The National Trust has compiled a list of
50 outdoor activities children should try
before they reach 11¾ years.
I asked my son to check the list honestly
and he found 42.
He probably didn't achieved this score
in the allotted timespan but I was happy with that.
Then I wondered how much of the list I could tick off
and found 38.
Swimming under the Pont du Gard at night
into a cloud of white moths rising from the surface,
is one of my more surprising memories.
Swimming in a Welsh tarn
was certainly the iciest.
That's a wonderful list!
ReplyDeleteOh dear , I only clocked up 30 .
ReplyDeleteI'm just a cowardy custard , I think .
This is lovely! I'd done at least 43 of them (and couldn't do the snow, the conkers or the GPS because we didn't have 'em in my bit of NZ). Thanks for posting this - I've nicked it for my FaceBook page.
ReplyDeleteI counted 46. I think it has something to do with growing up in small town Canada? Good fun it was, too! I remember swimming in a rock pool under Cottonwood falls and climbing up to go behind the waterfall. The water was freezing, but we did it anyway.
ReplyDelete45. Yay! I'm so proud of myself that I have to comment! Now I need to figure out what some of those other things *are*.
ReplyDeleteFun.
Susan
Could rattlesnake hunting replace one of those?!
ReplyDeleteYikes! Is that safe? What do you do when you find one?
ReplyDeleteI did 32 of these as a child. I thought that was suprisingly many for a feardie like myself, but clearly your readers are mainly made of sterner stuff. I was brought up in a city but many of my 32 are thanks to being a Guide.
ReplyDeleteYes I was surprised at my total as I am rather a cautious person now. I can't claim that I did them all before the age of 12 but even living in suburbia I realise I was given a lot of freedom by my parents and primary school to spend time outdoors.
ReplyDelete45 for me but I can't think how old I might have been. What a good list.
ReplyDeleteIf you wear tall boots, carry a big stick and stay alert. Let's just say there's one last rattler to be concerned about after you find one.
ReplyDeleteI managed about 30 though I was a confirmed urbanite even as a child; I'm sure my brothers could tick most of them (given that GPS hadn't even been invented!). But I did roam all over London unaccompanied from the age of about 11 - and I wouldn't have swapped that for owls.
ReplyDelete