Pottery is shaping clay into useful and beautiful things, a craft people have done for thousands of years. You'll learn about clay, tools, and kilns, then make your own pieces. It's messy, creative, and a lot of fun.
Why it's worth it
Pottery is one of the oldest crafts people have, and the bowl you make can last for centuries. Working with clay teaches patience: you'll learn to center clay on a wheel, build walls that don't collapse, and plan a piece through drying, firing, and glazing. Along the way you'll see how the same material becomes coffee mugs, bathroom tiles, spark plugs, and the heat shields on spacecraft. And at the end you'll have something useful that you made with your own hands.
Start this week
- Get a small block of air-dry or modeling clay and make a pinch pot this week to get a feel for the material.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Pottery counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- With a parent, look up community art centers, school art rooms, or studios near you that have wheels, kilns, and youth classes.
- Look around your home for ceramic objects, like mugs, tiles, and sinks, and list as many as you can find.
Plan ahead: Pieces for requirement 5 need days or weeks to dry before firing, then more time for glazing and a second firing. Start making them early and work on the other requirements while they dry.
Stay safe
- Clean up with a damp sponge or mop instead of sweeping, since dry clay dust is bad to breathe.
- Only trained adults load and fire kilns. Wash your hands after using glazes, and don't eat or drink in the studio.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Explain to your counselor the precautions for safely using a potter's tools, equipment, and materials
Tip: Learn how to use tools and kilns safely, and keep dust down by cleaning with a damp sponge.
- Requirement 2
Clay and wheels
Tips for this section: Feel different kinds of clay and watch someone use a potter's wheel.
Example for this section: Compare clay for sculpture and clay for the wheel: sculpture clay often has grog to make it strong and keep it from cracking as it dries, while throwing clay is smoother so it stretches without tearing. Then explain how a kick wheel, a treadle wheel, and an electric wheel each spin.
- Requirement 2a
A good clay body
- Requirement 2a1
Explain what makes a good clay body for hand-built sculpture: its properties and what goes into it
- Requirement 2a2
Explain what makes a good clay body for throwing on the wheel: its properties and what goes into it
- Requirement 2b
Tell how three kinds of potter's wheels each work
- Requirement 3
Draw two pottery forms, each on its own 8½-by-11-inch sheet: one in a historical style and one of your own design
Tip: Look at pottery from a museum or book for ideas, then sketch your own design.
For example: Sketch an ancient Greek amphora or a Pueblo water jar and explain what it was used for. Next to it, draw your own design, like a mug with a thumb rest or a bowl shaped to stack, and note its size and glaze.
- Requirement 4
Explain these pottery terms: glaze, pyrometric cone, porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, score, slip, grog, terra-cotta, bisque, greenware, bone dry, leather hard, throwing, wedging, and bat
Tip: Make flash cards of terms and quiz yourself while you work.
For example: Make a word list with a quick example for each: greenware (dried, unfired clay), bisque (first firing), glaze, slip, wedging, leather-hard, and kiln. Point to a piece in each stage if you can.
- Requirement 5
Make and fire pottery
Tips for this section: Start with hand-building, like pinch pots or coils, before trying the wheel. Expect a few wobbly first tries.
Example for this section: Plan your set: a pinch pot, a coil pot, and a slab box for hand-building, a small animal figurine, and a cylinder or bowl on the wheel. Decorate each yourself with carving, slip, or glaze, then help an experienced adult load and fire the kiln.
- Requirement 5a
Make a pinch pot, a coil pot, and a slab pot, and paint, glaze, or otherwise decorate each yourself
- Requirement 5b
Make a figurine of a person or animal, or a decorative sculpture, and decorate it yourself
- Requirement 5c
Throw a useful form on a potter's wheel and decorate it yourself
- Requirement 5d
Help an experienced adult load a kiln and fire it, or give a detailed description of loading and firing one
- Requirement 6
Explain how big the ceramic industry is in the United States, and name some things it makes besides craft pottery
Tip: Look around your home for ceramic items, from dishes to tiles, and think about the industry that makes them.
- Requirement 7
Visit or research. Choose 1 of 3
Tips for this section: Visit a local art studio or gallery, or read about how pottery shaped a culture in history.
Example for this section: Visit a local pottery studio's open house with a parent and ask a potter how they mix glazes and load the kiln. Or research a pottery tradition, like Pueblo water jars or Japanese tea bowls, and share what it shows about the people who made it.
- Requirement 7a
With permission from a parent or guardian and your counselor's approval, visit the kiln yard at a nearby college or craft school and learn how different kilns work: low-fire electric, high-fire gas or propane, wood or salt/soda, and raku
- Requirement 7b
With permission from a parent or guardian and your counselor's approval, visit a museum, art exhibit, gallery, artists' co-op, or studio that features pottery, then share what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 7c
With permission from a parent or guardian and your counselor's approval, use the library, magazines, the internet (with permission), and other sources to learn why pottery matters in history and culture. Share what you found with your counselor
- Requirement 8
Learn about careers in pottery. Pick one, find out the education, training, and experience it takes, and discuss it with your counselor, including why it might interest you
Tip: Ask a potter or art teacher how they got started.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A community pottery studio or school art room
You can try a wheel, see kilns, and watch experienced potters throw and trim.
How: A parent can call and ask about youth classes or a short studio tour. Many art centers have beginner wheel sessions.
An art or history museum with ceramics
Pottery from ancient cultures to modern artists will give you ideas for your own forms.
How: Go with your family or patrol and look for the ceramics galleries. Check for free days and family guides.
Where it can lead
- Studio potterMakes and sells pottery, often through craft fairs, galleries, and teaching classes.
- Art teacherTeaches ceramics and other arts in schools and community centers.
- Ceramic engineerDesigns advanced ceramics for electronics, engines, and spacecraft; needs an engineering degree.
- Tile setterInstalls ceramic tile in homes and buildings; often learned through an apprenticeship.
- Museum conservatorRepairs and preserves ancient pottery and other objects for museums.
Ask yourself
- What did clay teach you about patience?
- Which piece cracked, collapsed, or surprised you, and what did you learn from it?
- What part of making pottery do you enjoy most: shaping, decorating, or glazing?
- How did seeing historical pottery change how you think about everyday objects?
- What would you make if you had a whole summer in a pottery studio?
Good questions to ask a potter or art teacher
- How long did it take you to learn to center clay on the wheel?
- How do you decide on a glaze, and how do you test new ones?
- What's a piece that failed in the kiln, and what did it teach you?
- How do you keep a studio safe and free of clay dust?
- How do potters make a living today?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Partner with a community art center or school art room for clay, wheels, and kiln access.
- Plan a pottery night so scouts can share materials and ideas.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Community art center or pottery studio — Classes, wheels, and kilns.
- School art teacher — Help with techniques and firing.
- Art museum — See historical pottery for inspiration.
- National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (opens in a new tab) — A professional group for ceramics artists and teachers, with news and exhibitions.
- Victoria and Albert Museum (opens in a new tab) — A huge museum collection of ceramics from around the world you can browse online.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.