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Children and Geocaching


The Hornet

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Trying not to be contentious (for a change - I know icon_wink.gif) after the lengthy discussion about do's and don'ts when children are about I was wondering just how many children get involved in geocaching.

 

So, on an average geocaching trip how many children (per adult) usually come with you?

 

How do you define a child? Let's say it is a minicacher that is able to walk and hunt but too young to go out on their own.

 

Remember I'm looking for children per adult so two children with two adults counts as 1. Use your own judgement for fractions! This is totally unscientific I know but it's a rough guide.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

It is better to regret something you did, rather than to regret something you didn't do.

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Ours ranges from 0 occasionally, a lot at 2.5 and goes up to 6 some of the time.

 

The children range from 10 weeks up to 14 years.

 

Having read the other thread, let me add.

 

We have no problem with any of our kids finding:

Alcohol

Tools

Pen-knife

Pre packaged food and drinks

 

We do have a problem with :

Porn

Loose Sweets

 

These are just OUR opinions, and do NOT relate to any geocaching rules.

 

Having just done a Hornet cache with a long walk, we were pleased to find a drink in the cache. This was in one of those sealed foil bags, and IOHO this is OK.

 

Tech-no notice

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I voted 2, but the figure varies, depending on which combination of adults and children are present.

We never eat or drink anything from a cache, but have removed several remains of sweets. The main reason for not eating or drinking anything from the cache is that you cannot be sure a) how long its been there for and :D what else has been in the cache with it or c) what else everyone has been touching prior to examining it and replacing it icon_wink.gif.

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quote:
Originally posted by The Hornet

How do you define a child? Let's say it is a minicacher that is able to walk and hunt but too young to go out on their own.


 

So technically, I'm not a child....!

 

Mike

 

This forum post is copyright 2003 to Michael Blitz and may not be re-produced in part or full without prior written consent.

 

Copyright 2003 All rights reserved

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We've taken our son on most of our geocaching trips 'up north', but at 5 mths he's not old enough to help us find the caches yet! So '0' for us.

 

Just wanted to say that I agree completely with what Nia said above, even though I do understand why the rules are more strict. I'd be a bit concerned if there was enough alcohol present to cause medical harm to a small child if drunk but see nothing wrong with small quantities.

 

When thinking of ideas for caches, we came up with a multicache with 'adult' and 'child' parts. So the child part would have teddies, crayons, glitter etc, whereas the adult part would have penknives, whisky miniatures, copies of the highway code, CAMRA ale guides etc. Visitors would be encouraged to bring something suitable for both halves. But I guess it's a no-go...

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quote:
Originally posted by Team Blitz (Michael):

 

So technically, I'm not a child....!


 

Correct - but as for me icon_confused.gificon_confused.gificon_confused.gificon_confused.gif Maybe just a big kid icon_biggrin.gif

 

_________________________________________________________

 

It is better to regret something you did, rather than to regret something you didn't do.

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You're never too young - our 13 month old twins already have a couple of finds under their belts (well those tape things that keep their nappies on). We tried a couple of caches with the babies in the three wheeler, but then we invested in a couple of papooses (backpack type thingies), so now we can go anywhere (OK we haven't done any 5/5's yet!)

 

My eight year old boy Joseph always comes along and loves it. The following conversation took place on the way back to the car after last weeks outing, when we did Clough Head Surprise, Simon's Lodge and Lead Mines:

 

Him: Thanks for taking me, Dad!

Me: I thought you didn't want to come?

Him: Yes but I didn't know it was going to be this good!

 

It was a 'father and son moment'!

 

opinion.jpg

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My kids (8 and 4) often come with me on the hunt or when hiding caches. The reasons I take them out are, among others,

To get them outside

To give them a bit of exercise.

to let them see the real world (not TV)

to experience nature, all of it, little birdies, fluffy squirrels, dead sheep and over emotional horses.

 

My kids live in a house with access to 240v electricity, scalding hot water, kitchen knives, power tools and "Daddies Juice" made by pierre smirnoff. I'm really not too worried that they will steal my car drive into the country walk a mile in search of a little box and find a penknife.

 

Getting wet, cold, muddy; falling over, getting scratched and stung is not mandatory but is part of growing up and learning. If I take them along then it is up to me to look after them. If you want to hide something that others may object to then give fair warning in the cache pages.

 

But let's not have amendments to guidelines, additions to guidelines, proposed redrafts of the constitution until the rule book becomes bigger than all of us.

 

Lance

It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

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quote:
Originally posted by Lance Ambu:

My kids (8 and 4) often come with me on the hunt or when hiding caches. The reasons I take them out are, among others,

To get them outside

To give them a bit of exercise.

to let them see the real world (not TV)

to experience nature, all of it, little birdies, fluffy squirrels, dead sheep and over emotional horses.

 

My kids live in a house with access to 240v electricity, scalding hot water, kitchen knives, power tools and "Daddies Juice" made by pierre smirnoff. I'm really not too worried that they will steal my car drive into the country walk a mile in search of a little box and find a penknife.

 

Getting wet, cold, muddy; falling over, getting scratched and stung is not mandatory but is part of growing up and learning. If I take them along then it is up to me to look after them. If you want to hide something that others may object to then give fair warning in the cache pages.

 

But let's not have amendments to guidelines, additions to guidelines, proposed redrafts of the constitution until the rule book becomes bigger than all of us.

 

Lance

It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.


 

There you are Hornet, there are more than two of us!! (Mind you the poll is suggesting that........)

 

Lance, thank you for showing me that there are reasonable people out there.

 

icon_smile.gificon_smile.gificon_smile.gificon_smile.gif

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The great British public has cast their votes and all is now clear.

 

What we can say is - If this result were carried through to the next general election - then it probably would.

 

There again there is a large proportion with the contrary view.

 

What have we learned from all this? Ah yes that is the question!

 

Some do, some don't, some have, some haven't and there again some might.

 

Don't you just love scientific polls. icon_confused.gificon_confused.gificon_wink.gificon_biggrin.gificon_razz.gificon_smile.gif

 

_________________________________________________________

 

It is better to regret something you did, rather than to regret something you didn't do.

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My two girls (13, 10) were heavily into geocaching for the first cache. They came along on the second, showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the third and then started to complain to their mother (who has more sense than me). I recently tricked the 10 year old into coming and she was furious when she found out.

As for the contents of caches, if I have the girls with me I'm responsible for them. I'd be angry about any extremes, but beyond that I have no real problem. I accept the good advice about sweets etc. and would avoid them on health grounds.

 

The nearer your destination, the more you keep slip sliding away.

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I'm usually on my own or with someone of my own generation- but last week we took nearly 4 year old granddaughter along to hide a new cache. All went well until we showed her what was in the box before we covered it up - silence for a few moments then cascades of tears - dad had given me a colourful key ring from her toy box thinking she would not miss it, but she did. So it was out with the box again and back to her with the keyring. Happily she had approved one or two other toys so the cache is not empty!

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