The New '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾'

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I'm a really big fan of the '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾' campaign. Combine that with 'Country Kids' and it has transformed our weekend activities. That is genuinely no exaggeration; I like completing challenges and blogging about them as part of our lives, if it was the initial motivation for becoming more physically active then I see that as no bad thing.

The '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾' campaign has been created to help ensure that our children are having the natural childhood they deserve. With children in the UK being the most depressed in the western world, providing them with a sense of achievement and pride in their accomplishments (while also reconnecting them to nature) is essential. The exhilaration experienced from managing to climb that tricky tree or seeing a kite that you've made soaring through the sky is second to none for a child.

In order to update the list and make it more relevant to children in the UK, the National Trust have made a few changes. Initially I was a little irritated as quite a few things that they've removed were challenges that we'd managed (feed a bird by hand, visit an island, bury someone in the sand, balance on a fallen tree) but upon further examination I realised that they are now far more accessible for all, and realistic to achieve. It's all very well having the challenge of 'getting behind a waterfall' but if you live in the middle of the flattest part of Britain then it's rather tricky to achieve. Likewise for landlocked residents, visiting an island or hunting for treasure on a beach is nigh on impossible. And I can't thank the National Trust enough for changing 'see the sun wake up' to 'go star gazing'; after many years of teaching The Boy to not wake up at the crack of dawn, I wasn't relishing that task!

I've blogged previously about the Fifty Things so am not going to write them all out again, but I would like to highlight the changes:

 

Out

In
11. Throw some snow Go on a really long bike ride
12. Hunt for treasure on a beach Make a trail with sticks
15. Go sledging Play in the snow
16. Bury someone in the sand Make a daisy chain
18. Balance on a fallen tree Create some wild art
19. Swing on a rope swing Play Pooh sticks
20. Make a mud slide Jump over waves
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild Pick blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree Explore inside a tree
23. Visit an island Visit a farm
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

Go on a walk barefoot
27. Watch the sun wake up Go star gazing
29. Get behind a waterfall Explore a cave
30. Feed a bird from your hand Hold a scary beast
33. Catch a butterfly in a net Catch a falling leaf
36. Call an owl Make a home for a wild animal
42. Go wild swimming Go swimming in the sea
43. Go rafting Build a raft
44. Light a fire without matches Go bird watching
46. Try bouldering Try rock climbing
48. Try abseiling Learn to ride a horse

 I'd urge parents to sign their children up for a '50 Things' account as it's fun to use and a great record of all the tasks completed, ours shows we've completed 21 of the tasks so far.

50 Things

I have a linky running for anyone who has blogged about their children's '50 Things' challenges, I'd love for you to join in below.



Fifty Things To Do Before You're 11&¾ (The Link-Up)

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My childhood garden was large and full of little nooks and crannies (notice you never get a cranny without a nook?) that offered hours of entertainment. Summers were long and balmy, filled with the squeals of laughter of four siblings who would tie each other to trees with their pigtails (thank you brother 1), hold talent contests on the picnic bench, splash around and soak each other with the hose, play badminton in the quiet side road next to the house, race on the go-kart from the side garden and under the archway to the garage into the back garden, and practise tennis or netball against the side wall of the garage. All under the watchful eye of my mum from the living room or kitchen window, both of which were upstairs (weird layout) and commanded a magnificent view over our 'empire'.

The point I am trying to make here is that we spent hours and hours every day outside.

As my siblings grew older, I had less playmates but it didn't affect my desire to get out into the fresh air. Even now, I feel free when outside, it soothes my frazzled nerves and I can feel my spirits lifting.

When we went to Nymans for the National Trust event earlier this Spring, David Bond (marketing director for Nature!) asked us whether our happy place was inside or outside. The split was about half and half, which is very different to most families. Most adults (and children) now have an indoors happy place. It is therefore, hardly surprising that children in the UK are the most depressed in the natural world; they don't know about the joy of feeling the wind through their hair and tingling their senses, the sun caressing the skin, the sense of achievement when they climb a tree or jump the brook, skim the stone or make a den.

