Geocaching with Kids – Lesson Plans

August 19 is National Geocaching Day, but we’re heading into a great time of year throughout the world for geocaching. If you’ve never done it, or never heard of it, geocaching is like a big outdoor treasure hunt. People place “caches” in various designated locations, which you can get coordinates for using an app.

The app uses the GPS on your phone to direct you to the location of the cache, which can be anything from a plastic bag to a fake rock with a hidden compartment. All caches have a log book, so you should bring a pen to sign it, but a lot of caches also include little trinkets or special items. You can simply enjoy looking at these items, or you can take an item if you leave something of equal value in trade.

It’s a great way to make a hike or time in nature a little more fun for kids, and lets them live out their treasure hunting dreams (and maybe yours, too!).

You might be surprised at how many caches are available where you are (the page linked above tells me there are more than 700 in my town alone!) and the app ranks the caches by difficulty, both in terms of how hard it is to find the cache and how hard it is to get to where the cache is located.

Run Wild My Child has a great post all about geocaching with kids, and it notes that the free version of the geocaching app only shows easy caches, which is great when you’re doing it with kids. Tales of a Mountain Mama also advises that you check that a cache was found recently, because sometimes they do disappear and you don’t want that kind of disappointment when kids are around.

It’s always a good idea to bring a pen, and maybe some paper, and some little trinkets to drop in the caches you find, but Geocaching.com has a great post with some other things you might want to pack when you go hunting for caches.

Have you ever done geocaching with kids? I’d love to hear about your experience.

[Photo: Run Wild My Child]

Next Plan Idea:

Play Like a Pirate with These Fun Pirate Activities for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply