Looking for a fun, year-round,  family activity to do right here in Sheridan County, how about geocaching?  Nineteen youth and five adults from Gordon to Chadron and one youth from Bozeman, MT recently learned to play the game of geocaching.  A one-day class, part of the Hay Springs Schools summer fun camps, was organized and presented by the University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension as part of their youth programming. The class introduced the participants to how GPS technology works and how to play the geocaching game. Playing the game gives youth an opportunity to use the GPS technology, practice problem solving, get outdoors and see parts of the area they might not otherwise visit and is a fun way to spend time with a key adult.

Geocaching is an outdoor activity, where the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or smart phone and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches”. Geocaching is a world-wide electronic treasure hunt game started  in the spring of 2000 when GPS signals with increased accuracy were released for public use. There are hundreds of caches across the state of Nebraska and the Northern Panhandle has well over a hundred. (see map).  To learn more about the game, checkout www.geocaching.com or give UNL Extension Educator Cindy Tusler a call at 327-2312.  GPS units are available to checkout at the Extension office.

Hay Springs School is hosting a GEAR-TECH-21 geospatial and robotics camp July 29^th through August 2^nd.  The camp will run from 8:30 to 3:30 each day.  This camp is for 4^th to 8^th graders.  Please register by July 8^th.