Radio Adventures for Kids

What is ham radio?

Ham radio (its proper name is amateur radio) is a hobby where people learn how radio works by doing it. They talk to each other across town, across Canada and around the world, using radio waves instead of phone lines or the internet.

The Government of Canada describes the amateur radio service as being for self-training and for people interested in radio “solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.” In kid terms: hams do it to learn and for fun, never to make money.

Go on a fox hunt

A radio fox hunt is hide-and-seek with radio. The “fox” is a small transmitter that someone hides, and everyone else tries to find it. ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States, describes it simply: “A small, low power transmitter is hidden and the rest of the crew tries to find it.” It calls fox hunting “very challenging and a whole lot of fun.”

How clubs run them

• On foot with a map and compass. The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) calls amateur radio direction finding (ARDF for short) “the sport of finding radio transmitters on foot”, and says it’s “great fun for young and old alike.” Hunters carry a small receiver and an antenna that hears best in one direction, plus a map and compass.
• Taking bearings. Hunters turn the antenna until the signal is loudest, which tells them which way to go. The IARU’s guides cover hunts on the 2-metre and 80-metre bands.
• Real-life skills. ARRL says direction finding skills can help find someone jamming a radio repeater, or a lost hiker.

Try it at home: the sound fox

You don’t need a radio to learn the idea. Your ears work like a direction-finding antenna.

What you need

• A wind-up kitchen timer that ticks, or a grown-up’s phone set to play a beeping alarm
• A yard, a big room, or a park picnic area
• This card and a pencil

What to do

1. Someone hides the fox while the hunters wait with their eyes closed.
2. Hunters stand still and listen. Cup a hand behind one ear and turn slowly. Point to where it’s loudest. That’s your bearing.
3. Move to a new spot and take another bearing. Where your two pointing lines cross is where the fox should be. Radio hunters call this triangulation.
4. Walk in quietly and find it. Then it’s your turn to hide the fox.
5. Level up: draw a simple map of the yard and draw your bearing lines on it.

Printable card: fox hunt log

• ☐ Bearing 1 taken from: ______   Pointed toward: ______
• ☐ Bearing 2 taken from: ______   Pointed toward: ______
• ☐ Lines drawn on my map
• ☐ Fox found! Time it took: ______ minutes
• ☐ I hid the fox for someone else
• ☐ Bonus: I went on a real radio fox hunt with a club

Visit a club or a Field Day

The friendliest way to meet ham radio is to visit the people who do it. Our sister site keeps a list of amateur radio clubs in southern Alberta, with meeting places. Most clubs are happy to have curious kids and parents drop by, so ask a grown-up to get in touch first and ask when a good visit would be.

Field Day: ham radio’s open house

Every June, clubs across Canada and the United States set up radio stations outdoors, often camp-style with tents, temporary antennas and their own power. ARRL calls Field Day “ham radio’s open house,” says it is “not a contest,” and adds: “We welcome the public to come learn more about ham radio!” ARRL encourages clubs to set up in public places so their communities can see what amateur radio can do.

• When: ARRL says Field Day is held on the fourth full weekend of June. In 2026 it ran June 27 and 28. By that rule, 2027 should be June 26 and 27, but check ARRL’s Field Day page in the spring.
• Why: it’s practice for emergencies, when hams may need to run radios without regular power.
• How to find one: ARRL has a Field Day locator on its Field Day page, and local clubs announce their plans.

Printable card: radio visit

• ☐ We found a club and asked about visiting
• ☐ I saw an antenna up close
• ☐ I heard a contact (two stations talking)
• ☐ I learned a call sign: ______
• ☐ I asked a question about how radio works
• ☐ We visited a Field Day site in June

Say hello on the air

Here’s the exciting part: you don’t need your own licence to say hello on the radio, as long as a licensed operator is right there with you. ISED’s RIC-3 says that people who aren’t qualified “may use an amateur radio station, provided a qualified operator is present” to look after the station’s controls.

