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Kids And Caching


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Was just thinking about something Baby squirrel said the other day. We were heading out in the morning and I asked him if he wanted to get some breakfast and his reply was "No, go caching!" He's two and would rather go caching than eat, I really love the little guy.

 

On the other hand my 11 year old will not go caching on pain of death, he would rather go to the dentist than caching.

 

So, how do your kids respond to the idea of caching?

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Sometimes my 3.5 year old is a better cacher than I am. This weekend we went out caching and he found 1 before I did. On the second one he retrieved a set of construction vehicles as a trade. That was pretty much it for caching. All he wanted to do was find some sand/gravel to play with his new toys. The next day he was asking to go out "treasure" hunting again.

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My four year old daughter (smileyfacecacher) and two year old son (pierogie) have their own accounts. They love to cache, but I too have gotten the "no go caching" from, them after a string of micros (I love them, but there aren't toys after all) or a string of DNFs (again...no new toys).

 

Smileyfacecacher has (without solicitation by me) taken the cache she stocked herself into pre-school to "show and tell" them how they too can get free new toys everyday.

 

Pierogie just thinks it's great that he's not only allowed to get muddy, but encouraged to do so.

 

I've also been impressed with the terrain they can plow over. Can you tell I'm a proud Momma?

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Our girls love to go! If I ask the 2 yr old where her Daddy is she will say "He geocaching!" My 5 yr old has spotted the cache a few times before anyone else and that makes her VERY proud. My 8 yr old thinks it is fun if she is in the mood. But she has recruited many of her friends into the geocaching world. So she must really like it.

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10 yr old daughter loves it. She is a caching machine. She finds most micros before me. She prefers ammo cans but will take a micro over not caching.

 

10 yr old son loves only hikes and ammo cans. He will turn down going on a cache run if we're only hunting micros.

 

15 yr old son not to crazy about it. He'll usually only go with us to events. He has a good time when he does go on a hunt with us but he'll usually just stay home.

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Just for fun I hid a cache in the woods near my house and let my 4-yr-old daughter hunt for it after entering the waypoint for her in the gprs. Took a bit of work to keep her looking where she was going instead of at the screen all the time, but she had a great time. Something fun to do when you want them to get used to the idea and learn how to use the gpsr (sort of)...

 

588cabb2-b7ef-4c67-a043-9f0805aff014.jpg

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Somedays it's like pulling teeth to get my 5 yo ds to go treasure hunting. But once we get him in the car he's all for it. Usually he would rather ride his bike, or play with his cars than go out. But he tells me he really does love going treasure hunting...but when he wants to. Our 8 yo ds will go anytime and loves to!

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I have had mixed results with the kids, son - 10, daughter 8 & 6. It depends on how much effort we have to put into finding and how many we try to find. I have taken them on some 4* hikes and they did not have a problem and I have taken them to find a lamp post micro and they were all mad at each other because one found it before the other. It depends on their moods, I want to have fun and I want them to have fun so I try to pick and choose a few caches that I think they may have fun with. I have had the best results when they each had a specific task that they had control over. I have even given them a reward for finding the cache - take them out for ice cream afterwards. The big thing is not to force them to go, if they do decide to go just go easy and slow.

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2 daughters 8&5...the 8yr old is a caching animal. she puts her head down and barrels through anything in her way to get to any cache. She has even gotten over the "must take something" syndrome. She loves night hunts and 4wheelin. The 5yr old is a little less enthused but loves caching especially when Mommy comes too.

We are using caching as a means to teach our kids the value of time spent with family. I hope that they will continue to love coming with us even when teens......hope

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Our kids are:

 

Male, 20 - has found a few with us if we stop while traveling. Otherwise he's to busy chillin' with his friends.

 

Female, 18 - likes to cache and says she wants to go again with us if she can fit us into her busy schedule.

 

Male, 16 - football, football, football - 'nuff said B)

 

Donna and I enjoy caching alone since it gives us a chance to get out of the house without the kids B)

Edited by ZackJones
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Hubby doesn't go. in fact the other day he asked if he would ever get to play with the GPSr himself. I pointed out that he has been invited MANY times to go play with us and Geocache with it...

