Looking for something fun and educational to do with your kids? Check out www.geocaching.com. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game for people who love the outdoors, exercise and technology. Think of it as an Easter Egg Hunt that requires a handheld GPS device.
There are hundreds of thousands of treasures (called geocaches) hidden around the country in urban, suburban and rural locations. A typical geocache is a small waterproof container with a logbook and some small trinkets/toys. When you find the treasure, you can sign the logbook and take photos. But if you take the trinket, follow the rules by replacing it with one of your own.
To get started, go to www.geocaching.comand enter your zip code. You’ll see a list of geocaches nearby along with notes about the difficulty and the terrain. If you’re trying geocaching with your kids, you’ll probably want to select an easy cache– often called a “car cache” or a “park and grab” since they are an easy walk from a paved road. If your kids are older, they might be up for a bigger challenge involving a hike in a nearby state or national park. Once you identify the cache you want to find, just input the waypoints into your GPS device and follow it to the location. Once you arrive at the coordinates, be prepared to search under logs, rocks, sticks, bushes and more to find the hidden container. If your kids love hide and seek, they’ll love this part of geocaching.
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