If you have plans to visit a National Park, National Monument, or any other NPS sites this year with your family, do not forget to make the NPS Junior Ranger Program a part of your visit! Our family has come to love this easy way to connect to the park you are visiting, and learn about science, history, and nature all while doing it.
What is the Junior Ranger Program?
The Junior Ranger Program is an activity-based program conducted in most parks that allows children, ideally ages 5-13, to complete a series of activities that will help them learn about and engage with the park directly. After completing these activities, typically in a “workbook” that can be obtained at the Visitor Centers in the parks or online at nps.gov, the child can discuss their findings with a park ranger. Upon doing so, they will be awarded a Junior Ranger Pin, or patch, for that specific park. If you do not have time to complete the workbook during your stay, you can also mail it to the park with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and the park will send you the Junior Ranger pin
Why do the Gagnons love the Junior Ranger Program?
From our experience, the NPS Junior Ranger Program is the perfect activity to help our kids engage with each of the national parks or NPS sites our family visits. With the activities, games, and information they read in these books, they learn so much about the unique places we are visiting, and it is also a great way to kill time when taking breaks on hikes, driving, lounging at the campsite, or enjoying a lunch stop along the way in your travels. It’s truly incredible to look back and see all that my kids have learned in completing these books over time. Plus, it is FREE!
In addition, the kids will love collecting the pins and badges that they earn along the way. Our kids have their badges displayed on several lanyards, and love showing them off when they get the chance. For any collector, these pins make an amazing collection, as well as a great memento from each park or NPS site you visit!
The NPS Junior Ranger Program should not be missed on your next visit with your family to a national park or any other NPS site. We can guarantee that your kids will love this easy way to connect to the place you are visiting, and that, for parents, this is will be a surefire way to sneak in some educational information along the way!
