If you are looking for fun activities for your family this March break, thengeocaching can be a rewarding pursuit for the whole family. Geocaching is a fun scavenger
hunt which gets the family outdoors and moving while teaching valuable
lessons in navigation.
What is geocaching?
Geocaches are containers which participants have placed in natural spots. The exact
location of the geocache is posted on the geocache website. If you want
to participate in geocache hunts, simply download the GPS coordinates
of a geocache near you. This is also a great way to break up long holiday
road trips. Find the location of geocaches on your road trip route so
that you can stop and find geocaches along the way.
Show your students how to operate your GPS device. Load the co-ordinates
of the geocache into the device and then let them navigate to the spot
where the geocache is hidden. You can also download the
geocache app so that you can use your smartphone to find geocache locations.
What do I do when I find a geocache?
Geocaches are watertight containers which contain a logbook and other
items. When you discover a geocache, let your students fill in the logbook
with their names, the date and time when you found the geocache. Its then
customary for you to add an item and remove an item. You can leave family-friendly
items that are not potentially dangerous. No food or liquid items are
included as these attract wildlife. Leave toys, flashlights, camping equipment,
pictures, books, stationary etc.
Fun for the whole family
Geocaching is appropriate for students of all ages. Seek out level 1 and
2 geocaches for younger students and beginners. Older students will enjoy
the higher level caches which often require climbing or hiking.
There are geocaches to suit people with different interests too.
Earthcaches lead participants to interesting natural phenomena rather than treasure
chests, puzzle caches require you to solve the puzzle in order to find
the cache and event caches will lead you to interesting events in the area.
You can enjoy finding geocaches or you can spread the geocache love by
making geocaches of your own. Creating a geocache requires some maintenance
as the owner must check that no inappropriate items have been added and
that the geocache has not been moved. Read geocache submission guidelineshere.
Geocaching is a great way to enjoy the outdoors as a family. You and your
students can get some fresh air, learn to use maps and GPS co-ordinates
and get moving too. Geocaching is a really fun activity for people of
all ages and interests.
