We just discovered Geocaching! How have I missed the fun of this search and find sport? This week I decided to look it up and find out what it was all about as my kids are the perfect age for this type of hunt.
First, you’ll need to head over to Geocaching.com and sign up for a free account. They have a few video tutorials to help you and your kids get the idea of how it all works.
You can search for different geocaches on their site or download an app to your mobile phone. If you have the phone app, it makes it easy to find the 3 closest geocaches near you. We discovered that there were 3 hidden within 1/2 a mile of our house. So fun!! *edit*You can use a regular gps system to find the geocaches, that’s how this even all started. Or below is a comment suggesting a kit from the library if you don’t have either a phone app or gps.
Your phone or gps will have a map to guide you to your destination. And there are clues from the description to let you know what area it’s going to be.
They’ll even give you a little hint if you need more help. This one said “Finding this cache is going to be a “picnic”!
Once you find the geocache, open it up and see what’s inside. There is usually a log book to sign, so bring a pen.
And if you bring a trinket to trade, you get to take something from the cache. So it’s like a real treasure hunt. You never know what you’re going to find! I have a feeling we’ll be looking to see if there’s a geocache near us everywhere we go!
Have you ever been geocaching? What cool places or treasures have you found?
**And if you’re looking for more activities for your kids who are a little older, come see what we’ve been crafting over at Babycenter’s Momformation. It might be something to the effect of mini weapons of mass destruction!
If any of your readers are looking for a how-to guide to both hobbies, they should check out the book, It’s a Treasure Hunt: Geocaching and Letterboxing. It’s a good comprehensive guide for beginners and includes logbook pages.
Thanks! I took our four boys and two dogs and they really enjoyed it :-)
My 2 boys are 10 & 5 so sometimes Geocacheing is the thing, but sometimes it is easier to do the Letterboxing thing. No extra tech equipment required. There are clues on the internet at http://www.letterboxing.org/ Then you follow the directions and clues to find the hidden box. Inside there is usually a rubber stamp and a notebook. you can just write your name or take a long a special rubber stamp for your family and stamp their book. If you want to you can then start collecting the stamps that are hidden in your own log book. My boys have found some really cool hand carved rubber stamps that actually look like the location that we are near. Sometimes there are compass coordinates rather than GPS coordinates. This is just one other fun treasure hunt for the kids. Just and FYI. Have fun hunting!!!
We live in Australia and have been geocaching for a few years now…so much fun…and can be done anywhere in the world. It was fun to see your adventures.
There was one in the woods behind our house for the longest time! People were always roaming around back there. That’s how I found out about this. Fun as long as it’s further away from my house! Ha!
I think my kids would have a ball for this! So fun!
If you don’t have a GPS or a smart phone, check your local library. Many have kits that can be checked out. It’s a no-cost way to try it out.
LOVED reading this! We LOVE geocaching :) Our extended family got my then-boyfriend and I hooked a few years ago. You really do start to look for caches wherever you are and whenever you have a few extra minutes and are bored. My sweet hubby also used a geocache to propose :) And then when we moved cross-country/had our honeymoon, we geocached our way across America! Geocaching is awesome.
We do letterboxing, which is like geocaching and it involves stamping. The box has a stamp and book and the letterboxer has a stamp and book. Here are the sites for finding places of letterboxes:
http://www.letterboxing.org/
and
http://www.atlasquest.com/
Ooo, thanks for the tip. That one sounds fun.
We’ve been geocaching for several years now – too much fun!
OMGoodness!!!!! I LOVE geocaching. I used to be an EMT and we would pass our downtime with geocaching. This was 11-12 years ago though so I bet there are even more locations. Gonna have to get back into it now that I have kids. Thanks for the great reminder with this blog post. Love your blog, btw!
I had no idea that kids could do this! I thought it was way too hard. But my kids look similar in age to yours and they would really like a good real-life treasure hunt, too! Thanks for sharing!
What a GREAT idea. I run a summer camp for children with disabilities. This would be a great activity for them.
so cool. i want to try this already checked and plenty right near us….
I have taken my kids out a few times to “look for treasure”. It’s really fun. There are quite a few within walking distance of my house. It’s such a fun thing to do with the whole family and within a community of other like minded people.
This sounds like a lot of fun for a summer afternoon with the kids! It’s like a digital scavenger hunt!! We just did make-it-yourself photo scavenger hunt on Out of Office.
Thanks for sharing about your adventure!
We love to geocache-with and without the kids! :) My husband and I are vacationing in The Keys and we’ve found a bunch down here!
Geocaching has been a part of our family for quite a few years. When my husband and I were dating, I introduced him to it and he got hooked, too. My parents are also geocaching fans and there’s often some friendly competition to see who can get the most in a certain period of time and the group that loses buys dinner for everyone :-)
We’ve been geocaching for years! We have found caches in two provinces and three states so far. It’s fun to do when you’re travelling. It’s amazing how many sites there are all over the world!
I agree. So far we’ve found one about every couple of miles where I live. It’s a crazy new world we’ve been introduced to!
We love Geocaching, too, but it can be frustrating. We’ve looked for several and never found them. Also, this cache looks so… pristine! The one’s we’ve found are usually pretty beaten up by the weather and all the traffic they get.
We are big-time geocaching dorks. So fun!