Cache Quality For Kids

February 28, 2005

I searched the forums before I started this thread, wanting to see if anyone else had posted about this lately...

I don't mean to complain, I am just wondering what is the general quality of the baubles in the caches? My 9 year old hiked most of the day away with me today, looking for a cache, and when we found it, he cried he was so disappointed. :huh: There was only one "cool" item in the whole thing, the rest of the stuff was either broken or worth about 2 cents serioulsy. He gave the cool item to his freind who was with us. I know it isn't for the stuff, but a cool momento is what it is supposed to be about right? One cache we found had a string from someones sweat pants in it? I just thought that the idea was cool rocks, cards, small toys, coins, etc.. Am I missing something, or is this how it goes? I guess what would be good to know is if the majority of them are like this, or if they are different in different areas or something. Some of the caches we found had cool stuff in them, but many had broken stuff too. I've seen others post about what they include, I've read the FAQ also, so am wondering if others have found this a problem, or do we need to lower our expectations.

Octavia and Co.

February 28, 2005

Yeah, you're right.. We're having this same problem, except without the kids part. We'll visit 5-6 caches in a day, and take 1 thing, MAYBE..

When we put a cache up, we're putting cool things in it..Kids or not!

-Nick

February 28, 2005

What a wonderful thing to be doing with your child! (and his friend!)

I congratulate you on the quality and quantity time. I treasure my time with the kids (when I can drag them out to geocache!)

It happens - some caches degrade - it is a part of the community's life. Some combat this by being helpers and restock from their own swag. Some just sign the log.

Take the joy from the hunt and the hike. What's at the end is icing on the cake. Chocolate cake is good - even without the icing. :huh:

Just my two cents worth -

Momma Marauder

February 28, 2005

I generally try to put a couple of quality items in a cache rather than going for quantity. I see too many caches with garbage swag in them. I've resorted to a lot of TN, but leaving something of better quality behind.

February 28, 2005

I carry at least 1 caches worth of trade goods around with me to replenish degraded caches

February 28, 2005

I have a 10 year old and she loves the find. Some of the caches are disapointing if you are looking for stuff but that is what happens when you trade stuff. I tell my little girl if you are going to find the cache because it has cool stuff then you are better off going to wal mart to find cool stuff. It about the hunt and the success of fining the cache it is just a bonus if you find something cool to trade. Battle the junk by not putting junk in when you trade. Oh and a sweat pant string is cool you can tie all kinds of knots with them or turn it into a zipper pull. Teach them to find the good when there is only bad being seen. Cache on and hunt for micros.

February 28, 2005

I carry at least 1 caches worth of trade goods around with me to replenish degraded caches

We carry a pretty full bag of stuff too. I guess I didn't know what the guidelines are? One of the advantages of this sport for us is the opportunity to teach my kids about respect, fair play, etc.

Even before geocaching our family rule was/is We always leave a place nicer than we find it. That applies to caches as well.

For me it is about the hunt, for my kids... the treasure is a major player. They like the hunt too, but it is tied to the expectation of finding a cool treasure for them. I guess I just need to learn what we are and are not allowed to do to others' caches. We've already spiced up several that seemed to have degraded.

I'm sorry, I just don't see the value in a pant string as a find. Not something I want to keep as a momento. I only leave things, I would be excited to find. I'm not talking about big $ either, just neat non- ordinary day stuff. The cache that my son was so disappointed in, had an old dirty bottle of travel shampoo, who wants to keep that as a momento?

Don't get me wrong, we have found many neat things. It just seems that a cache may have one or two respectable items and then several things that make us go ??? A newspaper rubber band, a penny, a broken mc toy, etc. etc. I guess what we could do is just "trade" that stuff out and leave something that someone would find pleasureable to find.

Thanks for all the imput, It helps to know I'm not the only person struggeling with kids and caching. If it were just me, I would probebly do as others have. TNLN, or TN left... something cool for the next 9 year old who happens by. :huh:

February 28, 2005

We found one small cache today with probably half a dozen things in it...but not much room. Also, we didn't have much that was small enough to fit in the little box. This was the first time we've ever traded down in my opinion. The only positive was that there was more room in the box for the next finders. The next one we did we were able to trade across. We always try to trade across or up if we trade. Hopefully we'll be able to leave cool stuff every time, even though this time we didn't. But, yes, I agree, it's always good to have cool stuff for kids in the caches.

