My Kid Went to Space Camp on an Academic Scholarship

The other day I was driving Will to the library, and as one does when one finally has one's teenager trapped in a small, enclosed space with one, we were discussing her recent accomplishments and her plans for the future. What she might want to study in college. Where she might want to volunteer next semester. What section of the public library she's going to read next. That sort of thing.

I was cracking her up by telling her that I could not stop telling people that she had just been to Space Camp. And more than that, every time I mentioned it, I also felt like I had to announce, in the same breath, that she had gone because she'd earned an academic scholarship.

I couldn't seem to just tell people that she'd gone to Space Camp. I had to mention that she'd also earned a scholarship. And I couldn't seem to just say that she'd earned a scholarship. I had to make sure that everyone knew that it was an ACADEMIC scholarship.

Seriously, I could not stop telling people this.

It was so bad that I found myself informing strangers. I don't even talk to strangers if I can help it normally, and yet here I was, talking to strangers, solely to work into the conversation the fact that my child, my special snowflake, had gone to Space Camp on an academic scholarship. The #mombrag is strong with this one, I'm afraid I must admit.

Here, I'll do it to you: MY KID WENT TO SPACE CAMP! ON AN ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP!

But if you knew how hard she worked for this scholarship, you'd understand a little better. Because this kid worked HARD! She wrote a research essay on a topic of the camp's choosing. She wrote a personal essay. She designed an original science experiment, performed that experiment (about five times, because it kept messing up), documented that experiment, and wrote up her methods and conclusions, with graphs. She submitted her SAT scores, and thank goodness that studying for and taking the SAT had been an intense and crazy project that she'd completed BEFORE she got the idea about Space Camp. She designed an original mission patch that represented her life and wrote an essay about it. She solicited two letters of reference from mentor adults. It was so much work that she wanted to give up several times. Each time I'd encourage her with something like, "You said you really wanted to do this," or "You've already worked so hard; it would be a shame to drop it now," or, the one that worked the best because my kid is an introvert, "Well, *I* don't care if you finish or not, but if you don't finish, you're going to need to tell the people who wrote your letters of reference that you're not applying after all, or otherwise they'll expect to hear from you about whether or not you got in."

She finished. It was one of the hardest things she's ever done, but she finished.

And four months later, she found out that she'd earned a full scholarship. My heart can't handle how excited and happy I've been for her ever since that day. You wouldn't believe how many ways I've found to work this information into a completely irrelevant conversation with strangers.

A couple of weeks ago, her dad drove her down to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama (which is a stroke of good luck for us, as it's *only* a six-hour drive. That same week, Space Camp had trainees from five other countries, 42 US states, and two US territories).

Here she is!

Will is more interested in aerospace than outer space, so she chose to use her scholarship to attend Aviation Challenge Mach II. It's a hands-on aerospace/aviation camp, with some military overtones because the military is the main outlet for this kind of aviation. Like, she managed to watch Top Gun twice while she was there. That kind of thing.

The camp's photo package that I paid good money for did not impress me with the quantity/quality of photos that I ended up with from camp, but to be fair, if I'd relied on the kid to take the photos I'd have ended up with zero photos, so there you go. As it is, though, out of a full five days of going hard with her teammates doing all kinds of things (what, I'm not 100% clear about, as I also have the kind of kid who not only doesn't take photos, but also doesn't talk much, either, and there are only so many leading questions you can ask about something you weren't there for, sigh...), here are my two photos of camp, both of the hoist used during the water rescue after a helicopter crash:

Tangentially, I've actually emailed customer service, because surely out of five days of camp they have some other photos of my kid. Stay tuned!

Another cool thing about Aviation Challenge is that they treat all the trainees not like astronauts, as at the Space Camp, but as pilots. If you're a pilot, you go by a call sign. My kid's call sign?

Wizard.

Yep, everyone called my kid Wizard all week. It might seem less cool if you know it's because she loves the Young Wizards series, by Diane Duane, but I don't know. I think it makes it even more cool!

