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The Bucket List for Kids

What Every Child Should Do Before They Become a Teenager

By Dan FosterPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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I sat around the campfire with a group of young guys on the last night of summer camp. I soaked in the sights, the sounds and the smells. I love campfires, but, to me, there is nothing uncommon about sitting around a fire.

“This is incredible,” The young man sitting next to me piped up, “I’ve never done this before.”

“Done what?” I asked, perplexed.

“Sat around a campfire,” Came the rather sheepish reply.

“Are you serious? How old are you?” I asked.

“I’m seventeen,” He replied.

I was speechless. How could a person live 17 years and not have sat around a campfire? It got me thinking. In an age of digital everything, constant connection, screens that scream for attention and social media, what else are kids missing out on? I took it for granted that things like camping and sitting around a fire were universal ‘kid’ experiences, but, apparently, not anymore! It caused me to sit down and come up with this list. I call it, “The Bucket List for Kids.” These are the experiences that I want my kids to have before they turn thirteen. These are the things that I think all kids should get the chance to experience. Here goes:

  1. Toast marshmallows on a campfire (of course!)
  2. Go camping in a tent (or even without a tent)
  3. Climb a tree
  4. Swing from a rope swing into a river or creek
  5. Go fishing (until they’ve actually caught a fish!)
  6. Skim flat stones across a still lake
  7. Build a kite
  8. Fly the kite they just built
  9. Attempt to make a dam out of rocks in a flowing stream
  10. Learn to ride a bike
  11. Eat something that they grew themselves
  12. Build a soap box cart/billy cart
  13. Build a sand castle at the beach
  14. Post a letter that they wrote themselves
  15. Explore rock pools and catch a crab
  16. Visit someone in hospital
  17. Sponsor a child in a developing nation
  18. Write to that child
  19. Look after a pet
  20. Make play-dough
  21. Roll down a really big hill
  22. Run around in the pouring rain
  23. Make a pizza from scratch
  24. Play in real snow and…
  25. Build a snow man
  26. Visit a farm and learn where milk and eggs come from, then…
  27. Milk a cow by hand
  28. Build a raft and attempt a voyage!
  29. Start a business (yes… washing cars, mowing lawns or selling lemonade)
  30. Save for something they want and then buy it
  31. Save some money and give it away to a cause they care about
  32. Jump over waves at the beach
  33. Make a cake from scratch
  34. Explore a cave
  35. Learn how to make a good paper plane
  36. Climb to the top of a mountain
  37. Play in mud
  38. Build a fort out of blankets
  39. Ride a horse
  40. Run through a sprinkler on a hot summer’s day
  41. Complete a big puzzle
  42. Learn to skip with a skipping rope
  43. Go roller skating
  44. Unreservedly apologize to someone
  45. Finger painting
  46. Learn to hammer in a nail
  47. Have a family photo slide show night
  48. Lie on your back and find shapes in the clouds
  49. Observe a shooting star
  50. Go a whole week without the internet
  51. earnLay igPay atinLay :)
  52. Make orange juice from real oranges
  53. Be able to recall your family tree to at least three generations
  54. Play in piles of Autumn leaves
  55. Pick dandelions, make a wish and blow it into the wind
  56. Sit on Daddy’s lap and pretend to drive the car
  57. Look at something through a microscope
  58. Play a team sport
  59. Make sock puppets
  60. Perform a puppet show with the sock puppets
  61. Burn something with a magnifying glass (preferably a non-living thing)
  62. Learn how to sew a button back onto a shirt
  63. Watch ‘The Princess Bride’ (yes, every child should have watched this movie)
  64. Play a family board game by candlelight during a power outage
  65. Jump through puddles
  66. Build a model volcano and create their own eruption
  67. Write a letter to a politician about something they care about
  68. Learn how to put air in a tire (for their bike or the family car)
  69. Pick fruit off a tree and eat it
  70. Fail at something badly, get back up and try again.

When I look back on my own childhood, I remember many of these things with great fondness. How terrible would it be if my children only experienced these things only by watching someone else do it on YouTube. It’s time to throw myself and my kids into their bucket list! How about you? Would you add anything to the list? I’d love to hear from you if you would!

Happy parenting!

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About the Creator

Dan Foster

Writer / Poet / Blogger

I'm here for community and conversation.

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