Younger Geocachers

[JohnX]

I am interested to know what younger geocachers think makes a good cache. When I say younger I mean 15 or less.

 

What do you like about geocaching? Specifically, do you care about the stuff in the cache, trading items and stuff like that? How about a cool location? Someplace that is strange, perhaps a little dangerous and that none of your friends have never seen?

Also, what do you think about the hiding method? Do you care if the cache is an ammo can hidden under brush or something more clever than that? Or is the best part just outsmarting your parents or siblings?

 

Thanks for your responses.

 

JX

[+the4Grays]

My kids are 10. They both enjoy caches that take them on hikes in the woods, or along the beach. One of the girls really enjoys the 'hunt'. She wants to find it first.

 

They both really enjoy looking through the cache for items to trade out. Generally, they like the little toy animals they find. They will also occasionally choose a craft item. Sometimes though, a rock will catch their attention.

 

As far as where the cache is hidden, well, let's just say that they will get bored after looking for too long. They'd be fine if all caches were hidden in stumps.

 

I can definitely say that they prefer regular size caches over micros!

[+nfa]

My son Ben loves caching...he is 2.5 years old, and loves looking for "Treasure"...he wants matchbox cars, period...just matchbox cars...

 

nfa-jamie

[+Enspyer]

I fit your definition of "younger geocacher"...I'm 14 (soon to be 15 ). I'm pretty sure I like caches just like everyone else. My favorites are the nice hikes or great views. I like digital photography, so I like when there are good picture opportunities. I also like local history and learning about the past, so historical location caches are high on my list.

 

The biggest difference is that I cannot drive. That makes some virtuals/urban micros difficult because I often forget the concepts of 'parking the car' or 'traffic laws'.

 

I have regularly traded items in a cache except for travel bugs in over a year. I really don't even care for travel bugs all that much. I don't want extra stuff when keeping my room clean is hard enough. It's about actually finding the cache.

 

My friends don't have much to do with geocaching. I just like having another hobby, so that not everything I do is focused on school.

 

Edit: one last answer: I don't mind just ammo cans but as long as it's a quality hide with some thought put in it doesn't matter to me. It probably isn't much different that most adults.

Edited February 19, 2005 by Enspyer

[+steve0mania]

My two boys (5 and 6 yo) really care about finding "treasure" in the caches. However, their standards are pretty low, so these don't have to be fancy or expensive. They love finding toy cars and trucks, games, plastic animals, etc. My 6 yo has a pin collection, so he's pretty happy when he finds pins, especially gc-related pins. A member of the Utah Association of Geocachers put a bag of UTAG buttons in one cache, and we've found a couple of button signature items.

 

We've done a couple of micros, and as long as there's something in them besides a logsheet, my kids are happy. I usually try to bring them to full-sized caches, though.

[+Team Snoopy]

Mine are 7 & 5 and they love finding the cache. They don't like finding it under a pile of sticks or rocks. They like having to actually look in trees or under other natural things to try and find it. Of course what's in the cache is always fun, but they know sometimes it will have good things and sometimes not. We just always try to leave something they would like to find, so other kids can be happy too. As far as the hike, they like ones where they can run about, see animals, and we like to point out nature things to them. It's always a good time to visit places we have never been to and don't even know about.

[+ZingerHead]

My oldest (14) just rolls her eyes at the mention of geocaching, but my 7 year old likes an easy find with lots of toys to sort through. Dollar value has no meaning - plastic animals, noisemakers, silly putty, you name it. Money, tools, picture frames - fuggedaboutit. I have been put on notice - NO MORE MICROS. I think the fun for her isn't so much the search but the hike in - she gets bored quickly if we can't find the treasure in the first 15 minutes or so. If the hide is at a park then we'll usually spend more (a LOT more) time on the playground or poking around a pond than actually hunting the cache. So hide it someplace a kid would enjoy, and don't make it too tough. Save the hard ones for the geo-addicted.

