There are approximately 6,570 days from the time we are born until we are officially an adult; what can kids do to fill those days? 100 Things To Do Before You Grow Up, by Lisa Gerry, is a highly inspirational bucket list for childhood that will get them off to a great start, and what better time to get started than summer vacation!
There are the traditional childhood experiences such as “go camping” to “rake a pile of leaves and jump in it” but I particularly enjoy the unique suggestions, tasks like “do something nice for someone but don’t tell them you did it” and “donate your old toys and clothes to a charitable organization”. What a wonderful way to teach children values such as kindness and charity.
There were many items on the list that I still need to accomplish: catch a fish, have a water balloon fight, conquer a fear (although I don’t think I’ll ever love spiders), and invent something. Hmm, my 6570 days may be up, but I can still play catch up!
And in case the road map for childhood fun wasn’t enough, the has loads of expert tips from real life adventurers and weird-but-true facts. As this is a National Geographic publication, every page is packed full of fascinating facts & information making this a resource for kids of all ages.
Summertime provides a great opportunity to help your kids complete some of these to-do items. My boys, at age 3 & 5 years, have completed 15 items. By the end of the summer our goal is to complete at least these four:
- go camping,
- read an entire book series,
- make homemade ice cream and
- organize a scavenger hunt.
Let’s see how we do by the end of August!
