Bot the GPS. Nobody in the family is interested.

October 4, 2012

So I spent $300 on a GPS for my daughter's 3 year birthday. I spent a bit more than entry level because almost all the comments said to get a good GPS because within a few days you will want to upgrade.

The only problem is nobody seems to want to geocache.

Our first geocache we went on was an epic disaster. I was looking for the cache, the 3 year old was screaming that her brand new GPS did not work since we didn't find anything within 60 seconds. The wife decided it was a great time to clean her car. Grandma went in the nearby restaurant to pick up the menu and Grandpa was wandering aimlessly around the parking lot trying to find the geocache despite me repeatedly telling him the geocache was within a few feet of where I was standing.

My daughter seems to have no interest in doing it whatsoever, even preferring to stay at home and doing nothing. Wife has even less interest. Both seem to have more of an anti-geocaching attitude rather than being simply not interested.

I politely ask them every other day ONCE if they want to go and neither of them express any interesst whatsoever. I really feel I wasted $300.

Any suggestions or comments?

2k · October 4, 2012

I'll buy it off you for $30.

October 4, 2012

Maybe go find one by yourself without telling them, talk them into going 'okay, just one more- then if you don't like it', bring them back to it and be the hero and make the find.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Pontoffel Pock

3.8k · October 4, 2012

Three years old? Ahh... you're in charge and three years old is a bit young to be given options with an expectation. I would have bought the GPS for yourself and very kindly and gently, bring your child along under the guise of hiking, biking, canoeing, playground, etc. Be very careful with overplaying the "G" word, which is exactly what happened to me.

8.3k · October 4, 2012

What sort of GPS is it? I might be interested in it for $31. :blink:

October 4, 2012

Buy a dog

October 4, 2012

What sort of GPS is it? I might be interested in it for $31.

$32 but not if a magellan

October 4, 2012

Most people I know (myself included) leave the family home and geocache by themselves or with other adult geocachers. Tell your daughter that since the gps doesn't work you will trade her a Big Bird, Kermit, or other age-appropriate toy for it.

11.6k · October 4, 2012

Our first geocache we went on was an epic disaster. I was looking for the cache, the 3 year old was screaming that her brand new GPS did not work since we didn't find anything within 60 seconds. The wife decided it was a great time to clean her car. Grandma went in the nearby restaurant to pick up the menu and Grandpa was wandering aimlessly around the parking lot trying to find the geocache despite me repeatedly telling him the geocache was within a few feet of where I was standing.

I'm not all that interested in parking lots, either. See if there's a Regular sized container, with lots of "Favorites" in a nice park. Bring some items for activities, and invite the family to the park.

If that doesn't work, next time just bring Grandpa.

October 4, 2012

Go and find/research some caches yourself.Then pick one that you have found which is in a nice area with a large container and plenty of childrens swag in it (you may like to add a bit yourself first). Convince your 3 year old that this one is going to be great and steer them straight to it obviously convincing them that they were the intrepid finder. Hopefully they will think they are all like that and be a little bit more determined next time??

If that doesn't work then you're on your own. (I promise you thats not a bad thing)

Regarding your wife...sorry I cant help, mine thinks I'm mad.

October 4, 2012

Big plus to Legochugglers' answer. My kids are four and seven. The seven year old gets the hang of looking at a map and GPS. The four year old just wants to find the box full of toys. I've learned to save the micros and nanos for myself and try to find nice sized ammo cans and lock & locks for the kids. A quick visit beforehand to make sure it is well stocked has kept the kids happy.

I've also found it helps to print out a map with satellite view of the area showing the cache so the kids can see where the cache is supposed to be located and they can relate it to the area. I take advantage of this chance to teach them about directions, etc.

7.5k · October 4, 2012

So I spent $300 on a GPS for my daughter's 3 year birthday. I spent a bit more than entry level because almost all the comments said to get a good GPS because within a few days you will want to upgrade.

The only problem is nobody seems to want to geocache.

Our first geocache we went on was an epic disaster. I was looking for the cache, the 3 year old was screaming that her brand new GPS did not work since we didn't find anything within 60 seconds. The wife decided it was a great time to clean her car. Grandma went in the nearby restaurant to pick up the menu and Grandpa was wandering aimlessly around the parking lot trying to find the geocache despite me repeatedly telling him the geocache was within a few feet of where I was standing.

My daughter seems to have no interest in doing it whatsoever, even preferring to stay at home and doing nothing. Wife has even less interest. Both seem to have more of an anti-geocaching attitude rather than being simply not interested.

I politely ask them every other day ONCE if they want to go and neither of them express any interesst whatsoever. I really feel I wasted $300.

Any suggestions or comments?

Uggh, group caching. That's why I prefer to cache just me and my dog.

8.6k · October 4, 2012

Lessee here.... $300 worth of (fairly) complicated electronic hardware for a 3-yr old. Do I have that right?

