To help families and kids learn more about their environment and get active, Prairie Mountain Health offers several types of lender kits through its Health Promotion program. One of these is the geocaching kit, which is part of a trio that also includes physical literacy kits and the newly introduced nature discovery backpack kits.
The geocaching kits are available in both the Brandon and southern regions, where one kit contains approximately 16 GPS units along with detailed instructions for use. In the northern region of Prairie Mountain Health, another kit is available for borrowing, which includes around 14 to 15 GPS units.
These kits are available free of charge to families, groups, and organizations. The borrowing period depends on current demand and logistical considerations, such as the time needed to transport the kits across the region. Typically, a few days or a weekend is a reasonable timeframe for borrowing.
Geocaching is often described by the team as a “real-world treasure hunt,” making it a fun and engaging activity for all ages. The kit is great for team building, family fun, or just learning how geocaching works on a smaller scale.
Related article: Curious about geocaching? Try it through the PMH Lending Program
Physical Literacy Kits
Physical Literacy Kits are tubs full of equipment for kids ages 2-12 to get active, with hoops, bucket stilts, ropes and bean bags to play with and create games.
"It's jam-packed full of equipment," says PMH Health Promotion Coordinator, Nikki Dean. "We have made-up a booklet in the kit that gives you ways to use the kit, like little, games and activities and ways to use the equipment that makes it fun for kids."
Dean says the Physical Literacy Kit is great for families, but also for organizations that lead some kind of group activity for kids in that age range. And it can be used inside or outdoors.
"It's just a great way for kids to work on their physical literacy skills," explains Dean. "So, any kind of basic movement skills like throwing and jumping and running and catching and all that kind of stuff. It's just kind of fun because it's usually different stuff that families and groups might not have at home."
Nature Discovery Backpack
New to their Lender Kits is the Nature Discovery Backpack. Dean says they have 7 backpacks in the Brandon and south of Brandon area, with six available to the public north of Brandon.
This kit contains many items to learn about the great outdoors!
"So, we've got binoculars, little water testing kits from Water Rangers Canada, so they can kind of test the water and see the different things that are in the water, and there's bug collection tools. There's a whole bunch of different field guides, like field guides on Manitoba birds, Manitoba trees, insects of Manitoba. There's also a guide on animal scat finders, to kind of see what animal the scat came from."
"So those are just a really great way again for families or for groups to kind of take the backpack out into nature wherever it is, and they can do all kinds of different things with the equipment that's in there," she adds.
The Lender Kits are free to the public in the Prairie Mountain Health Region. The availability of each of the kits depends on how many are out, the incoming requests and the length of time the kits are out (which is typically over a weekend or just a couple of days as the demand can be high).
Please see the posters below for contact information