I think there is a misconception that you have to be into camping, hiking, or adventure sports to enjoy visiting national parks with your kids, when in fact, parks are closer than you might think and you don\u2019t have to be Bear Grylls to enjoy them. In reality, most people live within one hour of a national park and many of them are in urban settings.<\/p>\n Visiting national parks can lead to discovery and may facilitate connecting your kids with a new interest. My son has connected with different resources in every park that I\u2019ve worked in. Here are some of my tips for visiting parks with kids:<\/p>\n 1. Find out what kid-friendly options a park offers<\/strong><\/p>\n Many parks have programs geared for kids such as story-hour gatherings, recreational trails, and other fun activities and events. A lot of these programs are free. If you are planning on attending a guided program, find one that is specifically for kids.<\/p>\n Most parks have a \u201cFor Kids\u201d section on their website with specifics about what they have to offer. Start by visiting nps.gov\/kids<\/a> and FindYourPark.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2. Become a Junior Ranger<\/strong><\/p>\n Most national parks have a Junior Ranger program that focuses on the site you are visiting. There are also several national Junior Ranger booklets<\/a> that explore topics such as the National Park Service Centennial, Underground Railroad, Archeology, Fossils, and more.<\/p>\n Many parks have Junior Ranger booklets available for download so you can print them out in advance.<\/p>\n Children can earn badges and patches for completing the Junior Ranger programs. Even if the activities are slightly advanced for your child\u2019s age, or if your kids are older, many of them can be adapted.<\/p>\n Collecting Junior Ranger badges and patches can be a great way to keep track of all of the parks you visit. And, being sworn in as a Junior Ranger is cool at any age. You can also begin familiarizing your children with some of the more than 400 national park sites and community-based programs by visiting the WebRangers page<\/a> and completing activities online that introduce them to national parks.<\/p>\n 3. Don\u2019t forget the basics<\/strong><\/p>\n Bring a lunch, snacks, plenty of water, bug spray, sunscreen, and a couple changes of clothes (including swimming gear if you will be near water) \u2013 there will be plenty of opportunities for your children to get dirty while exploring in national parks, and that is half the fun.<\/p>\n Visiting a park with wildlife can be a very exciting experience for children. It is always a good idea to read up about the wildlife you may encounter in a park or talk to a ranger about how to view wildlife safely.<\/p>\n 4. Alter your expectations and make room for spontaneous exploration<\/strong><\/p>\n You may not get to see as much as you think you should and that\u2019s okay. This is about creating an experience geared toward your child.<\/p>\n For some parents, this might mean shifting the way you typically engage with the natural and\/or cultural world.<\/p>\n Before I had children, hiking was all about getting from a trailhead to a postcard view. I have been hiking with my 5-year-old since he was two and I learned that for him, the postcard view is far less exciting than the rocks underfoot, the sticks on the ground, and the animals and birds all around.<\/p>\n It\u2019s okay if you don\u2019t make it to a summit or get the perfect Instagram photo, just being outside and exploring can be the memory your child cherishes.<\/p>\n 5. Create a fun game that teaches \u201cLeave No Trace\u201d and navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n Whatever your child is interested in \u2013 streams, bugs, rocks, trolleys, cannons, etc. \u2013 make a game out of it. Count birds, bugs, or marked trees along a trail or try to find something that begins with every letter of the alphabet in the park you are exploring. Find a way to keep a record of what they find by letting them take photos, or simply by writing it down. This will allow them to pay attention to the activity and not feel the need to pick flowers, take leaves, or anything else that should remain in the park.<\/p>\n It can also be fun to reminisce about your visit when you get home by thumbing through your photo album or notebook. If hiking on a marked trail, let them learn to navigate by identifying trail markings and finding your location on a park map. Sometimes I like to pretend that I don\u2019t know which way we need to go so my son feels like the leader.<\/p>\n For even more ideas on visiting parks with children, you can download the National Park Foundation\u2019s free guide,\u00a0Parks for Play: 35 National Park Adventures for Kids of All Ages<\/a>.<\/p>\n A version of this post first appeared on the National Parks Foundation website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I hope that these great tips from a dad who has make your next experience visiting National Parks with kids fantastic!<\/p>\n You May Also Like: <\/strong>What to know before visiting Women\u2019s Rights National Historical Park<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a post! Please subscribe to Between Us Parents\u2019 safe, spam-free email list in the box in the top right corner of the page!<\/p>\n Please like Between Us Parents on Facebook<\/a>. <\/strong>You can also find Between Us Parents on Pinterest<\/a> and Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy 100th birthday, National Park Service! This milestone marks a full century of Americans enjoying the natural and cultural wonders to be found at the 412 national parks from coast to coast (as well as Alaska and Hawaii, of course). In honor of the auspicious occasion, I’m thrilled to welcome today’s guest poster. Frank Barrows, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5678"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5689,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions\/5689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Tips](\"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tips-for-Visiting-National-Parks-with-Kids.jpg\")
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