Where the Wild Things Learn: Creating a Junior Ranger Book for Mammoth Cave National Park using Informal and Environmental Education Best Practices

For over 100 years, the National Park Service (NPS) has brought inspiration and education to the millions of people who visit. Within the NPS, the Junior Ranger program has emerged as a fun and informal way for children aged 5-13 to learn about a park site. Part of the Junior Ranger program is the completion of an activity booklet that one must complete to earn a badge, patch, or certificate. Often, NPS resources for this program can vary, and the creation of Junior Ranger booklets can become low-priority, side projects for interpretation or education rangers. Furthermore, these rangers differ significantly in their understanding of education theory and as such, the curricula and quality of these booklets are inconsistent across parks. The purpose of this project was to create a new Junior Ranger booklet for Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) in central Kentucky, using informal and environmental education best practices. This project involved collecting and researching Junior Ranger booklets from across the country, visiting the host site, drafting the booklet, and designing the final digital product. The new Junior Ranger booklet incorporated staff input, native perspectives, and visually appealing art design, with the result being a more holistic and useful educational tool. This project was crafted with the next generation of park visitors in mind, and each page was deliberately tailored to help learners create a significant and personal connection with the park and its unique resources. This project has the potential to be an example for the field and specifically the park service, showing what a Junior Ranger program can inspire to be.

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