On a side note...I wonder if McToys are recyclable? If they are...it might be worthwhile to take the broken ones, and dump 'em...I mean recycle them. You could say, RMTs (recycled McToys)! I always expect to find at least one McToy.

I hope you find better stuff in the future.

February 28, 2005

This is a topic that really toasts my cheese. In my area a lot of adults cache without kids. Invariably the logs are Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Log (and they abbreviate in the logs). How hard would it be to go to a toy store and buy a pack of toy cars or some other kid friendly trinket? Total cost: less than $1.00. Drop a car or trinket in each cache you find. Sign the log, Took nothing, left toy car. That would be a class act.

Here is the log from my first cache that got me hooked on geocaching:

Took this one in after completing Cracked Tree Cache. What a great place!!! Didn't know about the campground or other neat stuff in the park. Coordinates were right on and name says it all!! Took tattoos, necklace kit and crayons. Left shell necklace, Mardi gras beads and mini tool kit. Beautiful day and probably one of the best caches to date. So many places, so little time!!

(The profile of the finders has a picture with three children in it.)

Please folks, caches don't have to be toy stores but think about this: the new box of crayons the kid took from my first cache cost $0.35. Yes 35 cents. If appropriate, drop a trade item in a cache that a kid will like, you will never know who takes it.... that is the best reason for doing it.

3.8k · February 28, 2005

sorry about the disappointment. it's true though, that over time caches can go down... sometimes more quickly than another. what often happens is someone who doesn't normally trade (or doesn't have trade items with them) gets to the cache and sees something cool. they find the best thing they have and trade for it. good for them, sucks for you. just wish people would leave it and spend the $3-5 that item probably costs to buy it themselves. but that's human nature, these days, I guess. :huh:

like the others, I try to keep stuff in my pack to fill the cache up (within reason of course, it's not my job to keep caches filled) if it looks particularly bad. it's up to you, sometimes, as the hider may no longer be active.

take care

38.2k · February 28, 2005

I don't mean to complain, I am just wondering what is the general quality of the baubles in the caches? My 9 year old hiked most of the day away with me today, looking for a cache, and when we found it, he cried he was so disappointed

A lot of people who cavalierly dismiss the quality of trade items as an issue forget that many people geocache with kids and kids are looking for a "treasure".

I'll never forget the look on my 4 year old nephew's face on two occasions. The first was the look of joy when he peered into the container and found it full of toys. There was nothing expensive there. Most of the stuff was nothing much beyond McToys, but they were all new or gently used. No toy soldiers half chewed by the family dog, or Matchbox cars sans wheels and doors. The other was the look of disappointment on his face when he found a cache filled with garbage.

I don't buy the "one man's garbage is another man's treasure" concept. Its a copout. Used sunglasses missing a lens and both earpieces, a rusty key ring from Mannys Car Wash, a dirty diaper cover, an expired Sanka coupon and filthy work gloves with holes in the fingers are garbage pure and simple (all stuff I've encountered). Despite what many people seem to think, a cache isn't a garbage can - or at least shouldn't be. If its garbage throw it out.

Edited February 28, 2005 by briansnat

February 28, 2005

It seems to be the curse of caching for it to de-grade so much. I've become irritated to the point where I wasn't going to stock caches anymore - just a log book. THEN one of our locals mentioned the children.

OOPS :huh:

Ok, scratch that idea. As John mentioned, a box of crayons is CHEAP ! someone else said rocks. Geez, when I was little, I searched for rocks EVERYWHERE my parents took me. My pants wouldn't stay up by the end of the day due to the load in my pockets. ( heck, I STILL trade for cool rocks in caches )

My new policy is plenty of kid items. For the most part, adults - go buy your own stuff ! I make signature coins to leave, and I'm thinking up new items to leave that can be a real "memento" of the cache. Since many of my caches to come are themed, I'm trying to tailor a trinket to the theme.

