By Jayne Balicky, GRCM exhibits committee member and Early Childhood Special Education teacher District 742
As a member of the Great River Children’s Museum exhibits committee, I am especially excited to know our exhibits were designed to celebrate all that is great about Central Minnesota. You see, I love living here and raising my children here. I’m also always looking for ways to share with my kids the beauty of St. Cloud and its surrounding areas.
This summer, my family learned about a new way to explore our local treasures—through geocaching. Geocaching is a bit like treasure hunting, where people use GPS coordinates to search for hidden objects. Geocaching is actually not new… it’s been around over 20 years. More recently, it became popular during the pandemic as a family-friendly way to enjoy the outdoors.
It was remarkably easy to begin our new hobby. We downloaded the free Geocaching app. After creating an account, we gained access to hundreds of local treasures, called “caches”. Using clues and the GPS included in the Geocaching app, we’ve now found over 40 local caches! Each cache looks a little different, but all are a container of some kind. Inside each cache is a log sheet, so you can make a record of your find. There are often small trinkets or toys, too, and feel free to take one if you have something to leave behind in its place.
My seven-year-old is hooked on geocaching, and is especially good at tracking down our treasures, but my four-year-old also has fun and has found several caches on her own, too. Along the way we’ve checked out beautiful local communities, trails, and parks. If you’re in search of some family fun this fall, give geocaching a try! You’ll be amazed at the treasures that await right where we live.
