Juniors - What to know
Perhaps you, like me, have emptied your fair share of rocks from little pockets, or found them strewn about your car or home. Kids are born with an innate curiosity about our natural world. They take the time to observe, experience and wonder at the little things around us that we adults so easily overlook. It’s with this desire to lean into their curiosities that the Maplewood Rock and Gem Club’s Juniors program was developed.
Join us as we explore petrified wood, fossils, luminescent rocks, and more. We’ll crack open geodes, learn how to tumble rocks and ID the rocks in our collections. We’ll learn how to rockhound, and go out exploring for treasures. Each meeting is fun and educational, and juniors will have an opportunity to earn badges along the way through the American Federation of Mineralogical Society (AFMS) Future Roundhounds of America (FRA) badge program. The program is designed to reward youth with a series of badges, patches, and a completion pin for various activities.
Each juniors meeting will include a quick presentation on a topic of interest with specimens to explore, an interactive activity, and a raffle. And every junior will go home with something special after each meeting!
Our Rookie Rockhounds will have an opportunity to put their individual collections on display for a month in our clubhouse display case, as well as participate in our juniors case at our bi-annual shows.
We meet at 6:00 PM on the third Monday of the month, one hour prior to the general meeting. Come for the juniors meeting, and stay for more great information, raffle prizes, snacks and the silent auction at the 7:00 PM general meeting.
Any youth MRGC member 18 or under is eligible to join us. Youth 15 or under must be accompanied by a member adult. While our younger friends are welcome to join us, those 6 and up will be better suited to participate in our badge program. Come check us out! If you decide you would like to join our group, you can learn more about membership here. We also ask for a $10 per junior materials fee to cover the cost of our fun activities and take home goodies.
No prior experience or knowledge or rocks is necessary. Just come curious and ready to have fun!
To learn more, feel free to visit our next meeting or reach out to our Juniors Coordinator, Amaryah Daniels at juniors@maplewoodrockclub.com.
