I remember the days when I was younger. There was no Nintendo or Playstation, no internet or satellite TV. With church on Sunday, the only day I could sleep in was Saturday morning, and I volunteered to get out of bed early since it was the only chance I ever had to watch cartoons.
Nowadays, we have the Internet, cable, cell phones, iPods, and more electronics than one could have imagined 20 years ago. But don’t let that stop you from getting out of the house, in fact, use it to your advantage.
In fact all these advances make it even easier to get the kids out of the house. Kaboom offers a feature for Google maps that lets users find and rate public playgrounds. That’s not all they are about though. They support the belief that play has a purpose and can make a difference. Studies show they are right.
If your children aren’t old enough, or maybe you simply want to get a little more involved in doing an activity yourself, you might want to try Geocaching. Geocaching is a world-wide treasure hunting game. Which if you have never heard of it that may sound a little far fetched. But compare the two maps above, there are more geocaches hidden in Kansas City, than there are Playgrounds for kids to play. Ironically enough, usually these geocaches are hidden in the areas close to playgrounds.
Geocaching is not something you just jump into though, some caches require special equipment, and rigorous hike, there is even one that requires a submarine to retrieve it. From Mt. Everest to Antartica, there are 100′s of thousands of geocaches hidden all over the world.
So what kind of treasure is in these little geocaches? Just about anything. From a button that fell off someone’s shirt to gold bouillon. Depends on the difficulty, and if someone else got there before you. Other things such as custom made coins with tracking numbers that have a mission to go around the world and/or stop as certain locations around the world.
Most of the time these little boxes are nothing more than a plastic container you normally find in a kitchen made by tupperware or rubbermade. (I personally prefer the Lock-n-Lock’s) Fancier ones are camouflaged into the surroundings and can be as small as a pencil eraser. The smallest are called “micro’s” and are commonly some type of small electrical device (like an LED flasher) that no longer works and has a piece of paper stored where the watch battery once belonged.
Intricacy is not spared though. Some take great pleasure in creating a hide that looks like a bird’s nest or toadstool. Something that anyone not looking for it would leave alone.
Most that participate in this activity don’t usually do it for whats inside the boxes though. So are simply after the adventure in the find. One North California man has found over 30,000 of these in all 50 states and several countries.
So whether its Geocaching or just a normal day at the park. Get up and get out this weekend. If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them as well.
Don’t forget that next Sunday (May 10th) is Mother’s day either. So might want to do your shopping now instead of last minute like I plan on doing.