Last year I blogged about the 50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾ campaign by the National Trust. I set us a goal of 5 Things To Do Before You're 3 and we attempted four of these things (the waterfall was always going to be ambitious!). In the past year we've ticked off a few more of these (mostly easy to achieve) targets and are making steady progress, mainly thanks to the Country Kids linky over on Coombe Mill.

  1. Climb a tree (04/11/12)
  2. Roll down a really big hill
  3. Camp out in the wild
  4. Build a den
  5. Skim a stone
  6. Run around in the rain
  7. Fly a kite
  8. Catch a fish with a net (25/07/14)
  9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
  10. Play conkers
  11. Go on a really long bike ride
  12. Make a trail with sticks
  13. Make a mud pie
  14. Dam a stream
  15. Play in the snow
  16. Make a daisy chain
  17. Set up a snail race
  18. Create some wild art (21/07/13)
  19. Play Pooh sticks
  20. Jump over waves
  21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
  22. Explore inside a tree
  23. Visit a farm
  24. Go on a walk barefoot
  25. Make a grass trumpet
  26. Hunt for fossils and bones
  27. Go star gazing
  28. Climb a huge hill
  29. Explore a cave
  30. Hold a scary beast
  31. Hunt for bugs
  32. Find some frogspawn
  33. Catch a falling leaf
  34. Track wild animals
  35. Discover what's in a pond
  36. Make a home for a wild animal
  37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
  38. Bring up a butterfly
  39. Catch a crab (25/07/14)
  40. Go on a nature walk at night
  41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
  42. Go swimming in the sea
  43. Build a raft (05/08/13)
  44. Go bird watching
  45. Find your way with a map and compass
  46. Try rock climbing
  47. Cook on a campfire
  48. Learn to ride a horse
  49. Find a geocache
  50. Canoe down a river

I've decided to write this post for me so that we can cross off the other targets as and when we meet them. And because it's more a of a reference bank for me, I also thought I'd open it up as a permanent linky until… well The Boy is 11&¾ quite frankly. Either that or until he does them all!

I'd love it if you joined in with your posts or photos (Instagrams/twitpics) showing your children fulfilling one of their Fifty Things To Do Before You're 11&¾.

50-things1



Days 90-96 of Project 365

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90-96 of 365

90. Rolling, rolling, rolling! (We went to Dyffryn Gardens for the National Trust Easter Egg Trail and had an absolutely marvellous time exploring the recently reopened Dyffryn House. However, the best bit of the day is that The Boy got to cross off #2 of the 50 Things: Roll down a really big hill – really big is subjective when you're only three!)

91. A-maze-ing! (Despite yesterday's beautiful weather and the hint that Spring was on its way, today was blindingly cold and dreary! We spent much of it inside chilling out after our hectic previous week and weekend, with Nanny and Grandad coming to dinner. I'd bought The Boy some new wipe-clean books from Usborne; this is a maze book and he is completely devoted to it.)

92. Spiderman (Having popped up to the local butcher we went for a walk in the main park in our town, a park which has many different 'zones' to it which provide ample play opportunities. We discovered yet another tree that needed to be climbed, although he decided to jump out of this one, rather than climb down. As it was only a foot drop, I let him off.)

93. Hello down there! (Another day, another park! Swing time took on a different angle today.)

94. Nearly there (The Boy is obsessed lately with trying to make different colours and I decided to let him loose with a colour mixing experiment. My sister would be pleased to know he just wanted to make brown – her favourite (boring!) colour – and he very almost managed it.)

95. Cookie dough (Today was dominated by The Boy having his preschool MMR booster in the afternoon, and it appears I may have been quite anxious about it as I was a grumpy mummy most of the day. I managed to summon up the inclination to make cookies with The Boy, but even that was staight from a packet and add two tablespoons of water; how lazy! Turns out that The Boy was fine with his booster, didn't even notice the injection.)