One thing I remember another parent saying in a thread - they always bring some items to "salt" the cache with if there aren't enough goodies. That way, their children aren't dissappointed to tears. They just always open the cache first, with the excuse of checking it to be sure there are no spiders.

1k · February 28, 2005

Geocaching (like most games) is a metaphor for life in general. If you're just in it for the "stuff", then you're going to be disappointed. The number of people who take more than they give is disappointingly high.

When I cache with my 7-year-old granddaughter, I therefore make it part of the fun to trade up. We buy our swag together, and we like to think about how someone we don't even know (or maybe someone we DO know) will find what we have left and think it's cool. We always try to trade up. Of course, this approach is not going to be so easy with a 4-year-old.

And of course, most of the "treasure" to be found while in the woods is not in geocaches. My granddaughter loves to collect specimens of just about everything, and we have fun looking them all up in field guides.

As a cache owner, I try to visit my own caches every few months and "up swag" them if necessary. I love reading logs like this one.

1.3k · February 28, 2005

I carry a lot of swag with me. (when I don't leave it in the car) :huh:

My son is twelve and still loves geocaching. I know it won't be too long before it becomes uncool for him.

Anyway, he likes to bring friends when we go. If at the end of the day, we haven't found any thing worth trading for, I let his friends take an item from my bag.

It's not quite the same but it makes them happy.

38.2k · February 28, 2005

My new policy is plenty of kid items. For the most part, adults - go buy your own stuff ! I make signature coins to leave, and I'm thinking up new items to leave that can be a real "memento" of the cache. Since many of my caches to come are themed, I'm trying to tailor a trinket to the theme.

For me it depends on the cache. If its an easy cache that families are likely to visit, the contents are heavily weighted towards kids stuff. Crayons, watercolors, colored chalk, Matchbox cars, etc...

If its a more remote cache then mostly adult oriented stuff goes in the cache. Girlie mags, small bottles of whiskey...just kidding...outdoors stuff, tools, office supplies, etc...

February 28, 2005

I agree with reveritt, most of the "treasures" my 4 and 6 year old take with us from the outdoors does not come from caches. But as far as the caches go, we have made it a point to clean out the trash and refill with good swag. It is not expensive. Many times it does not cost anything. Sometimes my children put trade items in their packs that they already own. My 4 y/o son trades hot wheels through caches like crazy! It doesn't have anything to do with the value of the hot wheel, it's the trade.

Like everything else, geocachers you would think, would try to leave the the place a little better than they found it.

DC

February 28, 2005

Since we have 3 kids that go caching with us, we always have a ton of stuff that kids love. I bought a bunch of glowsticks, a ton of flashlight necklaces, a couple pounds of foriegn coins and even some cheesy plastic coins to put into the caches. I figure if my kids love these things, so will the other kids. Most of the stuff I got came from oriental trading and some ebay. Even Wal-Mart has a ton of stuff for .88 cents.

6.7k · February 28, 2005

Like most of the above, I am all about promoting this game as family-friendly.

My traditionals cost $80-$100 each to stock, with a $35-$50. FTF prize and 6-10 camping, hiking and toy trinkets each worth maybe $5.

My experience is that folks will go out of their way to trade nice for nice - many people mention returning to their car to get a better trade item than they had on them.

Caches do degrade, and like the above poster's I carry stuff to re-stock my and other's caches. Sure, it's the owner's responsibility, but if I find a depleted or poor-quality-content cache I don't mind stocking it back up to family standards.

I did have a wierd experience lately, when I took a fairly-new cache family to find one of mine. I had just put it out and it had Disney DVDs, Toy cars, Jacks, a Jumprope, kids computer games on CD, etc.

They let the kid gfind it, he digs around and busts out in tears - really mad, pitched a dadgum fit because there was nothing he wanted in the cache!

He finally settled down when they let him have the DVD, CD AND a toy! Told me, "Sorry, we don't have a trade!". i told 'em no problem, I would come back and restock it the next day. Too funny!

Huh, guess you can't please everyone!

38.2k · February 28, 2005

They let the kid gfind it, he digs around and busts out in tears - really mad, pitched a dadgum fit because there was nothing he wanted in the cache!

