51 things to do before you’re 12

There are some things that every kid should get to experience. How many of our 51 things have you done? Why not challenge your friends to see who will be the first to finish the list!

• Climb a tree
• Sleep under the stars (even in your backyard)
• Fall off a bike
• Learn to swim
• Build a cubby or a tree house
• Find a geocache* in your neighbourhood
• Go beach combing after a storm
• Cook damper in a campfire
• Go on a school camp in the bush
• Catch a wave (start with a small one)
• Play chasy in the rain
• Catch a prawn in a river (or at least have fun trying)
• Make a water slide with builders plastic and a hose (do it on your watering day)
• Find a cave
• Make something with things you find
• Play in a creek
• Do something you’re scared of
• Play in a creek
• Do something you’re scared of
• Watch kangaroos in the wild
• Slide down a sand (or grass) hill on cardboard
• Yell “cooeee!” in a gorge or a valley
• Camp on a beach
• Build a sandcastle city
• Skim a stone
• Plant something and watch it grow
• Play spotlight
• Ride your bike on a bush trail
• Visit an island
• Go for a two-day hike
• Snorkel at the beach or on a reef
• Ride a flying fox
• Play under a sprinkler
• Climb a big rock
• Play in the bush for a whole day
• Visit a waterhole
• Meet kids in a park and invent a game
• Paddle a kayak
• Dig for worms in your backyard
• Catch a crab
• Learn the Aboriginal names for five plants and five animals
• Visit a national park
• Catch a fish
• Play on a rope swing
• Eat bush tucker
• Make a kite and fly it
• Jump off a jetty (check the water is deep enough first)
• Identify the birds in your backyard
• Go abseiling
• Catch a tadpole (and release it)
• Make a mud pie
• Find a lake, puddle, pond etc and use a magnifying glass to spot the living creatures in it
• Play beach cricket

Here's a downloadable version for you to print out. Thanks to Nature Play WA for the list, you can see more ideas here