TheMooresHomestead Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Well today was the first time taking the family caching. The group consisted of me, my wife, a 5 y.o. daughter, 4 y.o. daughter, 5 month old son, and my 5 y.o. nephew. When I first tried to explain to them what we were going to do, they didn't completely understand. After telling them we were going to go look for treasures they got excited. The first one we found was only a mile from the house. It was a nice little mini but they didn't completely understand the fun in finding a small container with a piece of paper rolled up in it. The next one we searched for was not a success. There were multiple new fallen trees in the location of the cache. Finally decided to give up. The last one we went searching for was an awesome little hike. With the whole family the hike took us about 45 minutes to hike in. When we got to the location I had the kids start looking around. My oldest got so excited when she found the ammo box. We then sat there for probably another 15 minutes while they played with all of the toys and trinkets. They didn't completely understand why they couldn't take everything home and why we were leaving something in the box. The best way to end a nice sunny day and the introduction to geocaching with the family. They are already asking when we are going to go treasure hunting again. TheMooresHomestead Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Excellent start to your family's new obsession. Be aware, and make sure they understand that there will be plenty of DNF's along the way, but that too is part of the fun. Welcome aboard. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Welcome! I think the secret to caching with youngsters is: Don't go on too much about 'Treasure' -certainly helps if you find caches too small for swaps. Be prepared to bribe them with drinks, sweets and ice cream -when you reach the next village/town/city with a shop! And. When they've had enough of the day -Don't push them to go 'Just one more' Quote Link to comment
TheMooresHomestead Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 Thanks for the welcome. Been wanting to get them involved for a long time. Have personally found many caches but have wanted the kids to be a bit older so that they could enjoy it a bit more. Was really glad when momma was getting into it (she found the first one, that helped). Glad they have an advantage to learning using cordinates having done adventure racing (though I was not allowed to use gps's)I had to learning a straight line is not always the fastest route. Next job, teach momma how to navigate and direct us to the cache. Good luck to all, TheMooresHomestead p.s. You know your wife is excited about geocaching when after your first trip, she comes home and starts thinking and planning on what she can make as a specific family trackable to leave in the caches. Quote Link to comment
+Treecrabs Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 We've been caching for a couple of weeks now, and it is fair to say have been well and truly bitten by the 'bug'. There are two of us, plus my 7 year old son, 6 year old daughter and mostly, the dog too! We started with the 'treasure' idea but in honesty, they've just completely bought into the idea for what it is. I'm loving the fact that it gets all of us outside on days when I know we wouldn't have ventured outside the door unless we had to, and we have already fallen onto the cliche of 'Wow! I didn't know this place was here!' a few times already too! Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Welcome! I think the secret to caching with youngsters is: Don't go on too much about 'Treasure' -certainly helps if you find caches too small for swaps. Be prepared to bribe them with drinks, sweets and ice cream -when you reach the next village/town/city with a shop! And. When they've had enough of the day -Don't push them to go 'Just one more' Take Bear and Ragged's advice to heart. I really really wish I had advice like this when I started geocaching with my kids a few years ago. I'm great about treating them to things like Sonic or ice cream after a drive to go geocaching, but I did a terrible job of dragging it on too long sometimes. I regret some of the long trips I took them on and so many stops to find caches. They just wanted to get to our destination and not stop every 5 minutes. My best advice is to keep the finds to a few at a time. If the kids are complaining, stop the caching for the day. I also think it's great to bring some trades so that when the kids do find a larger cache with fun items in it, they can trade for it. Most of all, make sure it's FUN! Quote Link to comment
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