50 things to do before your 12th birthday

The National Trust is on a mission to tear today's couch-bound kids away from their games consoles and gadgets to experience the kinds of outdoor adventures children of previous generations took for granted.

It has published a list of 50 things to do before you are 11 and 3/4 that includes classic playtime activities like skimming stones, making mud pies, climbing trees and building dams.

The list has been put together in response to a report commissioned by the National Trust which found that fewer than one in 10 children regularly play in wild places, compared to almost half a generation ago.

The research found that a third of children had never climbed a tree, one in 10 cannot ride a bike, and three times as many children are taken to hospital after falling out of bed than for falling out of a tree.

Other children's favourites on the must-do list include catching fish in a net, swinging on a rope swing, and exploring a rock pool.

To help kids - and big kids - get outdoors more, the Trust has formed a group of Elite Rangers who will share their expert tips on enjoying outdoor adventures and their enthusiasm for encouraging children to play alfresco.

The five rangers, all Trust staff, come from across the UK and range in age from 29 to 49. They include a 6ft 3” tree climbing expert, who has scaled 50 metre-high trees, (a.k.a. Tree Man), Captain Skim who can skim a stone over 26 times and Midas the treasure hunter. The other rangers are Den-Boy, an outdoor hideaway-building champion, and a minibeast expert (aka The Bug Catcher) who can name over 300 varieties of moth.

Captain Skim, Mark Astley's top tips for stone skimming are:

- find some flat water, such as a lake or sea on a calm day

- choose your stone carefully – the smoother, rounder and flatter the better

- next perfect your stance, bend your knees into a squat position with one foot in front of the other about a foot apart

- steady yourself by putting your non throwing arm in front of you and point your finger in the direction you want the stone to travel.

- hold your stone throwing arm behind you and then bring forward - throw hard and low so it spins quickly across the top of the water.

"My personal best is 27 skims and I’m still trying to beat that,” he said.

The rangers will be on hand to share their tips during the National Trust's forthcoming free weekend on 21 and 22 April, when 200 of its properties will be opening their doors free of charge.

Participating properties will be offering kids a free '50 things to do before you are 11 and 3/4' scrapbook.

Tony Berry, Visitor Experience Director of the National Trust, comments: “Our Elite Rangers are a fantastic bunch, with bags of enthusiasm for the outdoors and what it can offer kids. We’re hoping that the nation’s children will embrace the 50 things and start having their very own outdoor adventures with their family, with our free weekend the perfect opportunity to get outside in the fresh air.”


The 50 Things to Do Before you’re 11 ¾:

1. Climb a tree
2. Roll down a really big hill
3. Camp out in the wild
4. Build a den
5. Skim a stone
6. Run around in the rain
7. Fly a kite
8. Catch a fish with a net
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
10. Play conkers
11. Throw some snow
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream
15. Go sledging
16. Bury someone in the sand
17. Set up a snail race
18. Balance on a fallen tree
19. Swing on a rope swing
20. Make a mud slide
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree
23. Visit an island
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones
27. Watch the sun wake up
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Get behind a waterfall
30. Feed a bird from your hand
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river