Image Courtesy NPS

Today’s spotlight is on the National Parks Junior Ranger Program.  Children ages 5-12 can pick up a Junior Ranger booklet at each participating National Park installation (there are over 200 participants), complete the assigned activities, share their answers with a park ranger, and earn a Junior Ranger badge.  Most programs require Junior Rangers to attend a ranger led program and pick up litter in addition to completing the activity booklet.  Booklets can be picked up at park visitor centers. The Junior Ranger Program is a great way to educate kids about each park in a fun but educational way and the badge they receive upon completion of the program is the perfect souvenir to represent all their hard work.   I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to participate!

If a National Park vacation is not on your immediate horizon, your kids can learn about parks all over the country through the WebRangers Program.  There are more than 50 games on the WebRangers website that are designed to educate children about our National Parks.  The games range from “Name that Yellowstone animal” to reading a map to playing park superintendent.  I spent a few minutes playing the games and had a very time pulling myself away from the site!  Kids who complete the WedRangers Program earn the coveted WebRangers badge.

Do you have an outing that you would like to spotlight this week?  Perhaps its a post about a vacation you just took or a day trip that you think our readers should know about.  Or maybe its a post about the vacation you are currently planning and going to book through Trekaroo!  Spotlight your posts here by following the instructions here and filling out the Mr. Linky Form below. Also- don’t forget to enter Trekaroo’s Summer of Travel Blogathon!  Who knows, maybe a Spotlight Thursday participant will win!

Let’s see where the spotlight shines this week!

Next week don’t miss our Spotlight Thursday on National Parks next week on May 27, 2010.  If you’ve got a post on visiting ANY National Park with kids, don’t forget to link up your post so all of us get to know what you’ve written.  If you don’t have a National Parks post, don’t fret. You can still be a part of the fun and link up with any new travel or activity post as always.

Trekaroo is seeking families who love National Parks! Sign in and share your reviews on Trekaroo. Every review you write over the next 4 weeks can be can be entered in the $1000 Summer of Travel Contest!

Related articles:

• Best Hikes for Tykes in Yosemite National Park
• 15 Family Friendly National Park Adventures
• National Park Junior Ranger Program
• 5 National Monuments Your Family Should Visit

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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.

Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA