At my house we love fun activities we can do as a family, and if they're free?! Even better! Several years ago my family discovered letterboxing, and it has been one of the most fun activities we've ever participated in together.
Letterboxing: Your Family's Next Big Adventure
At my house we love fun activities we can do as a family, and if they're free?! Even better! Several years ago my family discovered letterboxing, and it has been one of the most fun activities we've ever participated in together.
Letterboxing is an activity that nearly anyone can participate in, young or old. Think of it as a treasure hunt of sorts. You will need a notebook (log book), a rubber stamp to serve as your "signature", a trail name, an ink pen, a stamp pad, and a sense of adventure.
Go to atlasquest.org, type in your zip code and pull up all the boxes in your area. Choose which box(es) you want to find and head out for the "hunt". You will follow the clues that lead you to the box you are searching for. When you get there, hopefully, you will find a log book and a stamp in the box. You will stamp your signature stamp, write the date and where you are from in their log book. Then you will stamp their stamp in your log book and where you found it. (Being the educational parent I always make my daughter write 2-3 sentences about our adventure in her log book also just to practice her grammar.) After you are done stamping into each log book, you are done. This part is important! Put everything back just as you found it! Make sure the box is covered and not visible to the naked eye!
Here are the general rules:
- Put everything back just as you found it, if not better than you found it!
- Take nothing from the box. This is not a geo cache. The owner of the box's book and stamp stay with their box.
- Parents go with your children to retrieve the box from its hiding location, so you know where it was found and how to return it.
- Be very discreet. You don't want people not playing to find the boxes or they may remove them and the next person won't have anything to find.
- Log your finds on atlasquest.org and let the box owner know you found their box.
Search for boxes before you go on vacation, or pack a lunch and make a day trip with your family to search for boxes in nearby cities. Most importantly, have a great time, enjoy the people you're with and the scenery around you. That is what making memories is all about!