96. Where's the hole? (We returned to Dyffryn Gardens today, as I hadn't had long enough to explore the inside of the house, and get the photos I was after – I still didn't manage it today as The Boy wanted to explore the gardens. The garden rooms are plenty and full of little holes and pathways leading through into a different 'room'. Only thing was, there wasn't a hole in the hedge here, despite The Boy trying his hardest to push through. Look closely and his head had half disappeared inside. It reminded me of Tom in Tom's Midnight Garden.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

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The National Trust Easter Egg Trail: Dyffryn Gardens (Country Kids)

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For my first Mother's Day back in 2010, Mr. TBaM took me to Dyffryn Gardens in the Vale of Glamorgan. We had a beautiful walk through the gardens pushing our little bundle in his pushchair, and it was good to revisit the site after such a long break since my last visit.

Dyffryn Gardens is a place that I'd first visited as a child with my parents, when the main house used to hold craft fayres every so often, particularly at Christmas time, and we'd wander from room to room and enjoy the immediate gardens. At the time though, things were beginning to look a little tatty, and fairly soon after the main house was closed to the public and left to fall into disrepair despite the efforts to maintain it. Visiting the venue over the past two to three years, and seeing such a stunning house boarded up, was so sad; I'd recount my memories to Mr. TBaM and sigh with nostalgia.

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'Natural Childhood' With The National Trust (Country Kids)

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  1. USA
  2. Australia
  3. UK

Not winners of the Olympics. Nor are they the most wealthy in the world (although that might be true). The above ranking refers to the worst countries in the developed world for getting children outside and playing.

I'm a little shocked. More than a little shocked to be honest. I expected America to be pretty rubbish at encouraging outdoor play, but Australia? With all that open space and the wonderful environment? I am, ashamedly, not surprised to see that the UK is third though; the health and safety police combined with the fear factor of child abduction has fostered a generation of children who have an outdoor, roaming space which is 90% smaller than we did as children.

For the past sixteen months I've been a willing participant in the Country Kids weekly linky run over on the Coombe Mill blog. Country Kids is the brainchild of Fiona, who owns Coombe Mill (a family farm holiday location), and promotes outdoor play with your children. It doesn't have to be in the country (which is just as well as ours are at the beach) but it does have to be in the fresh air and encouraging a 'natural childhood'.

This 'Natural Childhood' I speak of is a movement to promote getting our children back into nature and helping them to rediscover the joys of outdoor play. On Saturday we were the guests of the National Trust at Nymans in Sussex, to find out about the 'Natural Childhood' campaign being led by many people including David Bond, Project Wild Thing, the National Trust, and many other agencies. All are united in their desire to see children climbing trees, getting mucky, and having old fashioned, outdoor fun.

Exactly what Country Kids stands for.

There'll be more about the campaign in another post, but for now I want to document a major change in my son.

This is The Boy who couldn't balance a year ago, who had minimal confidence in his physical ability, who wouldn't contemplate a cargo net or three step ladder. The concept of tree climbing? Never!

tree climbing

The middle photograph above shows The Boy arguing with Rob Cowen who was trying to tell him that he couldn't climb the pine tree as it had no lower branches. The Boy didn't believe him. He tried (and failed) but the point is that he tried determinately. Disgruntled, he went and climbed another tree.

And then, Rob showed us how to make a den. A den suitable for sleeping out in (if you are so inclined, I'm not) and one that was incredibly warm and dry.

den building

The Boy was in his element. That smile is not one which he puts on for the camera; it is pure joy.

Ticking off another items from their '50 Things To Do Before You're 11 & ¾', the bloggers' children then all sat around a campfire and toasted marshmallows. We had a minor incident when The Boy was daintily eating his in several bites and dropped it on the floor, but he soon made sure that didn't happen again by shoving his replacement in all in one!

We jumped up and down in muddy puddles, we raced up and down hills, we made friends. But above all else we had fun!

natural childhood

And if ever there was proof that the outdoors is good for a child, making him happy, raising his self-esteem, and giving him self-worth and confidence in his capabilities, surely this is it?

happy child

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coombe mill

Days 27-33 of Project 365

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27-33 of 365

27. 'One Giant Leap' (Off to Porthkerry Park on Sunday to play in the sunshine and check out how high the water was in the brooks.)

