50 things to do before you are 11 3/4

going round the blog ring I came across a post on ninny noodle noo that reminded me that I was going to look at the national trust 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4. NO time like the present then SB is 11 and more or less 3/4 , so how have we done? Bearing in mind we have not had this as a to do list, and this is just her life. looking at the parents part of the website made me sigh abit for the risk assessment alongside! ANyway, here are our 50 things. are they the same as yours? I am hoping to trawl through my photos to add to this.

1.Climb a tree

Both my girls love climbing trees. we have some climbers in the garden and they are always looking out for climbing trees elsewhere.

2. Roll down a really big hill

they have even persuaded me to join in too. I think the hill near SOTP should count as a big hill, though not sure if REALLY BIG

3. Camp out in the wild

hmm, we have done a lot of camping, but not wild camping. both girls are keen to remedy this. i think camping at SOTP field has often felt v wild!

4. Build a den

despite not having red the pdf on building a den safely, we have managed to do this and survive it probably plays a regular part in the ‘wild place’ session as well

5. Skim a stone

hmm, not succesfully, but not due to lack of trying

6. Run around in the rain

far too often! e need more sunny days – i might start a campaign for sunny days

7. Fly a kite

yep – lets go fly a kite

8. Catch a fish with a net

we have done this, wild ones in rivers/ ponds/ lakes to look at with our pond dipping kit, and also moving about our tropical fish [which probably doesn't count!]

9. Eat an apple straight from a tree

we have apple trees, we often eat straight from them [and the other fruit trees and bushes]

10. Play conkers

we have done a lot of playing with conkers, but not sure they have done the whole string thing. it is conker season! I can see if they are interested

11. Throw some snow

oh, i certainly think so!

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

yes, fossils, shells, sea glass, interesting stones, amber, all have been investigated and hunted for as our beach treasure. occassionally we have found the odd coin as well.

13. Make a mud pie

essential part of child garden play i think!

14. Dam a stream

mostly those streams on a beach, damming and diverting and creating pools.

15. Go sledging

Aw, makes me remember that last snowy melrose. we didn’t know it would be the last, but what a fab time we had!

16. Bury someone in the sand

we haven’t burried up to head! but sat down legs stretched out are fair game – does this count?

17. Set up a snail race

urgh, but yes!

18. Balance on a fallen tree

an essential part of walking in woods fun!


19. Swing on a rope swing

quite a number of them – girls v keen on this!

20. Make a mud slide

slid down on bottoms on mud – yes, made mud angels [SB] yes! but don’t think we have actually made a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild

it has been a good autumn for blackberrying. SB is less fussy than BB.

22. Take a look inside a tree

we have looked inside holes and rotton bits of trees, and in some even stood in them!

23. Visit an island

also visited quite a few islands – BB pointed out we live on an island, but think the UK is a bit big to count

[this is on the island in the middle of pyramid lake]

24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

yep, got a great pic of BB doing this on the seafront

25. Make a grass trumpet

my mum is particularly good at making these, sbb and bb have occassionally been succesful!

[i was sure i had a pic of mum and kids doing this at wicken fen, but can't see it. will put pic of that day in, as it was a lovely day]

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

yep, charmouth was a great place for fossils, there are slate areas at brickworks not to far away that are great to search for fossils in. ALso on our canada holiday we searched and found fossils at drumheller – fabulous experience.

27. Watch the sun wake up

i do this far too often to go to work! but we certainly did this going to the olympics and paralympics this summer [they were fab ] putting in random olympics pic of joy

28. Climb a huge hill

we do a fair bit of walking, so hills and mountains fair game. Haytor our most recent climb, and sure that counts.

29. Get behind a waterfall

Iam not sure we have really been behind one, we saw lots of waterfalls in the rockies, and at one point were ‘behind the curtain’ in a cavelet in the maligne canyon, but don’t think that for me that entirely counts.

30. Feed a bird from your hand

if chickens and ducks count – yes! otherwise our birds not so tame. we do feed them though

31. Hunt for bugs

oh, minibeasts [antistons as BB used to call them] we still periodically hunt and look in our bug boxes or under microscopes

32. Find some frogspawn

found, watched growing and released

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

we don’t catch butterflies as a rule as we haven’t got the correct nets. We have done , however, on a home ed visit to a nature reserve with a trained leader. one of the lads we were with said it reminded him of animal crossing [he was right!]

34. Track wild animals

we have, in canada we did a fair bit of looking at tracks and identifying the animals. we didn’t actually find them – which as one was wolf i was quite glad tbh

35. Discover what’s in a pond

pond dippers R us I like pond dipping, and we have dipped quite few, including our own pond. often something interesting to see find draw or look under a microscope

36. Call an owl

hmm, we hear lots of owls, and have seen lots of owls – both in the twilight in the fields, and at the local raptor centre where we have been members. i don;t think we have ever called an owl though and expected it to answer! will see what the rspb offer [we are also members of that!]

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

we love clambering around rockpools and particularly in our welsh holiday earlier in the year, looking for what we can find – anemone, crab, hermit crab, fish and shellfish.

38. Bring up a butterfly
surprisingly we haven’t done this. we have made several unsuccessful attempts from cabbage white in the brassica bed…

39. Catch a crab

we did this with my sister and family in our last shared holiday in mudeford. I miss you sis x x x.

40. Go on a nature walk at night

we have more often done this because we are late getting back than purposeful but have been out with moth traps and tried to catch murmurations. tempted to join a bat walk though.

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

we have always done a lot of planting it, growing it and eating it. even this year when kentwell sewing took over. each child has their own bed, and share the sowing and planting and eating of my seeds too. we had a partic fine sweetcorn harvest – now finished. pumpkins and squashes looking good

42. Go wild swimming

i am sure all kids do this? swimming and paddling in rivers, streams and the sea!

43. Go rafting

white water rafting down the kootenay river in canada last summer to remember my sis doing something fun [must get dh to finish putting up canada pics from last year!]

44. Light a fire without matches

yep, flints, bowstrings etc etc

45. Find your way with a map and a compass

not done this ‘for real’ but have played about with – has gone on to do list

46. Try bouldering

girls v keen that this should be on a to do list

47. Cook on a campfire

sb has with guides, both have with marshmallows etc and we have used the fireboxes to cook dinner on

48. Try abseiling

SB has on PGL holidays

49. Find a geocache

lots of times

50. Canoe down a river

loved this so much in canada that desirous of own canoe since also more locally have hired canadian canoes. [need to put pics onto flickr!

So, not bad I don’t think
have highlighted in bold the things will try and do