Firing, Underglazes & Glazing
5Printable Pages
8Requirements
2009Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Pottery Requirements
Every requirement for the Pottery merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Kiln Safety
Explain to your counselor the precautions that must be followed for the safe use and operation of a potter's tools, equipment, and other materials.
2Clay Bodies and Potter's Wheels
Do the following:
- a Explain the properties and ingredients of a good clay body for the following:
- b Tell how three different kinds of potter's wheels work.
3Two Drawings of Pottery Forms
Make two drawings of pottery forms, 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.
4Pottery Terms
Explain the meaning of the following pottery terms: bat, wedging, throwing, leather hard, bone dry, greenware, bisque, terra-cotta, grog, slip, score, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, pyrometric cone, and glaze.
5Make and Decorate Pottery
Do the following: Each piece is to be painted, glazed, or otherwise decorated by you.
- a Make a slab pot, a coil pot, and a pinch pot.
- b Make a human or animal figurine or decorative sculpture.
- c Throw a functional form on a potter's wheel.
- d Help an experienced adult to load and fire a kiln OR describe in detail how to load and fire a kiln.
6The Ceramic Industry
Explain the scope of the ceramic industry in the United States. Tell some things made other than craft pottery.
7Option Selection
With your parent or guardian's permission and your counselor's approval, do ONE of the following:
- a Visit the kiln yard at a local college or other craft school. Learn how the different kinds of kilns work, including low fire electric, gas or propane high fire, wood or salt/soda, and raku.
- b Visit a museum, art exhibit, art gallery, artists' co-op, or artist's studio that features pottery. After your visit, share with your counselor what you have learned.
- c Using resources from the library, magazines, the internet (with your parent or guardian's permission), and other outlets, learn about the historical and cultural importance of pottery. Share what you discovered with your counselor.
8Careers
Find out about career opportunities in pottery. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Pottery requirements in 2009. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/pottery/ 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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