Geocaching with kids

Taking the kids Geocaching always adds to the adventure but there are some things to do to make it successful.

Plan ahead: when choosing what types of caches to include in the pocket query decide what your kid’s abilities are

Types of cache

Traditional

Letterbox

Containers

Regular

Large

That

  I haven’t found

  Are not on my ignore list

  Is enabled

  Found in the last 7 days

  Have travel bugs

Attributes to include

Recommended for kids

Public restrooms nearby

Attributes to exclude

Dangerous area

Dangerous animals

Poison plants

The problem with a pocket query with these strict criteria is I only ended up with five in a 100 mile area. When I took travel bugs off the results went up to 17 when I took off the nearby public restrooms the results jumped to 122. I did not plan on taking the kids far so I put the search to 30 miles I came up with 23. Once you have a good list like this hit the blue ribbon on the top of the menu, this will put the caches with the most favorite votes at the top. Make a note of these and be sure to visit these caches.

Group Geocaching

Going Geocaching in a group is fun and can be an education. Josh Snyder is a leader of our local Scout troop 916, he is also an adjunct instructor at UVU in the biology department. So while we are walking through a field he is point out different plants and telling its history and what is edible. We came upon a deer carcass that had been hit by a car years earlier. This was a great opportunity for an anatomy lesson. During this lesson the phrase came out that a deer is a big critter. He was showed us how the different bones fit together. 

Josh brought this awareness to me that the different participants of a group and their background bring so much more to the experience of Geocaching. Thanks Josh

Girl Scouts Promote Geocaching

Jeannie O'Sullivan of New Jersey wrote treasure hunters gather in Delanco park, the article should be titled Treasure Hunters find novelty items and cheap trinkets.  more than 5 million Geocachers see this sight on a regular basis and consider themselves lucky because it could be just a piece of paper. Jeannie continues telling us about Sarah Loring and her good friend Samantha Booth, they are both members of Girl Scout Troop 25416. these two 14year old girls organized a workshop teaching people about Geocaching.they did this to earn their silver badge. like most Geocachers they did it once and now their hooked. actually they started by accident when Samantha's mom found a cache at camp and investigated it. this was several years and she has influenced her daughter and her daughters friends. the group has now discovered  a number of parks they did not even know existed. now they look for green areas on mapquest and hope to locate a cache these girls are becoming experienced geocachers. Samantha gas even found some in Ireland during a trip there. I love to see the rising generation taking an interest in the sport.