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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July 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 am · Link
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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 am · Link
My kids have done most of these already. Yes, my mother is appalled. LOL.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 am · Link
I couldn’t agree with you more. Great list!
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am · Link
My 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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 am · Link
Great list. I remember doing many of those.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 am · Link
I’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. :)
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:47 am · Link
Hey 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
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 am · Link
Lol, 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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am · Link
Well, mine are mostly “things you should do with your kids” (although not necessarily before they’re ten)
1. help them with their homework
2. 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)
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 am · Link
sorry, I guess that was 6 things, not two 5′s
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am · Link
What 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!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am · Link
Kids 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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:19 am · Link
Happy 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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm · Link
I’ll second all of those! Great list
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:15 pm · Link
I’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.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm · Link
Great list!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://tinyurl.com/4zejcp
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:33 pm · Link
Nice TT.
Janice~
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm · Link
What is a mud slide?
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pm · Link
What 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??
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm · Link
Catching 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…
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 pm · Link
Wonderful 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!
July 4th, 2008 at 1:13 am · Link
Gabriele! 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.