Metal Detector Fun for the Kids!

My daughters both have June birthdays, and this year they turned 12 and 8!  Where has the time gone?  With everything going up in flames this year, and everything closing, we had to cancel our summer trip back to Rhode Island.  We can't do many of the fun things we would've done such as birthday parties, The Children's Museum, the Indianapolis Zoo, or even the public pools.  We wanted to get the girls something that would get them outside.  We wanted it to be exciting for them and something that (GASP) they could do together! 

We have thought about metal detectors in the past, but we really didn't have the land to use them.  I know we could have brought them places with us, but again, the main reason I wanted them was for them to have fun outside, while I could work inside.  Our yard was small, less than a quarter of an acre, and we'd probably scour the whole thing rather quickly.  We moved last summer though.  We moved to a property of 5 acres, and most of the acreage is woods.  This summer, we thought, would be the perfect summer to explore the woods with the girls! 

So we bought them the National Geographic Junior Metal Detectors.  

It's actually kind of funny how it happened.  My youngest daughter's birthday comes first, at the beginning of the month, while my oldest daughter's birthday comes at the end of the month.  We wrapped both of the boxes, and put one aside, knowing that once Lilly opened her box, Ashley would show a lot of interest in it.  And sure enough, that's what happened.  Once Ashley saw Lilly's present, she said "Oh, that's really cool, I would want that too".  So my husband went in the other room, pulled out the box and asked if she wanted her birthday gift early!  

Both girls were eager to get outside and try it out, and to be honest, so was I!  I kept telling them that they may not find anything at first, and to not get discouraged.  I was afraid they would play for it for 15 minutes, not find anything and then just push it aside and never play with it again. 

During the first time, they just looked around the yard a little bit, and on the edge of the driveway.  We did find out that they can't be too close together.  We all got very excited when both of their detectors were going off!  Then we realized that they were right next to each other, and they were detecting the other detector.  Oops!

So although they didn't find anything during their first outing, they learned that they need to be separated.  The next time they went out, they both had their detectors go off.  First Ashley's went off at the edge of the yard, into the woods.  We all ran over and started digging.  about 4 inches down, we found a beat up aluminum coke can!  It wasn't much for treasure, but it got them excited enough to know that it really works!  Lilly had found a spot as well where her detector went off.  Of course this was in the middle of the yard, so I was trying to be careful to not dig a huge hole.  I dug down probably about 8-10 inches, and all I found was a pvc pipe probably holding electric wires of some sort. 

The third time we used it, we went to our back yard woodsy area.  The girls looked for about 20 minutes and only found this metal mesh net thing.  

Although they are not finding anything exciting, they are still holding onto their hope.  Ashley thinks we'll find a gold bar and Lilly thinks we'll find a treasure chest.  They have their hopes a little high!!

Overall, I would definitely suggest buying this for your kiddos.  It has a lot of great features.  

• It actually works!
• You can adjust the volume to make it louder if you need it. 
• You can higher and lower the sensitivity of the metal detector - if you know there are wires underground you might not want it to "search" that low because it will keep detecting those. 
• You need to make sure to slower sway it back and forth as you walk, keeping it an inch or two above the ground. 
• It is very lightweight, and has an arm guard to help with holding it. 
• It keeps the kids entertained!
• The anticipation of finding something fun is instilled in all ages. 

Next stop, bringing it to the local lake beaches!