He finally settled down when they let him have the DVD, CD AND a toy! Told me, "Sorry, we don't have a trade!". i told 'em no problem, I would come back and restock it the next day. Too funny!

Actually kind of sad.

6.7k · February 28, 2005

It is sad, but I have a warped sense of humor - I grew up in a huge circle of my parents's and later, my, friends that are a mix of doctors, lawyers and cops...all people with a unique view on the world.

This led me to become a teacher, consultant and coach...I help those that want help and can't help but laugh at the rest.

This upbringing also gave me a keen eye for the sicknesses and dysfunctional behaviors that humans foist upon each other and a natural incliantion to laugh at the idiotic things folks do to themselves.

If I took all the misfortune I see seriously I would be one depressed puppy!

Ed

9.1k · February 28, 2005

One thing I remember another parent saying in a thread - they always bring some items to "salt" the cache with if there aren't enough goodies. That way, their children aren't dissappointed to tears. They just always open the cache first, with the excuse of checking it to be sure there are no spiders.

Yeah, that was my tip. While my own daughter outgrew the need for trading after her first 100 caches or so, we sometimes cache with other families with younger kids, or she brings along one of her school friends. I'll have a couple of small but cool trade items palmed in one hand, and I'll open the cache with the other hand to "inspect it" for inappropriate contents (always a good idea anyways). If there's nothing cool in the cache, I slip in the goodies and the kid who's eager to trade is none the wiser.

Little Lep has long since accepted the fact that most caches contain junk, and she's figured out that it's all about the hunt, and having fun with others. Most of the time, we take nothing and leave nothing nowadays. This is more a function of convenience than anything else. If I hit 20 caches in a day, I'm unlikely to have 20 matchbox toys to drop one in each cache as someone suggested above. And, after 1300 caches, I'd be out $1300 in dollar store trinkets. That ain't cheap. Instead, we will trade at or improve a cache that we really, really like, or we will put our money into good trinkets to start off the caches we hide, or we will leave expensive surprises at milestone finds.

February 28, 2005

My 9 year old hiked most of the day away with me today, looking for a cache, and when we found it, he cried he was so disappointed.

Sounds like false expectations to me. :huh:

We stopped trading after say 10 caches and are very reluctant to hide regular sized caches, as they are soon to be filled with worthless crap.

Most of our hides lately have been (more or less empty) micros: hard to trade and hard to downtrade.

BS/2

February 28, 2005

My traditionals cost $80-$100 each to stock, with a $35-$50. FTF prize and 6-10 camping, hiking and toy trinkets each worth maybe $5.[

Coordinates please?

My experience is that folks will go out of their way to trade nice for nice - many people mention returning to their car to get a better trade item than they had on them.

Seriously, I have been muling over creating our fist cache, and I wondered about the appropriateness of putting something in the listing mentioning that it is a "high quality kid swag cache" or something. And asking people to respect that and leave it as nice as they find it for the next family. I know we would probably still have to spice it up from time to time, but maybe that would encourage people to be more cosiderate? What do you all think, Ok, or not OK?

LOL.... BUT I wasn't even concidering things like dvds!

Ok, scratch that idea. As John mentioned, a box of crayons is CHEAP ! someone else said rocks. Geez, when I was little, I searched for rocks EVERYWHERE my parents took me. My pants wouldn't stay up by the end of the day due to the load in my pockets. ( heck, I STILL trade for cool rocks in caches )

Exactly! My son's both love rocks!

One thing I remember another parent saying in a thread - they always bring some items to "salt" the cache with if there aren't enough goodies. That way, their children aren't dissappointed to tears. They just always open the cache first, with the excuse of checking it to be sure there are no spiders.

