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Good small treasures to use for trade?


phaedrus78

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Okay, I'm planning my first 2 or 3 finds for this weekend. I'll be taking my 4 young kids and they are really excited. My question is about what items we should stock up on for making trades? I'm a bit nervous, if I was going by myself I'd take a few things and if they weren't ended up not being worthy of the items in the caches I could just not trade, but I have there isn't anyway that my kids will want to leave empty handed if there are items to trade for :) .

 

What things have you left that others enjoyed and what treasures have your traded for that are your favorites?

 

Thanks for the ideas!

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Okay, I'm planning my first 2 or 3 finds for this weekend. I'll be taking my 4 young kids and they are really excited. My question is about what items we should stock up on for making trades? I'm a bit nervous, if I was going by myself I'd take a few things and if they weren't ended up not being worthy of the items in the caches I could just not trade, but I have there isn't anyway that my kids will want to leave empty handed if there are items to trade for :) .

 

What things have you left that others enjoyed and what treasures have your traded for that are your favorites?

 

Thanks for the ideas!

 

My two cents (but if the dollar keeps dropping, it won't even be worth that!) worth of rambling.

 

If you are going to kid friendly caches, then kid friendly things are probably a good idea. Try to avoid anything that would be destroyed if it got wet. I think durable items are a better choice than more fragile things.

Stickers and stuffed animals generally don't fare very well from what I have seen.

Basically, think about what your kids might like to find. If they would, then someone else would probably enjoy it too.

 

Other good things (that aren't necessarily kid related) include small flashlights, first aid kits, (new) whistles, compass - anything that someone hiking in the woods might need (and that doesn't smell or have an expiration date).

 

If you had more time, you could try to obtain some geocaching related items. These might be lanyards or those tags that accompany a TB, etc.

 

'Biners seem to be popular, but avoid the really cheap ones.

 

If you really get stuck, you could always leave a dollar (I've done that a few times). I have seen some people leave a penny, but that's kinda cheesy.

(Of course, I have also seen empty candy wrappers left in the cache. :mad: )

 

Gift cards might be possible. I think McD's has $1 certificates. I don't know what the minimum would be anywhere else.

 

If you have time, maybe you could take the kids to the drug store/dollar store/Big Lots/etc. and let them pick out something to trade?

Sometimes, I find the best swag by accident.

 

Anyway, Have Fun!

:P

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Thanks Arf2-D2

This is exactly the kind of response I had hoped to get!

 

I like the idea of taking the kids to pick out something to trade with, would make it more personal and fun for them.

Although I usually cache alone, I sometimes take kids, grandkids, friends of kids/grandkids with me. Even when I'm alone, if I trade, I'm usually looking for something for any of the above, so I like hot wheels, dinosaurs or other plastic animals. I'm not fond of McToys, but occasionally when they're like Star Wars or something else one of the grandkids is into. My older daughter collects keychains, so I always give those a second look for unusual ones. One of my recent finds was one from a chiropractor's office with a plastic spine on it. I thought it was cute, but I'm sure most people thought it was trash.

 

I'm pretty well equipped with flashlight, compass, hand warmer, insect repellent, and what not, so I'm rarely interested in those.

 

Just remember the flea market's motto: "One man's junk is another man's treasure". You can't please everyone, so go with what you want. I usually carry the same type of stuff I'm looking for - toys. My kids get disappointed when I buy hot wheels at the store and they realize its for geocaching and not them. Several times one of the youngsters would rather have what I'm putting into the cache instead of what is already there.

 

Happy caching and God bless!

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We carry a bag full of asssorted goodies to cover every eventuality. We have keyrings, torches, screwdriver sets, phone danglies, toys, playing cards, mini soccer balls and charity items. Be prepared that some of the caches you visit may not have anything decent in them for the kids, even though it is a kid friendly cache. When that happens we just let the kids choose something from our stash instead.

If we are in a holiday area we tend to leave games, playing cards and colouring pencils so that when the weather turns foul the finder at least has some entertainment for the kids when indoors.

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There's lots of good posts about swag/trade items with good lists. I get lots of things from the $1 store. Toys, cars, keychains, playing cards, pedometers, flash lights, glow sticks, mini first aid kids, rain ponchos (2 for $1!). I love finding buttons/pins in caches and some cachers have left bags of foreign coins that are really neat.

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Here is a list of items I currently have on hand for new caches and trading....

  • small flashlight
  • $1 calculators
  • emergency ponchos
  • whistles
  • decks of cards
  • matchbox cars
  • coloring books (mini)
  • screwdrivers - (got 20 for $10 new in packages)
  • foriegn coins (very popular)
  • mini puzzles
  • blank cds with case
  • tape measures
  • duck tape
  • small beanie animals
  • emergency blanket
  • misc dollar store items.

