Geocaching – Our first attempt.

A little fed up of dreary weather and laundry up to my eyeballs, we decided to keep our adventure local and the mud risk low.

Zog Trail

We combined a few things we have wanted to try in one go. A new Zog Trail has opened up to replace the Gruffalo, commandeered by the forestry commission. Julia Donaldsons’ creations come to life in lots of wooded areas around the country, to excite and entice children for a day outside. That was fun as we know Cannock Chase well. The kids recognise it too, so they can run ahead and not worry too much about whether they will fall off the side of a mountain!

Go Find It

Go Find It is a card game to engage a child’s sensory processes. On Instagram, they are giving us the chance to play along with the card game and giving us a card per week. This week is all about textures. We have to find something bumpy/spiky/slimy or furry. This is fun, as there are no limitations to what we find, and it can be indoor or out. Although it is more geared to being outside.

Geocaching

The main part of our outside adventure today though, is to try our hand at Geocaching. A quirky little initiative for a real life treasure hunt, for all ages. I downloaded the geocaching app, which is very easy to navigate, and set off to see what we could find. Bizarrely, there didn’t seem to be anything on Cannock Chase itself. Which is strange as it is a large piece of land, with lots of places to hide something.

We followed the map to our nearest geo which counts down the meters as to how close we were getting. This is very handy as you get closer, as it narrows down the search area to a very close range. However, we know that the package is hidden in a little village called Spitting Mill, not a long walk away from the Chase at all.

As we get closer to where we needed to be, we come across a hidden little church. I read on the Geocaching app, the capsule had been hidden to try and sustain the church, and to bring some notoriety to the area.

Success

We found it! Hidden away under a brick, a camouflage cloaked tub had a few trinkets and a list of finders dating back about 3 years. The kids loved finding the tub and seeing what was inside. I left our mark, and securely put it back where we found it. Subsequently this is another tick off on the kids ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 and three quarters’ list!

I am thrilled that we managed to find our first one without too much trouble, considering we were in an area we didn’t know very well. Also that so many people before us had also taken part. Ultimately I think this may be the start of a new addiction for us, especially as it is done worldwide too! This is a fantastic idea for a half term activity. It’s free and engaging, and gets the kids outside too. Every holiday we go on, or beach we visit will be combed for another Geocache treasure!

For more low cost days out for kids, please have a look at my other posts.