This topic contains 12 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
I have signed up to teach a geocaching class at the ‘after school program” at Drummond, grades 6 through 12. I plan on a two hour introduction on the computer and some visuals of cache types and sizes, lingo, and etiquette. The next session will be a caching outing through town, with different cache types and sizes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I strongly suggest placing temps unless you are using your own caches. Our webelo’s had a to get in a hike for a requirement and I was asked to add geocaching to it. There is a perfect spot behind the sponsor school filled with caches, I contacted the owners beforehand and they were appreciative and open to it but expressed concern that this is also in the kids back yard and they didn’t want them to go missing.
So I walked the path the day before and setup 9 different hides, with photos and full text descriptions for the adult leaders (we separated into 3 groups), they were instructed to pick them up once found.
It went off without a hitch, kids and parents liked it and there was no trace left when we were done. They didn’t realize they had hiked over a mile either :>
I agree to use temporay caches. I teach geocaching at Moraine Park technical College and use temps for the classes. That way you know the condition of the hides and what is in them. If you use existing hides and visit one that is in poor condition the enthusiasm level will go down fast.
Hands on as much as you can, Cindy. Let them explore signing up for a GC account, watching the intro videos, opening & closing & checking out real types of containers, entering their own coords, following the arrow or the distance to the caches, more than once. Hands on. And I agree about the temps, although I know there aren’t too many actual caches in the area you’re looking at.
Hit hard on the etiquette and the respect thing, but not preachy. Get them to put themselves into the position of the other person: the CO, the other cachers, muggles, whatever. How would things look or how would they feel if such-and-such…
Use a finder tree so every one has a chance to find it. Last person to find gets to open it.
We have taught that age group many times. We learned to use temps. The one time we used our regular one it ended up being used as a urinal a few weeks later. We learned on that one. Lol.
TE@Timberline Echoes wrote:
Use a finder tree so every one has a chance to find it. Last person to find gets to open it.
We have taught that age group many times. We learned to use temps. The one time we used our regular one it ended up being used as a urinal a few weeks later. We learned on that one. Lol.
TEHi TE! Can you explain the “finder tree” to me please?
Mrs. TE explained that to us at the first weenie roast in 2009: When caching with a group, if one person spots the cache, he/she steps back and says “finder’s tree”, while the others keep looking. Each one who finds it does the same until the last person spots the cache, then picks it up for everyone to pass around. Everyone gets to experience the find that way.
You were running around willy-nilly with Trooper at that event, finding all the caches way ahead of us slow people, Cindy! 🙄 😉 That’s why you weren’t with us when Mrs. TE gave us the explanation of finder’s tree.
Finders tree is a must if you are caching with 2 or more kids. You can do it with “older” kids too so everyone gets to see how the cache is hidden. Sunshine insists I do it since I usually lead the way and often spot the cache before she does.
@sandlanders wrote:
Mrs. TE explained that to us at the first weenie roast in 2009: When caching with a group, if one person spots the cache, he/she steps back and says “finder’s tree”, while the others keep looking. Each one who finds it does the same until the last person spots the cache, then picks it up for everyone to pass around. Everyone gets to experience the find that way.
You were running around willy-nilly with Trooper at that event, finding all the caches way ahead of us slow people, Cindy! 🙄 😉 That’s why you weren’t with us when Mrs. TE gave us the explanation of finder’s tree.
Oh, I do remember the first find going that way, before Trooper and I ran around “Willy-nilly!”
There was a similar thing on the Podcacher Podcast a while ago. Apparently another “method” is to call “Huckle Buckle” when you find it. The trick however is to see it, then move away and go to some other spot and call it. Never call it while you’re “right there” because it will give it away for everyone.
Cindy, I’ll come up and teach Chapter 2. “Oh for the LOVE of Puzzles!” :evil2: (Cindy HATES puzzles and despises HCH ones.)
But seriously if you need any help, just let me know. I’ll even throw in a handful of HCH containers.Mrs. SL did a great job of explaining… We are out and about, so not on the net much.
TE
Thanks for all of the suggestions and help folks. I DO plan to hide temps now thanks to all of your feedback. Otherwise they would get muggled for sure. I do have another question for you all….some time ago I saved a photo on my HOME computer of a poster, YELLOW with several examples of real geocaches on it. I don’t have access to the home computer right now, does anyone know of such a poster? Otherwise I will make one. I did download the powerpoint presentation from the GeoPicnic class, Introduction to Geocaching and plan to use parts of that as well. I am making a poster of trackables and going into detail on that and their ethics as well. Leave no trace too. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The class is October 18th for classroom intro and October 20th for actual cache hunting. Thanks!!
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.