If your summer plans involve taking your children to one of our national park areas, you can improve the experience by having them take part in the Junior Ranger Program. It's free, educational and all done independently, at your child's own pace.
More than 200 participating parks, including national preserves, national monuments, national seashores and national historic sites, take part, many of them in our neck of the woods. To start off, stop by the park's visitor center and ask for a Junior Ranger booklet.
To become an official Junior Ranger, children (most programs cater to ages 4 to 14) need to fill out activity pages in the booklet.
Depending on the age of your child there will be a different number of pages to fill out. When finished, a ranger checks their work for accuracy, leads them in a pledge and swears each in as the park's newest Junior Ranger. Immediately after this, the child receives an official badge, a certificate and in some parks, a patch. Because each park and workbook is different, your child can be a Junior Ranger at every participating park you visit.
At Lake Mead National Recreation Area, activities include learning about and answering questions on the formation of Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, discovering the different types of park rangers there are, and learning about the desert environment. At Zion National Park, in Utah, activities are more focused on wildlife and geology, while at Pipe Spring National Monument, in Arizona, the program is geared to westward expansion, pioneers and American Indians.
At many parks you can easily complete the entire booklet in less than an hour at the visitor center, but at others you'll need to take it with you as you explore the park.
Some also require children to take part in a ranger-led program. At busier parks there is a variety to choose from and they usually are listed in the park's newspaper, which you receive at the entrance station.
At Great Basin National Park a tour of Lehman Caves is one that kids would enjoy.
At Grand Canyon National Park it might be joining a ranger for a story time or even hearing a talk about the California condor.
A commonly found activity in these workbooks is Junior Ranger bingo. As you explore the park you look for the things depicted and once you see them just mark that square.
For example, in Zion bingo pictures include an arch, a waterfall, a river and a hanging garden. But at Grand Canyon you'll need ,to keep an eye out for a mule deer, the Colorado River or a fossil.
Along the same lines, at Pipe Springs, children taking part in the program fill out a scavenger hunt picture sheet while they tour the visitor center, fort and grounds and then check off the items they have seen. Items found here include a butter churn, an American Indian basket and a longhorn steer. Older children also will play a game of matching historical people to specific places.
Some parks take the program a step further. Grand Canyon National Park offers three additional programs: the Junior Ranger Dynamic Earth Program and the Discovery Pack Junior Ranger, both more in-depth and geared for ages 9 to 14.
There is also the Phantom Rattler Junior Ranger for those children who have made it, on foot or mule, down into the canyon to Phantom Ranch.
Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area also has an excellent Junior Ranger Program and by far the most in-depth booklet I have seen.
Some of the newer national park areas, like Manzanar National Historic Site outside of Lone Pine, Calif., and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona, are currently working on getting programs up and running.
Of course, the best way to take part in the Junior Ranger Program is to visit the parks in person. But if you don't have a chance to visit them personally, about 20 parks offer the program via the Internet. Just print out the form and let your child take a virtual visit online.
This will provide you with all the information they need to do the activities and answer the questions.
Once it is completed, get a parent signature, mail it to the park where they will check it over, and you will receive an official Junior Ranger Badge and certificate in the mail.
Before you know it, your children will have garnered quite a lot of knowledge about our parks, how to care for our public lands and perhaps have a handful of badges.
For more information, contact the specific park you will be visiting or visit the National Park Service Web site at www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.htm.
Deborah Wall is the author of "Great Hikes, A Cerca Country Guide," published by Stephens Press. She can be reached at Deborabus@aol.com.
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