Junior Rangers

I was recently reading about an initiative called "Every Kid in a Park" which hopes to get all 4th graders and their families free admission to National Parks across the US.  This got me thinking about what a terrific resource our parks are: for playing, discovering and learning. 
 

The first badge of many.

We visited many National and State parks on our cross-country camping odyssey across the USA.  Knowing that we would be roadschooling, a friend had tipped me off prior to our departure about the Junior Rangers programs.  As we came to discover, the Junior Rangers programs are offered not only by National Parks and Monuments but also by many State Parks.

 The programs are mainly geared towards 5-13 year olds, sliced by age group, essentially teaching them about the history, the wildlife and natural resources specific to the place you are visiting.  Typically they complete an activity book , (which requires them to thoroughly explore the park and not just the visitors center) attend a Ranger led program and pick up trash.  When the kids are finished, they take the packet back to the visitors center, where the ranger reviews it, discusses anything they got wrong, swears them in and gives them a badge.


Michael gets sworn in at the Lincoln Home Monument

The kids loved collecting the Junior Ranger badges and, most of the time, loved doing the activities - although we did have a tense moment when the kids had to write quinzaine poems about the Grand Canyon as we admired it...sort of sullied the view.

Generally the programs were pretty comprehensive, not just a walk in the park so to speak, one or two were a brief scavenger hunt, but most were extensive.  Bryce Canyon's Ranger Program in particular actually took the kids two days to complete. 

Some of my favorite Junior Ranger programs were:
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT. (indepth study of the regions geology)
Bandelier National Monument, NM. (very focused on the Ancestral Puebloans and their way of life)
Great Sand Dunes National Park CO. (interactive lecture on the formation of the dunes)
Kodachrome Basin State Park, UT. (Alright, this was one of the easy booklets but the Park's nature walk was amazing so I have to give it a shout out)

By the end of our camping trip the kids shirts were jangling with badges, they'd gained a lot of new knowledge, and the patches will be wonderful mementos of our journey - just as soon as I sew them on!

Working in 'the field':


Arches NP

Mesa Verde NP

Bryce again 



Bryce Canyon NP
 

 

The swearing in ceremonies: