We love to visit National Parks! Whether it be a park set apart for its unique nature or to preserve a piece of history there is always something interesting to see and learn. Most parks also have a Junior Ranger program and provide a booklet with activities that help kids learn about the park. If they complete enough activities, usually the same number as their age, they can get sworn in as Junior Rangers and get a badge from that park.
Here are just some of my son's badges and patches.
The whole family has learned so much from these programs. The activities provide great motivation for the kids and there are always many different tasks for them to complete. With books in hand, they will search the park museum for answers to questions. They will engage with Rangers and ask questions about the park and about what it is like to be a ranger. They learn about preserving history and how important it is to learn from history. They learn about geology and what has shaped nature into the beautiful wonders many parks have to offer. They learn about animals both extinct and roaming the parks today.
Hard at work earning their badge!
The Junior Ranger Program has become an important part of our Roadschooling. We aim to do one field trip every week and often try to go to a National Park. There is usually so much to see and do that it is hard to fit in just one day. When we can we try to park close to or even in the National Park, so that we can explore for several days.
The kids are so proud after completing enough to earn a badge. I hope their excitement over getting a badge continues for many more years.
Here they got to borrow real ranger hats for the swearing in.
This is the first post in, what I hope will be, a long series of posts where I share our experience from different National Parks that we visit. We have been to quite a few parks in the last year and if we go back further even more. These posts will not come in any particular order except that I will try from now on to make a post about every new park that we visit within a few days of the actual visit.