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I always put in some firecrackers with a lighter or matches, kids really seem to enjoy both.

 

:)

 

Kidding, of course... Having 3 small kids I always have little toys in my Geocaching backpack, mostly $1 store items along with the 75 clackers I just got off eBay we should be good for a while.

 

I do want to get some rattlesnake eggs though, I remember how they made my heart skip a beat when I was a little kid :)

http://www.fakecrap.com/products/rattlesnake_eggs.html

Edited by XopherN71
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Another thing to think about, is companies that offer free little promo stuff with their logo on them. I'd imagine that they would give you a bunch of stuff, just for the free advertising it gives them.

 

I work for a phone company, and explained geocaching to my manager and asked for some free swag. A few days later, I had a box of pencils, promo flashlights, little keychain beeners with a compass and a LED lights on them, keychains, and small frisbees (about 5" in diameter)...all with the company logo on them.

 

Also, my manager is very involved with the Pioneers, so I also got a big bunch of pins from them.

 

So, I'm providing free advertising for my employer, and the Pioneers, and providing some swag that makes the kids eyes light up, and *bonus* it didn't cost me a cent.

 

I used to trade, but lately I just sign the log, and if the cache looks a bit depleted, I grab 3-4 items out of the swag-bag and drop 'em in.

 

Load the caches, and it makes things more fun for everybody.

 

<><

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Hubby and I have too much "stuff" so unless we have kids with us we seldom take anything. But we always leave a cache richer than we found it. I enjoy shopping for bargain swag I think would be popular with kids or universally liked. I get a thrill reading when someone has picked up something that I left and I wish more people would post what they take. I agree that you can't please everyone so putting in something you would enjoy finding seems like a great rule of thumb.

 

Alicia in WA

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Ususally I'll carry a pocket full of buttons, pins, mcdonalds toys, and the obligatory plastic snakes/frogs if I'm going to grab some small or ammo boxes quickly.

 

But if I'm going on a few miles hike through the woods, I'll bring anything from old books and old cds to action figures.

 

If your low on swag flea markets are a good source to pick up oodles of items for a dollar or two!

 

 

Also, good ole George Washington had bailed me out for forgetting to bring enough swag! Sometimes you see a ruber spider or lizard you just GOT to have.

Edited by Moobeat
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Like yourself, I'm fairly new to caching, though I have been trying to do a little research before going out, for a few months now. I have also wondered about what trade items would be appropriate to stock a new cache with or to bring to trade. A couple of great ideas people have offered are blank CDs and Dunkin Donuts cards with maybe $5.00 credited to them (write the amount available on the little envelope that comes with the card). Both will survive the rigors of semi-outdoor life.

 

Good Luck,

 

Michael

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Since your kids are doing the trading, why not ask them to get some of their own stuff together before leaving? My kids are horrible about collecting useless junk that they never use. Using this method I have been able to avoid an increase in the clutter in the kids rooms.

 

I personally collect the cheesy mctoys and proudly display them on my shelf as a momento of my travels.

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When I first started caching I took the kids with me to purchase a handful of swag items. It was a great way to see what kind of things they would like to find in a cache container as well as what to leave.

Have your kids find small treasures in their rooms they would like to pass on, or take them with you to the store to find small things that peak their interest. I tend to have both kid friendly and adult friendly items with me when we are out caching and try to trade accordingly.

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We did one this weekend, and my DD found a plastic hippo in the cache, she thought it was the best thing ever. You can get a bag of plastic animals quite cheaply so I plan to pick up a bag for future swaps. We've only just started, so so far we've just grabbed something from around the house before we've headed out, yesterday I left a Badge that I happened to have in the house.

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I have several tarantula exoskeletons ..I was wondering if i can leave them in a cache? They can cause skin itching that goes away in a few days..That is there only side effect..I happen to be a spider enthusiast, I have 5 of the lil fuzzy critters..They are delicate and scary looking..So i was thinking they'd be a cool find.

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I've just started, too. I've tried to go specifically to kid-friendly caches. My kids have loved finding rubber bouncy balls, dinosaurs and other plastic animals, plastic slinkies, and matchbox cars. What I've discovered is that most anything benefits from being wrapped in plastic or a ziploc baggie. I came across several rusty pencils, waterlogged stickers, useless erasers, and a rusted keychain. I've left rubber duckies, sealed bubbles, kids sunglasses and plastic bracelets, matchbox cars, and McToys. I agree with the concept of leaving the cache better than you found it. It makes it more fun for the next finder.

 

Oh, and to JnJ walkaway, most kids think spiders are creepy. I'd leave them in caches not specifically labelled as kid-friendly.

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