He said, "I want to use it for it's REAL purpose!"

 

Now, would he really like me to take him, blindfolded and without supplies, out into the middle of BFEgypt and turn him loose with just the GPSr (no maps!) for the real purpose of "finding his way back"?

 

The almost-6 year old enjoys it when I don't go with my cousin and her three boys. The almost 12-year old likes it when I let her use the GPSr (which she is really terrible about reading correctly! I try not to let her use it in the car, only after we have stopped and gotten out. Otherwise we drive WAY off course!)

My cousin's boys seem to enjoy it, again, as long as they can hold the GPSr. They are 11, 11 and 14.

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Hubby doesn't go. in fact the other day he asked if he would ever get to play with the GPSr himself. I pointed out that he has been invited MANY times to go play with us and Geocache with it...

He said, "I want to use it for it's REAL purpose!"

 

I thought geocaching was the real purpose of GPS technology B)

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Been caching since aug 05 and our 6 YO daughter LOVES it. There are times she doesn't want to go/isn't in the mood but when she is, she doesn't stop! She's decided she wants her own account and I have to go through our notes and log all the finds she's been with us on - we just reached 100 at years end and she's been on most of those with us - she'll have thousands by the time she's 18! And she's going to be hiding her first cache very soon as soon as we can find a great location. It's a cool game that the entire family can enjoy. But I never force her to go because I don't want her to end up hating the game.

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My hubby and I do not have kids (Not for lack of wanting) but my best friends kids are 3 and 4. Even mention Auntie Kay and they are waiting at the curb! It's too funny really! Their momma likes to go also, so we have a great day hunting down treasure. Both kiddos have bubbled over at school about it! Better be carefull or we may have to start renting a bus to go caching with the kids and their friends!! Haha B)B);)

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12 year old male - Would rather be on the couch watching TV, hence the reason for getting him out into the woods.

 

10 year old male - Doesn't mind it if he can use his DS while you run the GPSr

 

8 year old male - Will never turn down a chance to go. Likes to hang out with dad.

 

XX year old wife - Can't you find another hobby?

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My three kids

boy - 8

girl - 5

boy - 2

 

all love to geocache. They especially like the ones that are near bodies of water. And their favorites would have to be caches located in parks with playgrounds. And of course they hate micros or virtuals, unless in a park. Geocaching has really helped me to get my kids to enjoy the outdoors as much as I do. My wife on the other hand isn't that fond of caching. :) She has started to come around some though. But she just loves it on Saturday morning when I tell her "Me and the kids are going geocaching." :( Overall though we've had many great family outings with this hobby, way of life, addiction, whatever it's called.

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I have a 3 and 5 y/o boys who love going on treasure hunts, it's a great family activity!

 

Not sure if it is a boy thing, but my halflings are all male, and enjoy caches with substance (aka no virtual/micros). The eldest, 8yrs, is getting beyond the "prize" items, and enjoys the pursuit of the sport. The Kids cal the GPS unit the "pathfinder", and love to be in the lead.....just have to convince them that a straight line between two points, is not always a good idea!!!

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My kids are sold on GX'ing. I didn't really know how they would respond but it has been very positive. They range in age from 5 to 17. I practically need to wrestle the GPSr out of my 15 year old son's hands to find a cache myself! A few days back we were driving to Tampa for a doctor appointment, which is about a 30 minute drive, and he asked if I brought the GPSr. At first I was surprised that he would ask such a question (gee, were going to the doctor...) until I realized we probably could get a few in. The wisdom of youth should not be underestimated... :)

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My 7 year old son (SuperPizzaBoy) and I have been geocaching for 2 years. He doesn't like it so much anymore which is OK but he would rather stay home and play videogames, which is not OK. He goes with me because he likes hanging with me and I bribe him with geocaching lunches at his favorite places plus money for the caches we find plus bonuses for ones he finds himself, but basically we're going to start doing something else that we can both enjoy.

 

Anyway, I love it, he doesn't really care for it so I do more geocaching at lunch during the week plus we'll do a few on the weekend. Doing things that he enjoys doing with me is the most important thing so we won't be doing near as much in the future.