That said, the whole family spent something like 45 minutes looking for a cache one time and when the little one turned it up she looked like she was going to explode she was so happy.

[+Papa Bill]

My granddaughter (10) goes with me on most of my caching. She loves to find the coins and travel bugs. And of course, little girl type things. She isn't into micros, she likes lots of trading stuff.

[+1NatureMom]

Our 1NatureGirls (10 & 7) do not like micros; ammo boxes are exciting for them to open~just the process of opening one is fun! The swag does not have to be of value, however, their fav. are pencils & T.B.s. They like to use a pencil they've found caching in school~it reminds them of the cache memory.

Our 7 year old has such the keen-cache eye already~she can notice a cache location rather quickly, ie...nature did not make that pile of rocks/sticks.

Have fun & Thx for thinking of the younger cachers~it makes it ALOT easier on us older cachers to take them along!

Leslie

[+Green Thumb Trekers]

We usually take our 6 year old and a couple of her friends with us when we go geocaching. Coincidentally, today I asked them what they like about the sport. #1 answer was not getting new "treasures" but the actual hiking along the trails.

 

Today we found two caches: one was on a very muddy trail leading up and down big hills with a great view at the top from the cache site; the other was walking along a flat trail with a little bushwacking to a fallen log. The hilly hike was the unanimous winner, despite all their whinging about the mud and slip-sliding up/down the hills. One kid said that getting to pick out a "treasure" was fun but she much preferred the "getting to it."

 

#2 answer I received from the kids was the actual spotting of the cache. We've done enough now that they know what to look for and they keep track of who's found the most for the day. Whoever find it first, gets to pick first. That rule has sparked some interesting negotiations when there's a tie.

 

I was surprised by the kids' answers; I was sure they would say picking out new treasures to take home. And get this: they don't even care what size the cache is.

 

Isn't it wonderful when you learn something unexpected from a child?

[+reveritt]

My granddaughter (and best geocaching buddy) is seven. She enjoys being in the woods, and learning about nature. We try to make every hike educational. She can identify many trees, plants, and animal tracks. She also enjoys using the GPS, as well as map and compass work. She often leads the way on the trail.

 

She enjoys finding the cache, and going through all the swag. She likes finding unusual toys, as well as small tools, jewelry, and gadgets of any kind. She likes the trading.

 

My granddaughter has her own travel bugs, and also has one cache of her own. She doesn't have her own ID, so it's listed under my name, but she selected the location, the container, and all the contents. We worked together on setting up the multi. See This listing.

[+Quoddy]

My two grandkids, Monkey Girl (12) and Turtle Boy (10) each have found over 200 caches, most of them as a team. They enjoy caches that get them to unusual places or involve some puzzle or calculations.

[+KolarBear]

When younger kids tag along with us they like to have a well hidden cache, i.e. in a crevice, as long as its hidden well it doesn't make a difference in the container.

 

We also love TBs because we can see its past travels and see the progression into the future.

 

Themed caches are always fun espescially when it is well thought out with some creativity.

 

Unique trade items are also really cool!

[+Maingray]

We take our 3 year old son all cache hunts, he adores doing it for the treasure... as said above, the things that catch his eye are not the expensive items.. he likes the cars, McToys, plastic figures , balls etc the most.

 

The most he can really hike is about 1 mile without being carried / whining TOO much. He really enjoys the bushwhacking part and hates being left behind. We basically only do 2/2's max.

[+WesternWilson]

My 7 year old daughter adores geocaching. She is at that age where she still just loves hanging with mom and dad. With two teens in the family, we are SO hanging on to that!

 

I would suspect that at 9/10 years old, the find has to be more imaginative and challenging. But for under 9's, the treasure cache is ALL. They will hike much further over harder terrain than you would believe, just for the chance of a treasure cache!