For most of that week, then, Syd got to pretend that she was an only child. We did all her favorite things, and on our last night, had a meal that consisted entirely of foods that she disliked sharing with her sister. But the night before Will's graduation from Space Camp, we booked it back down to Alabama, and there we were, bright and early the next morning, ready to see our girl again!

Random mural on the side of a liquor store in Huntsville:

Random rocket toy that I wasn't sure we'd be able to get Syd back out of without calling in the fire department:

Not-so-random family, including Syd's doll, Zelda, in her very own flight suit:

And finally, there's our girl!

Their commencement speech was given by a real, live astronaut, Robert Gibson! The kids were probably also excited by the fact that he's also a Top Gun graduate and former fighter pilot, but I'm all about the astronauts:

 Here's my kid, shaking hands with an astronaut:

 After Will's graduation, we did some sightseeing on the Aviation Challenge grounds. Here's the main component of the water rescue activities:

That big barrel is a helicopter airframe that the trainees are dropped into the water while sitting inside so that they can practice emergency water landings and water rescues. The Mach III trainees also zipline down from that helicopter at the top of the structure to practice water landings by parachute:

This is Will's dorm:

This is Zelda, pretending that she went to Aviation Challenge, too:

Part of the extreme awesomeness of the Aviation Challenge campus is the large number of aircraft that they have hanging around it:

Here's our brand-new graduate!

Will told us that this jet was used to film Top Gun. She watched it twice while at camp, remember? I have probably seen it 50 times...

After Will's graduation, we had the rest of the day to explore the US Space and Rocket Center. You probably don't know this, but I attended Space Camp, too, as a kid (though NOT with an academic scholarship!), so I had to visit my old stomping grounds:

Notice how well I'm representing, wearing my 28-year-old Space Academy T-shirt. I wore that shirt until just a few years ago, when it became clear that it was about to fall apart any second. I kept it safe, though, and pulled it back out for this visit, although I'm wearing a  second shirt underneath it, because I'm still pretty sure it's about to fall apart any second.

Here the kid and I are, both representing!

This is the Saturn I, the precursor to the Saturn V:

Here's the Pathfinder, a Shuttle test simulator, fully stacked with its solid rocket boosters and external tank:

This happy gal that's smiling at you is the Shuttle Training Aircraft, that mimicked the handling of the shuttle so that astronauts could practice:

Here I spotted some sisters reconnecting after their time apart:

Will would NOT let me talk any smack about Wernher Von Braun. Here's his office:

Here's a model of a rocket ship that he drew when he was a kid!

Even though I didn't have total buy-in from the family, I insisted on buying the Marshall Space Flight Center tour. I wanted to see where the Redstone was tested!

Here is the rest of my family humoring me:

But they didn't know that we were going to see THIS place!!!

You can't see through the glass very well, but on the other side of the window is the ground control for the ISS Payload Operations. They're managing the ISS's payload RIGHT NOW. See that video screen on the right? That's a live feed to an astronaut on the ISS RIGHT NOW, messing around with the payload doing something or other.

I don't need to brag anymore than I already have, but I'm just gonna tell you that he waved into the camera at us.

I won't go on and on about everything we saw there, but y'all--it was FASCINATING. Worth the price of the tour tickets right there.

Did you know that you can sign up on the NASA website for an email alert so that you can watch the ISS pass overhead? It tells you when you can watch, based on your zip code. I'm just waiting for my email alert now!

We're really glad to be back together!

Ah, HERE'S the Redstone testing site!

Here's the bunker where they watched the tests through a periscope stuck out of the roof:

They're still doing a lot of testing of various pieces of equipment at Marshall. The Space Launch System is coming!!!!!!!

The last stop on the tour was Environmental Control and Life Support. On the ISS, it's important to drink your pee:

Whenever I saw an Aviation Challenge logo, I made Will pose with it. Because of course!

We're almost done with my breathless retelling, I promise. Just the Saturn V Hall left to see!

