Mini adventures (or 15 ways to get outside)

This time of year there are loads of blogs out about improving your life, changing your life, 

making this your best year yet and all sorts of things like that. This one isn't. Maybe you are 

happy enough as you are. Maybe just a little more adventure in your life would be nice 

though. Or maybe you just fancy getting outside and doing something different.

 

image: children walking along lane in snow

How often you want to go off on an adventure is really personal. You might be the sort of 

person who likes to do things spur of the moment or you might be a planner. Some people 

might want to write themselves a list of one thing a month for every month or some people 

might pick out 12 or 24 ideas and put them in a jar to pick out at random.

Adventure is what we make it. This means that adventures can be really accessible. Leaves for 

example are great for kicking in but they can also be wheeled through, looked at, brushed 

over skin or crumbled in hands. Don't feel that it has to be strenuous or miles away or involve 

special kit. Not everyone has the opportunities to 'go off and do things', adventures don't have to 

mean travel or a big investment of time or money.

image: close up of different shaped brown leaves on ground

So if you're keen to get planning for your next adventure, here are some ideas to get you 

started:

1. Follow a walk along a river, a footpath or one of the national trails around the country. You 

could use skate boards, scooters or anything else to make it more fun if anyone needs extra 

persuasion. 

image: 3 children walking away, holding skateboards

2. How about fitting a walk into normal life. Once in a while walking home from school or work if you normally drive or going the scenic route back makes for a nice change.

image: 3 boys in school uniform on wooden bridge in woods

  

3. Go outside to do homework. How about visiting a castle or going to see 

tidal defences, it will stick in the mind so much more than just reading bout them. Little ones 

just learning to read love the buzz of realising they can actually read signposts or numbers on

doors. The very littlest will love you pointing out 'their' letter on signs, man hole covers 

and loads of other places when you're out and about.

4. Go to a new town or city or village or interesting place. You could stop off on your way 

somewhere else, combine it with other things that need doing or make it into a road trip. 

Just wander round, enjoy a coffee and admire the views. The pictures are of Portreath 

Harbour in Cornwall and St James' priory, the oldest building in Bristol.

image: blue sea, breaking wave, shingle beach, cliffs behind

image: warm stone tower, blue sky behind

5. Find a corner or park or even a road of your own town or city that you have never visited 

before. Look out for interesting monuments that you walk past each day and have never 

really stopped to look at properly. Or actually sit down with an ice cream or coffee 

somewhere you think you are familiar with. You may be surprised. Picture of the Scott 

memorial in Plymouth.

image: grand monument with winged being

6. Visit a national park. Whether you fancy driving through a wilderness, parking and 

enjoying a picnic or going on an all day hike the National Parks in Britain will have something 

for you. Have you tried letterboxing on Dartmoor, bagging a Monroe or watching ponies in 

the new Forest? Photos are of Dartmoor and Snowdonia.

image: 3 boys with backpacks on pathway through moorland

image: green hills and blue water of mountainous landscape

7. Get out on the water. Any chance to explore in a kayak, dinghy, speed boat or ferry is 

always exciting. Looking at the coast from the other side gives you a different perspective. 

If you don't have your own vessel a little bit of research will easily find training, hire and 

other opportunities. How about a fishing trip with the chance to enjoy your catch for lunch 

or trying stand up paddle boarding? 

image: child adjusting sail in small dinghy

8. Have a meal on a beach. There are loads of different options from a sandwich (bought or 

home made), takeaway fish and chips, a barbecue with friends or try making a hot stew in a 

straw box.

image: small dinghy nosed on to rocky foreshore

9. Climb a mountain. This one does need preparation and some proper kit. You really need to do your research and make sure that you are fully prepared but the rewards are well worth the effort. There are lot of different routes of differing challenge depending on your ability and experience and Snowdon's summit can be reached by train. All the pictures are of Snowdon.

10. Rock pooling. Great for any time of year. Have you tried using small bits of ham as bait?

11. Beach clean. There are organised ones you can join (try searching on the internet) or you 

can just go to the beach and pick up what you find.

12. Coasteering. This one takes more planning and experience too, lots of places around the

coast do supervised sessions. Start carefully, make sure you know the tides, have the right kit and make sure you do your research.

image:man in water between two towering rocks

13. Look out for local events and get involved in something a bit different. Look on local facebook groups, adverts on notice boards or in the local paper. Small villages and big cities all do lots of different things throughout the year. The pictures below are from a pirate day in Plymouth and the annual charter day at Topsham, Devon with Town Criers competition.

image: 2 children dressed as pirates play fighting with swords

image: parade of people dressed as town criers

14. Charity trails. These are another good way of getting out somewhere you may not usually go. Many cities hold charity trails throughout the year. Bristol often does Aardman animation themed ones raising money for the cities children's hospital and Plymouth is hosting an Elmer trail this summer in aid of the local hospice.

image: sheep sculpture with suspension bridge in background

15. Make a boat. This photo is quite old now but this was a very successful project. The children designed and built boats using things that were waiting to be recycled. They then launched and raced them in the sea. Just make sure that you collect all the bits and dispose of them properly once you've done. In case you wondered; we weren't being overprotective with the buoyancy aid, we travelled to the beach by canoe and he still had it on in this picture.

image: small child holding plastic boat

These are just some ideas to get you thinking, make sure you plan and prepare properly for anything you do. Safety is important. Keeping track of your adventures is nice too. How about drawing a map, taking pictures, building a collection of postcards or a jar of shells.

image: clear jar with lid, filled with shells

Whatever adventures life has in store for you this year, we wish you 

beautiful sunrises and fair winds

image: children beside pond