Letterboxing 101: Get your kids out of the house

Bio:Lisa DeGloria is a freelance writer and mother of three boys. She lives in Newburyport.

Are you looking for ways to get your kids outdoors and away from the TV? Do your children like treasure hunts? Would they be interested in a treasure hunt that doesn't end, one that you can participate in anywhere in the world? If this peaks your interest, give letterboxing a try.

Letterboxing is an outdoor activity in which participants hide and search for small, weatherproof boxes in a public places, such as parks. Inside the box are a logbook, pen, and stamp. Clues to finding the box are posted on a Web site. Once you find the letterbox, you stamp the logbook with your own personal stamp and use their stamp on your own logbook, then you replace the box exactly as you found it, leaving it for the next person to find. According to letterboxing.org, there are 20,000 letterboxes hidden all across the country.

History of letterboxing

Letterboxing has been around a long time. It was started in the 1850's in England by a guide at Dartmoor National Park. He left his calling card in a bottle. Other hikers happened upon the bottle and left their own cards. Some of these cards were self-addressed to be mailed back to them. In England, mailboxes are called letterboxes, which is how the term letterboxing came about. Letterboxing has changed considerably since its early days. What was originally a pastime just for hikers in England, has become an international hobby that is particularly popular here in the United States. We can thank the Internet for making letterboxing accessible to all.

How it's done