Be A Junior Ranger

Carl Sandburg Jr. Ranger Badge

Be a Sandburg Junior Ranger! Visit Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and become a Junior Ranger!

Visit the park store and ask for a free Junior Ranger booklet. Then, explore the park to complete the activities appropriate for your age, show it to a ranger, and you will earn a badge and the honor of being a Junior Ranger who vows to learn about and protect National Parks throughout our country.

If you cannot visit Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, simply download a Junior Ranger booklet. For a Spanish language booklet, plelase email the park. You can use the museum web exhibit to find the information needed to complete the activities, then mail or scan and email the booklet to the park for a ranger to check. We will mail the booklet back to you with your badge. In order to be efficient with mail, we only mail badges/completed booklets back to visitors. If you have questions about the program, please contact the park by email.

Be a Rootabaga Ranger at Carl Sandburg Home!

Welcome to Rootabaga Country!
The land of liver and onions, where railroads run on zig-zag tracks and cream puffs come to life. Carl Sandburg wrote the "Rootabaga Stories" to replace European fairy tales with princes, princesses, castles and kingdoms with icons American children would recognize -- taxi-drivers, movie actors, skyscrapers, prairies and automobiles.

We invite you to experience Rootabaga Country for yourself by watching this short video. Each summer, apprentice actors from the Flat Rock Playhouse take the Sandburg Home stage to perform works based on Carl Sandburg's works. After watching the plays, young visitors can complete an activity sheet and become a Rootabaga Junior Ranger!

If you can't make it to a play in person, you can still become a Rootabaga Ranger. Click here to do the activities virtually!