I LOVE the Saturn V inside the hall. You're right up next to it, and walking it is the best way to really understand how freaking big it is:

This is cool. When scientists fled Nazi Germany, they had to leave their plans behind or destroy them. They didn't want to destroy their life's work OR give it to the Nazis, so they buried it all in a cave and sealed it in. Later, the Army actually sent a mission to recover those materials. This plan is one of those recovered items:

Here's what they built with it. You can see the plan on its left:

Here is an extra set of suits for the Apollo 1 astronauts. Heartbreaking:

Don't forget to notice every now and then how BIG Saturn V is!

Here's the Apollo capsule with its parachute attached:

And here are three young astronauts taking a test flight:

Look, they made it to the moon!

Aha! I finally found a Space Academy logo to represent in front of!

And finally, I bought us matching caps, the better to be Space Camp Buddies with:

I think I've told you before, many times, about my firm belief that people should do hard things. Kids should do hard things. Academically gifted kids, like this one of mine,  should do hard things. I know you're thinking, "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, duh" but when you're talking about an academically gifted kid, that's not as obvious as it sounds. A lot of things come easily to an academically gifted kid. Her younger sister had to LEARN to read. Will, though, just did it. No effort. She writes essays, no effort (until I come in with the red pen, of course...). She thinks her math is hard, but she doesn't know that I'm making her do the most rigorous math curriculum on the market. She breezes through grammar, geography, literature, science. History is hard, but that's because she's an eighth-grader studying for the AP exam.

For a kid like that, everything could be easy. She could breeze through her schoolwork if I let her, breeze through an entire 12 years of school, graduate with all As and no experience of struggle. And then where would she be the first time something is hard? The first time she has to struggle to learn? The first time that she's not the smartest girl in the room? I've seen that--experienced that, if I'm going to be honest--and I don't like it.

So instead, I make the kid take the SATs when she's just turned 13. I have her pick an AP exam and learn the material in the eighth grade. Like you'd do with any other kid, I encourage her to explore her passions, even the ones it's clear she's not "gifted" in--she doesn't have to be the best horseback rider or ice skater in the room, and she needs something she can enjoy without being automatically good at. Like you'd do with any other kid, when she's interested in something, I encourage her to go for it, and I push her to challenge herself and stretch herself for it. I tell her to go for the scholarship. I won't let her give up when applying for it gets hard. I prepare her for not being the best, help her come up with a Plan B to achieve her dream anyway--hey, if we put aside some money every month, if you take up a couple more chores every week, we could budget to send you to Space Camp NEXT year if you don't get a scholarship this year, and you can always apply for the scholarship again next year, too.

But man, when all that hard work pays off? When she works harder at something than she's ever had to work AND achieves it? And when what she achieves isn't just another good test score or certificate or check, but an actual, genuine experience of a lifetime? Something that encourages her to become braver and stronger and try even harder? Something that inspires her to dream even bigger next time?

Well, you can see why that's something that I can't seem to stop myself from bragging about. It was a lesson well and truly learned, this adventure of hers.

P.S. Want to follow along with more resources and adventures of homeschooling and traveling the world with two half-feral and awesome kids? Follow my Craft Knife Facebook page!

Hands-On Fibonacci Sequence Explorations: Combining Logic, Math, and Art

I've realized that much of the hands-on math enrichment that I offer the kids is "number sense"--helping to develop their intrinsic understanding of numbers, their flexibility with them, their pattern recognition of number relationships. Whether it's fractions or geometry or exponents that we're studying, I always see space in their curriculum where free exploration can make kids wiser in what they're studying.

In algebra right now, the older kid is studying proportions and ratios, so what better time to spend some more time on the Golden Ratio?

I introduced the kids to the basic concept of the Fibonacci Sequence and how it's calculated, then asked them to use each number in the sequence as one side of a square. They were to draw those squares on 1cm graph paper, color them in, and cut them out. I told them that they should stop only when the next square would not fit onto a single piece of graph paper, although if we did this project again, I'd tape together larger sheets of graph paper ahead of time so that they could extend the sequence further.