Thanks for the tip! I was trying to figure out how to do this with my younger one without him wondering why he never get to open it. My older one would never fall for it. I just wish he could go on beleiving that all people and good and respectful, I guess part of growing up is learning that that isn't always true. He is a very kind hearted boy, and he gets much pleasure out of thinking about the next kid who will be thrilled with what he leaves, but he is still young enouph to be disappointed when there is nothing but trash for him. I think I will let him read this thread though, It will give him a sense that we are not alone in our values and inspire him to keep on with them, as it has me. :huh:

I'll never forget the look on my 4 year old nephew's face on two occasions. The first was the look of joy when he peered into the container and found it full of toys. There was nothing expensive there. Most of the stuff was nothing much beyond McToys, but they were all new or gently used. No toy soldiers half chewed by the family dog, or Matchbox cars sans wheels and doors. The other was the look of disappointment on his face when he found a cache filled with garbage.

exactly! We had a friend with us yesterday, caching for the first time. These boys were so excited to get to the cache and find it that they hiked away most of the afternoon. It didn't help that it was the third cache we looked for and the only one we found.

I don't buy the "one man's garbage is another man's treasure" concept. Its a copout. Used sunglasses missing a lens and both earpieces, a rusty key ring from Mannys Car Wash, a dirty diaper cover, an expired Sanka coupon and filthy work gloves with holes in the fingers are garbage pure and simple (all stuff I've encountered). Despite what many people seem to think, a cache isn't a garbage can - or at least shouldn't be. If its garbage throw it out.

sounds like the cache we found.

I know this is a long reply, I just wanted to respond to what so many of you said. I would respond to more, but the program won't let me.

I really appriciate the support and replies. It is encouraging to know we are not alone and that there are other cachers that restock with "good stuff" and not just garbage. I didn't know if our expectations were to high or what? We left a box of crayons in a cache that had two partly used crayons in it already! I didn't know if we were "upping the bar" on people or what?

On a positive note, someone from another area was just through and left nice trading cards in all the caches they visited. My son had found 2 of those! He loves those trading cards! His challenge now is he wants to find all the caches this person visited!! LOL. To funny. I emailed the person to let them know what effect their "treasure" had on one little boy anyway. They got a warm fuzzie, I got a warm fuzzie, my son got a warm fuzzie. ( he left trading cards and is excited about the kid that will find his)

February 28, 2005

We stopped trading after say 10 caches and are very reluctant to hide regular sized caches, as they are soon to be filled with worthless crap.

Thank you for saying that!

Here is an experiment I am going to perform. I will place an empty ammo can in a kid friendly location in a nearby state park. The cache page will clearly state that in order to log a find every adult must leave a piece of kid swag in the cache until it is full. I will start a new thread on the as soon as I place the cache. The title of the thread will be Kid Swag!, that will be the name of the cache too. Let's see what happens.

2.5k · February 28, 2005

You know, it's not that difficult to help out a cache.

One of the items that I carry in my swag bag is kiddy birthday party favors. Right now I have klackers. I can get two four packs for a dollar. No, it's not expensive swag, but if a kid finds a cache and wants a small toy, at least that's something that they can trade for.

If I find a cache that's empty, or if I have to trash out alot of crap, I'll fill the cache back up.

One of the caches I had found one day was JoGPS's It Could Have Been Nice. The day I found it, the decon container hadn't been closed so the cache was full of water. Almost every item in it contained paper of some kind (flashcards, party blower, etc) and had to be thrown away. In a rare moment, I didn't have my swag bag with me, so I had to leave it empty except for a log book, which miraculously managed to stay dry, and a bouncy ball. (The lesson here is plastic swag items are the best)

Anyway, friends of mine called me as a phone a friend for the cache, so when I went over to show them where it was, I restocked it with stuff from my swag bag. I left a couple different sig items, a pair of klackers, etc. It didn't take much stuff because of the size of the cache and it only cost me maybe fifty cents to do it, but at least now the cache is restocked so if someone comes by with kids it's not a major dissapointment.

February 28, 2005

I have been collecting the junk out of the bottom of caches.

I am going to place a cache that will be a trash cache only, and will contain all the junk from the caches I cleaned out.

I will ask that the visitors to the cache to do the same.

The place I will be hiding it is near a very large land fill, Mt Trashmore.

6.7k · February 28, 2005

My traditionals cost $80-$100 each to stock, with a $35-$50. FTF prize and 6-10 camping, hiking and toy trinkets each worth maybe $5.[

Coordinates please?

GCJDW3 Irondale Park (stolen twice, will replace this week)

GCMK4Y YNot

GCMJX4 Thunder Road

GCJ1DW Gone Campin

GCJ1ER Gone Fishin'

Come on down!

