Every school holidays Parks Victoria run a series of FREE Junior Rangers programs at different National and State Parks around the state; informative, hands on and very popular (some book out before the Junior Rangers newsletter even gets emailed out!).  We went to a session in Point Nepean called Outside Inside Ewww.

When:  Victorian school holidays, Outside Inside Ewww ran 10.30am – midday

Where:  Point Nepean National Park, Point Nepean

Cost:  FREE

Information centre

scavenger clues

group challenge

shedded snake skin

echidna quills

ewww

horse nail clippings

looking at the top palate of a cat skull

Review

This was a fun mornings activity where we were encourage to think about the local flora and fauna and discover things about animals that weren’t native to Victoria’s environment.

Our morning’s program was located in one of the Former Army Barracks and Quarantine Station buildings in Point Nepean (where the new Information Centre is located) this building was where we spent the entire session (and thank goodness it was indoors as it was a windy, wet and cold day outside).

When we first arrived the kids were given individual scavenger hunts to undertake – and so exploring the room we had to look for the objects on our list.  Next we were broken into groups of four and given a puzzle to complete and then colour in and decorate – each puzzle came with stickers.  Once the children had completed their puzzles and had some time to decorate them we had to work out where in the room their completed picture fitted – around the walls of the room was a mural of many different kinds of environments (desert, rainforest, beach etc) and the groups in the room had each completed a missing piece.

Once this activity finished the Rangers then got out some boxes of goodies – from snake skins to skulls, there was loads to see, touch and, in some cases, even smell. The children were captivated and very keen to try and answer some of the questions the Rangers posed.  The two Rangers who ran the session were enthusiastic, fun and full of information.

At the end of the session everyone got a certificate, activity book, some stickers and temporary tattoos.

This session really suited school aged children as after about an hour the pre-school aged children needed a bit of a run around – outside the building was plenty of space to let off steam.

Tips.

• The sessions book out quickly on the Junior Ranger website once the events go live.  Sign up for the JR newsletter so that you hear about them as soon as they go live.
• Point Nepean sessions might book out but there is often a few who don’t turn up on the day – you could always turn up and see if you can take the place of a no-show if you have missed a spot and are still keen to go.
• Rockpool Rambles are traditionally the most popular activities run by the Junior Rangers and these book out sometimes before the newsletter has even been sent.  If you are keen to get a spot on the Rockpool Ramble apparently it’s best to keep checking the JR website a month before school holidays so you can get in before the newsletter goes out.