50 Things To Do Before You Turn 12
A child’s imagination is limitless and the best way to learn is through creative fun. Growing up, how many times did you go on an adventure in the ‘forest’ being chased by dragons and giants? How many times did you climb a tree? Did you ever build castles in the sand?
With the advent of technology and the media, it is thought that children are spending less time outside and more time using technology and consuming media.
The National Trust (in the UK) developed an initiative called 50 Things To Do Before You’re 11 & 3/4 – but let’s be honest, it should be 50 Things To Do Before You Turn 12. The full list is below and I am surprised at how many I ticked off! But I guess it is fairly easy to complete most of these as a child growing up in Australia – we have lush, green parks and warm sandy beaches.
Below I’ve highlighted the activities according to this key:
Completed before age 12 [43]
Completed after age 12 [4]
Not yet completed [3]
- Climb a tree
- Roll down a really big hill
- Camp out in the wild
- Build a den
- Skim a stone
- Run around in the rain
- Fly a kite
- Catch a fish with a net
- Eat an apple straight from a tree
- Play conkers
- Go on a really long bike ride
- Make a trail with sticks
- Make a mud pie
- Dam a stream
- Play in the snow
- Make a daisy chain
- Set up a snail race
- Create some wild art
- Play pooh sticks
- Jump over waves
- Pick blackberries growing in the wild
- Explore inside a tree
- Visit a farm
- Go on a walk barefoot
- Make a grass trumpet
- Hunt for fossils and bones
- Go star gazing
- Climb a huge hill
- Explore a cave
- Hold a scary beast
- Hunt for bugs
- Find some frogspawn
- Catch a falling leaf
- Track wild animals
- Discover what’s in a pond
- Make a home for a wild animal
- Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
- Bring up a butterfly (But I have brought up silkworms)
- Catch a crab
- Go on a nature walk at night
- Plant it, grow it, eat it
- Go swimming in the sea
- Build a raft
- Go bird watching
- Find your way with a map and compass
- Try rock climbing
- Cook on a campfire
- Learn to ride a horse (I’ve ridden horses, but never learnt to ride solo)
- Find a geocache (This wasn’t a thing when I was growing up in the late 80s/90s)
- Canoe down a river
How many did you tick? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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