I just yesterday moved a kewl TB, on this topic, called Kid's Toy Box TB - it's a .30 cal metal ammo can with a TB on it - when you pick it up you add a toy and move it on. It had a lot of really neat stuff in it! Too big to go in most caches, it sits on the ground beside the cache it's checked into.

Good stuff and none but Irondale Park, a public ballpark, have been muggled yet!

I re-stock each one as needed or reports say it's required, maybe every 6 months.

March 1, 2005

Kinda just bumping this topic back up. I like many of the ideas that have been posed here. Gave me more to think about, plus I wanted to clarify my earlier post about not leaving things for adults.

Myy wife and I aren't wealthy people. We have what we need, but we certinly aren't "rolling in it." Neither of us uses caches as an income - I mean we don't look at posts and say " WOW, if we get there quick, we can have a new .......... Not saying people DO this , but I've seen logs like, "took flash media card, left thermometer keychain."

Personally, I LOVE home-made sig items, and thats what I,m interested in trading for. I guess maybe I shouldn't let my personal taste always be my guide, but I'd rather not spend a lot of money on stocking one cache with expensive items to interest a "looter". I want to put out numerous caches for those who are interested in what I am trying to show them by placing the cache - the view, the hike, etc.

I hope that doesn't make me a cheapskate, but I guess if thats the fitting shoe, I'll have to wear it. So far, my sig coins seem to be ok with most people, so I think I'll keep with that route for adults, and invest in goodies for the kids.

Anyways, happy caching all !

March 1, 2005

Personally, I LOVE home-made sig items, and thats what I,m interested in trading for. I guess maybe I shouldn't let my personal taste always be my guide, but I'd rather not spend a lot of money on stocking one cache with expensive items to interest a "looter". I want to put out numerous caches for those who are interested in what I am trying to show them by placing the cache - the view, the hike, etc.

I hope that doesn't make me a cheapskate, but I guess if thats the fitting shoe, I'll have to wear it. So far, my sig coins seem to be ok with most people, so I think I'll keep with that route for adults, and invest in goodies for the kids.

Anyways, happy caching all !

I love them too! I've been trying to come up with a unique fun inexpensive thing that I can leave. I thought about homemade stuff, My aunt makes leather bookmarks with scottish designs on them, I thought that would be neat if I could get the leather cheap enouph.

I don't think your a cheapskate at all! If you are, then I REALLY am, I just spent over and hour trying to find what I think I want to be our signature item, an earth marble, wholesale. Don't want to have to pay retail.

I think homemade siggy coins and stuff is VERY cool. That is what I think of when I think of stuff to trade out of a cache. Something neat like that. A momento.

1.4k · March 1, 2005

GCJ1DW Gone Campin

I was FTF on this one and got a really nice pair of Motorola FRS radios that the kids and I use while geocaching or at events... heck, we even used them with some friends this weekend when we went on a small road trip and visited a zoo.

TAR's not fibbing when he says he places some quality geocache items. I had such an adventure finding Gone Campin... it rocked!

Here's my log for this cache:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...b7-7fda3bfdba4f

Edited March 1, 2005 by jeff35080

March 1, 2005

Hey good idea for a cache, John X. I look forward to seeing how it goes when you post the topic on here!

March 1, 2005

I went on e-bay and got a set of 40 different Mc toys for $.99 plus shippng and i got some matchbox cars that are brand new in package for $.25 each i think these are very kid friendly. i know cause my kids want to keep em. now im working on a signature item that the adults like to collect.

steve

6.7k · March 1, 2005

Yep, I agree - personalized items rock! I wish I had the imagination to come up with one. I will, I am sure...just no idea at the moment. I won't spend much on sig items as they tend to be kept instead of traded.

Having raised 6 kids, been a Boy Scout leader for a decade, and been a counselor for juveniles in our court system I think that it really doesn't take much in the way of toys to make kids happy.

I bought sets of AFL and NFL miniature helmets, $20. for a pack of 12 or 15, and place two in each cache, then encourage parents to take their kids around and collect the whole set!

The same can be done with a $5. set of plastic soldiers, or take a make-up kit for little girls and place parts of it in 5 local caches so the parents can take kids out to collect the kit.

