Youth & Family Opportunities

Scouts

Assisting Scouts Along Their Journey

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is proud to assist Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts along their journey of achievement and adventure!
Scouting provides boys and girls self-confidence, ethics and values that will stay with them throughout their lives. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is proud to assist Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts along their journey of achievement and adventure!

At Scouts@HMNS, we inject excitement and education in everything we do. In the words of Scout Programs Manager Michelle Connor: “Each merit badge is educational. We enhance it; if need be we add to it, to explain what the requirement is… I want there to be a spark in even the most serious of merit badges. You’ve got to make something so that the kids are enjoying it. If they enjoy something, they’re learning it.”

The HMNS Scouting Program offers badge classes for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as enrichment field trips and events at HMNS facilities in Hermann Park, Sugar Land and Brazos Bend State Park, home of the George Observatory. Classes take place on Saturdays during the school year and in week-long day camps during the summer. For more information about badges, classes or events, click below!

Generously Supported by OXY

To purchase or upgrade your membership, click here.

Contact
Scouts Program Manager
scouts@hmns.org

Scout Program Schedule

2024-2025 Schedule
View Scout Classes
Ancient Amulets Illustration
Cracked Urn

Badges on Demand

Book a private Badge on Demand for your troop

Available at HMNS at Hermann Park and HMNS at Sugar Land!
Can’t make it to a scheduled class? No problem! Get a group of at least 10 Scouts together, and you can all earn the Badge at the same time! Just fill out this Badge on Demand Request Form. Badges on Demand are offered during museum hours only.

BSA Classes:
 
GSA Classes:

Events

Boy Scout STEM Overnight

October 11, 2024

Join us at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on October 11, 2024, for a STEM themed Overnight for Cub Scouts ages 6-12 and their chaperones! As part of the event you and your scout will have access to the Museum’s permanent exhibit halls after hours, activities, a late night snack, and a planetarium show in the Burke Baker Planetarium. Participants will sleep in a museum hall and be provided a light breakfast the next day. To register, please submit your 2024 Nova Registration Form to overnights@hmns.org.

STEM Day

October 12, 2024

Join us for this annual event on October 12th from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. STEM Day Community Booths will be in the Grand Hall, providing interactive activities and giveaways for all museum patrons. Past STEM Days have included touchable museum specimens, drone flying demonstrations, and more! With admission to the museum, Scouting America members will also have the opportunity to complete activities tailored for their group by HMNS STEM Scouting staff.

STEM Day Labs

Add these labs to enhance your STEM Day experience at the museum. (Lab registration is not required to participate in STEM Day.)

GEMS Day Student Booth Scholarship Award

Apply Now!

Student STEM Ambassadors should be enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with the Museum visitors during GEMS at their booth. Booths can involve something interactive, a demonstration or even a presentation of information explaining a concept. Hosting a booth at GEMS allows girls to share their interest in math and science with their peers and introduce them to the many opportunities in STEM related fields for young women today.

Student STEM Ambassadors have the opportunity to earn a cash prize to be used at the school of their choice to enhance STEM programming. One grand prize and two runner-up prizes will be awarded. Winning booth hosts will also receive a special prize for all their hard-work!

See the Student Info Packet for more details, and apply using the 2024 Student Booth Host Application.

Girls Exploring Math and Science (GEMS) is presented by CITGO Petroleum Corporation.

Girl Scout GEMS Overnight

November 1, 2024

Join us at the Houston Museum of Natural Science for our annual GEMS (Girls Exploring Math and Science) Overnight on November 1, 2024! The GEMS overnight is for Girl Scouts ages 6-12 and their chaperones. During the Overnight you and your Scout will have access to the Museum’s permanent exhibit halls after hours, activities and a scavenger hunt, a late night snack, and a show in the Burke Baker Planetarium. For further information please email Overnights@hmns.org to be added to the mailing list.

GEMS Day

November 2, 2024

Join us for this annual event on November 2nd from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. GEMS (Girls Exploring Math and Science) Community Booths will be in the Grand Hall, providing interactive activities and giveaways for all museum patrons. Past STEM Days have included touchable museum specimens, virtual reality experiences, and more! With admission to the museum, Girl Scouts will also have an opportunity to visit booths run by local troops and schools, competing for Scholarship Award!

Girls Exploring Math and Science (GEMS) is presented by CITGO Petroleum Corporation.

FAQ

View All FAQ

Scouts BSA classes are 4 hour long classes from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 pm. Webelos, Cub Scout classes and Girl Scout classes are 2 hours long. They are usually from 10 – 12 p.m. or 1 – 3 pm. Girl Scout Journey classes run between 4 – 5 hours.

With a purchase of a scout class, one parent or chaperone is admitted with their scout into the museum and can visit the permanent exhibit halls before or after their class. HMNS asks for parents of scouts in 2nd grade and younger to stay with their scout in the classroom for school year classes. Younger siblings and extra parents will need to purchase a general admission ticket for the museum. Depending on the number of scouts and parents, extra parents and siblings may be asked to tour the museum during class time. For summer scout classes, parents are not allowed to stay in the room. Each class will have a teacher and teaching assistants to work with the scouts.

Prerequisites are requirements that cannot be completed in the class. These should be completed before the class, but can be done after the class. A list of prerequisite requirements by Merit Badge and their downloadable worksheets can be found on the Scouts BSA Prerequisite Workbooks page. Outside work is work that is assigned by the Merit Badge counselor for two-day and five day classes. This is work that cannot be done in the classroom or work that the scout needs to finish for a requirement. At the end of class, any incomplete work (partials) will need to be completed by the Scout afterwards and verified by the Scout Program Manager and HMNS staff merit badge counselors.

Please send a scan PDF of your missing requirements to scouts@hmns.org. After the work has been verified to show that the scout has met the requirements, a Merit Badge card will be sent.

Please note that this procedure is in compliance with the requirements dictated by the Boy Scouts of America and Sam Houston Area Council. We are unable to issue Merit Badge cards without verifying that all requirements have been met.

For Scouts BSA classes, HMNS issues pre-printed Merit Badge Cards detailing the requirements completed by the Scout during class and verified by the Merit Badge counselor. For Eagle-required Merit Badges, a Merit Badge Card signed by the Scoutmaster is required for the Scout to take the class. If the Scout does not have a Merit Badge Card signed by their Scoutmaster for an Eagle-required Merit Badge, the Scout may not be permitted by their troop to receive credit for the class. HMNS will not issue a refund in this instance. Scouts are responsible for submitting the completed Merit Badge Card to their troop after completion of the class. For Virtual Scouts BSA classes, scouts will need to send a pdf of their completed work to scouts@hmns.org. The workbook will be checked by a HMNS staff merit badge counselor for meeting the requirements as required by Boy Scouts of America and Sam Houston Area Council. A HMNS merit badge counselor will then send a scanned merit badge card by email.

HMNS scout program does not require scouts to wear their uniforms to class. Uniforms are required for Scouts BSA, during field trips to court houses, fire stations and other outside organizations during summer scout classes.