Geocaching for Cubs

[tdk101]

I am the new Cubmaster for an active pack and am looking to incorporate some new outdoor activies to our Scouting year. One of the activies is I was considering was Geocaching. I don't have any experience geocaching but it seemed like it might be an activity the boys might enjoy. Since I have not tried geocaching yet (its on my to-do list)my questions are:

Has anyone done it at a cub level?

Is locating one cache enough or would you need to plan for multiple caches?

Would one GPS unit be sufficient or would it be better to break the boys up into small groups?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

 

[Ltfightr]

I think I can answer your questions. I have over 500 geocaching "finds", taught it to the Cubs at our summer camp this year, in line to be the MBC when it goes live, and taught it to my own pack! LOL

 

1. Yes to doing it at the Cub level. I tied it into the Map and Compass BL and Pin. It's a little better if you have a little bit of time to not rush it. Give them an idea of HOW you are able to find them. Don't really try to tell them about the website. SHiow it to them if you are able but give them the bare bones basics. Maybe go into a little more details with the parents....they are the ones who will be loading the caches in the GPS.

 

2. Plan for at least 3 easy ones. Have them preloaded into the GPS. After finding the first "Treasure chest" they are HOOKED! LOL! When we took my Pack, I had 4 boys and 4 caches to find. Each boy got a chance to get to "ground zero" and them they all tried to find it from there. Most big parks have more than one cache hidden in them.

 

3. SMALL GROUPS! At Cub Camp, I was trying to take a group of 10 at one time. I only had 1 GPS. Not a lot of fun for most of the boys. On the Pack thing I only had 4 boys and it was a lot better.

 

Geocaching is LOTS of fun. You get them hiking and they don't even know it! If you have any more questions, just ask!

 

Diana Houser

Cubmaster Pack 32

 

[CHLees3rd]

TDK,

 

You may want to check out geocaching.com. Also, check out the Boy Scout Geocaching merit badge book as it is full of information needed for Boy Scouts to complete the merit badge.

 

Chazz Lees

[OwntheNight]

tdk,

 

Both my CM and CC are HUGE 'caching addicts. (Yes I said addicts! I swear I'm going to have to host an intervention for them and their habit)

We have incorporated geocaching at the pack level very successfully. We took groups at our Spring campout on a course around the State park and we had a summertime pack activity around one of the local parks lake.

The boys absolutely had a blast and some have expressed an interest in doing this outside of scouting.

A couple of suggestions:

either go out before the activity and set your own caches, that way you can make your own course, or go to geocaching.com and do a search in your area for preset ones. Look for the lower rated caches as those are easier to find for some of the younger boys

 

If you set your own caches, mark them with your pack number on them. Most cachers will put the cache back after it's found, however there are a small group that take the cache with them (bad etiqutte)

 

Keep your group small, 4-5 boys per unit, let each boy work the unit as they are getting real time info on direction of travel and distance towards the next cache.

 

Vehicle type gps units do not work very well, due to having to switch screens to find direction and the actual waypoint where your at.( you also don't want an 6-8 yr old dropping a $200 Garmin or Tom-Tom :0 ) The hand held units are easier to work with. just a couple of buttons to mess with.

 

Just saw this link on the BSA facebook page today

 

http://ww2.scouting.org/100years/100years/Geocaching.aspx

 

And finally: Cache In, Trash Out. If you find trash, take it with you

 

Good Luck and Enjoy!

[83Eagle]

A little late to the reply on this one, but...

 

I have done this several times with our Den.

 

The advice above is good but I would also add to build in the concept of what GPS location is.

 

Here's how I've done our sessions. First, I mark a few very visble spots at the park--pavillion, water pump, etc. Then I hide some caches just for the Den and fill them with cool stuff--matchbox cars, etc.

 

Before we go out, I explain how every spot on the planet can be located like a grid. So that where I'm standing is different from where you're standing, and so on. Depending on how old your boys are, you can work in latitude and longitude. Then you explain how satellites let GPS units pinpoint the location.

 

Then I show a number of different cache types--peanut butter jars, ammo boxes, etc., and explain the concept.

 

Then I give them the GPS units and have them find the marked points. I set enough points so that each boy in the group can use the GPS.

 

Once they get that figured out, we head off to find the caches.

 

Pretty straightforward.

[clemlaw]

I'm also late to chime in, and I only have a little bit of experience, but I think it could be a very fun activity.