 

FWIW, here is the content list of our Geocaching Treasure Bag, all got at our local, amazing Dollar Store (we take one to leave one, nothing over $1.50):

 

3" multicoloured dragons (small stuffed toys are Gracie's total fave)

pink and white lei

fuzzy yellow easter chicks

pens

bubble stuff and wand

hacky sack

gloves

single wash size of Tide laundry detergent (who could resist?)

deck of cards in plastic case

hippie-esque stickers

cool two tone whistles

whirl-a-copters (work like maple keys...great if you have a landing)

 

And (tah dah) the all time favourite (drum roll please):

 

$1 scratch tickets.

 

Yes. I know, gambling. Sin. And with Gracie underage...tch tch. Bad parents, bad parents!

 

But seriously, they are great fun for little guys. I carry a dollar to avoid deep distress at losing tickets ...and we also sometimes leave a toonie in the caches we find !

 

Happy caching!

[+octavia]

We've only done a handfull so far, but I can tell you, we could have had a real melt down with one of them that had a broken toy car in it. Thankfully, Daddy did some quick manevering and managed to avoid the drama.

My kids (9 and 3) have been delighted with the "treasure". My 9 year old will adjust to anything, for example when he found a yo-yo, that was his fav toy until the next cache. His all time favorite is trading cards though, he's a nut for those. Much to my husbands dismay, my three year old seems to want the jewlery. Today he aquires a rather smashing glittery heart bracelet. only my 9 year old cares about finding it, he was getting discouraged when we were finding them first, so we backed off to give him a chance.

btw, what is the etiquette when you find a cache with garbage or broken stuff in it? should you toss those things, or leave it be? We didn't change anything in the one we found, but we were wondering if we should have?

 

Octavia

[+reveritt]

...btw, what is the etiquette when you find a cache with garbage or broken stuff in it? should you toss those things, or leave it be? We didn't change anything in the one we found, but we were wondering if we should have?

...

When I find something that is unquestionably garbage, then I remove it. If it is just something of little value to me, but that a kid might like, I leave it.

 

One way to avoid junk in caches is to make sure that the littlest cachers always have something of modest value to trade. This is a good time to teach fair play and consideration for others.

 

My granddaughter was six when we started caching, so I have had no experiencing caching with toddlers. I imagine that it can be challenging on several levels.

 

If your kids are old enough, you can involve them in making homemade signature items to leave in caches--it's all part of the fun.

 

Be careful where you let kids reach their little hands. A good hiding place for a cache might also be a good hiding place for a snake, rat, racoon, etc. Use a stick and a flashlight to explore holes and hollows when necessary. For a case in point, see this log entry that I made just yesterday.

[+terri and billy]

I take my best friend and her 12/almost 13 daughter on a lot of caches. I think Amy enjoys showing me up more than anything. She can program my GPS faster than me and 9 times out of 10 find the caches faster, especially when they are up high. I'm only 5'1" and Amy is about 6 to 7 inches taller than me! Once the cache is found, she's very interested in what is in it and what we have to trade. I really enjoy caching with her.

 

Terri

[+Maingray]

One of my son's (3) worst ever tantrums was halfway back from a cache when he decide he did NOT want the stickers he had taken, but in fact had WANTED the car he hadn't taken. Aaargh. Anyway, we didnt go back

[+octavia]

 

One way to avoid junk in caches is to make sure that the littlest cachers always have something of modest value to trade. This is a good time to teach fair play and consideration for others.

 

 

If your kids are old enough, you can involve them in making homemade signature items to leave in caches--it's all part of the fun.

 

For sure! One of the things that first attracted us to caching was all the learning opportunities on so many levels!

Fair play, leave it better than you found it, geography, technology... the list is endless!

We created a "cache stash" in my son's old diaper bag back pack. Looks normal enouph and the kids helped me fill it with all kinds of goodies. When we get to the trading part, we talk about what would be "fair" trades for the items they want. Always remembering that the cache should be left to be just as much fun for the next person to find, not a disappointment.

 

The broken car was in a cache that also had a mctoy, my hubby traded that out just to put something cooler in. I guess we could have traded out the broken car too... Next time we'll know better.