Cachin' with the Kiddos

I love to take my kids out caching with me. It's a great way to get them outside & doing something besides vegging out in front of the idiot box. (yeah, so I'm not a big fan of tv.) They learn about nature, taking care of our planet, see things that they normally wouldn't & a ton of other things that are surely good things that just don't pop in my head at this moment.

Kids love to feel like they're a part of everything. They aren't usually content with just watching or following, so when they feel like they're an important part of the team, they have more fun. When the kids have fun, it's easier for everybody to have fun.

Here are a few geo-jobs for kiddo cachers:

1. The Director
   The top & ultimate job for a geo-kid! They are the GPS Keeper & their job is to direct the team to the cache...which way & how far.
2. The Tourist
   They're like the film crew. Give them a camera & let them document the hunt & the find. A digital camera comes in handy here because kids love to take pictures & not all of them all of them really turn out. Later on when you take a look at what they've shot, just delete the pictures of feet & whatever & keep the good stuff.
3. The Author
   It's a lot easier to let one person do the writing. Let this one sign the cache log & write the notes to log online later. Carry a notebook with you & after making the find, they can jot down any notes they think are relavent while you're on the way to the next cache.
4. The Watch Dog
   Kids can be very good distractions when muggles are present. This job includes watching out for muggles as well as distracting them if necessary.
5. The Information Clerk
   Depending on how you carry cache information, this kid is the keeper of it. If you carry printed sheets, carry a laptop, or use a PDA organizer, this kid is the keeper of it. It is their job to give details about the cache & hints when needed.

If you don't have enough kids for jobs, combine them or pick the ones you want to use.

If you have more kids than jobs, make up additional jobs or double them up on some jobs (several tourists or watch dogs).

If they don't want a "set" job, rotate the jobs out with each cache so everybody gets to do everything.