 

The one time we did it with a Cub Scout group, the leader planted some caches, not very far off the camp road, and then took the GPS's we were going to use, and programmed in those spots as waypoints. They were ammo boxes (or tupperware would work fine) with various small trinkets, but also the ingredients for smores for the campfire.

 

Then, he handed the GPS to leaders of the smaller groups. Unfortunately, those leaders didn't necessarily know how to work the things. So my first suggestion, which sounds kind of obvious, is to make sure everyone knows how to use the particular unit that they'll be using!

 

Partly because the leader of our group hadn't been told how to work the particular GPS unit, he spent most of the time just staring at the screen and walking. We eventually got there, but there wasn't much for the Cubs to do other than follow the leader.

 

My suggestion to keep the kids actively involved would be to do it as follows: Start out by looking at the unit and seeing which way we have to go. It would probably be easiest to have it programmed in as a waypoint. Then, the whole group could decide what needs to be done. "It's 432 feet east of here--which way is east?" Then, you could use a real compass, or use the crude "compass" in the GPS to figure out the direction, and start going that way. Put the thing away, and then start pacing off the distance in that direction. Then, stop and repeat the process. That gives everyone something to do. For the Cub Scouts that are math impaired, you can probably do a pretty good job of guessing what their pace is, and tell them how many steps they need to count off. Tell them to announce when they think they've gone X feet, and when the consensus is that you've reached that distance, stop, take out the GPS, and repeat the process. I would probably err on the side of stopping too soon, but it's no big deal if you overshoot it.

 

Again, I've never actually done it that way, but it seems to me like that would work better than the one time I did do it, which amounted to a bunch of kids following an adult who kept staring into a little electronic gizmo. Not only will it give everyone something to do (count paces), but it probably ties it in better with the real world, which might come in handy if they ever need to use an old-fashioned navigational device known as a "map".

[clemlaw]

(Double post deleted)(This message has been edited by clemlaw)

[Basementdweller]

super fun for the guy with the GPS, really boring for everyone else.

 

Been their done that. I take families out by request only.

[83Eagle]

It can be boring if kids are just following the navigator with no idea of where they are going. On the other hand, just having the GPSr doesn't guarantee you are going to find the cache (or even get where you're going). The fun happens when they get to "ground zero" and everyone starts looking.

 

Some fun tips that have worked for us:

 

-Create printouts of what the GPSr screens look like for the instructional part of how to use the equipment because it is hard for everyone to cluster around a little screen.

 

-Set up a number of "temporary" caches within a short distance of each other so everyone gets a quick turn at the GPSr. Have the group strategize about the sequence and reevaluate.

 

-Switch off kids using the GPSr after every find.

 

-Ideally have multiple GPSrs. Many places will rent them. Ask if anyone else has a GPSr to bring. I found that I had several parents w/units in our Den who used them for hunting, etc., but not geocaching. They really appreciated the chance to learn how to use their GPSr for geocaching.

 

-Actively engage the participants who aren't currently holding a GPSr. Have them follow a trail map and compare it to the directions given by the person with the GPSr. Does the navigator want you to bushwhack through 300' of swamp just because the arrow points that way? Or is there a better way around.

 

-Have kids work on Leave No Trace while they are not holding the GPSr.

 

We've gone out twice with the same group in the past few months, and the second time was to "regular" caches (rather than temporary ones that I set up just for them). Not only do they want to go again, but two of the families signed up for their own geocaching account.

[BDPT00]

I suppose that if I were a Den Leader, I might be interested in this for my Cubs. I'm not, so I'm not.

I think Cubs and Webelos do far too many Boy Scout type things. For an 8 year old to work with a GPS will make him totally bored with a compass when he's 11. Archery, BBs, climbing towers, and now GPSs. Where's the carrot? How do we make summer camp sound exciting when they think they've already done everything we're describing?

Slow down!

BDPT00

 

[83Eagle]

The boys like it and ask for it. My son loves it and has been using a GPS since he was 7. If you ask me a GPSr is a natural stepping stone to a compass, not the other way around, because a compass is harder to use...it's not as visual as a GPSr and there's no compass to point the way. We also frequently use the compass (and trail maps) in combination with at GPSr. It all comes together.

 

This is a generation that has been using computers and playing video games from about the moment they could grasp a controller. I believe in taking advantage of technology if it interests the boys, which this does. IMO if the camp programs don't interest the boys because the boys are more advanced, the camp programs have to advance.

 

Anyhoo, back to OT, geocaching has been a huge success and a repeat activity for our Den, so take that for whatever it's worth.