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Son Logging Finds....


FUSE_SCRC

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Ya know, it wasn't till I started reading these forums that this question popped into my mind. Here is what we do, let me know if it is ok.

 

My son (5 years old) and I go geocaching as much as we can, we are newbies. Normally I will see where the cache is but won't actually go and uncover it. I will try and hint to my son the general area of where the cache is and then he will find it. He gets really excited after finding a cache.

 

Well I made a Geocache account for him as well and whenever he finds one I log it for him, and I log it as well under my account. So far he has 9 finds I believe.

 

So, does anyone see any problems with us doing this?

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My $0.02: I think that's great, as long as you ask your son what he wants in his log entry. He's probably got something different to say about the cache than you do. By having his own account, he'll be able to have a record of his past finds for when he goes out and caches on his own in the future.

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You can play the game and log your finds however it makes you happy. People on the boards are often upset about how someone else is playing or logging, and that may be what you've read that made you want to ask. This is probably a case, however, where most everyone will agree that there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with what you're doing. That's pretty much how all kids find and log caches.

 

Definitely let him have his own account and keep up with his finds.

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My daughter (8 at the time) and me started off as a "Team Account" (which is why "The Leprechauns" is plural). We had no idea at the time that the activity would grow into something that Dad could spend his time on when daughter was in her Mom's custody. When I got way too far ahead of her in the find count, she asked early this year for her own separate account. We "retro-logged" her 250 or so finds at the time, and she writes her own logs. It is amazing how well she remembers good cache hunts from three years ago.

 

So yes, start the separate account NOW so that you don't have to reconstruct the past history when your child is old enough to write their own logs. By the way, asking them to help with the log -- even if a parent types -- is a great way to sneak in some education with their recreation. English composition, creative writing, geography, natural science and typing skills are all brought to bear when writing an online log.

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Awesome everyone... Good to know... I agree that this is a great way to sneak in education with him. He is in Kindergarten, and this is right up his alley right now. Asking him to explain what he though, and explaining stuff when we are searching for the caches, such as plants, trees, shoot, just nature in general. And he is also learning about rules and such. He has wanted to keep a couple TB's for himself but he has to follow the rules. He didn't take them. But now that he has made a TB himself he is understanding the idea and purpose. This sport is a great way for me to be able to spend more time with him.

 

Sending a big thank you to everyone that caches, thank you for making Geocaching what it is today.

 

FUSE

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MY son, Ben claims finds on every geocache he goes to with me or with his mother (they have their own account)...I think the exposure to the outdoors, the exploration, and the lesson on fairness gained by trading are all educational experiences for him.

 

nfa-jamie

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My kids both have their own accounts. The 8 year old always wants to know how many caches he's done, but also hates taking the time to log them. I'll help him log his finds when he decides he wants to take the time to do it.

 

My 3 yo loves to sit on mom's lap and type! Sometimes, when we do a cache or event by someone we know I'll let him type his own log. It's usually just random letters but he's doing it himself. Other times I'll ask him what he liked about the cache and just type what he says for him.

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I recently helped my 8 yr old son set up his own account. He already had one hide under my name, and is pretty good at spotting caches ahead of the adults.

 

My main reason for setting it up was that it is great reading practice for him. He loves to log in and check out the logs on his cache (he loves being called "evil" by the local cachers too)

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Go for it!

 

Ditto all the above, plus we need all the new cache hiders we can get! Kids that love this game and take pride in logging their finds soon get interested in hiding.

 

Several of the really young cachers in our group are so into it that if they can't get out to go caching they make and hide caches around the house for mom and dad to find.

 

Some of the slightly older kids have their own hides, and watch them like a hawk, reveling in each new log.

 

:)

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There are currently 5 of us caching under our account - me, my husband, 14 and 11 yo daughters, and 2 yo son. Originally I thought we would all always go out together, but since we're all so busy it doesn't always work that way. I've thought about setting up accounts for all of us individually but mostly for me as I cache on my lunch hour quite often just by myself.

 

So I guess my questions are:

 

When we're all out together, should we all write our names in the logbook? :)

 

If I want to go back and create separate accounts and retro-log them for hubby and the kids - do I need to put something on their account log so people won't look at the cache log and not see their names and then it won't be counted?

 

Thanks for all the help & great advise!! :)

d of Jdakj

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When you back log the finds just state what you are doing. Most owners aren't really concerned that you signed the logbook under one name three months ago. (Technically since your user name is made from the names of your family, they did sign it!)

 

I've made it a practice that whenever I cache with someone without an account I always write their name in the logbook next to mine.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I just did this for my eight year old, He wanted to know how many he found. I made him an accout and retro logged the ones he was with me on. I told the owner to accept my signature on the log as his. Now we both log when we find them. He has some problems in the reading and writing department so I use this as a way to get him excited about it. He reads me the cache pages, and enters his own logs.

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I don't want to open up a can of worms in this thread (that's already covered here), but I'm considering doing something like this for my 5-year-old. Howver, the problem is that he won't be able to log members-only caches. Now, I love GC.com and gladly pay my membership fees, but I can't justify paying twice just so he can log those.

 

This is doubly bad because many of the more kid-friendly caches in my area happen to be members-only, and we've done several of them together. I guess when I go and backlog all of his previous finds, I'll just have to skip those, and I can be careful about not doing a MOC with him in the future, or just make sure he knows he can't log it.

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I guess my only caveat would be when it comes to caches with First, Second and Third To Find prizes or cards. Taking the gold and silver might be a little greedy...

Gold and Silver? Whoa this FTF, STF, TTF.... is really getting to be a big deal. Maybe I need to put 1 through 10th place ribbons in all my future caches for those elite cachers that make the top 10. Then arrange for the top 2 to compete on New Year's Day in the Cache bowl.. or should it be the top 8.. What controversy.....

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I'm considering doing something like this for my 5-year-old. Howver, the problem is that he won't be able to log members-only caches. Now, I love GC.com and gladly pay my membership fees, but I can't justify paying twice just so he can log those.

 

This is doubly bad because many of the more kid-friendly caches in my area happen to be members-only, and we've done several of them together. I guess when I go and backlog all of his previous finds, I'll just have to skip those, and I can be careful about not doing a MOC with him in the future, or just make sure he knows he can't log it.

Another option is to email the cache owner and ask if they can remove the Members only flag long enough for your son to log the find. We don't have many MO caches in my area but we've tried this with the one we did do. The owner was happy to do this to let us log the find.

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[quote name= <snip snip>.

 

This is doubly bad because many of the more kid-friendly caches in my area happen to be members-only' date=' and we've done several of them together. I guess when I go and backlog all of his previous finds, I'll just have to skip those, and I can be careful about not doing a MOC with him in the future, or just make sure he knows he can't log it. [/quote]

Another option is to email the cache owner and ask if they can remove the Members only flag long enough for your son to log the find. We don't have many MO caches in my area but we've tried this with the one we did do. The owner was happy to do this to let us log the find.

He can log in. Just look at the URL for any log in page and modify it to fit the cache you want to log into. I forget the details but it is straightforward if you take a look at it..

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