Parenting Old School

Figured I would try something different this post and that is, provide a positive uplifting experience for my readers. Ok, every word won’t be a ray of sunshine but the main thesis will be all warm and cuddly.

Every summer, at schools end, I try to grab something fun for the kids to do outside during the dog days of summer. Not because I am a soft over indulging parent who can`t say “NO” to my kids but because my kids are usually well behaved conscientious students who try hard at school and I like to show my appreciation for doing as is expected of them.

This year I grabbed an Apisphere Geomate Jr. Handheld Geocaching GPS, a nifty little device which they can do some high tech treasure hunting with. It is essentially orienteering except with a GPS. I know, it is cheating but I will teach them the finer points of using a compass later… When I have one.

What is Geocaching

The object is to find caches that have been hidden somewhere out in the big bad scary world, uncontrolled by a hovering parent or controlling teacher.  They can be virtually anywhere, out in the bush or right in the downtown core of the largest cities.

These caches are hidden by other geocachers, who have have gone beyond just finding them and now are planting and maintaining caches for others to find. The caches usually follow some type of theme and contain various treasures that you trade for. They also have a log book so you can note that you have been there AND if you are really lucky, you might find a travel bug or geo coin.

A Travel Bug or Geo coin are trackable items, which people will place in a cache for others to find and then in turn place in another cache somewhere else in this world. When you find one, you log onto Geocaching.com, type in the unique ID number on the trackable item and you will see all the places in the world the item has been. The travel bug shown here originated in Darwin Australia and showed up in a cache a 5 minute walk from our home. Now we will place it in another cache when we go to Vancouver Island later this summer.

Geocaching is fun activity the whole family can enjoy and the hunts can range from easy to find to death defying.  It is a true marriage between high tech and good old fashioned outdoor activity. Most importantly, it gets the kids outdoors mucking about instead of rotting their brain playing C.O.D. in a dark dingy basement for two solid months. Come into the sun, and give it a go.

To learn more about Geocaching, go to Geocaching.com