Instagram Youtube

national park week

sPark Collaboration

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Today’s National Park Week theme looks at the many partners working to help our national parks. The national parks need our time by volunteering and our donations to help continue these great treasures. You can help by supporting one of more than 200 philanthropic organizations that partner with national parks nationwide.  In addition, many national parks have nonprofit associations linked to them. In addition, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of our national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Take a moment to check out one of these friend organizations of the national parks today! Click here for a directory of these organizations. Happy National Park Week!

sPark Collaboration Read More »

sPark Creativity

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

National parks have inspired artistic expression and creativity for many, many years. Today’s theme asks what can the national parks inspire you to create? The national parks have definitely inspired me! Our national parks inspired me to write children’s book set in a national park. I created a magical national park, Erutuf National Park, as the setting for my children’s book, Turtle Tube: An Erutuf National Park Novel. It’s not a real national park, but an idealistic and magical one. What creative spark do the national parks ignite in you?

sPark Creativity Read More »

sPark Discovery

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

National Park Week kicks off the week with a free day at the parks. No fees today! Today’s theme encourages people to find something new by visiting a national park. If you have been there before, look for something new this time. I love to learn and discover something new while visiting national parks. The Junior Ranger programs provide great opportunities for both children and adults to learn in greater detail about the park and its’ unique details. The visitor centers also provide a great resource for discovering something new. Stop in and enjoy some fun facts there! Talk to the Park Rangers and ask them some questions. If you can’t get to a national park today in person, visit one virtually online. Explore it virtually! Whether you go in person or online, what might you discover? “Learning never exhausts the mind,” ~Leonardo da Vinci

sPark Discovery Read More »

National Park Week

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

It’s one of my favorite weeks all year! National Park Week starts tomorrow, April 16th, and goes through the 24th this year!  This year’s theme is “sPark Connections”. I love the play on the words Spark and Park here with this theme. Each day will present a new theme with the sPark and I’ll highlight them each day on this blog to celebrate this fun week! Let’s all enjoy our amazing national parks!

National Park Week Read More »

National Park Week Thanks

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

As National Park Week wrapped up yesterday, I thought a lot about our national parks this past week. I thought about all the memories of our visits there. I also thought about the junior ranger programs, the park rangers and volunteers, the history, the military service, the transportation options, the wildlife, the earth, the past, the nonprofit organizations, the mental health benefits, and the furry visitors to the park. I smiled a lot during these thoughts. The national parks bring us great joy in addition to many other benefits. National Park Week provided us with a daily reminder of all the goodness within this great and unique system. Thank you for coming along with me on this year’s National Park Week.

National Park Week Thanks Read More »

BARK Ranger Day

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

As part of National Park Week, today is Bark Ranger Day. Let’s take a guess what this might mean…..bark….like dogs! BARK actually stands for: Bag your pet’s waste Always wear a leash Respect wildlife Know where you can go. These are four great points to remember when bringing your pet to a national park. Enjoy a photo of our dog, Evie, at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

BARK Ranger Day Read More »

National Junior Ranger Day

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Happy National Park Week!  And Happy National Junior Ranger Day!  The junior ranger program allows people of all ages to “explore, learn, and protect” your national parks by doing some activities to earn their badge. Each park offers different activities or programs. (And yes, they really mean all ages as I did the program at a national park as an adult and even before having kids as I thought it was so cool!) I highly recommend checking this program out the next time you visit a cool place within our national park system. Cheers to National Park Week!

National Junior Ranger Day Read More »

Friendship Friday

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Everybody needs a friend! Even the national parks need friends. As part of the National Park Week, today marks Friendship Friday. The national parks need our time by volunteering and our donations to help continue these great treasures. You can help by supporting one of more than 200 philanthropic organizations that partner with national parks nationwide.  In addition, many national parks have nonprofit associations linked to them. In addition, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of our national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Take a moment to check out one of these friend organizations of the national parks today! Click here for a directory of these organizations. Happy National Park Week!

Friendship Friday Read More »

Earth Day

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

Earth Day is a global celebration encouraging education and stewardship of the planet’s natural resources.  This year celebrates the 51st anniversary of Earth Day! Take a moment and go online to learn about how we can protect our only planet. Click here to learn more about earth sciences. Click here to learn about the leave no trace principles at our parks. For kids, become a junior explorer today by clicking here! Cheers to our planet! Happy National Park Week!

Earth Day Read More »

Wayback Wednesday

2 Comments / Uncategorized /

Happy National Park Week! Today, we flash back to the past and honor our nation’s historic natural and cultural heritages preserved in parks and communities. History and memories are made each day at the national parks.  Take a moment to reflect on one of your own favorite national park memories today! Enjoy a photo of my own Wayback Wednesday of the national parks of a pretty special day in my life and then again 15 years later (almost two years ago): Happy National Park Week!

Wayback Wednesday Read More »

Scroll to Top