28. 'Hello, Down There' (a trip to the local Victorian park on the way back from the supermarket. This is part of our bid to spend 15 minutes outside in the fresh air every day, inspired by Jenny from Mummy Mishaps and Cerys from Nature and Play. Some days are really easy, other days – like a work day – are harder. Today was also the day of the epic play-dough making session; three colours and still he wanted more?!)

29. 'Do You Like My New Hat?' (Big activity day today, Tuesdays often are as I try to cram as much quality and quantity time in as possible before having to go back to work the next day. We made a wintery hat which ended up looking more like a space hat, did a science experiment involving moving water, went to gymnastics and also went scooting in the pouring rain in Cardiff Bay. Thanks for that Jenny and Cerys!)

30. 'New Jigsaw' (A work day but when I came home The Boy was able to play with his brand new jigsaw from Orchard Toys. Watch this space for a review!)

31. 'The Gruffalo' (Thanks to a 'heart-pressing' session when The Boy saw one of his friend's wearing a Gruffalo hat, he decided he wanted to dress up in his costume. I got the mirror down so he could see what he looked like. The irony was that five minutes later, the nanosecond I'd finished taking photographs, he insisted the costume came off. I think he scared himself!)

32. 'Slumber' (Absolutely exhausted, I let him have a longer nap today. I certainly paid for it as we had a ridiculous wake-up time of 5.20 this morning. Now where's that Gro-clock I was sent for review?!)

33. 'Rebel!' (We nipped down to Cardiff Bay Barrage for a cycle and a scoot in glorious sunshine, but dear God it was Arctic! The road across the barrage isn't used by vehicles and is a safe route for cyclists of all ages. The Boy has a minimal awareness of the highway code and road signs, clearly!)

My favourite photo of the week is The Gruffalo photo.

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

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Country Kids: At Home With Coombe Mill

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We've come for a short break down to Coombe Mill for a few days and I have to say that I think I've found paradise on Earth! Having been to a few places that have Scandinavian lodges as their accommodation, it is refreshing to come to a similar place but with the difference that this has the great outdoors as the entertainment and what an outdoors it is.

This thirty acre site has a beautiful and melodic river running through it which is the soundtrack to our stay, a plethora of children's play areas for different abilities and desires, and the most fantastic animal farm we've seen.

Yesterday we had fun exploring the play areas…

… including some twilight trampoline jumping!

Today we set off after a hearty breakfast to enjoy the feed run. I'll admit I was sceptical about this as The Boy has always been apprehensive about animals, especially those which are similar in size to him, so I expected lots of, "Can you carry me?!"

However…

… he even told us he uncurled the pig's tail!

But for him the best bit of the day was this…

… under a small amount of direction, he was genuinely steering this tractor!

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coombe mill

Country Kids: Sports Day

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Today started with the rain pelting against the bedroom window. Marvellous! After such a lovely day yesterday we were going to have to put up with rain spoiling our plans to work in the garden. I may as well just give up trying to sort out any weeds or plants, as it will be October before it's dry enough to make it look vaguely attractive.

After a leisurely morning pottering around the house, we headed out to one of The Boy's favourite places; the local softplay centre. Never again! The less said about that, the better.

When we emerged from the dingy, smelly pit, it was brilliant sunshine and glorious blue skies, so we headed to a beautiful park in a nearby town that I haven't been to for twenty years. While there, The Boy was able to practise his bike riding a little more. Considering it's only his fourth time riding it, he really picked up speed very quickly and scared the hell out of me in the process. I was so impressed with him for pedalling and steering so efficiently, he only had one tumble and that was because of a small pothole.

After he'd had enough of pedalling (and my stress levels couldn't take anymore), he decided to have a race with daddy, competing in the 100 metres with a good time of 37 seconds. Clearly going to be a cross country runner like his daddy.

A potentially boring day was saved by the Summer sun, it makes you realise how much better you can feel with the sun caressing your skin and bird song in the air.

God only knows what's happened to the sound on this video, apologies.

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