What to do

1. Do it with a licensed operator, at a club, a Field Day or a school event. They run the station and decide when it’s your turn.
2. Plan what to say. Your first name, where you are (just “Lethbridge” is perfect) and one question, like “What’s the weather where you are?”
3. Listen first, then speak slowly and clearly.
4. Write it down. Hams keep a log of every contact.

Printable card: my first contact

• ☐ Date: ______   Time: ______
• ☐ The licensed operator who helped me: ______
• ☐ Call sign of the station I talked to: ______
• ☐ Where they were: ______
• ☐ Something I learned: ______

Talking to astronauts: ARISS

Imagine your class asking an astronaut a question, and hearing the answer from space. That’s what ARISS, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, makes happen.

• What it is: NASA says ARISS inspires students worldwide to pursue science, technology, engineering and math through radio contacts with the Space Station crew. Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) describes it as a cooperative venture of AMSAT, ARRL, NASA and other space agencies and radio organizations, including RAC.
• How long: NASA and RAC both say a contact lasts about 10 minutes. RAC explains that’s roughly the time the station takes to cross the sky from one horizon to the other, so students line up their questions in advance.
• Who can apply: schools, museums and youth groups. NASA’s page describes the United States side of the program, ARISS-US, which looks for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and fit the contact into a well-planned education program. Canadian groups go through ARISS Canada (below). Proposal opportunities are posted at ariss.org.
• The Canadian angle: RAC’s ARISS Canada page says ARISS Canada is the Canadian region of the program. It arranges contacts for classrooms and other places such as science centres, museums and Scout jamborees, with help from volunteers from amateur radio clubs. It lists a Canadian team that includes a regional mentor for Western Canada.
• In our province: in February 2019, the Canadian Space Agency announced a contact between astronaut David Saint-Jacques and about 600 students, from kindergarten to Grade 9, at a school in Lloydminster, Alberta.

Practise Morse code

Morse code turns letters into short and long beeps, called dots and dashes. Radio operators still use it today. Our Morse code trainer lets you hear the letters and practise.

1. Start with your name. Find each letter in the trainer and listen to it.
2. Tap it out on a table with a pencil: a quick tap for a dot, a longer press for a dash.
3. Send a secret message to a family member, and see if they can decode it.

Printable card: Morse practice

• ☐ I heard every letter of my name
• ☐ I tapped my name in Morse
• ☐ I decoded a word someone sent me
• ☐ I practised for 5 minutes on 5 different days

Ready for more?

For older kids, teens and grown-ups who want to go further, our sister site’s first radio guide explains how to get started, and VE6DOK.net has lots more on learning and operating. A local club can help you find an examiner when you’re ready for the Basic exam. Our Kids’ Science Corner also lists trusted radio sites for young learners.

Sources

• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, RIC-3, Information on the Amateur Radio Service, Issue 5, March 2022 (purpose of the service; no age restrictions; Basic exam; non-qualified persons with a qualified operator present): ised-isde.canada.ca
• Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Weather Amateur Radio Network (CANWARN): canada.ca
• ARRL, Direction finding (fox hunting): arrl.org
• International Amateur Radio Union, Region 2 ARDF, Articles and information about ARDF: ardf-r2.org
• ARRL, Field Day (date rule, 2026 dates, open house, public welcome, locator): arrl.org
• ARRL News, Start planning for ARRL Field Day 2026 (US and Canada; public places): arrl.org
• NASA, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (purpose, 10 minutes, proposals): nasa.gov
• Radio Amateurs of Canada, ARISS (partners, 10 minutes, horizon to horizon): rac.ca
• Radio Amateurs of Canada, ARISS Canada (Canadian region, venues, volunteer team): wp.rac.ca
• Canadian Space Agency, Amateur radio contact between David Saint-Jacques and Lloydminster students (February 2019): canada.ca
• VE6DOK.net, Southern Alberta amateur radio clubs, First radio, and Morse code trainer: ve6dok.net