Here's one of the sets that the kids came up with:

Apologies for the poor lighting in these photos, but school gets done on rainy days as well as sunny!

You can make lots of pretty patterns with just these squares. And yes, I DO think that Fibonacci Sequence stacking blocks would be AWESOME!

Next, I told the kids that these squares of the Fibonacci Sequence are also a puzzle, and I challenged them to use all of their squares to make a rectangle. They're familiar with this idea from the pentominoes that we've played with.

Here is the older kid's rectangle:

And here is the younger kid's!

The kids did not confer, so I think it's interesting that both built their rectangles the same way, and neither happened upon the "spiral." In fact, when I later rearranged the pieces to show the spiral, the younger kid still didn't really see it. This is where more and larger squares would have helped by extending the pattern.

I took away the larger squares, and had the kids solve the puzzle to make a rectangle with only the three smallest:

Then I added the next piece, and again asked them to solve the puzzle:

Do this again and again, and you see how the pattern can be formed:

Beautiful, isn't it?

In related news, we were at the US Space and Rocket Center last week for the older kid's Space Camp graduation (more on that another time!!!), and in their museum, look at the display that we found!

It was particularly terrific because it extended the pattern for us to see!

 I didn't look at any additional resources with the kids until after they'd worked the "puzzle," because I didn't want them to see a solution, but later in the day we watched these two YouTube videos from two of my favorite YouTube channels:

Here are some other great Fibonacci resources that we've been exploring:

• Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
• Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
• The Rabbit Problem

And here are some more ways to explore the Fibonacci Sequence in logic, math, and art:

• Fibonacci circle art. This project is to circles what my project is to squares. 
• Here's how to draw the spiral from the squares.
• Here's how to see the spiral in nature. We struggled with this for a while, and Syd is still somewhat of a nonbeliever. 

This project gave inspired me to come up with some more extension ideas just for me. I think it would be really cool to design a large-format squares of the Fibonacci Sequence, print it, and glue it to foam board the way that Matt and I did with the decanomial square. Imagine how many more interesting patterns you could come up with. I also deeply need to sew a Fibonacci sequence quilt.

As if I don't already have enough dream projects on my to-do list!

Crafty Book Review: Drawing Wild Animals, and 8 More Art Activities for Biology

I've mentioned off and on for years now how much the kids enjoy how-to-draw books. Every now and then I'll check out a pile of them from the library, and every now and then a publicist will send us a free one to play with.

Our most recent review copy is Drawing Wild Animals, which is coming in super useful for our Honors Biology study. The animals are categorized by class, with examples of mammals, amphibians, and reptiles represented. Some of the animals that the book shows you how to draw, such as the frog, toad, and salamander, are animals that the kids can practice from the book, then draw again as we do nature studies. We can do the same drawing practice, but then visit the zoo to study and draw animals like the tiger, giraffe, rhinoceros, zebra, elephant, lemur, and rattlesnake.

And, of course, some of the animals we can just draw for fun! Here are some sketches that Will made from the book the other day:

Will doesn't consider herself to be a competent artist, which means that she's often reluctant to do art. I'm always thrilled, then, when a resource is so deliciously tempting that even she will happily partake! And, of course, it helps when it's user-friendly enough that she's pleased with what she creates--that's positive reinforcement for practicing art!

Syd does consider herself to be an artist--and oh, she's a wonderful, gifted artist, indeed. Here's what she drew:

I think the detailing on the antlers, and the hair on the... hare... are new techniques that she picked up from the book. Super useful to be able to draw antlers and bunny fur!

