By the end of 2014, there will be a focus on STEM Boy Scout Merit Badges that align with our technology camps: Robotics, Game Design, Animation, and Programming! Here are the details for each badge:
Robotics BSA Merit Badge
We discussed the Robotics Merit Badge in 2011 when the badge first came out. At the time, we did not know this was going to revitalize the entire Boy Scout Merit Badge collection!
- Released: April 11, 2011
- Link: Requirements
- Attending a LEGO Robotics camp fulfills the most challenging requirements for this badge.
Game Design BSA Merit Badge
- Estimated launch date: March 2013
The Game Design Merit Badge will focus on one or more of the following:
- Electronic (games for computers, game systems, or mobile devices)
- Outdoor/Athletic (sports or games like capture the flag)
- Tabletop (dice-based games, board games, card games)
- Pen and Paper or Role-Playing Games
In addition to designing and testing a game, scouts will also learn:
- How to think critically about certain games
- What makes games fun
- Important game terms
- How to design and implement rules
- Problem solving
Without a doubt, this means Video Game Design camp will qualify for most of the requirements for the Game Design merit badge. On the other hand, if someone cannot attend an in-person camp they can get the requirements for this merit badge met in our Virtual Video Game Design camp.
Animation BSA Merit Badge
- Estimated launch date: 2014
The unofficial information about this badge is: Computer or traditional animation tasks that will test a Scout’s creativity, artistic skills, and storytelling abilities. Boy, this sure sounds like everything we do in the Stop Motion Animation camp!
- Scout creativity: Every movie we make in Stop Motion Animation camp is unique, all the way down to the characters, background, action sequences, and storylines.
- Artistic skills: In camp, we build backgrounds with LEGO and green-screen chroma key, covering physical and artificial backdrops.
- Storytelling abilities: We storyboard our movies before we begin our video capture. This is key to detailing what we need to digitally capture to tell our story.
This Merit Badge Aligns with Stop Motion Camp and the requirements are fulfilled by most everything we do in the tech camp. In addition to Video Game Design Camp, we also have a Virtual Stop Motion Camp that fulfills the same requirements for this merit badge.
Programming BSA Merit Badge
- Estimated launch date: July 2013
The Programming Merit Badge will focus on the software side of the old Computers Merit Badge. Consequently, we expect the badge to allow programming in Scratch which we teach in our Computer Programming camp.
Ensuring Merit Badges Align with Camps
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the senior editor of Scouting magazine. His information was used in creating the content for this Classroom Antics blog article. However, the content and alignment of the merit badges to our tech camps were done by Classroom Antics.
