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Scavenger hunts seem to have become a thing of the past. Many people remember youth activities where they were given a list of locations or objects to find. Prizes were awarded to those who found the most objects on the list, or who found them all first. Today, that much work seems like the opposite of fun to young people. Many people find that it’s getting harder and harder to motivate young people unless it involves technology. That’s where a new activity trend comes into play: geocaching. With geocaching, GPS technology is used to identify and locate scavenger hunt prizes. Players use GPS location devices to search for and find objects that have been hidden by previous geocachers.

This practice was started by a man named Dave Ulmer. He hid a bucket full of movies, books and computer software in the woods in Oregon and posted its GPS coordinates online. This practice evolved into dozens of users posting prize locations online and using their own GPS devices to find the prized that had been hidden by others. Targets can be anything from a box in a tree or something hanging under a bridge with string.

To start playing, users find a website like geocaching.com and look for targets in their area. Then they enter the coordinates into their GPS finder and look for it. Many people use a GPS app for their iPhone or iPad as they search for their geocache targets. After finding the target, users can go back to the website that they got coordinates from and post their names and comment in a log attached to that geocache location. Finders can take the prize from their geocache and replace it with something of similar value. Some people have found small toys or pieces of bling in their geocache locations. Many families are enjoying finding geocaches as a fun activity with their kids.

You can also start a new geocache if you want. Simply get a small “prize” and place it in a hidden container in a public location. Then find the correct coordinates and upload them to a website like geocaching.com. Many families are finding this to be a great way of passing time during vacation months or free weekends. It’s also a great way of passing on some tradition or communication with others. Geocaching is a great way to incorporate modern technology into old-fashioned family fun!

Article Written by Lynetta Bowen