Inside: Turn those free those Jr Range Badges the kids worked so hard to get into fun Ornaments for your Christmas tree!
If you or your kids have a growing collection of Junior Ranger badges, you’re not alone!
The Junior Ranger program is one of our family’s favorite parts of visiting National Parks and historic sites. Each badge represents a place we visited, things we learned, and memories we made.
Instead of letting those badges pile up in a drawer, (like I have for years!) turn them into a meaningful National Park Christmas ornament!
Making the ornaments is a simple DIY craft that celebrates your adventures and looks amazing on your Christmas tree year after year.
This is such a fun way to display badges from places like Yellowstone, Gettysburg, Fort McHenry, and Castillo de San Marcos and any other parks your kids explore on future trips.
Eventually I think it would be fun to have a whole tree that’s Jr. Ranger badges and photos from those places.
What Are Junior Ranger Badges?
When kids or adults complete activities in the Junior Ranger program (available at most U.S. National Parks, monuments, memorials, and historic sites) they earn a wooden or plastic badge themed to that location.
Most badges say Junior Ranger and feature the name of the park plus a special icon or illustration unique to that site.
Over the years we’ve collected badges from several different National Parks and monuments throughout the United States.
DIY Junior Ranger Badge Ornament
Making these simple Jr Ranger ornaments creates a meaningful travel memory keepsake (costing almost nothing!) and helps kids remember which parks they’ve visited. Plus, it’s a great way to display badges without losing them.
Supplies You’ll Need
- Junior Ranger badge
- Ribbon or twine (earth tones or National Park green look great!)
- Hot glue or strong craft glue
- Scissors
- Optional: Pen
How to Make a Junior Ranger Badge Ornament
1. Cut Your Ribbon or Twine
Plan a loop long enough to easily hang on a tree, usually 6–8 inches. I used twine for our ornaments, but an earth toned or national park green ribbon would also be fun.
2. Attach the Ribbon or Twine to the Badge
Flip the Junior Ranger badge over and glue the ribbon ends to the back making a loop.
If your badge has a pin backing, you can either keep it on or remove it using pliers. I chose to remove the pins from our badges.
3. Add the Year or Name
We’ve started stamping the back of our Junior Ranger Badges with the passport stamps at many national parks and I love how that looks on the back of the badge.
But for those parks we didn’t stamp I like to write the date we visited on the back of the badge. For some of the national parks we’ve done the Jr. Ranger program multiple times so we have more than one pin and each has a different date.
You can also add your child’s name or initials to the back of the ornament if you would like.
4. Let Dry Completely
Once everything is dry and firmly attached, your ornament is ready to hang.
My kids were very excited about these Junior Ranger ornaments they worked hard to get the pins and it’s so fun to be able to show them off.
I love that now our free pins from aren’t collecting dust (or getting lost) but are a fun keepsake ornament we get to see each year on our Christmas tree.
More Posts You Might Enjoy:
US National Parks Bucket List (Free Printable)
Trip to Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Best State and National Parks Near St. George Utah