Boy Scout Joining Requirements
Boy Scout Joining Requirements
The rank requirements in this book are official as of Jan. 1, 2015. If a Scout has started work toward a rank before that date using requirements that were current before Jan. 1, 2015, except as noted below, he may complete that rank using the old requirements. Any progress toward a rank that is begun after Jan. 1, 2015, must use the requirements as they are presented in this Boy Scout Requirements book.
For a Scout to earn the Eagle rank on or after Jan. 1, 2014, he must have earned the Cooking merit badge.
Meet the age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old.
Find a Scout troop near your home.
Complete a Boy Scout application and health history signed by your parent or guardian.
Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.
Demonstrate the Scout sign, salute, and handshake.
Demonstrate tying the square knot (a joining knot).
Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath, Scout Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code.
Describe the Scout badge.
Complete the pamphlet exercises. With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide.
Participate in a Scoutmaster conference. Turn in your Boy Scout application and health history form signed by your parent or guardian, then participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
Merit Badge Library
If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition for that pamphlet is introduced, he should continue to use the same merit badge pamphlet to earn the badge and fulfill the requirements therein. In other words, the Scout need not start all over again with the new pamphlet and possibly revised requirements.
- American Business, 35850 – 2002
- American Cultures, 35851 – 2005
- American Heritage, 35852 – 2005
- American Labor, No. 35853 – 2006
Scout Oath (or Promise)
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight
Introduction to Merit Badges
This is a sample of the Merit Badge Sash and how you would display your Merit Badges as they are earned.
You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business, and future careers as you earn merit badges. There are more than 100 merit badges. Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time. You don’t need to have had rank advancement to be eligible.
Pick a Subject. Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.
Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or sister or other relative, or a friend.
Call the Counselor. Get a signed merit badge application from your Scoutmaster. Get in touch with the merit badge counselor and tell him or her that you want to earn the merit badge. The counselor may ask to meet you to explain what is expected of you and to start helping you meet the requirements. You should also discuss work that you have already started or possibly completed.
Unless otherwise specified, work for a requirement can be started at any time. Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to know or do. You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. Many troops and school or public libraries have them.
Show Your Stuff. When you are ready, call the counselor again to make an appointment to meet the requirements. When you go take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. If they are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writing what you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirement to make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the things required.
Get the Badge. When the counselor is satisfied that you have met each requirement, he or she will sign your application. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so that your merit badge emblem can be secured for you.
Requirements. You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated—no more and no less. You are expected to do exactly what is stated in the requirements. If it says “show or demonstrate,” that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn’t enough. The same thing holds true for such words as “make,” “list,” “in the field,” and “collect,” “identify,” and “label.”
The requirements listed in this publication are the official requirements of the Boy Scouts of America. However, the requirements on the following pages might not match those in the Boy Scout Handbookand the merit badge pamphlets, because this publication is updated only on an annual basis.
If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition of the pamphlet is introduced, he should continue to use the same merit badge pamphlet and fulfill the requirements therein to earn the badge. He need not start all over again with the new pamphlet and possibly revised requirements.
Merit Badge Review
To provide the Scouting experience to as many boys as possible, we consider the diversity of the Scouts we serve regarding region, economics, ethnicity, and social and religious background.
While the pamphlet is not required for the Scout to earn the merit badge, it helps the counselor to know what the Scout may be studying and the level of learning expected of the Scout. Many of the merit badge pamphlets contain suggested projects and other activities or demonstrations to help the Scout fulfill the requirements or to stimulate other ideas from the Scout and his merit badge counselor. Each book also contains a helpful resources section.
For official requirements, the current-year Boy Scout Requirements book takes precedence. However, once a Scout has started working on a merit badge, he may stay with the requirements in effect when he started. He will not be required to meet newly introduced changes unless the BSA’s National Council places a specific timeline on the implementation of new requirements.
Scout Law
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.
SMC Worksheets
Tenderfoot Rank Worksheet
Scout Rank Worksheet
Second-Class Worksheet
First-Class Worksheet
Star Scout Worksheet
Life Rank Worksheet
Leadership Positions
The following leadership positions count toward Boy Scout advancement. For more information, see the Senior Patrol Leader Handbook (#32501) and Patrol Leader Handbook (#32502A).
Troop Postions of Responsibility:
BSA Handbook
Parent Guide/Handbook
WELCOME to the Troop 88 Scouting family.
Please click on the link below to open up the Parent Guide/Handbook in a new window. You will also be able to download it to your computer after you open it.
