busyThis is the National Trust's list of 50 Things To Do Before You're 11 3/4.
1. Climb a tree.
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
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
10. Play conkers
11. Throw some snow
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream
15. Go sledging
16. Bury someone in the sand
17. Set up a snail race
18. Balance on a fallen tree
19. Swing on a rope swing
20. Make a mud slide
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree
23. Visit an island
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones
27. Watch the sun wake up
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Get behind a waterfall
30. Feed a bird from your hand
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling / rappelling
49. Find a geocache (use GPS and other navigational aides to locate hidden containers.)
50. Canoe down a river
April 20 2012, 09:22:52 UTC 9 years ago
I actually got into trouble for teaching some of my younger cousins how to climb trees! (By their age, I was already an accomplished tree climber.)
They should have said catch a crawdad on #39 since many do not live anywhere near a beach.
:[
Well...
April 20 2012, 09:31:40 UTC 9 years ago
Alas, no. I'm often horrified by how people treat children.
>>They should have said catch a crawdad on #39 since many do not live anywhere near a beach.<<
I caught crabs on vacation. I've caught crawdads closer to home. Also frogs and fish. Tasty critters, all.
Re: Well...
April 20 2012, 16:09:07 UTC 9 years ago
All crawdads have two sets of legs; one set of large legs on the body and a set of smaller legs on the tail section.
The first pair of legs amongst the smaller legs on an adult male crawdad are rigid and permanently bent forward (yes, crawdads actually have two).
Little kids are totally fascinated by any information that lets them figure out boy animals from girl animals. You'd think they'd have included at least a bit of this amongst their questions!
:}
April 20 2012, 14:40:51 UTC 9 years ago
2. Arrested for trespassing.
3. Catch Lyme's Disease
4. Get accused of running away from home, sent to therapy, dosed with Ritalin.
5. Charged with terroristic threatening.
6. Sent to counseling and dosed with Ritalin.
7. Questioned by DHS officials on why you were flying drone-like devices.
8. Arrested for poaching by Dept Enviro Conservation, harrassed by GreenPeace and/or Peta, beaten up by Earth!First
9. Poisoned by Monsanto
10. Anaphalactic shock. (I shit you not.)
11. Charged with assault.
12. Trespassing.
13. Contract hookworms and Legionnaire's Disease
14. Arrested for altering a protected waterway without a permit.
15. Sue the landowner for not removing the stumps and making it safe for sledding. Counter-sued by landowner for trespassing.
16. Charged with attempted murder, but only get convicted of inflicting mental cruelty.
17. Arrested for animal cruelty.
18. Trespassing and reckless endangerment.
19. Put into therapy for making the beginnings of a hangman's noose.
20. Charged with malicious destruction of private property and encouraging erosion.
21. Contract tetanus.
22. Bitten by snake/rabid mammal/swarmed by bees.
23. 100% going to jail when ultra-millionaire who owns the island pays cops to arrest you.
24. Dosed with Ritalin. (Or dosage increased.)
25. Poisoned by ChemLawn
26. Arrested for theft of cultural/historical artifacts.
27. Damage your eyesight.
28. Trespass, reckless endangerment.
29. Trespass.
30. Failing to maintain a 50-yard distance from wildlife.
31. Learn what an "epi-pen" is.
32. Contract Leptospirosis if you're lucky, salmonella or meningitis if you're not.
33. Animal cruelty.
34. Charged with animal harassment and interfering with a legal hunt.
35. As the doctor tells your mom and dad what you caught.
36. Animal harassment.
37. Swept out to sea by rouge wave, parents sue the city, city fences off rockpool. (Again, I shit you not.)
38. Animal cruelty.
39. Shellfishing without a permit in a closed/restricted area/sanctuary.
40. Parents arrested and CPS takes you away.
41. Arrested by Dept of Homeland Security. (Depressing, ain't it?)
42. Trespassing.
43. Contract Meningitis.
44. Charged with arson.
45. End up initiating a search and rescue operation, get stuck with the bill.
46. Trespassing.
47. Don't pick the wrong roasting stick. (Not fatal, but you might get sick.)
48. Trespassing, destruction of private property.
49. Trespassing, terroristic threatening, concealment of suspicious device. (God, how I wish I were kidding.)
50. Canoe down a river. Hmmmm. I suppose I gotta leave something you can't be arrested/institutionalized/medicated for doing? Shit.
April 20 2012, 14:42:35 UTC 9 years ago
Deleted comment
Well...
April 20 2012, 18:39:20 UTC 9 years ago
April 20 2012, 15:16:44 UTC 9 years ago
Well...
April 20 2012, 18:34:29 UTC 9 years ago
It really made me think about some things, though. Different kinds of privilege. We may not have had a lot of money growing up, but when it comes to interacting with nature, I've had a great deal more than most people. I wouldn't say I'm the 1%, reserving that for people like the kids of wilderness guides; but easily the top 20% and possibly the top 10%. I got to do stuff and visit a lot of different places.
And that makes me want to share those experiences instead of hoarding them. I think everyone should have those opportunities if they want to go exploring. That's one reason why I write nature poetry the way I do, to encourage folks to check it out; and why I'm into activism, trying to preserve what's left of nature for people to enjoy.
April 21 2012, 03:02:11 UTC 9 years ago
No idea how.
>>>8. Catch a fish with a net<<<
Why?
>>>10. Play conkers <<<
WTF is that?
>>>14. Dam a stream<<<
Why?
>>>17. Set up a snail race <<<
Boring.
>>>25. Make a grass trumpet <<<
A what?
>>>27. Watch the sun wake up <<<
I've never been a morning person. I was the kind of kid who ran around at night in the darkest shadows, not a care at all that I couldn't see.
>>>32. Find some frogspawn<<<
What am I, a wizard? :-D
>>>46. Try bouldering <<<
What?
>>>48. Try abseiling / rappelling<<<
Acrophobia puts a bit of a damper on that.
Geocaching was before my time, too.