I am not an educator but I believe a competitive, results-based approach to learning threatens to not only bore children to death, but teaches them little about independence, imagination, creativity, resilience or the value of self-guided play and the exquisite art of doing nothing and enjoying it.
This set me to thinking about the educational experiences children deserve. So I compiled a list of the 100 things I believe children* should experience before they depart childhood. They are in no particular order and it is impossible for the list to be finite. Many of the experiences should definitely be carried through into adulthood.
- Give or receive a hug every day
- Climb a tree
- Fall out of a tree
- Catch a fish
- Swim with fish
- Do something kind with no expectation of recognition or reward
- Start a found collection
- Keep a journal
- Boil an egg and eat it before the age of 10
- Drink out of a hose, preferably wearing nothing other than a pair of knickers
- Eat some soil
- Walk a dog
- Create something with sticks, cardboard and sticky tape
- Lie on the ground and watch the clouds or just enjoy the feeling of the earth under your body
- Be thrilled during a thunderstorm
- Catch rain on their tongue
- Experience triumph
- Blow a bubble gum bubble as big as their head
- Make jelly
- Visit a zoo
- Do nothing
- Be pushed in a swing
- Learn how to swing themselves
- Pick flowers
- Require a bandaid once a month
- Experience failure
- Watch a spider in its web
- Complete a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle
- Experience boredom. Regularly. It promotes creativity.
- Form a special attachment with someone at least 50 years older than themselves
- Spend 3 consecutive days in their pyjamas
- Watch a really scary movie without parental guidance
- Pop a pimple
- Ride a bike
- Play with snow
- Get sun-kissed
- Bite their fingernails and regret it
- Be bewildered but secretly thrilled by their first wet dream
- Experience disappointment
- Listen to a thrush sing
- Make a cake from scratch
- Enjoy the discovery that their parents are people, not just their carers
- Hate their first period (but be relaxed about the commencement of their journey into womanhood)
- Watch several sunrises
- Go bird watching
- Wonder at a full moon
- Walk barefoot on wet grass
- Step on a prickle
- Do nothing
- Take public transport somewhere by themselves before the age of 12
- Walk to school
- Wonder at a butterfly
- Kiss their first true love
- Mow a lawn
- Fart with relish and not confess
- Take a photo of something cherished and turn it into an artwork
- Confound their parent with something related to technology
- Unplug
- Understand the value of unstructured play
- Use the cardboard box, rather than its contents to create a masterpiece
- Love and laugh often
- Climb a hill and enjoy the view
- Ride a horse bareback
- Grow their own vegetables and herbs
- Show compassion
- Write a letter to someone using pen and paper
- Build a cubby house
- Find a secret hiding place and decorate it
- Sing and shout out loud
- Play an instrument. Whether this is done well or badly is irrelevant
- Chase a rainbow
- Relish creativity
- Swim in a river
- Make their own book
- Get dirty and stay that way all day
- Try various cuisines from around the world
- Perfect handstands and cartwheels
- Make mud pies
- Do nothing
- Jump off a jetty
- Go ice-skating
- Do a self-portrait
- Blow bubbles
- Paint with a hose
- Score (or save) a goal at some form of sport
- Go to a church service of their choice
- Toast marshmallows
- Experience the fallibility of their parents
- Blow a raspberry
- Go camping
- Make a family tree
- Learn how to count to 10 in 10 different languages
- Hold a snake
- Blow an egg
- Paint with their fingers
- Pick their nose, eat it and decide that doing so is daft
- Have (and keep into adulthood) a favourite toy
- Keep a pet
- Read books
- Do nothing
The brilliant Sir Ken Robinson is far more eloquent than me on the importance of fostering spontaneity and creativity. You can listen to his thoughts here.
What would you add to this list?
Until next time….
For more recipes, tips, advice and ideas on how to find wonder in all you do, look out for my book “Caro & Co ~ Helping Kids find Wonder in the Everyday”, published by Sally Milner Publishing. Available from 01 December at all good bookstores and online. For interview opportunities please contact Jackie Evans on 0407 776 222 or jep.pub@bigpond.net.au
* For the purposes of this post, I’ve defined childhood as 0-16.
This originally appeared on Caro & Co a couple of years back but it’s as relevant as ever!
I love LOVE love your list. It actually brought tears to my eyes as I started reading it. It is SO much what I hope for for my children, that they really get to BE KIDS.
Thanks so much Alissa. I certainly had fun compiling it. My kids want to put it on the fridge so they can tick things off. Easiest to do list in the world for them! x
GREAT LIST!!! And hear, hear!
I would add:
– roll down a hill
– go star gazing
– go on an owl prowl
– go to summer sleep away camp
– draw on their sneakers — in pen
– plant something and watch it grow
– be the odd one out
– stand up for a friend & stand up for what they believe in
– make up a language with their friends
– think that the book was way better than the movie
– catch fireflies
– dig for the sake of digging
– trick or treat with kids only — no adults
– play pranks at sleepovers
– put on a show for the neighborhood
– have a lemonade stand
– fall down & dust themselves off
– not get everything they want
– make tie-die tshirts
– listen to great music made way before they were born
– make popcorn balls
– help out an elderly neighbor
– believe in fairies
– learn to love to learn
– write terrible poetry about a crush
– roller skate backwards
– play with toys long after their friends think it’s cool
– have a nickname they love
Bethe they are brilliant, just brilliant. How, I am asking myself could I have forgot fairies! x
I love your list
What a wonderful post Caro, my favorite do nothing (-:
Kari
I laughed, I cried, I LOVED it! Thank you for this. On behalf of my 3-year-old, I’d add: “Get your first stitches – and a great story to go along with it.”
Thanks Debi. Yes, stitches and a story to accompany it should certainly be included. x
I love your list Caro. I’d add see phosphorescence in the ocean”. Possibly a bit tricky to achieve before departing childhood but when i first saw it at age 16 on my first overnight sailing race I almost believed it was magic myself. Better than any computer generated fairy dust could ever inspire x
Great post. I would add start a club to the list (maybe I missed it). I can proudly say my children have experienced almost all on your list based on their current ages. Makes me look back on my childhood with fond memories.
hi Caro,… lovely to meet you the other day at Julie’ Place. What a cool list… it’s inspired me on a rainy day to encourage my 14 year old boy to do something other than computer games.
Great soul food, thankyou x Mandy
Well thanks Mandy! Are you the lovely radio chicklet? Make sure you call me….. xx
#50…hmmm… I like it! A LOT!
Yours,
Lenore Skenazy