Maybe for a 13 yr-old, I could see and understand that -- even that may be a stretch as their minds usually are thinking of other things (for at least a 5-minute span).

I suspect that you either bit into the misguided "Treasure Hunt" aspect, or it was a ruse to get yourself a GPSr.

---------

Well you could sell it -- I see some bids have been thrown up.

---------

One thing you probably don't want to do is to 'force' them into it. It Will Not Work!

You could go geocaching by yourself, but any attempt to drag them along just may backfire.

Dunno what to tell you really, aside from you probably should've thought it out a little more. I mean, not everybody likes mosquitoes, ticks, thorns, sun-baked noggins, tripping over logs, or wading through swamps, lurking about in busy parking lots or even playing "hide-and-seek" for that matter.

Legochugglers is correct on two points.... you should go do the "finding" first, then take the family.... and his wife may well be right with her summation!

19k · October 4, 2012

My daughter seems to have no interest in doing it whatsoever, even preferring to stay at home and doing nothing. Wife has even less interest. Both seem to have more of an anti-geocaching attitude rather than being simply not interested.

I politely ask them every other day ONCE if they want to go and neither of them express any interesst whatsoever.

Your 3-year old has an "anti-geocaching attitude"? You bought her a $300 GPS that she has no interest in using? :blink:

Did you perhaps mean to say "thirteen year old" daughter?

As a Brit friend of mine would put it... I'm totally gobsmacked!

5.7k · October 4, 2012

My cats also have no interest in caching, they just want to chase squirrels when we go outside.

Sometimes I can get them to take an interest in travel bugs, but only momentary.

October 4, 2012

Go and find/research some caches yourself.Then pick one that you have found which is in a nice area with a large container and plenty of childrens swag in it (you may like to add a bit yourself first). Convince your 3 year old that this one is going to be great and steer them straight to it obviously convincing them that they were the intrepid finder. Hopefully they will think they are all like that and be a little bit more determined next time??

If that doesn't work then you're on your own. (I promise you thats not a bad thing)

Regarding your wife...sorry I cant help, mine thinks I'm mad.

For the most part, I agree with the above quote.

As for the others picking on you about your 3yrs old.... I have one (and a 1 1/2 year old). My 3yrs old might be a bit special, but electronics are his thing. He actually demands my Oregon and leaves me with his geomate jr.

It might be hard with such a large group of new people who don't share your excitement right off the get go.

Go out yourself and do a few. Maybe even take just your daughter. Keep it fun and she'll buy into it.

I've taken a few kids out with me and as long as they treat it as treasure hunting, it's fun. Micros and nano caches are adult caches :laughing:

Disclaimer:

Both my boys have been treated to the outdoors since they where born. My oldest's first event and find was when he was 2 weeks old.

3.4k · October 4, 2012

Just go by yourself (or with other people who are interested.) When you get home, talk about what a good time you had, but never again ask them to go with you. Wait for them to beg to go.

October 4, 2012

I don't know that I would ever imagine a three year old being the least bit interested unless it was because we were walking through a playground. I will gladly trade an age appropriate toy for your gps .

I like to go by myself. With the exception of being afraid of getting bit by a rattlesnake and dying alone in the woods, I enjoy the quiet time and the exercise is good for me.

8.6k · October 4, 2012

Just go by yourself (or with other people who are interested.) When you get home, talk about what a good time you had, but never again ask them to go with you. Wait for them to beg to go.

Genius..... truly!

Might also try attending a picnic or game-oriented Event Cache.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

9.3k · October 4, 2012

Nothing I could add that hasn't been expressed already. But since I just got a new shipment of pixels in, I might as well toss a few at the screen. Ask yourself if you enjoy the hobby. Do not base your answer on anyone but yourself. If the answer is "Yes!", then you have naught to fear. Just leave the curmudgeons behind and go have fun. Might I suggest you try somewhere other than a parking lot? Not a fun place to be, in my opinion. Sweltering blacktop and soccer-mom driven SUVs careening about do not make for a relaxing environment.

October 4, 2012

Nothing in life is an instant success. Many of my friends and family members did not get into geocaching right away. Generally it takes a couple times of showing them so cool caches before they get interested. But for the most part it is a game that I play by myself. A 3 year old's attention span may not be big enough yet either.

