Geology and Kids: A Winning Combination

“Explore, Learn, and Protect!” Such is the battle cry of the Junior Ranger, a National Park Service (NPS) program. Paul Favret says the program teaches kids around the country many things about geology, nature, and the various ways to protect national parks. In addition, kids part of the NPS Junior Ranger program continues learning about other rangers and parks and their astounding stories.

The NPS Junior Ranger program is an activity-based program held in nearly all parks. It offers the young ones the opportunity to be part of the NPS family.

Paul Favret notes that there are more than 200 Junior Ranger Programs in the National Park Service, where kids participate in games, and interviews, build friendships, learn from adult Rangers, and experience a range of fun and educational activities. At the culmination of the experience, children between ages 7 and 12 are sworn in as Junior Rangers, get a special certificate, and receive their official Junior Ranger badge.

At the start of the program, a participant gets a logbook and badge and then proceeds to play games, hike trails, discover tracks, and observe wildlife. All these are done while making friends and earning rewards along the way.

There are 12 different Junior Ranger activity areas. These include ecology, safety, history, plants, wildlife, and geology. The program allows kids to participate in a particular park over a couple of days and then enables them to complete other programs at different parks. Each Junior Ranger activity is approximately an hour long.

Webranger programs exist, too. These programs allow kids to become Junior Rangers from home, school, or anywhere, with more than 70 activities teaching kids about exploring and protecting national parks.

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