The Junior Ranger Program: Getting kids excited about our National Parks
Are you planning a family visit to one of our beautiful National Parks this year? Then don't forget to check out the Junior Ranger Program offered by nearly all national parks, monuments, recreation areas, and battlefields to earn your special badge after being sworn in as a Junior Ranger!
So, what exactly is the Junior Ranger Program?
Kids of all ages can participate by stopping at the park's visitor center and picking up an official Junior Ranger activity booklet or worksheet. Rangers in training will be assigned age appropriate activities from the workbook, that must be completed in order to earn the coveted park badge. The assignment takes roughly about two hours to complete, however you can go at your own pace, taking as little or as much time as you'd like. If you are pressed for time, or maybe want to keep the kiddos occupied on the car ride for a bit on the way to the park, you can print out the activity sheets ahead of time and get a jump start on some of the pages! If you aren't able to actually visit the park, you can still participate in the program by completing pages at home, and sending the completed sheets to the park. In return they will send your "web-ranger" an official Jr. Ranger badge.
**Most of the books are free, however, some parks will charge a nominal fee, of usually no more than $3 - The $3 is well worth the experience, and you should feel good knowing that your money is supporting such a wonderful program **
The program is typically designed for kids ages 5-13, but children of ANY age can participate. Our son earned his very first badge at the age of 3 when my husband took him to visit the Casa Grande Ruins in Coolidge, Arizona ( about an hour south of Phoenix ).
Our family loves the Junior Ranger program for a multitude of reasons. It forces us to slow down, take in the scenery and notice details about the park that we would have otherwise overlooked. For example, at Montezuma's Well, we were asked to count the number of cliff dwellings that we encountered. Some of the ruins were hidden in the mountainside and you really had to do some good scanning to find them! A number of Jr. Ranger activities will ask questions relating to the informative plaques placed around the park. Most of the information around the park is kept fairly brief, and in my opinion, approachable for most ages. We love reading the signs throughout the parks to our son because it gives us an incredible opportunity to bond while we learn about the park's history and other fun facts. It gives us a chance to ask deeper questions and really observe how the world around us has changed over time.
Another super cool perk of the program is that you and your kids get to interact with a Park Ranger for a more personalized experience. You've probably encountered a ranger or two along the trails, usually a casual, "Hello. How are you?" in passing, but by participating in the Jr. Ranger program, your kids will get to have some awesome one on one time with an official Ranger, while they discuss your workbook activities. Upon completing assigned activities, the ranger on duty will check the kiddos work, and ask questions about their experience or what they learned while visiting the park. . This is a perfect opportunity for the whole family to ask any questions that they may have come up throughout the day!
Some of the assignments require you to attend a Park Ranger talk. These are usually very brief, but very informative and a bit more specific. While at the Grand Canyon National Park, we attended a geology talk with Ranger Raphael. Even if the discussion is a bit advanced for your little one, it gives the family a chance to sit down, listen to some interesting facts, and just take everything in around you. (We weren't complaining, having the Grand Canyon as a backdrop for our ranger talk this visit!)
After the ranger discusses your park findings, kids will state the Junior Ranger pledge just before earning their special park badge! Some parks provide the same badge for all ages, while other parks, like Yellowstone will hand out different badges according to each child's age. Yellowstone also has their own winter program, where kids get to use magnifying glasses and thermometers to earn a unique snowflake patch.
For about $30, you can also purchase a Junior Ranger hat and vest to display all of your badges and patches on. (Sold online & at most visitor centers and makes a nice souvenir-also sold in pink-) My son was able to share his hat/vest/badges for school show and tell, and his classmates loved seeing his collection and inspecting all of the badges he had earned. The Junior Ranger program gives kids a tangible way to tell their stories. It affords them a different way to connect to nature and helps illustrate their experiences from their park visits. It's a wonderful conversation starter as well. When our son is proudly wearing his Jr. Ranger apparel, he likes to assure people that he is in fact, an official ranger. Which often leads to questions about where all of his badges came from and how much he enjoys the program.
I love that this program keeps the family engaged, while allowing kids to really connect with nature and it's history. I love that we as parents/guardians get to see the park from a different perspective, through their little eyes, full of curiosity and excitement for our beautiful land. I love that they complete each park booklet with a sense of accomplishment, confidence, and respect for each park.
I hope after reading this, you are encouraged and excited to try out this fantastic program that the whole family is sure to enjoy!
To find a park near you visit:
Happy adventuring!