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My grandson just turned 4.We started caching together from the day I joined.I take him on most caches whether finding or hiding .He loves it.I let him watch the GPS until we get close.I have even let him follow the GPS from the truck to the cache.As soon as he can sign the log I will just wait in the truck while he finds it.Every time we see a blue gate he checks to see if its open.Apparantly he had a dream we had to go through a blue gate to find the treasure.He talks about caching in his sleep all the time.I dont know of anyone I would rather have as my caching partner.

Edited by halffast
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My children are 6 and 7, and they also just call it "treasure hunting". They think it's really fun. Part of the reason we started trying geocaching was because it seemed like such a great way to get the kids outside and moving, seeing beautiful places and exploring- with a built in reward at the end!

Well, that and the fact that their mom has loved treasure hunts since she was a child, and can't imagine a more fun activity! :smile:

 

So far we have tried to look for ones that mention they contain children's items or are geared towards children, just for their sakes. But as we do more, we will expand and do some that may not actually have a toy at the end- the fun of finding the cache is a prety good reward in itself!

Edited by Sevilon
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My 3, 5, and 7 year olds love 'treasure hunting'.

 

What I wonder is:

What percentage of people geocache with kids and what percentage cache without kids. Most geocachers I have met are older, even retired age, and do not take kids.

 

How could we do a poll without having to count NUMEROUS replies on a forum topic?

 

Sam

www.SAMirsky.com

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My 3, 5, and 7 year olds love 'treasure hunting'.

 

What I wonder is:

What percentage of people geocache with kids and what percentage cache without kids. Most geocachers I have met are older, even retired age, and do not take kids.

 

How could we do a poll without having to count NUMEROUS replies on a forum topic?

 

Sam

www.SAMirsky.com

 

Count us in. 4 kids ( 6 year old, 5 year old, 3.5 year old and 2 month old) and a juvenile dog. They love to go "treasure hunting" I have to watch though because they get bored very quick with micros and want to trade toys at every cache even if the only toy is a chewed up, faceless paper doll :smile: I have taken to running PQ with the attributes of kid friendly and difficulty of 1 and keeping on the pda for the occassion when they need a "good treasure" They are troopers though. We went for a wood hike this weekend and despite what was very high undergrowth for this time of year they hung on.

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DS - 3 - sorta likes caching. He can get out into a park and run. That's what he likes. But what he really likes is grabbing stuff from a cache even if I don't want to trade. He's grabbed a teacup, a bouncing ball and a fish thing.

 

DD - 17mo - if she's allowed to walk, she loves that part. She's too young to understand but loves being outside too.

 

DP - 39. The man had a heart attack in 2004. The excercise is good for him. (I can spell tonight)

 

DF - -7mo - is along for the ride and has no choice in the matter. Makes caching interesting too. Everyone I cache with is all "you shouldn't be doing that... here let me" even though I am (currently) perfectly able to do it myself!

 

DL - me! 33 - gravidy sucks. but at least I'm allowed to do "low impact" excercises without having to get a note first.

 

I can post pics later. maybe.

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My teens dislike caching. Our youngest are 17 year old twin boys who have other interests. Diablo II, America's Army, finding goofy things on the internet. Most recently they showed me the site called 'you tube' I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

 

But if we are visiting our friends in VA and we cache on the way home, they have no choice but to come along or sit in the car. They usually come along and we try to make it short. I wish we would have had something like this to do when they were little. I think they would have really enjoyed it then.

 

My 21 year old daughter just laughs each time we ask her if she wants to go. My older daughter thinks it's interesting.

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Our boys are 4 and 6 and love caching. We are lucky that the whole family really loves it. While my kids do especially enjoy caches that they can trade for things and ones on playgrounds, they have gotten into the spirit of hunting micros. Several times the 6 year old has been the one to spot that keyholder or worse, the blinker. They have their own joint accout (Lil Checkers), have logged one well earned FTF, and just hid their first cache yesterday. The older one has been after me for months to let him hide a cache. Yesterday, he is the one who picked out the hiding place. Are they into it? Everytime we get ready to leave the house, the little one asks if we are going caching. :-D That's my boy!

