33 Things Kids Should Do Before They’re 10

Have your children experienced the 33 things they should do before they’re 10?

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Have they cycled through a muddy puddle, made perfume from flower petals, organised a teddy bears’ picnic or baked bread, asks Sarah Stone.   

The list was compiled last year by the washing powder company Persil to encourage children to experience different types of play without the worry of getting dirty. According to Persil, one third of children avoid certain forms of fun because they are too concerned about getting grubby.

A plug for washing powder it may be, but I do think the list stands on its own merits as an excellent childhood checklist. My nine-year-old daughter and I stuck it up on the fridge and tick off the activities as she does them. She started off on a pretty good footing, having completed 23 of the 33 things listed, and now we’ve just got two to go: camping out in the garden (yes, but only if I sit up in the kitchen keeping watch all night with an intravenous drip of coffee attached to one hand and a baseball bat to the other); and making and flying a kite (well, she’s flown plenty of kites, but make one? I’m sure there’ll be instructions in my Blue Peter annual circa 1976).  

Anyway, why not get your kids to take the challenge work their way through the list (although making snow angels – No. 16 – will  have to wait). Ooh, and take a look at No. 32 – you might even get breakfast in bed.

1. Roll on your side down a grassy bank

2. Make a mud pie

3. Make your own modelling dough mixture

4. Read under the bedcovers with a torch

5. Make perfume from flower petals

6. Grow cress on a windowsill

7. Make a papier mâché mask

8. Build a sandcastle

9. Climb a tree

10. Make a den in the garden

11. Make a painting using your hands and feet

12. Organise your own teddy bears’ picnic

13. Have your face painted

14. Play with a friend in the sand

15. Make some bread

16. Make snow angels

17. Create a clay sculpture

18. Take part in a scavenger hunt

19. Camp out in the garden

20. Bake a cake

21. Feed a farm animal

22. Pick some strawberries

23. Play Pooh sticks

24. Recognise five different bird species

25. Find some worms

26. Ride a bike through a muddy puddle

27. Make and fly a kite

28. Plant a tree

29. Build a nest out of grass and twigs

30. Find ten different leaves in the park

31. Grow vegetables

32. Make breakfast in bed for your parents

33. Make a mini assault course in your garden/the park