Every child’s life is packed with a series of exciting adventures they discover for themselves, many of which can be found a lot closer to home than some of us realise. The good people at the National Trust have put together their list of 50 Things to do Before You’re 11 ¾, which not only has a lot of suggestions for outdoor fun, but also includes relevant information to keep children safe whilst they play.

Click on over to the 50 Things site and sign up if you’d like to start looking through the activities with your child now, or take a brief trip to the parents area to have a quick skim over of what’s on offer. We thought we’d have a look through the list ourselves in a series of blogs, suggesting as we go what little ones can do to have even more fun whilst they’re out and about. Today we begin with the Adventurer activities.
3D Rope Ladder

Make climbing a little easier

Things start simple with “Climb a tree”, something that we’ve all tried at one stage or another that always results in a huge sense of achievement after successfully scaling the branches.

Number two on the list suggests they “Roll down a really big hill”. This one’s pretty self-explanatory but will probably result in a few grass stains to rinse out afterwards!

We’ve found a neat solution to roll three and four into one exciting afternoon in the sun. Help children “Camp out in the wild” and “Build a den” with one of our super simple den kits that aren’t just a joy to put up, but also offer a practical spot of shelter from the sun on a warm day.

Next on the list challenges fun-loving youngsters to fly a kite, but we can go one better and suggest they make their own kite! We’ve got a great kit for children to paint their own design on a kite canvas before taking it up for a trip amongst the clouds.

Moving from the sky to your nearest stream, every child should experience the simple pleasure that comes when you “Catch a fish with a net”. Just do so very carefully and don’t keep it wriggling in the mesh for too long.

The remaining four items in the Adventurer list are best enjoyed at their most basic level, whether you want to “Skim a stone”, “Run around in the rain” or “Play conkers”. Just make sure you ask permission before you try to “Eat an apple straight from the tree”!

Keep your eyes on the BrightMinds blog in the coming weeks to read our take on even more things to do before you’re 11 ¾. There’s a whole lot of fun to be had out there!