Kids Day this time around is on New Year’s Day. It always runs from 2:00pm ET through 7:59pm ET [1800 UTC through 2359 UTC].
Twice a year, in January and June, Kids Day is an ARRL event designed to promote Amateur Radio to our youth. Share your excitement with your kids or grandkids, a Scout troop, a church or the general public!
Kids Day is designed to give on-the-air experience to young people and hopefully foster interest in getting a license of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance to share their station and love for Amateur Radio with their children.
Operate as much or as little as you like. If you have no kids at your mike, wait until several “CQ Kids Day” calls go unanswered allowing a generous pause to allow other kids to respond. Then you may answer the CQ.
Remember this is a kids event, not a contest. Don’t be too brief, make the kids at the other end feel at ease. Stick to the initial script, that’s what they are working from, so you should too.
Scripts
Initial script:
1. Call “CQ Kids Day.”
2.Exchange name, age, locale (in the park), town (New Bedford), county (Bristol), state (MA), and favorite color (black, green, red, etc.).
3. It’s okay to work the same station again, if an operator has changed on either side of the QSO.
- Other items
- Exchange Grade in school
- Best subject/favorite teacher
- Favorite indoor/outdoor activities
- Let them “rag-chew” as much or as little as they want.
- Tell them about the equipment that is being used, not too much unless they ask for more
- Close by saying “Goodbye, nice talking with you” or the like.
Suggested Frequencies
- 28.350 to 28.400 MHz
- 24.960 to 24.980 MHz
- 21.360 to 21.400 MHz
- 18.140 to 18.145 MHz
- 14.270 to 14.300 MHz
- 7.270 to 7.290 MHz
- 3.740 to 3.940 MHz
- 2 meter simplex or repeaters (with the permission of the repeater’s sponsor)
Control operators remember to observe third-party rules when making contacts with stations outside the US.
More Information
This is a fabulous way to celebrate the special bond between generations. Kids Day is a great opportunity to open the doors of your station and let the youngsters take the “Big Chair.” Let them find stations they hear or work on a map, color in a map of states worked, or help them to build something.
All participants are encouraged to post stories and photos to the ARRL Kids Day Soapbox page and are eligible to receive a colorful certificate. You can download the free certificate, customized with the youngsters’ names, after filling out the Kids Day Survey found on the same page as the certificate generator.
Alternatively, you can send a 9” x 12” SASE (with your or the kids’) address to:
Kids Day Certificate Request
ARRL
225 Main St.
Newington, CT 06111
For more information click here.