October 4, 2012

I have been bringing my son geocaching since he was 2 (he was in a stroller and had no clue what was going on but when I opened up the cache he was very excited about the toys). Now that he is 5 I have been taking him and his little 2.5 yr old sister with me and they both can't get enough of geocaching. I have been surprised that they haven't ever gotten really dissappointed when we found a micro cache with nothing in it. It is all part of my plan to get the kids out hiking in the local parks. Start them off young and hopefully they will continue their love of the outdoors. I have also been bringing along some friends of theirs (and their dad who is my friend) which sometimes turns into a competition for who is going to find the cache first. It has been a great experience so far. Most of the caches I have brought them to are ones I have found already so I know there will be no dissappointment in not finding them. My son has 67 finds so far and his first hide is right near his school so we check on it regularly. My wife hasn't signed on and has no interest in geocaching (although she is very happy the kids are enjoying themselves and she will go if I asked her to) so it ends up being the kids and my special time together and "mommy" time for her when we are out.

So suggestions for your situation? Can you talk them into going for a walk in the park without mentioning geocaching? If so, bring them down a trail that will lead past a geocache and then take a detour when you get there. Suggestions to scope out geocaches before hand and then bring them to the larger ones with goodies in them is the best advice. Forget about the rest of the family. Make it special time with your daughter and like others have said, she will go where you will take her, like it or not. :anibad:

Edited October 4, 2012 by slukster

3.8k · October 4, 2012

I'll bid $35!!

Or you could just keep caching. After all you don't want that GPSr to go to waste. (maybe next year get her some beer, hopefully with the same results :anibad: ) I wouldn't try to convince the older members of the family to go with-it will just make them not want to do it. Now if your girl is 3YO then you could "take her to the park" where there happens to be a geocache nearby. Maybe go to the cache before hand and make sure it's there, make sure there is SWAG(a small toy) in it, to keep her wanting to come back-just to get her hooked. I took my cousin and she loved the swag. Next time we found a micro and she was bragging how she had found the one that was too small before anyone else. However I forced my GF and she hated it. only plus was she wouldn't let me leave until I found it.

October 4, 2012

Totally agree with NanCycle

7.5k · October 4, 2012

You've gotten a lot of good advice, but I think the key is not to make it all about geocaching. Go take a walk or visit a park or, for that matter, go shopping, just do it somewhere where there's a geocache or two. As you all get more experience, bringing geocaching to center stage will be easier -- if you decided to do that -- but start out by making a cache or two the cherry-on-top of an experience that was fun already.

7.9k · October 4, 2012

Echoing the other posts suggesting you might not have picked the best 'first cache' to go after.

Once you know the secret, a parking lot micro will be rather easy, but not particularly rewarding.

Pre-testing any caches you might want to 'find' (if anyone will go with you next time) is a good idea.

1.8k · October 5, 2012

Big plus to Legochugglers' answer. My kids are four and seven. The seven year old gets the hang of looking at a map and GPS. The four year old just wants to find the box full of toys. I've learned to save the micros and nanos for myself and try to find nice sized ammo cans and lock & locks for the kids. A quick visit beforehand to make sure it is well stocked has kept the kids happy.

I've also found it helps to print out a map with satellite view of the area showing the cache so the kids can see where the cache is supposed to be located and they can relate it to the area. I take advantage of this chance to teach them about directions, etc.

Ditto that

1.1k · October 5, 2012

My wife is totally un-interested in geocaching despite numerous disappointing attempts to "turn her around". On the other hand, my retired buddy is always eager to go with me to find a few and we've never failed to have a great time doing it. FWIW, it sounds like grandpa is your man. Next time, invite the family out on a nice nature hike...period! And if you should find a cache along the way (which you and gramps already did, lol) what better way to pique a little interest in honey boo-boo?

3.7k · October 5, 2012

Our first geocache we went on was an epic disaster. I was looking for the cache, the 3 year old was screaming that her brand new GPS did not work since we didn't find anything within 60 seconds. The wife decided it was a great time to clean her car. Grandma went in the nearby restaurant to pick up the menu and Grandpa was wandering aimlessly around the parking lot trying to find the geocache despite me repeatedly telling him the geocache was within a few feet of where I was standing.

:laughing: Sorry, I have to say I had a little giggle on your account. Maybe because what you've described sounds so close to home.

I've done quite a bit of group hunting and also hunting with the kids in tow and honestly... :unsure: ...OK, I know they're not on here...sometimes I really really just prefer to go alone.

Going with 1 or 2 other adults is nice too.

You haven't wasted $300. You can still go out and enjoy this wonderful hobby for yourself. Before you attempt to take your family along again, I would suggest go finding some caches on your own so you're more experienced and can find them quicker. Just thinking of when we were very new and I took my friend and her daughter out. We really sucked and we spent alot of time digging around in leaves. She was NOT impressed and will not go out with us again.

I would suggest not having really high expectations with your 3 year old. If and when you do take your family out again, try to pick a place where you could go for a nice walk anyway. Plan to find 3 geocaches at the most and try to pick ones that are super easy and NOT micros. From my experiene, kids only care about the swag. They HATE micros. Your 3 year old will enjoy things more if you bring other kids along too. They will be busy playing, your wife will be busy chatting with the other parents and everybody will have a nice walk...while you search for the caches.

