Too young to geocache?

[+Spunkie92]

Hey guys,

 

I'm getting back into nannying (finally - retail sucks). And I may be watching a couple boys ages 3 & 4. Anybody have experience caching with littles? I'd love to get then involved because it would get is out and doing something.

 

Thanks, as always.

[+Anonymike7]

My son's been accompanying me on the trail since I started caching two years ago, when he was 3. He loves the thrill of going out and finding treasure, but the real trick is to pick trails/hikes that aren't too grueling for a little guy.

 

Make sure to pack some swag, for trading and for consoling the kids when there's nothing in the cache container.

[+Team-Facetious]

My son's been accompanying me on the trail since I started caching two years ago, when he was 3. He loves the thrill of going out and finding treasure, but the real trick is to pick trails/hikes that aren't too grueling for a little guy.

 

Make sure to pack some swag, for trading and for consoling the kids when there's nothing in the cache container.

Agreed, I try to pick caches with easier terrain, a larger container and sometimes found within last 7 days if plenty are available. I've cached with 10, 6, 5, 4, year old boys and it's perfectly doable. Just don't over do it. They love treasure hunting and trading swagg.

[BRTango]

Just took my two two-year olds, my three year old and my 7 year old out caching on Sunday (thankfully I was not the only adult). While the 2-year olds didn't get into the cache itself, they enjoyed the hike. The 3 and 7-year olds had a blast as usual.

 

I think I started with my 7 year old when he was two... I'd make sure I had a special item to put into the cache for him to find, just in case the cache was empty or didn't have anything he liked.

[+lamoracke]

my kid has enjoyed it from the beginning, when I cache with my youngster, I try to at least find a couple of caches that could have some toy swag and try to not make them too hard, but I sometimes try to get his exercise with a nice hike. I imagine he will grow sick of it some day with the law of averages, but hopefully not for a good while.

[+wimseyguy]

If they are old enough to be outside and old enough to have fun doing it, they are old enough to take geocaching.

You might want to keep a few extra trading trinkets in your pocket in case they don't understand the trade fairly/take only one thing concept or there isn't anything that they would find interesting in the cache.

[+sasqwatches]

My 4 year old sqwatch loves geocaching

[+stijnhommes]

As long as you have the parents' permission to take them out and are aware of the potential dangers in your surroundings, I don't see why you can't take youngsters geocaching. Sunny and Sandy from the podcacher podcast take their son along all the time as do the Geocaching Vlogger and GCDoc from Youtube. It's all in the planning and getting them involved. Take them caching in city parks on trails and keep away from water. Go on, have fun!

[+Team-Facetious]

Good time for teaching too. We've come across everything from deer, chipmunks, beavers, possums, squirrels, dogs, cats, black snakes, lizards, and bad plants like Ivy's. It's a great time to teach them about everything they will encounter.

[+KoosKoos]

If they're old enough to go for a walk in the park, they're old enough to geocache. My youngest went to her first cache (a night cache) around 6-8 weeks old. Granted, she slept the whole time in a sling on mom's shoulder, but she was there. The older kids were 11 and 6 when we started out, but the youngest traveled in a backpack before she was old enough to hike on her own. Now, she and I have found a few together by bike as well as hiking.

 

As others have said, with little ones, they tend to like the bigger ones better (finding treasure toys can't be beat) and watch the terrain. Just be ready for caching trips to be cut short when they'd rather hit the swings instead of one more geocache. They may tire of the hunt before you do, so you may find yourself abandoning a planned caching route because they're ready for a break.

[+Oxford Stone]

OS Junior is 4 next month and came with me to about my 3rd cache last November. He's now found I think 154 "treasures", many on walks of a couple of miles, up to nearly 4 miles for 20 caches in one day. His 150th at the weekend, a classic family-friendly pot in the roots of a tree, he quite casually picked out like a seasoned pro. He's had days when he's not wanted to go caching but other days he's dragging me out!

He's learning observation, patience, persistence, how to trade, basics of map-reading, now able to help find numbers on signs for multis - and he's developing a love of walking and the outdoors. It's a brilliant educational tool.

[+The VanDucks]

We cache with our grandkids when we can (they don't all live very close by.) They have enjoyed it at all ages, but when they were three or four, they would get tired if the hike/walk was too long. Kids have plenty of energy, but not so much stamina. So my suggestion would be to start out taking them to easy caches you've already found, so you know what to expect. Those which are near a playground are usually good ones for kids.

 

If you set their family up with a geocaching membership, you can help them log their finds. They are going to prefer caches with swag, so look for the larger caches to begin with. You can always have some extra kid swag in your pocket in case there is a fuss over who gets to keep the best things they find! (One of our grandsons insisted, at age three, that he only wanted to find Thomas the Train in any caches we looked for!)

 

As a responsible nanny, I'm sure you will remember to ask the parents' permission for this activity, and to bring along the children's insurance cards in case of any injuries. You'll teach the kids to avoid poison ivy and bee or wasp nests, and you'll want to have a sting stick in case of insect bites and some bandaids for scratches. Also, until they become seasoned cachers, keep your caching trips short, maybe only two or three caches per day; it takes SO much longer to cache with little kids than with adults!

 

Mostly - have fun! Don't stress over whether you make the find, and don't rush the kids if they want to spend time watching ants or throwing rocks in a creek. They will have happy memories of their time outdoors with you!

[BiIIyBobNosePicker]

You should definitely wait until a few weeks after birth before carrying them out to go caching.