I put a fairly expensive FTF prize in new caches, but the rest are $1-5. items, and I try to find interesting, useful or entertaining $1-5 trade items for my finds.

I live on SSDI, so that means I don't place a lot of caches, nor trade a whole lot!

Usually I move interesting things I find from cache to cache.

Ed

1.3k · March 1, 2005

I bought sets of AFL and NFL miniature helmets, $20. for a pack of 12 or 15, and place two in each cache, then encourage parents to take their kids around and collect the whole set!

Where do you buy those? Sounds like a nice trade item.

I personally tend to head to Walmart and the Dollar Tree. I put in half inexpensive outdoors items and half toys. I put in the odd "neat" item too. I've recently decided to go to the Book Warehouse and pick up some inexpensive books from there.

I tend to spend 5 to 15 dollars on a cache. That's not counting the container (of course, I got a nice stack of ammo cans from a good friend who used to get them for free - but I'll run out of those shortly).

southdeltan

6.7k · March 1, 2005

AFL and NFL miniature helmets, $20. for a pack of 12 or 15

I found these at Acadamy Sports

1.3k · March 1, 2005

AFL and NFL miniature helmets, $20. for a pack of 12 or 15

I found these at Acadamy Sports

Ok, I think there may be one of those in Jackson, MS. I'll look next time I'm over there.

----

I'm sure this has been mentioned several times in other threads, but another good source for inexpensive yet quality items is Oriental Trading Company. You can request a free catalog that's full of all sorts of neat items that most kids would enjoy. They will also customise many of the items.

southdeltan

5.8k · March 1, 2005

I love them too! I've been trying to come up with a unique fun inexpensive thing that I can leave. I thought about homemade stuff, My aunt makes leather bookmarks with scottish designs on them, I thought that would be neat if I could get the leather cheap enouph.

Here's a link to my sig item, if the leather work is too expensive or labor intensive you may try paper bookmarks, and if they're laminated, they work great. Most of my Gamecards are not "Bookmark" sized but they could be, and I may go that way in the future.

Gamecards

If you're able to come up with a cool sig item that the kids can help you make, you may find that soon the joy will come from the making and placing of your things for others to find, you may also want to encourage the kids to start collecting sig items. After I started my collection, I find myself more excited by finding a new calling card that I haven't seen yet than by the other items in a cache. I even find myself returning to already found caches, just to put out more Gamecards.

Edited March 1, 2005 by WRITE SHOP ROBERT

4.7k · March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i like to see good stuff in a cache whether i take any or not. it's just nice to open up a box full of little treasures or quirky items and paw through it all like it's a little museum.

while this is and should be a family-friendly activity let's not forget that it is not FOR children.

a clean, well-stocked cache enhances everybody's experience.

1.3k · March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i like to see good stuff in a cache whether i take any or not. it's just nice to open up a box full of little treasures or quirky items and paw through it all like it's a little museum.

while this is and should be a family-friendly activity let's not forget that it is not FOR children.

a clean, well-stocked cache enhances everybody's experience.

I agree. I don't particularly like to trade - but I'd much rather find a cache with good items that is clean and not full of trash.

sd

March 1, 2005

I too "salt" a cache sometimes when the kids are with me. Also, I carry a bag of swag with me when ever we cache and stock when needed which is a lot. Remember pay it forward? Thats what we do. Every time I go to Walmart, Target and drug stores I always go to the clearence isle to see if there is any cool swag. When my son sees me now he asks "is that for a cache?" he knows, and its a good example. He gets excited when he finds a WG$ (he likes to record them on the computer) or one tradeing card (1.99 for 8 of them I think) If the kids still enjoy cacheing, I get to cache.

March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i like to see good stuff in a cache whether i take any or not. it's just nice to open up a box full of little treasures or quirky items and paw through it all like it's a little museum.

while this is and should be a family-friendly activity let's not forget that it is not FOR children.

a clean, well-stocked cache enhances everybody's experience.

I do have to agree somewhat with this post. It's just that I can't imagine an adult getting too upset that there wasn't anything they wanted in the cache. I have seen adults throw tantrums over trivial things but never the lack of swag in a cache. Also, adults and children have different needs and if an adult wants something they can go out and buy it.