Syd has sometimes been less engaged in our extensive biology studies this past year, so I'm contemplating deliberately incorporating more art into our biology. Syd always likes to do art! Here are some of the ideas that I've been researching:

1. I love these free, downloadable artist's study lessons. The first grade packet includes a close reading and extension activities for The Peaceable Kingdom; the second grade packet includes Tiger in a Tropical Storm; and fourth grade has an Audubon plate and The Horse Fair.
2. The Endangered Species Art Contest takes place every year!
3. There's also a National Fossil Day art contest!
4. A magazine collage would be fun for younger kids to create.
5. Look how beautiful these feather prints are!
6. You can make a life cycle story board for for every unique life cycle that you study.
7. This photo tutorial is for a papier mache dinosaur, but papier mache would work for any whole-body animal study, or even as a project on cells or organ systems.
8. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has an entire curriculum about paleo art. It's young for my two, but easily adaptable.

I feel like I'm on the right track with this, but I don't think I've yet hit on anything that would be a meaningful contribution to our study and would fill Syd with excitement. Let me know if you've got other suggestions for me!

When Your Kids Outgrow Their Building Blocks, Turn Them Into Art!

My kiddos are BUSY this summer, which means I've had a little more time on my hands than usual.

And when I have time on my hands, my hands tend to get messy!

After I've written lesson plans and finished all my freelancing for the week, I've found myself, more often than not, watching Downton Abbey and messing around with my stack of super-old and completely value-less vintage comics. I have decoupaged comic books onto some crazy things in my time, but lately I've been confining myself to the harmless obsession of making decoupaged building blocks using my vintage comics and the blocks that the kids don't play with anymore.

Some I am making entirely for myself. I would NEVER sell my now most treasured Captain America block, for instance!

Comic book shops often sell their "worthless" comics for small change, and that's where I find comic books to craft with. I collect only comics featuring characters whom I really like, of course, but then the danger to that is that I often can't part with what I've made with them.

But part of the deal that I make with myself is that when I make something FOR myself, I try to make some similar things for my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop--gotta pay for those craft supplies somehow, don't you know! So even though I super love Thor, I've listed this block featuring his bromance with Iron Man in Pumpkin+Bear,sigh...

I'm keeping my GI Joe block, though, because Snake Eyes!

But, fine. I'm selling this Iron Man comic book block. I love Iron Man, but that Civil War movie still has me pissed off:

And here's Hulk!

Some of the comics that I'm crafting with are the really beat-up ones that I had as a kid. I LOVED this Tom and Jerry comic in which Jerry sneakily feeds Tom until he's too fat to chase him (which huh. I had a lot of food issues as a kid, and I STILL have them. This comic could not have helped with that...), but it's absolutely falling apart, so now it's a super cute decoupaged building block:

Nobody is tearing my brand-new Thor block out of my grasp, however!

But, yeah. You can have Archie:

But NOT Captain America!

Spider-man, though--I've got a couple of Spider-mans. You can buy him as a rectangular prism--

Or a delightful cube:

But you just can't have my Captain America!

Or my Thor:

Here are another couple of comics that I owned as a kid. I clearly didn't have enough comics, because I have this old Richie Rich one memorized, and also worn down to a nub except for what I salvaged to make this decoupaged block:

Here's my weirdest block, though. I don't know who on earth bought me an Adventures of Kool-Aid Man comic, but did you know that it was published by Marvel? Kool-Aid Man could be an Avenger!

For now, though, he's just a very, very, VERY weird comic book block:

This will likely be my last Pumpkin+Bear update for a bit. I want to try to sneak into my studio to make some comic book magnets using upcycled Scrabble Tiles as a base, but I'm also road tripping and camping with the kids, packing them for camp (and making 100,000 trips to the store for everything on the packing list that I don't own), sewing them some summer clothes, planning some fun unit studies for them, and helping Will finish up her Girl Scout Silver Award project. 

Of course, making Scrabble tile and comic book magnets while watching Downton Abbey would be a nice, relaxing break from my to-do list...

Here's Every National Park Junior Ranger Badge You Can Earn By Mail (Updated July 2023)

July 2023: I just updated my list of Junior Ranger badges kids can earn at home. I crossed out Junior Ranger badges that are no longer available to earn from home, but I added a few new ones, too!

