Letterboxing is a "treasure-hunt" in parks, forests, and cities around the world. You try to seek out hidden letterboxes by cracking codes and following clues. The prize is a rubber stamp—usually a unique, hand-carved creation. Letterboxers stamp their discoveries in a personal journal, then use their own rubber stamp, called a signature stamp, by stamping it into the logbook found with the letterbox, perhaps writing a note about the weather or their adventures in finding the letterbox.
There are two websites to explore to gather clues... www.letterboxing.org or www.atlasquest.com. If you go to the letterboxing website, you will click "clues" on the bottom of the page and then click the state to locate boxes in your area. If you go to the atlas quest page, you will need to type in your city and state in the "city search" section. For my local friends, there are over 25 boxes just in the Fort Wayne area!!! This is a FREE activity to do with your kids or grandkids! I have a dear friend that has older kiddos (middle and high school) and they LOVE doing this as well!!! EVERY time we go on vacation, we find a letterbox! This is such a blast!
If you are a visual learner, like myself, I've included pictures from our Letterboxing excursion this weekend! Thanks to my cousin for hiding this very awesome box! We've never hunted in a cemetery before...the boys thought this was totally cool! It was a great learning experience for the Memorial Day weekend. We were able to explain to the kids why there were flags at certain graves. Thank you to those who have served our country!!! Rylan really hasn't had any experience with death, he was too young when his great grandma passed away...the other boys are able to remember that life moment. So, it was neat to explain what a cemetery is all about to my precious five year old!
Braydon was our navigator today with the clues. We found clue #1 - the crypt that we were looking for.
Clue #2 - Head toward the line of evergreen trees...and
they're off!!!
Thomas the Purple Raccoon is resting in the west most tree!
Bryce found the letterbox UP in the tree!!!
Opening the box for our prize stamp...Bryce stamped first, since he found it!
Here it is...Thomas the Purple Raccoon!!! This is the Log Book that is kept inside the box and the prize stamp! My cousin hand carved this...way to go Laura!!! By far the cutest stamp we've ever found :)
Each of my boys have their own journal. I always write the location, date, and name of the stamp on each page.
They love their books! They enjoy looking through the journals to see all of the stamps that we've found in the past. I love listening to their conversations of the memories that we've made together!
Then, this is our "Signature Stamp" or I like to call it our family stamp. I have a bag designated with our letterboxing supplies and I keep our family stamp in a ziploc bag. We stamp the log book that is found in the letterbox. I then write our letterboxing name...Hathaway's on the Hunt!!! I add the date and where we are from. It is neat to look through the log book to see all the different locations that people come from to find these boxes! It is even more fun when we find a box that a friend of ours has found previously and we see their stamp!!!
Walking around the cemetery and taking time to reflect on this Memorial Day! The boys had so many questions...this was a day that we will remember always!
The back part of the cemetery was the older section. Jeff was explaining to the boys how times have changed. He showed them that all the older stones were written differently for the women. All of those stones either read "Wife of ..." or "His Wife". It was a walk through history and a great learning tool for the kids!
Explaining why some of the stones had flags and medals.
We truly Treasured Time Together today in honor of Memorial Day! I share this story with you in hopes that you too, might be tempted to start letterboxing! We would love to begin searching for YOUR family stamp! I have several letterboxes slated to do this summer and we are SO excited! There were recently five boxes hidden inside Children Services at the Downtown Library!!! We are saving that one for a rainy day this summer :) Every time we go on vacation, we make sure that we search for a letterbox! Sometimes, I have done little day trips just because of the letterbox...LOL! Therefore, stay tuned...there will be more letterboxing posts in the upcoming weeks!
Okay, I'm hoping that WE will be doing some of these letterboxes with you that are slated for the summer, especially the ACPL ones. -- The one you found today is a new plant, right?
ReplyDelete