March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i like to see good stuff in a cache whether i take any or not. it's just nice to open up a box full of little treasures or quirky items and paw through it all like it's a little museum.

while this is and should be a family-friendly activity let's not forget that it is not FOR children.

a clean, well-stocked cache enhances everybody's experience.

I agree, it is not ONLY for the children. Many times have my kids rummaged through the swag and didn't take anything, then asked if it was still okay to still leave new stuff in the cache...nearly brought a tear to my eye...

I agree that it is for everyone. A degraded cache is probably sadder to me than my kids. Most of their fun comes with finding it, as is mine. I still fix them up when they need it, and try to make it better than we found it....for the next adults and children. Am I rambling again???

DC

March 1, 2005

heck i traded for a cool rock the other day! the rock was just some polished something or other, but the kid that put it in wrapped it carefully, taped it up, and wrote a great note..

and after opening it up, i had to trade for it!!

luckily, i carry cool rocks too. i've left opal and emerald and faceted stones behind in caches, usually for some goofy thing my wife or kids will like.

the hikes i've been going on lately are a bit past the threshold of the sane folks i live with, so they just smile and nod at me when i get home and show them what i found.

i'm working on some sig items now, but for kid stuff, i've bought out the entire stock of glow in the dark stretchy frogs from every dollar store in town. along with silly putty, etc.. i tend to leave stuff only for kids. i'm after sig items for myself..

i think most adults tend to as well.

March 1, 2005

a clean, well-stocked cache enhances everybody's experience.

A clean, empty cache is still far more fun: it's easy to find the logboog, there's plenty of space for TBs and you can close it without taking half an hour rearranging the stuff.

BS/2

6.7k · March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i...

Then go to another thread, please, one not titled "Cache Quality For Kids"!

4.7k · March 1, 2005

the children, the children, ohhh, what about the CHILDREN?

oh, seriously. i'm tired of the cache degradation topic being framed in terms of children. i...

Then go to another thread, please, one not titled "Cache Quality For Kids"!

oh, then in that case, the quality of cache trinkets for children should be exactly as they are for adults: clean and unbroken.

my POINT (whump, whump) is that framing the discussion in terms of the saddened faces of the poor little wee ones assumes that we care about all the maudlin hand-wringing attached to a cranky afternoon for some tyke.

i'm sorry you missed it.

1k · March 1, 2005

my POINT (whump, whump) is that framing the discussion in terms of the saddened faces of the poor little wee ones assumes that we care about all the maudlin hand-wringing attached to a cranky afternoon for some tyke.
....

Sounds like someone is getting a bit cranky herself.

This thread is specifically about caching with children, and how cache quality effects the experience. For those of us who go geocaching with kids, it is relevant. The topic title indicates that fairly clearly.

If this topic is of no interest to you, then don't let the door slap you on the way out (whump, whump).

Edited March 1, 2005 by reveritt

4.7k · March 1, 2005

no, i don't think the topic is really about caching with children. it's about cache degradation. the child in question only serves to illustrate that point.

too many people consider the issue of cache degradation to be about children.

if the topic were about caching with children,it might address the unique aspects of caching with children rather than complaining about one of the common caching problems in terms of how bad it is because a child was saddened.

i sometimes make trade choices based on my perception of a shortage of items a child might like to see in a cache; i NEVER decide whether or not to leave something or whether to leave something good on that basis.

i try to leave something good for the general enjoyment of cachers, not for the specific enjoyment of cachers with children.

getting cranky? why, no... i was BORN that way. what's your excuse?

1k · March 1, 2005

no, i don't think the topic is really about caching with children....

Please refer to the title of the topic.

Yes--there is a larger issue, and yes--cache degradation is not just about children, but this topic is about how that larger issue effects children.

If you want to talk about the problem of cache degradation in more general terms, then why not do it in any of the umpteen-bazillion threads that have been started on that topic, instead of making sarcastic, mocking comments here?

4.7k · March 2, 2005

d'ya ever notice that sometimes the title of the thread isn't what's really going on?

Cache Quality For Kids

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