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This is my first time back in the forum for months, and look- it's my favorite topic! Basically, we are a couple of couch potatoes at heart, and started this last summer in order to get us all moving. We have five kids, ages 14, 8, 7, 5,and 3. We have only done about twenty five or so caches, but when we did our first one since October I thought my seven year old was gonna burst he was so excited. The others just love getting out. As of last fall we could only do three at the most before the littles would fall apart, but I'm hoping the stamina is higher this year. We basically just find one at a neat park and then spend the afternoon playing as a reward for putting up with mom's lousy navigation. :P

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For our 3 girls, it depends on their moods and if the caches are cool. There are plenty of times we've gone out and they really dont' want to be caching, then there are other times that they can't wait to go. Also, if they caches we find have good trade items, then they want to continue caching that day, but if they find caches and there isn't anything good, then they are usually done for the day.

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My 15 year old daughter loves to cache. However, when it comes to crawling into really thick brush, she prefers to stand in the clearing and direct me in. She also is less than thrilled to cache in 90+ degree temperatures with 90% humidity - kids these days!

 

That being said, I dragged her rear out of bed this morning to do a mystery cache. We had to match 8 photos of things in a New Orleans neighborhood to their coordinating points on a map in order to find the coordinates to the actual cache. There were 16 map points that needed to be physically checked, 8 being nothing relevant at all. We spent a few hours doing the cache and couldn't reach the final stage because the place was locked. I thought she'd be po'd, but she was just disappointed for us and the cache placer. She really enjoyed the experience.

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We have 3 kids...DD's 7 & 3 and DS 4mths...the DD's love to go. They like to get a treasure, but they aren't extremely upset if they don't find anything good. They love the opportunity to get out with Mommy and Daddy and run and play. We live in a rural area and there aren't that many caches close by that are kid friendly. We are wanting to put out caches of our own for kids and people with limited mobility. We live near a rails to trails state park in SW VA that would be an excellent place for these caches.

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Was just thinking about something Baby squirrel said the other day. We were heading out in the morning and I asked him if he wanted to get some breakfast and his reply was "No, go caching!" He's two and would rather go caching than eat, I really love the little guy.

 

On the other hand my 11 year old will not go caching on pain of death, he would rather go to the dentist than caching.

 

So, how do your kids respond to the idea of caching?

 

My youngest just turned two and she's into it. I was surpirsed to see her actually looking around for a cache the last time we went into the woods. She was looking in all the right spots too. My 9 year old likes it sometimes and other times hates it. Basically she likes it if she is the one to find the cache and she finds it in less then 5 minutes.

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My little man loves to "treasure hunt" as long as the hike isn't too long and there are no micros involved. Here's a little tip to keep the kids interested, I bring along a couple of small toys as swag and if the cache if full of crap then I sneak one of the little toys in so my guy has something to take home. I'm usually sneaky enough that he doesn't know its me that put it in there and we don't have to take home another broken McD's toy.

 

Have fun

 

Joe

 

 

54658504-L.jpg

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WD is turning 2 end of the month, we took him out a few times last year and he always loved to ride in the backpack. But this year we took him out to find one just about sunset a few weeks ago and he won't stop talking about it. We get woke up in the morning to a two year old yelling GEOCACHING!!! at the top of his lungs. We ask what he wants to do today and GEOCACHING! is his anwser. We walk into a store to look a the supply of ammo cans, and he spends the whole time chanting geocaches, geocaches, geocaches. Any time we get in the car and head down the freeway he is in the back asking if we are going geocaching.06bf27d8-2703-49cc-81a7-a759145a4b74.jpg

Here is WD at his first hide.

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And here with his first find this year

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All the little members of the crew love caching.

 

We don't leave the house without the GPSr (just in case)

 

Mine are

 

10 g

7 g

6 g

5 b

 

The wife is into it as well and is always looking for a new cache in the area.

 

The youngest two usually just play on the playgrounds until someone finds it. My boy is more into what the container looks like.

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