February 2021: I just updated my map of Junior Ranger badges kids can earn at national park sites AND my list of Junior Ranger badges kids can earn from home. Earning Junior Ranger badges is still one of Will's favorite activities!

It's been four years since the kids first discovered the Junior Ranger program at Badlands National Park, and thus began their obsession. I'm never one to let an educational experience go, so since that first thrilling day, I have deliberately organized ALL of our US vacations to include as many Junior Ranger programs as possible, and I've included all of the Junior Ranger programs that it's possible to earn by mail into our homeschool plans.

"How did you figure out where all of the Junior Ranger programs are?" you ask.

Friends, I made a giant freaking map:



Yes, that is EVERY SINGLE NATIONAL PARK SITE WITH A JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM. I put them all in by hand. I went to every single national park's website, searched for its Junior Ranger program, and if it had one I put it on my map.

When I plan road trips, I check my map for all the national park sites with Junior Ranger programs that we could detour to, and then we detour to them. During our upcoming road trip, for instance, we're visiting Saint Croix Island and Acadia National Park, primarily for their Junior Ranger programs.

But the kids' enthusiasm for earning Junior Ranger badges is unceasing, and yet we cannot spend our entire year traveling to various national parks. If only!

So I went back through every one of those websites, and I noted every park that permits children to earn their Junior Ranger badge by mail. Most of these parks provide the badge book as a downloadable pdf for kids to complete using internet or book research (often the park's own website, but we've also found useful park videos on YouTube). They mail their completed badge books to the park, and in return, the park rangers mail them back their badges and certificates.

It's always, eternally thrilling.

The kids have been doing this for years now, and still have tons of Junior Ranger badges left to earn by mail. They've learned geography, history, and several sciences in the process, experienced the breadth and depth of the national experience in ways they haven't had the opportunity to do in person, and have an intense appreciation for the variety of cultural, historical, and geographic artifacts and monuments that must be explored, preserved, and protected.

Not every national park, or even most national parks, allow their Junior Ranger badges to be earned by mail, mind you. You'll know if one does, because it will say so on its website or on the book, and it will have the book available as a downloadable pdf and include a mailing address for the completed book to be sent to. Many parks will state, kind of pissily in my opinion, that they do NOT allow badges to be earned by mail, and that's their right, but I think everyone loses when they do that--why stifle a kid's desire to learn? Why refuse an opportunity to grow someone's knowledge and love of your national park?

Before you get your kid all revved up on earning these badges by mail, you should know that since you've got to mail the completed badge books to each park, you'll be paying a few bucks for postage and manila envelopes each time. If you're conserving resources, check out the online badges that I've noted in my list--those let kids either do or submit their work online, so you don't have to pay for either supplies or postage.

Fortunately, MANY national parks are happy to have more kids interested in them and working to learn more about them! Here are all the national park Junior Ranger badges that you can earn by mail:

NOTE: I do NOT include Junior Ranger badges in which the badge book is offered as a pdf from the national park site, but kids cannot mail them in or submit them online to earn the badge without a visit to the site. Lots of national park sites offer their badge books as pdfs so that kids can get a head start on the book (which is a great idea!), and some sites even allow kids to mail in their badge books later if they didn't have time to complete them at the park, but this is is solely for badges that kids can earn entirely from home.

I'm also not including any of the newer "virtual Junior Ranger programs," which let kids complete some web activities and then print an image of the Junior Ranger badge. Those can be fun, but this list is solely for physical badges that kid can earn from home.

