Pottery Merit Badge
Get your hands muddy with a Registered Merit Badge Counselor.
Earn your badge. It's completely free.
Los Padres Council · Cuesta & Pacific Coast Districts · Arroyo Grande, CA
Official BSA Pottery Merit Badge page →Forget Play-doh. This is pottery. Real clay, a real wheel, a real kiln. You'll build things with your hands, make a glorious mess, and walk away with actual finished pieces and your Pottery Merit Badge.
Completely Free
No cost. Ever. Clay, tools, glazes, and kiln firings are all covered. You just show up ready to learn and have fun.
Small Groups — Max 4 Scouts
My small studio limits the sessions to only 4 scouts at a time. With coziness comes lots of attention and everyone gets real hands-on time at the wheel and the worktable.
You Actually Make Stuff
Slab pots. Coil pots. Sculptures. A thrown cylinder on the potter's wheel. You'll create real pieces — glazed, fired, and yours to keep.
Every Requirement, Covered
The sessions are designed to check off all 8 merit badge requirements — but you'll be having too much fun to notice.
Meet Your Counselor
Hi, I'm Johanna — a registered Pottery Merit Badge Counselor with Scouting America's Los Padres Council, serving the Cuesta and Pacific Coast Districts.
Working with scouts to earn their badge is one of my favorite things to do. There is absolutely no charge for scouts to work with me — clay, tools, glaze, and kiln firings are all included. All I ask is that you show up ready to get your hands dirty and have fun.
View the official Pottery Merit Badge page on scouting.org →A Few Important Things to Know
An Adult Stays
for Each Session, Always
At least one parent, guardian, or Registered Scouting Adult must be present for every session. Please don't think of this as just a rule. It's a chance to watch your scout do something genuinely creative. Please plan to stay and enjoy the process!
Plan for
at Least 2 Hours
Clay doesn't rush, and neither do we! Each session needs time for learning the topics of the day and actually getting your hands in the clay to build something real. Two hours goes fast when you're having fun, so come ready to dig in and stay a while.
Guided Sessions to
Earn Your Badge
Clay takes time to turn into amazing ceramic pieces. Typically it takes a week for a clay project to be ready to glaze. I've set up this Merit Badge Program to work through all 8 badge requirements across 5 guided sessions. But we can work together to set up a schedule that works for everyone.
The 8 Badge Requirements
Here's a summary of what scouts need to complete. Download the full requirements sheet below.
1 Safety
Explain the precautions that must be followed for the safe use and operation of a potter's tools, equipment, and other materials.
2 Clay Bodies
Explain the properties and ingredients of a good clay body for hand-building and wheel-throwing. Tell how three different kinds of potter's wheels work.
3 Form Styles
Make two drawings of pottery forms on 8½×11" paper: one based on a historical pottery style and one of your own design.
4 Materials, Methods & Tools
Explain the meaning of key pottery terms: terra-cotta, earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, greenware, leather hard, bone dry, bisque, pyrometric cone, grog, slip, score, glaze, wedging, throwing, bat.
5 Create Your Own Forms
Make a slab pot, a coil pot, and a pinch pot. Make a figurine or sculpture. Throw a functional form on the potter's wheel. Help load and fire a kiln, or describe how it's done.
6 Ceramics Beyond Pottery & Art
Explain the scope of the ceramic industry in the United States and describe things made from ceramics other than craft pottery.
7 Ceramics Arts in the Big World
With parent/guardian permission, do ONE: visit a kiln yard or craft school; visit a museum, gallery, or artist's studio featuring pottery; or research the historical and cultural importance of pottery and share findings.
8 Working in Ceramics
Find out about career opportunities in pottery. Pick one and learn about the education, training, and experience required, then discuss it with your counselor.
How We Get There: Guided Sessions
This is a good template for completing all 8 badge requirements across 5 sessions, with each session building on the last. That said, every scout is different and we can adjust the pace and schedule as needed to make it work for all of us.
1 Studio Safety + Slab Project
- General ceramics & studio safety (Req #1)
- Create a slab pot, glazed & decorated by you (Req #5a)
- Learn key terms: greenware, leather hard, bone dry, bisque, grog, slip, score (Req #4)
2 Pinch Pot, Coil Pot + Load the Kiln
- Review terms & safety from Session 1
- Create a pinch pot and a coil pot (Req #5a)
- Optional: glaze your slab project
- Learn clay types: terra-cotta, earthenware, stoneware, and glaze (Req #4)
- Help load the kiln, kiln safety covered too (Req #5d)
3 Sculpture + Wheel Introduction
- Review clay types, glaze, pyrometric cones, and kiln safety
- Optional: glaze coil or pinch project
- Create a figurine or sculpture (Req #5b)
- Wheel safety, wedging, throwing, and bat definitions (Reqs #1 & #4)
- Learn best clays for sculpture vs. wheel (Req #2)
- Practice centering clay on the wheel (Req #5c)
4 Throw on the Wheel
- Final review of safety, definitions, and clay bodies. All checked off!
- Practice centering, try throwing a cylinder, shape it into a finished form (Req #5c)
- Optional: trim pre-thrown forms; glaze your sculpture
5 Complete the Remaining Requirements
- Show counselor your two pottery drawings (Req #3)
- Explain the scope of the ceramic industry (Req #6)
- Share your field visit or research findings (Req #7)
- Discuss a ceramics career with your counselor (Req #8)
- Optional: glaze your wheel forms
Ready to Earn Your Badge?
Before we get started, one quick question:
Have you talked to your troop leader about your interest in earning the Pottery Merit Badge?
Let's Get Those Hands Muddy
No experience needed. Just a Scout, some clay, and a lot of curiosity.
Get Started