Geocaching, Letterboxing, and other Treasure Hunts for Kids

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PoweringAdventure #CollectiveBias Does your family enjoy a good outdoor adventure? Have you ever gone treasure hunting together? There are several ways to go on an outdoor treasure hunt with kids. Geocaching is probably the most popular. I’m going to talk about our family experience geocaching as well as a few other types of treasure hunts you can try.

Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ Batteries

Any good adventure starts with a set of tools. Many of these tools are powered by batteries. Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries are a great choice. They are the #1 longest lasting AA battery so you’ll have enough battery life to power your adventure – probably more than one adventure. Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries perform in extreme temperatures (-40F to 140F), so you don’t have to worry about the weather. Just get out and have fun. They have a 20 year shelf life on the AA and AAA versions so you can stock up and know you’ll have batteries at the ready.

I picked up my Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries at Kroger in the battery display at the end of the aisle near the front of the store.

Geocaching: An Outdoor Treasure Hunt with Kids

Geocaching is a real live treasure hunt that anyone can try. Geocaches are hidden and then the location using GPS coordinates is recorded for others to find. Geocaching.com has a list of geocaches. They also have an app that you can download. Geocaches are usually small containers that hold a log book, trinkets, and traveling game pieces. Once you find the geocache, you sign the log book. You can trade the trinkets for something you’ve brought of equal or greater value.

When we’re geocaching, we bring a handful of essential supplies: GPS, flashlight, headlamp, extra batteries, pen, treasures to trade, sunscreen, bug spray, and a mini first aid kit.

We start by looking at the geocache app and locating a cache that we want to find. We drive to the area and begin our search. Here’s where we input the GPS coordinates into our GPS unit. It’s a bit more accurate than the phone plus it’s good practice for the kids to learn how to use one.

While geocaching, we’ve found new areas to explore, some parks and trails we didn’t even know existed. It’s a great family adventure and fun way to add interest to hikes.

We found this little gem on a recent geocaching trip. Do read the notes before you start to look for a cache. They’ll usually tell you how accessible they are – how far off the road or trail you’ll have to hike. Many will also tell you about the conditions of the area (wet, mosquitoes, etc.)

Letterboxing: A Clue Based Treasure Hunt

Letterboxing is similar to geocaching in that there are treasure boxes (letterboxes) hidden and the locations are recorded. However, letterboxing doesn’t usually use coordinates. It uses clues and directions (more like orienteering). The clue will tell you how to find the letterbox. Letterboxes contain a log book for you to sign and a rubber stamp for you to use in your adventure book. The rubber stamps are often hand-carved and unique to the box.

The rubber stamping aspect of letterboxing reminds me of passport stamps. My kids love getting their national park and state park passports stamped. Collecting stamps at letterboxes would be just as fun.

Letterboxing.org has a computer version of a letterboxing game for kids. It’s a fun way to practice reading clues and following directions. It would be awesome to set up a backyard version of this.

More Outdoor Treasure Hunt Games

Hide and Seek – Have you ever thought about hide and seek as a treasure hunt? It kind of is! You hide the treasures (usually people) and then someone goes to find them. As a kid, I loved playing hide and seek after dark. Bring the flashlights.

Draw a Treasure Map – Without anyone watching, hide a treasure somewhere outside (in your backyard, at the park, etc.). Draw a map of the area and mark the treasure location with an X. Have your family search for the treasure using the map. Take turns hiding the treasure (and changing the location of the X).

Following Directions – Hide a treasure somewhere. Call out directions for your family to find it. “Walk 10 steps forward.” “Turn right and take 3 giant leaps.” “Find the nearest tree.” This game is fun blindfolded as well. Just be careful of roadblocks and tripping hazards.

Backyard Treasure Hunt with Picture Clues – Print out the picture clues and hide them so they lead from one clue to the next until you end up with the treasure. Once you teach your kids how this works, they can take over hiding the clues for each other. The picture clues make it easy for even the youngest treasure hunters to play. Get the backyard treasure hunt picture clues here.

Check out all of our scavenger hunt and treasure hunt ideas here.

What’s your favorite kind of outdoor treasure hunt? Don’t forget the Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries to power your adventure. You can also find Energizer on Facebook.

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