• Adams National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
• Aleutian World War II National Historical Area (Alaska)
• Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)
• Andersonville National Historic Site (Georgia)
• Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (Tennessee)
• Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Wisconsin)
• Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (Virginia). Kids can earn this one online! 
• Arches National Park (Utah)
• Arizona Junior Ranger Archaeology (Arizona): badge book here; mailing address here
• Arizona Trail Junior Explorer (Arizona)
• Assateague Island National Seashore (Maryland)
• Aztec Ruins National Monument (New Mexico). Kids can earn this one online!
• Badlands National Park (South Dakota)
• Bainbridge Island Junior Ranger (Washington)
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (Alaska)
• Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (Wyoming)
• Boston African American National Historic Site (Massachusetts) 
• Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
• Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah): Include a self-addressed, stamped bubble mailer to receive a wooden badge by mail.
• Buffalo National River (Arkansas)
• California National Historic Trail (California)
• Cane River Creole National Historical Park (Louisiana)
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Arizona)
• Canyonlands National Park (Utah)
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument (Alaska)
• Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Maryland)
• Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (North Carolina)
• Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
• Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (Florida)
• Catoctin Mountain National Park (Maryland)
• Cedar Breaks National Monument (Utah)
• Centennial Junior Ranger (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Cesar E. Chavez National Monument (California)

• Channel Islands National Park (California)
• Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument (Ohio). This one can be earned online!

• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (Maryland)
• Chesapeake Bay (Maryland)
• Civil War Defenses of Washington (Maryland)
• Clara Barton National Historic Site (Maryland)
• Congaree National Park (South Carolina)
• Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)
• Denali National Park and Preserve (Alaska). This was my younger kid's favorite Junior Ranger badge to earn by mail. She LOVED researching the sled dogs, and was thrilled when the ranger who mailed her badge to her wrote a letter to her that told her even more about them!

• Devils Postpile National Monument (California)
• Dinosaur National Monument (Colorado)
• Discovering the Underground Railroad (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve (Washington)
• El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (Texas)
• El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
• First Ladies National Historic Site (Ohio)
• First State National Historical Park (Delaware)
• Fort Donelson National Battlefield (Tennessee)
• Fort Hunt Park Junior Ranger Book (Washington, DC)
• Fort Scott National Historic Site (Kansas)
• Fort Stanwix National Monument (New York)
• Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
• Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (Alaska)
• Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (Alaska)
• Glacier National Park (Montana)
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Utah)

• Governors Island National Monument (New York)
• Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona)
• Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
• Great Falls Park (Virginia)
• Great Lakes Junior Ranger (Ohio)
• Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Colorado)
• Gulf Islands National Seashore (Mississippi)
• Hagerman Fossil Beds (Ohio)
• Haleakala National Park (Hawaii)
• Hampton National Historic Site (Maryland)
• Harry S. Truman National Historic Site (Missouri)

• Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (Iowa)
• Historic Preservation Junior Ranger (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Hopewell Furnace National Historic Park (Pennsylvania)

• Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail (Washington)
• James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Ohio)
• Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (Louisiana)
• Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (Georgia). This is another badge that had a profound effect on my older kid. She was unexpectedly moved by the story of Jimmy Carter, and he's now one of her heroes.

• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon)
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site (Massachusetts) 
• Johnstown Flood National Memorial (Pennsylvania). Both kids loved earning this one, and it led us to explore more about our own local dam.
• Juan Bautista De Anza Historic Trail (California). This one can be earned online.
• Junior Archaeologist (national)
• Junior Cave Scientist (national)

• Junior Civil War Historian (national)
• Junior Explorers (Arizona)
• Junior Forest Ranger (national)
• Junior Green Ranger (national)
• Junior Ranger All About Bats (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Junior Ranger Eclipse Explorer (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Junior Ranger Junior Paleontologist (national)
• Junior Ranger Let's Go Fishing (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Junior Ranger Night Explorer (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Junior Ranger Railroad Explorer (national)
• Junior Ranger River Safety (New York)
• Junior Ranger Underwater Explorer (national)

