Looking for something fun to do with the kids while the weather is still nice? Why not try geocaching at a Minnesota state park? It's fun, it's free (other than the cost of a permit) and 25 parks will even lend you a GPS unit if you don't have one of your own.
Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt, where participants use a hand-held Global Positioning Device (or GPS) to locate a hidden weatherproof box. This year's theme at the state parks is Wildlife Safari, and the "critter caches" in all the parks feature collectible cards, each with information on a mammal, insect, fish, reptile or amphibian that lives in the park or did in the past. Caches occasionally include "wild cards" too, offering the finder a special reward.
Four parks are offering intro classes on geocaching in October. All 72 state parks have Wildlife Safari caches and many state parks also have private geocaches that groups and individuals have placed there. You and the kids can even get a permit to make up your own geocache and leave it for others to discover.
There are some handy handouts to print out to help you get started here. For lots of information about geocaching around the world, check out Geocaching.com.
