The unfortunate reality is that our children are leading very different childhoods to our own. The days of care free playing in fields and swimming in lakes have been replaced by computer games and television.
The National Trust have combined a list of 50 things to do before you’re 12 years old, which makes interesting reading and may give the parents among us a few ideas of items to add to our bucket lists.
One of the purposes of this research is to help children connect to nature and explore their environment, with research showing that fewer than one in ten children have played in a wild place; very different to our generation.
Below are the 50 activities collated by the National Trust, so why not try and few with your children and enjoy. For more information on the National Trust please click here.
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 whats in a pond
36, Call an owl
37, Check out the 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 a compass
46, Try rock climbing
47, Cook on a campfire
48, Try abseiling
49, Play geocache
50, Canoe down a river