I can’t take the credit for most of this list. It’s taken from the Persil website, which I visited after seeing the ad on our local TV. I love this ad because it shows kids getting dirty. IMO, kids should play in the mud and get dirty. It’s part of growing up, and I certainly created lots of dirty clothes when I was a child, growing up on a farm.
School holidays start here in NZ tomorrow, and I know it’s the summer holidays in America, too. Do check out the website since it gives instructions for all these things. Believe me, a bored kid makes everyone grumpy! Oh, and just as an aside, I’m a Persil fan. Dirt is good!!
1. Lie on your back and find shapes in the clouds.
2. Build a secret hut.
3. Camp out in the backyard.
4. Catch a fish.
5. Play in the rain.
6. Build sandcastles at the beach.
7. Learn to swim.
8. Whoosh down a mud slide.
9. Grow your own garden.
10. Make mud pies.
11. Learn some basic cooking skills.
12. Have a water fight on a hot summer day.
13. Climb a tree.
Do you have any suggestions to add to the list? Do you have memories of doing these things when you were a child?
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Woot! My DD has done all but one (slide down a mudslide).
I, too, firmly believe that kids should get dirty — I horrified my neatnik, germ-phobic in-laws by letting my DD play outside even before she could walk.
by Mysti Holiday July 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 amMy kids have done most of these already. Yes, my mother is appalled. LOL.
by Jennifer McKenzie July 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 amI couldn’t agree with you more. Great list!
by Stephanie July 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 amMy mom was a big fan of not caring if we got dirty as long as we were having fun. She always remembers seeing this little girl with her parents at Sullivan’s Pond here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who was all dressed up in something frilly and whose parents basically kept her from running around or getting a speck of anything on her. Mom found those parents especially annoying as she used to take my sister and I there often, so we could ride our pretend horses, run around, pick up stuff, pitch it in the water, etc, etc.
That’s a great list, Shelley, and I’m glad to say I’ve done everything except catch a fish or slide down a mudslide.
by julia July 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 amGreat list. I remember doing many of those.
by LA Day July 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 amI’m embarrassed to say I never did anything on that list when I was little. I was never interested in things like that. It was all outdoor, sporty-active stuff. Hated that kind of stuff. :)
I am a freak. :)
by Stephanie Secrest July 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 amHey Shelley! I think we were on the same wavelength for our T13s. LOL.
Except mine are about “mature” women doing some of these self same things. :P
Especially the mud puddles! Weeee! LOL
http://midnightmooncafe.blogspot.com
by Cassandra Curtis July 3rd, 2008 at 7:47 amLol, I did all of those and then some.
Splash a bucket of water into the open window of the neighbour who always complains about the kids’ noise.
Take a jellyfish and drop it on the beer belly of some unsuspecting sleeper on the beach. We have big, glibbery ones in the Baltic Sea that are fortuately harmless. (There’s a smaller sort that stings as well, but we didn’t use those.)
Spread a thin layer of oil on the blackboard. It looks very clean, really.
Set a mouse free in the great training hall. (I was never suspected for that one because girl’s don’t touch mice.
)
Eat a bug or a rain worm.
by Gabriele July 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 amWell, mine are mostly “things you should do with your kids” (although not necessarily before they’re ten)
1. help them with their homework
by JK Coi July 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am2. read to them from a great fantasy like Harry Potter
3. go to the movies together
4. plant a garden together
5. teach them how to save money
5. ground them (yeah I know, but kids need boundaries too)
sorry, I guess that was 6 things, not two 5’s
by JK Coi July 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 amWhat a fun list, I’ve done most of these things with my own kids and can’t wait to do them with grand kids next lol Happy T13!
by Adelle Laudan July 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 amKids need forts. Treehouses. Something like that. That’s the only thing I can think of that’s missing, maybe because my kids have already done the list. Which meant I got to do it all again, too.
by Susan Helene Gottfried July 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 amHappy T13! I love your list it’s very imaginative and informative too. I wish I would have done some of those things when I was 10. Happy 4th of July! Hope to see you at my 8th edition about Michele Bardsley at Talk About My Favorite Authors blog.
by Phoebe Jordan July 3rd, 2008 at 10:19 amI’ll second all of those! Great list
by Ava Rose Johnson July 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 pmI’ve only done 5 of those things on the list. I would love to camp out in a backyard, but we don’t have one.
by Jane July 3rd, 2008 at 3:15 pmGreat list!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://tinyurl.com/4zejcp
by Paige Tyler July 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pmNice TT.
Janice~
by Janice July 3rd, 2008 at 4:33 pmWhat is a mud slide?
by Sarah @ pussreboots July 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 pmWhat a great list! I know we did all this growing up. Something not mentioned — playing kick-the-can at dusk was especially fun. Have kids today even heard of it??
by Heather July 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pmCatching fireflies.
Spitting watermelon seeds in the grass.
Roasting marshmellows on real sticks over an open fire.
Kick off their clothes and take a spontaneous swim in a lake.
Eat ice cream for dinner.
Swing high enough to touch the clouds…
by Jenyfer Matthews July 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pmWonderful list! I did everyone of them in my youth and my 8 yr old has done all but the mud slide. Not sure where to find one around here…
The only one I’d add is Make S’mores!
by Wylie Kinson July 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 pmGabriele! Mice? Eek! I prefer to observe mice from a healthy distance and always have. We only have the stinging jellyfish here so we couldn’t try that trick but it would be worthy of a photo. You little horror!
Sarah – a mud slide is loads of wet mud and water, usually on a hill that you slide down on your butt. You get very dirty but it’s loads of fun!
Heather – kick-the-can must be an American thing. I’m presuming there’s kicking and a can involved?
Jenyfer – I walk past a set of swings every time I take the dog for a walk. I often stop and have a swing when there’s no kids around. I think swings are for big kids as well!!
Wylie – S’mores is also an American/Canadian thing. We don’t have them here, although we do the marshmellow toasting thing.
by Shelley Munro July 4th, 2008 at 1:13 am