Oh yeah, one more tip. Bring along swag, preferably in your pocket. If you get to a cache with 'nothing good' in it, you can toss your swag in the cache and the kids will be happy and probably won't even notice you put it there. I seem to do this on a regular basis. <_<

Edited October 5, 2012 by The_Incredibles_

2k · October 5, 2012

My 3 year old loves to geocache. Today we found a large cache with lots of swag. I brought something to trade for him and he chose what he wanted.

Found another cache in a maze/pumpkin patch. He loved seeing the animals and running around.

He loves the journey and the swag, and occasionally finding the cache. Its a 3 year old, they are easy to please. When they turn 13? Not so much.

2.8k · October 5, 2012

Stage a geocache with your daughters favourite toys in it then take her to it, if that doesn't work keep the GPS and get a new family.

5.7k · October 5, 2012

What sort of GPS is it? I might be interested in it for $31.

$32 but not if a magellan

I own a Triton 500 that was a replacement for the Triton 400 that I bought on clearance at Wally World for $49 and it was a bundle pack.

I do like Magellan's customer service and think it would be really cool to visit the Country it is located.

2.4k · October 5, 2012

See if you can still return the GPS.

REI has great return policies.

Otherwise, find some large ones in a park first, make sure they have swag, then try your daughter again, with just her. She will mimic her mom if her moms there and uninterested.

Go to a nice park. Even I hate city caching and I've found over 2000.

3.3k · October 5, 2012

My 3 year old loves to geocache. Today we found a large cache with lots of swag. I brought something to trade for him and he chose what he wanted.

Found another cache in a maze/pumpkin patch. He loved seeing the animals and running around.

He loves the journey and the swag, and occasionally finding the cache. Its a 3 year old, they are easy to please. When they turn 13? Not so much.

This is entertaining to me since my now 22 yo Son was not quite 14 when we started caching. He has always been my best caching buddy although I do most of my caching solo. He heads out with me from time to time and it is always a good time and an adventure.

1.1k · October 5, 2012

dont bring kids or wife if they are not interested,

just face it, some hobbies are just not for all people,

and that is perfectly ok..

if you like to go geocaching, please DO IT ALONE !!

or if you like not to go alone, there is ALOT of people in your situation,

you find them at local events, and via local facebook groups, there are endless ways to find people

who want to go play..

oh and :

small kids dont deside where to go, when, or if not..

they just say yes and go with mom and dad,

fresh air, a hike, the forrest, to be with mom and dad and play outside

is SO much better compared to waste time in front of the TV or PC

----

most easy caches I do alone, but if possible wife really would like to go along on all the cool ones

where we need to go longer, and use equipment of all sorts, from climbing gear to scubadive

Idea, goto our profile, into the gallery, show your wife and kids our pictures :-)

look all several pages, now ask them, if they want to go geocaching ?

Edited October 5, 2012 by OZ2CPU

19k · October 5, 2012

So I spent $300 on a GPS for my daughter's 3 year birthday.

Just be glad that it was only a $300 GPS and not a $30,000 automobile.

October 5, 2012

So I spent $300 on a GPS for my daughter's 3 year birthday.

Just be glad that it was only a $300 GPS and not a $30,000 automobile.

Maybe in 13 years this will happen. Good luck!

Oh, and I agree with pretty much all the advice given above. Give it time...they will either get into Geocaching with you or they won't but there isn't much you can do to make them love it. It's just not for everyone...

October 5, 2012

By the way I just stalked checked out your profile and read the log from your first (and thus far only) find. You are already ahead of the curve for new people logging finds. Keep up the good work!

October 6, 2012

My cats also have no interest in caching, they just want to chase squirrels when we go outside.

Sometimes I can get them to take an interest in travel bugs, but only momentary.

We have no such problem.

October 8, 2012

Any suggestions or comments?

Suggesting we go on "adventures" (AKA caching around Parks hikes in nature preserves) work for my almost three year old. I bring lots of snacks and a few toys for her. I also have a backpack carrier (this one: http://www.amazon.com/Chicco-Smart-Support-Backpack-Red/dp/B0007NC7K6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349720497&sr=8-1&keywords=backpack+carrier) so she gets to ride around like a queen.

Sure, she's 32 lbs, but I need the exercise.

If all else fails, just go on by yourself. Everyone needs some "me" time. As your girl gets older she'll probably take more interest in joining you.

October 10, 2012

My three, almost four year old, is the one saying "lets go geocaching when daddy gets home! " I think its because when we first started we called them nature adventures. Bring a Ziploc and let her fill it up with leaves and pine cones and interesting rocks. The "treasure" to us is spending time as a family exploring new areas and being active together. Look for ones in parks or easy walking trails, reading the comments helps too. Happy caching!

Bot the GPS. Nobody in the family is interested.

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