Parent Guide/Handbook
Boy Scout Joining Requirements
Boy Scout Joining Requirements
The rank requirements in this book are official as of Jan. 1, 2015. If a Scout has started work toward a rank before that date using requirements that were current before Jan. 1, 2015, except as noted below, he may complete that rank using the old requirements. Any progress toward a rank that is begun after Jan. 1, 2015, must use the requirements as they are presented in this Boy Scout Requirements book.
For a Scout to earn the Eagle rank on or after Jan. 1, 2014, he must have earned the Cooking merit badge.
Meet the age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old.
Find a Scout troop near your home.
Complete a Boy Scout application and health history signed by your parent or guardian.
Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.
Demonstrate the Scout sign, salute, and handshake.
Demonstrate tying the square knot (a joining knot).
Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath, Scout Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code.
Describe the Scout badge.
Complete the pamphlet exercises. With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide.
Participate in a Scoutmaster conference. Turn in your Boy Scout application and health history form signed by your parent or guardian, then participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
Introduction to Merit Badges
This is a sample of the Merit Badge Sash and how you would display your Merit Badges as they are earned.
You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business, and future careers as you earn merit badges. There are more than 100 merit badges. Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time. You don’t need to have had rank advancement to be eligible.
Pick a Subject. Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.
Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or sister or other relative, or a friend.
Call the Counselor. Get a signed merit badge application from your Scoutmaster. Get in touch with the merit badge counselor and tell him or her that you want to earn the merit badge. The counselor may ask to meet you to explain what is expected of you and to start helping you meet the requirements. You should also discuss work that you have already started or possibly completed.
Unless otherwise specified, work for a requirement can be started at any time. Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to know or do. You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. Many troops and school or public libraries have them.
Show Your Stuff. When you are ready, call the counselor again to make an appointment to meet the requirements. When you go take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. If they are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writing what you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirement to make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the things required.
Get the Badge. When the counselor is satisfied that you have met each requirement, he or she will sign your application. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so that your merit badge emblem can be secured for you.
Requirements. You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated—no more and no less. You are expected to do exactly what is stated in the requirements. If it says “show or demonstrate,” that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn’t enough. The same thing holds true for such words as “make,” “list,” “in the field,” and “collect,” “identify,” and “label.”
The requirements listed in this publication are the official requirements of the Boy Scouts of America. However, the requirements on the following pages might not match those in the Boy Scout Handbookand the merit badge pamphlets, because this publication is updated only on an annual basis.
If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition of the pamphlet is introduced, he should continue to use the same merit badge pamphlet and fulfill the requirements therein to earn the badge. He need not start all over again with the new pamphlet and possibly revised requirements.
Merit Badge Library
Though intended as an aid to Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and qualified Venturers in meeting merit badge requirements, these pamphlets are of general interest and are made available by many schools and public libraries. The latest revision date of each pamphlet might not correspond with the copyright date shown below, because this list is corrected only once a year, in January. Any number of merit badge pamphlets may be revised throughout the year; others are simply reprinted until a revision becomes necessary.
If a Scout has already started working on a merit badge when a new edition for that pamphlet is introduced, he should continue to use the same merit badge pamphlet to earn the badge and fulfill the requirements therein. In other words, the Scout need not start all over again with the new pamphlet and possibly revised requirements.
| § American Business, No. 35850 – 2002
§ American Cultures, No. 35851 – 2005 § American Heritage, No. 35852 – 2005 § American Labor, No. 35853 – 2006 |
Merit Badge Review
There are 121 merit badges in the merit badge program. Each one has a corresponding merit badge pamphlet, and the series is written with the 12-year-old Boy Scout in mind. In addition, the pamphlets are designed for a very broad audience of Scouts. The pamphlets are available from Scouting retailers, or may be ordered online at http://www.scoutstuff.org/.
To provide the Scouting experience to as many boys as possible, we consider the diversity of the Scouts we serve regarding region, economics, ethnicity, and social and religious background.
While the pamphlet is not required for the Scout to earn the merit badge, it helps the counselor to know what the Scout may be studying and the level of learning expected of the Scout. Many of the merit badge pamphlets contain suggested projects and other activities or demonstrations to help the Scout fulfill the requirements or to stimulate other ideas from the Scout and his merit badge counselor. Each book also contains a helpful resources section.
For official requirements, the current-year Boy Scout Requirements book takes precedence. However, once a Scout has started working on a merit badge, he may stay with the requirements in effect when he started. He will not be required to meet newly introduced changes unless the BSA’s National Council places a specific timeline on the implementation of new requirements.
Click here to visit the Merit Badge Section.