50 things to do before you're 11 3/4

[chickenchargrill]

Just stumbled across this site and I love it. Set up by the National Trust, I think, and has a great list of things kids should do before they're teens.

https://www.50things.org.uk/


Just a few of the things on the list:

1.Climb a tree
Make sure there is nothing under the tree which could hurt you in the event of a fall
Don't climb on windy or wet day
Read more about tree climbing here.
2. Roll down a really big hill
Use hills with gentle slope
Avoid areas recently occupied by livestock
3. Camp out in the wild
Read more about wild camping here
4. Build a den
Download a PDF about building a den safely here (PDF/ 448KB)
7. Fly a kite
Read more about flying your kite safely
8. Catch a fish with a net
Be gentle when fishing with a net
Always put the fish back quickly in the water
Keep cuts and wounds covered with waterproof plasters
Get more pond safety advice.
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
Give the apple a wash before eating it and look out for maggot holes
Ask the owner of the tree for permission beforehand
10. Play conkers
Help prepare the conker for your child.
If you drill the hole with a power drill it means the conker is less likely to split when playing and is safer than making a hole with a sharp object

[oldjerry]

You're winding us up......please say you are....

[chickenchargrill]

Why would I be winding you up? There's a few things I never got to do as a kid on the list and lots my kids haven't done yet because of where we live and lack of funds.

[Odsox]

I'm pretty sure I did all of those things before I was 5 3/4, and I didn't read any safety info first, or wash the apples, or ask the tree owners permission first.
Sorry I was wrong, just re-read the list and I didn't camp out in the wild before I was 10 although I DID live out in the wild, about a mile from the next house.
Did all the rest though, and great fun it was too.

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

We picked up this list at the Bristol Outdoors show recently and then came across a new article on the same subject. We've not looked through it properly.

i would have thought a lot of inner city children will have done hardly any of them

[Green Aura]

Likewise, I think I'd done most of them before I'd say 10. Except the wild camping which I've still not done - back gardens as a kid and camp sites later - some of the gardens were fairly unkempt, does that count?

But I'm guessing my gal won't have done most of them, despite us having apple trees in the garden!

[oldjerry]

Why would I be winding you up? There's a few things I never got to do as a kid on the list and lots my kids haven't done yet because of where we live and lack of funds.

Nothng wrong wth any of the things.........just the pathetic health warnings after every one..............'and don't forget children,wash that apple you knicked from next doors garden'...do lots of fun thngs children,even if we do make them as boring as possible.....

Take no notice,just another rant,and most of it needn't cost much,best thing we ever did was find a dead rat,make a model boat out of balsathen using parrafin and a long fuse went out after dark to our local pond and gave it a Viking funeral,it was truly spectacular.

[Green Aura]

I haven't seen any balsa wood since my brothers left home c1970!

[chickenchargrill]

I've never been wild camping. Was a little disappointed to see back garden listed as a place to do it. They should have just put camping.

Geocaching is also on the full list. That one'll have to wait until my mobile is fixed. But most of the others I'm going to aim to do with the kids over summer.

It kind of reminds me of Guides, the site gives you virtual badges for each one you do.



oldjerry - Okay. I was trying not to read the safety bits, but having looked I remember being told a lot of them at school/by my parents too. Especially the 'where not to fly your kite' safety films.

Yes, most of it is free stuff, unfortunately we need to factor in travel expenses for some of it. Public transport in Derby is at the point where it's cheaper for us to travel as a family by taxis than it is for us all to hop on a bus.

[trinder]

I too was smiling about the safety stuff. Although I fully agree with it . Washing apples! Back in the day we used to rub them on our jeans if there was any visible mud but yes we did used to bite the bit off that had a hole in and spit it out.

But some of our less hygienic habits were sharing chewing gum . Not just with siblings and friends, I'm sure when I was quite young I would even pick it up out of the street.

On bonfire night , when the fire got low enough ( remember we kids went to a bonfire on a bit of waste ground - there were no parents ever in attendance- how naff would that have been! ) we used to jump through the flames and when it was really low just embers we would do forward rolls through it.! You did need to be quick though and it took some courage to be the first one.

I was a pony lover all that way back ( still am) but I used to coax one of the ponies close enough to spring onto it's back and hang on for dear life, naturally I couldn't ride but pretty soon learned - after a fashion :

On a more dangerous pastime we also played chicken on the railway line Oh what jolly japes.

[oldjerry]

Look,if they're not watching a screen 10 hours a day,what's not to like? just feel that kids need to push the boundaries a bit.Your parents are there to keep a little bit from,safe in the knowledge that when the do doo hits the fan you've got a big pair of eternally forgiving arms, to run to.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Wish I'd known the bit about drilling the holes through the conker rather than using a skewer to make them. Could have upped the victory tally a little.

[oldjerry]

Look,if they're not watching a screen 10 hours a day,what's not to like? just feel that kids need to push the boundaries a bit.Your parents are there to keep a little bit from,safe in the knowledge that when the do doo hits the fan you've got a big pair of eternally forgiving arms, to run to.

Why isn't there a thread for all the nostalgic\toe-curling\or just plain idiotic posts you've made when drunk!!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Look,if they're not watching a screen 10 hours a day,what's not to like? just feel that kids need to push the boundaries a bit.Your parents are there to keep a little bit from,safe in the knowledge that when the do doo hits the fan you've got a big pair of eternally forgiving arms, to run to.

Why isn't there a thread for all the nostalgic\toe-curling\or just plain idiotic posts you've made when drunk!!

I think it is your perogative to start one. Perhaps it could be called "When I were a lad..."?

[oldjerry]

Ouch!!....