[+OZ2CPU]

>You should definitely wait until a few weeks after birth before carrying them out to go caching.

 

EXACTLY :-)

and that is the only limitation I can see..

 

why care about age, all kids are different,

I got 5 kids and they all got a mind set of their own, actually about anything at all.

 

try it out and see what happens, it is mostly in what you do and how you do it,

if you think it is fun, and if you try to make if fun for them,

most likely they will have alot of fun too

 

-----------

 

>Mostly - have fun! Don't stress over whether you make the find, and don't rush the kids if they want to spend time watching ants or throwing rocks in a creek.

> They will have happy memories of their time outdoors with you!

 

VERY wise line here :-)

you are so right, I like to add

we have seen alot of funny things, when our kids bring other kids and even their parents on a trip,

we see how our kids act in the nature compared to kids not used to the nature in the same way,

this is very interesting to see.

also our smallest girls are now 6 and 7, they can handle hard forrest and walk for 6 hrs without a complain,

as long as we find alot of cool caches, and bring supplies, food and water and hold brakes when they are looking like they need it.

Edited April 30, 2013 by OZ2CPU

[+BAIN!]

My daughter caches with us. She just turned 1 in February. We take her around in an Ergo baby carrier for wooded and urban hikes as well as a B.O.B. stroller. We actually named the first hide she did with us "Bob" because it was a wooded hike that she was being pushed in our B.O.B. stoller on, plus it was a water hide so it worked as a play on words with bobbing in the water. Our profile picture is us actually doing some urban caches (mostly virtuals) around the DC area.

[cutiepie7f]

Nope not to young at all the other day my 5 year old went on an allbday long caching adventure and by the 6 or 7th mile he was still running while all of us were running out of steam we found a cheap lil compass ring for kids in a cache traded for it and he was the leader the rest of the way although on our first few hikes with him he tired out more easily ... now he's pretty used to it have fun and see if you can find those lil compass rings in a store somewhere the smaller ones may absolutly love them

[+The_Incredibles_]

Sure, you can take kids this age caching. I've found the more kids, the more fun, so if you can join up with another family, all the better. Pick places you'd normally like to go and don't expect to find too many - maybe 3 at the most. Bring extra swag in case you find a cache with nothing good in it.

[+6NoisyHikers]

You should definitely wait until a few weeks after birth before carrying them out to go caching.

 

A few weeks? Pah! Just had to post this: Mini-Hiker's First Cache

 

[+Spunkie92]

You should definitely wait until a few weeks after birth before carrying them out to go caching.

 

A few weeks? Pah! Just had to post this: Mini-Hiker's First Cache

 

 

Oh my goodness!! That is the most adorable little one I've seen! Had a total "Awwwuuuhh" moment there..

 

Thanks for the replies everybody. It will seriously depend on the children I am watching. If they seem like the kinds of kids to be into it, I'll take them, otherwise, I'll go while they're in class

 

I like the ideas of carrying extra swag for them, and the first aid kit. I really need to stock up on some of that for myself.

 

[+Oxford Stone]

I suppose it's worth adding (on behalf of the Take Life Seriously brigade), take the same safety precautions and considerations you would on any other walk (traffic, heat, water, suntan lotion, hat, good footwear...) and add the likelihood of thorns, barbed wire and uneven ground (on Sunday we were walking around a tree stump and suddenly realised we were at the top of a steep 6-foot bank...); not to mention caches where you have to move a small rock and find the cache underneath, can very easily squash a small finger! (not happened to OS Junior yet, but I don't know how...)

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

My nearly 6 yo daughter comes out with me at weekends and after school and generally enjoys herself. She's being doing this with me for the year and half or so I've been caching. If she's along with me then I nearly always take my nearly 2 yo daughter with us in the backpack carrier. She enjoys the walk and seeing wildlife, farm animals etc, and having a toddle around at GZ whilst we search for the cache. We pick relatively easy caches to do or a nice family friendly series.

 

I make sure I pack some swag for the 6yo to swap. Funnily enough at the moment she seems to enjoy more putting swag in the caches than trading it out. She also really enjoys trackables and what people have attached to the dog tags.

 

She has her rucksack with her supplies - rain jacket, water and snacks, swag, plus the old yellow Etrex if I've had time to load the caches on it.

 

I give her the hint, she asks "is this a one, a one and a half, or a two?" (D-rating) and then gives me her own rating when we've found it.

 

She's normally the first to tell people what we're up to and people like seeing kids out and about doing sometime fun in the fresh air, plus (the older one at least) they can get muddy and climb trees, play in the woods and generally have a great time without .

 

She also likes making new caches with me and then finding good hiding places for them.

 

As other have said, take the necessary kit you'd expect to have to pack if they're along with you. We have food and drink, warm clothes, small first aid kit and the stuff you need for a 6 yo who needs to go when she needs to go (if you know what I mean!).

 

 

 

 

[+ras_oscar]

When I was caching with my 2 boys, they enjoyed the competition. I'd stand near GZ and announce " its a small, 12 feet from me" then they'd scramble around trying to find it. Most times they found it quicker than I did. They always remembered who had "found" the most for the day. I'd suggest you get them involved in a meaningful way.

[+onthegomom]

My little ones love it! My 4th has been geocaching since she was 11 days old and her first event at 2 months. She is now 21 months and loves to hold the gps and "find" it. My 3rd is 5 and she loves loves loves to find the ones big ones to trade things, she has to beat her 2 big sisters