Explorers Pioneering Activity Badge
Explorers Pioneering Activity Badge
Put your problem-solving skills to the test and discover the power of pioneering! From building bridges to designing useful structures, this badge will challenge you to think creatively and work as a team to bring your ideas to life.
Complete your Pioneering badge:
Take part in at least one large scale Pioneering project.
You should complete your project over the course of a day.
Complete 3 Activities. You Could:
- Discover - Investigate how pioneering projects or inventions have become essential to modern architecture.
For example, Da Vinci’s self supporting bridge. - Experience - Take part in a pioneering project.
This could be a large structure made within a team, or a smaller structure made solo. - Mobilise - Research a pioneered structure and lead a team to plan and complete its construction.
Consider some ways to enable accessibility when building your project. - Solve - Use rubber bands and lolly sticks (or similar materials) to create a bridge or a similar project.
How much weight can it hold? How could you make it stronger? What engineering techniques could you use? - Create - Design a useful pioneered structure and build it in real life.
You should include drawings, a scale model, and a guide on how to create it. Some examples could be a washing up station or a pot hanger for a fire.
- Discover - Investigate how pioneering projects or inventions have become essential to modern architecture.
Tips
- You might prefer to work in a team or alone for your projects.
- You can also talk to your leaders and work with your peers to complete this.
- Think about things that interest you, as well as how much you can manage between school/work.
- To get the badge, you can either try some of our example activities, or come up with your own with support from a Scouts volunteer or trusted adult. The activities should be challenging for you and take a reasonable amount of time.
Encourage explorers to tailor these to their own abilities/interests.
Support them if they reach out for support when doing this.
Everyone has different abilities, when awarding badges, consider their starting point and the progress made, rather than the task completed.
As a rough guide, badges should be achievable through 3 weeks of activity (but this doesn’t have to be all in sequence)- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- Where you’re going.
- Who you’re with.
- What time you plan to be finished.
- A plan for communicating your progress.
- Ask for help if you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
- •When planning pioneering projects, consider both how to complete your build safely as well as the safety of the completed structure.
- Take note of and apply the top safety tips from the Safe Pioneering guidance webpages.
- Complete you own risk assessment based on your plans and ask an adult volunteer to check it for you.
- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- All activities for this badge must be safely managed and have local approval.
- Support Explorers in following and applying the top tips and information from Safe Pioneering guidance webpages.
- Volunteers must make sure they have completed a thorough risk assessment and taken appropriate steps to reduce risks.
- Use the safety checklist to help plan and risk assess the activity.
Badges will be available to purchase from Scout Store later in September, please check back for updates.
June 2026.
Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities. See our guidance on flexibility.