Sandy Hook Plans Special Day For Kids Oct. 6

HIGHLANDS, NJ — Do you have a child in the 4th grade? If so, you can get a free entry pass for you and your family to visit all U.S. national parks for the entire year, and that includes Gateway National Recreation Area Sandy Hook right here in our backyards.

Stop by the Fort Hancock post on Oct. 6, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and pick up your pass. Join National Park Service rangers for a day filled with fun and excitement, including ranger-led Adventure Hikes at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., a hawk and falcon demonstration with Falcon Environmental Service, and special activities with New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Clean Ocean Action, American Littoral Society, and Save Coastal Wildlife.

The annual pass which is good from Sept. 1, 2019 through Aug. 31, 2020, provides free entrance to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas. The pass does not cover expanded amenity fees such as camping or boat rides.

If you are unable to make the Oct. 6 event, fourth grade students can visit the Every Kid Outdoors website (https://everykidoutdoors.gov/fourth_graders.htm), participate in a short educational activity, and download a voucher.

The Every Kid Outdoors Program replaces the Every Kid in a Park Program that was established in 2015.

The program focuses on children 10 years of age — the age of most fourth graders — based on research that indicates children ages 9–11 are at a unique developmental stage in their learning where they begin to understand how the world around them works in more concrete ways and they are more receptive to engaging with nature and the environment.

By focusing on this age group year after year, the program aims to ensure every child in the United States has the opportunity to visit their federal lands and waters by the time he or she is 11 years old, thereby establishing a lifelong connection to enjoy and protect our American outdoor heritage.

There are seven federal agencies participating in the Every Kid Outdoors Program: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; National Park Service; U.S. Bureau of Land Management; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.