• Junior Ranger Wilderness Explorer (national): badge book here; mailing address here
• Junior Snow Ranger (national)
• Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska)
• Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens (District of Columbia)
• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield (Georgia)
• Keweenaw National Historical Park (Michigan)
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Alaska)
• Kobuk Valley National Park (Alaska)
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area (Nevada). This is another one you can request by email, but I don't know if you can actually complete it without a visit.
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (Nebraska)
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Illinois)
• Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Montana)
• Little River Canyon National Preserve (Alabama)
• Little Rock Central High School (Arkansas). This one got earned in real-life, too.
• Longfellow House Washington Headquarters National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park (Texas)
• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Virginia)
• Manassas National Battlefield Park (Virginia)
• Manhattan Project National Historical Park (Tennessee)
• Manzanar National Historic Site (California)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (Georgia)
• Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (New York)
• Mary McLeod Bethune National Historic Site (Washington, DC)
• Midwest Archaeological Center Junior Ranger (Nebraska)
• Minidoka National Historic Site (Idaho)
• Minuteman Missile Silo National Historic Park (South Dakota)
• Missouri National Recreational River (South Dakota)
• Monocacy National Battlefield (Maryland)
• Montezuma Castle National Monument (Arizona)
• Moores Creek National Battlefield (North Carolina)
• Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail (Utah)
• National Mall (District of Columbia)
• National Park of American Samoa Junior Ranger (American Samoa)
• Navajo National Monument (Arizona)
• New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
• New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (Louisiana)
• Ninety Six National Historic Site (South Carolina)
• Niobrara National Scenic River (Nebraska)
• Noatak National Preserve (Alaska)
• Ocmulgee National Monument (Georgia). We went there last year!

• Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum (Oklahoma)
• Oklahoma City National Memorial 25th Anniversary (Oklahoma)
• Old Spanish National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
• Oregon National Historic Trail (Oregon)
• Padre Island National Seashore (Texas)
• Pea Ridge National Military Park (Arkansas)
• Petersburg National Battlefield (Virginia)
• Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona). The kids earned this one by mail, because we didn't know about the Junior Ranger program when we visited there.

• Pinnacles National Park (California)
• Pipestone National Monument (Minnesota) 
• Point Reyes National Seashore (California). I didn't know about Junior Rangers when we visited here, either--thank goodness for badges earned by mail!
• Pony Express National Historic Trail (Wyoming)
• Portland General Electric (Oregon)
• President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home (Arkansas)
• Prince William Forest Park (Virginia)
• Railroad Explorer Junior Ranger (national)
• Richmond National Battlefield Park (Virginia)
• Roger Williams National Memorial (Rhode Island)
• Russell Cave National Monument (Alabama)
• Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (Wisconsin)
• Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site (New York)
• San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Texas)
• Salem Maritime National Historic Site (Massachusetts) 
• San Juan Island National Historical Park (Washington)
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (California)
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (California)
• Shiloh National Military Park (Tennessee)
• Sitka National Historical Park (Alaska). Matt and I have been to Sitka, but we weren't thinking about Junior Rangers while we were there!
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Michigan)
• Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail (Maryland)
• Stones River National Battlefield (Tennessee)
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Kansas)
• Thomas Stone National Historic Site (Maryland)
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument (Utah)
• Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (New Mexico)
• Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (New York)
• Virtual Junior Ranger Red Rock Canyon (Nevada)
• War in the Pacific National Historical Park (Guam)
• Western Arctic National Parklands (Alaska)

• White Sands National Park (New Mexico)
• Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota)
• W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir (North Carolina)
• Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (Virginia)
• World Heritage Junior Ranger (national)
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (Alaska). Matt and I have been to Wrangell without the kids, too!
• Zion National Park (Utah)

This is one of my absolute favorite activities that we do in our homeschool, but it's partly so wonderful because it's so adaptable. Sure, it can be your entire geography curriculum, or just an enrichment to another spine. You can include it in your history studies, or in the natural or earth sciences. Even if you don't homeschool, these Junior Ranger books are so fun that kids can simply DO them for fun. My kids do, and they think it's a nifty trick that I also let them count them for school!

If your kids love earning Junior Ranger badges, then they'd likely be interested in learning about the national park system as a whole--there's so much to explore there, from history and culture to geology and the sciences. Here are some of our favorite resources for learning about and exploring the national park system:

P.S. Want more obsessively-compiled lists of resources and activities for kiddos and the people who want to keep them happy and engaged? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page!