Junior Rangers

​We recently made a discovery that has enhanced our enjoyment of National Parks and National Monuments: the Junior Ranger Program. What is the Junior Ranger program, where did the kids earn a badge, and why did it grow our enjoyment of the NPS? Read on to learn more!

---

The Junior Ranger Program is an activity-based program offered by the NPS to encourage young visitors to “Explore, Learn, and Protect!” their Parks System. Children ages 5 to 13 complete activities in a Ranger-provided workbook. Activities may include challenges such as searching the visitors’ center for fill-in-the-blank words, taking a hike and searching for animal signs, or completing a word search. Once completed, the prospective Junior Ranger takes their activity book to a Ranger and discusses what they have learned. Finally the child takes an oath and is awarded a badge.
​
Our first encounter with the Ranger Program was in the Dakotas where we jumped in with both feet.  In nine days, the kids earned seven badges! Lillian and Mitchell earned their first badge in Theodore Roosevelt National Park where the oath encouraged them to protect the Parks, tell others about the Parks, and brush their teeth twice a day without being asked. Inspired, we went on to earn a badge next at Devil's Tower National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Badlands National Park, and Minuteman Missile National Monument - where they were challenged to design a logo for their own missile defense unit. The kids have since earned a badge at Hot Springs National Park and we plan on going  back to Great Smoky National Park to earn one there before the year is done. To hold all of the badges properly, we bought Lillian a NPS hat and Mitchell a NPS vest at the Mount Rushmore National Park gift store.  We noticed that they sell the hat at many of the NPS gift shops, but the vest was at fewer locations.

Lillian and Mitchell are typically troopers willing to bike, hike, and paddle with us. They sometimes get impatient if we want to read displays in visitors centers. Now as Junior Rangers, they have a job. We probably spent two hours scouring the Badlands Visitor Center during a storm completing the activities. As a result of the program, we all really do learn more about the site we are visiting as we interact more with the site. Lillian and Mitchell could tell you about the story the Sioux told to explain the formation of Devil's Tower, if the four presidents at Mount Rushmore have their ears carved into the mountain or not, how Wind Cave got it’s name, and the water temperature at Hot Springs. ​

Our biggest disappointment in the program is that we didn’t learn about it sooner. We have visited eligible sites over the last year from the Grand Canyon to the Everglades, and many more, and we could have earned badges. We plan to continue visiting new sites, and may consider repeat visits to continue earning Junior Ranger badges as we keep Cricket Camping!