Children’s bucket list that inspired new Education Secretary

A ‘bucket list’ of activities for children to tick off each primary school year is part of new measures planned to be released by the Department for Education.

These goals are set to include learning to knit, exploring a cave and climbing a tree and are designed to build character and resilience in children.  

Education Secretary Damian Hinds, who was appointed in January, hopes the list will push schools to realise that what ‘you do academically is only part of the story.’

He told the i: ‘It’s about doing stuff that doesn’t involve looking at a screen. It’s about getting out and about.’    

Mr Hinds added that he hopes the new initiative will build resilience and help children ‘bounce back from the knocks that inevitably come to all of us.’  

Mr Hinds is said to have been inspired by St Werburgh’s Primary School in Bristol which already has a ‘product list’ of 20 enrichment activities for each year group. 

Here’s the list of suggested yearly goals from St Werburgh’s Primary School… 

Reception – children aged four to five

1. Visit a farm 

2. Paint a self portrait

3. Plant some bulbs and see them grow

4. Go on an autumn walk and make leaf rubbings

Bucket list goals for children in each year are hoped to make young people more resilient (stock)

5. Make a sandwich

6. Taste a new fruit

7. Visit a place of worship

8. Fly a kite

9. Make a boat and see if it floats 

10. Perform a song 

11. Re-tell a story to an audience

12. Post a letter 

13. Look after an animal 

14. Watch a chrysalis hatch

15. Take a photograph

On the checklist for reception children is posting a letter and dressing up as a pirate (stock)

On the checklist for reception children is posting a letter and dressing up as a pirate (stock)

16. Make a treasure map

17. Dress up as a pirate

18. Look up where you live on google earth

19. Have a teddy bears picnic

20. Go to see wild animals

Year One – children aged five to six

1. Record a ‘sound journey’ 

2. Make gingerbread people

3. Make and taste chapattis

4. Make a puppet

5. Put on a shadow puppet show

Children will also be encourage to cook and make things as well as playing outside (stock)

Children will also be encourage to cook and make things as well as playing outside (stock)

6. Make a Chinese lantern

7. Go pond dipping

8. Create a piece of art for an exhibition

9. Visit a Planetarium

10. Perform a dance

11. Go on a mini-beast hunt

12. Make a home for a … 

13. Create a class collage 

At St Werburgh's school in Bristol Year One pupils are encouraged to watch a puppet show during the school year (stock picture)

At St Werburgh’s school in Bristol Year One pupils are encouraged to watch a puppet show during the school year (stock picture)

14. Write/draw a comic strip 

15. Take part in play day 

16. See an aeroplane up close 

17. Watch a puppet show 

18. Be part of a club 

19. Build a den 

20. Perform in front of the school

Year Two – children aged six to seven

1. Plan a party 

2. Learn a poem off by heart 

3. Go to the seaside 

4. Bake a cake 

5. Buy something and check your change 

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said the bucket list is about 'getting out and about' by doing things like playing at the seaside (stock picture)

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said the bucket list is about ‘getting out and about’ by doing things like playing at the seaside (stock picture)

6. Write a weather report for St Werburgh’s radio 

7. Build a bridge and test its strength 

8. Be a nature detective 

9. Dress up as a superhero 

10. Make a film 

11. Eat something you have grown 

12. Pick blackberries 

13. Get soaking wet 

Dressing up as a superhero is on the list for Year Two pupils in Bristol (stock picture)

Dressing up as a superhero is on the list for Year Two pupils in Bristol (stock picture)

14. Go on a boat 

15. Learn a French song 

16. Walk barefoot on the sand 

17. Experience a Victorian school room 

18. Walk over the suspension bridge 

19. Make a mask 

20. Go to the cinema

Year Three – children aged seven to eight

1. Compose a piece of music 

2. Take part in a Roman banquet 

3. Eat something new 

4. Create a mosaic 

5. Design and make a board game 

6. Climb a tree 

Trying yoga is one of the aspirations listed for seven to eight year olds (stock picture)

Trying yoga is one of the aspirations listed for seven to eight year olds (stock picture)

7. Create a soundtrack for a piece of film 

8. Make a pinhole camera 

9. Make a musical instrument 

10. Light a candle 

11. Learn a new game 

12. Make something out of wood 

13. Cook outdoors 

14. Bury treasure and make a map 

Mr Hinds said he hopes the bucket list will build character and resilience in children (stock)

Mr Hinds said he hopes the bucket list will build character and resilience in children (stock)

15. Program a character on the computer 

16. Produce rubbings of fossils

17. Try yoga 

18. Start a vegetable patch 

19. Visit an art gallery 

20. Stay away from home for a night

Year Four – children aged eight to nine

1. Make chocolate 

2. Set up a museum 

3. Write a play 

4. Perform in a play 

5. Watch a play or a dance production at the theatre 

Many of the goals used by St Werburgh's Primary school are about getting outside and trying something new (stock picture)

Many of the goals used by St Werburgh’s Primary school are about getting outside and trying something new (stock picture)

6. Use a camera to document a performance 

7. Choreograph a dance 

8. Make a sculpture 

9. Create a sculpture trail 

10. Go in a cave 

11. Walk through a forest 

12. Visit a Gurdwara 

13. Make up your own game and teach it to someone 

14. Visit a museum 

15. Take photographs of dance 

16. Create an outdoor sculpture 

17. Swim outside 

18. Learn to sew on a button 

19. Go on a hike 

20. Go on a treasure hunt

Year Five – children aged nine to ten

1. Take part in a debate 

2. Vote in a school election 

3. Learn how to moon walk 

4. Make and launch an air powered rocket 

5. Use an OS map 

Children will also be encouraged to explore by reading maps and going orienteering (stock)

Children will also be encouraged to explore by reading maps and going orienteering (stock)

6. Go orienteering 

7. Learn how to use a compass 

8. Visit a temple 

9. Make a huge class model 

10. Visit a Science laboratory 

11. Write and perform a poem 

12. Write a book for the Reception class 

13. Put on a performance 

14. Make papier mache planets 

15. Learn to climb 

16. Go abseiling 

17. Write in hieroglyphics 

18. Watch a sunset 

19. Plan and cook a meal 

20. Design and make a model with electricity 

Year Six – children aged ten to eleven

1. Go on an open top bus 

2. Go on a train 

3. Send an email 

4. Learn to knit 

5. Write a speech 

6. Use a local map 

Learning how to play an instrument is also encouraged by the school to help children grow

Learning how to play an instrument is also encouraged by the school to help children grow

7. Plan a tour around Bristol 

8. Interview someone 

9. Have a charity week 

10. Go on a demonstration/start a campaign 

11. Pitch an idea for enterprise to a visiting ‘dragon’ 

12. Learn to play an instrument 

13. Write and record/broadcast a radio play 

14. Sleep under canvas 

15. Make scones 

16. Organise a cream tea for parents and carers 

17. See the sun set 

18. Go on a picnic 

19. See the sun rise 

20. Go to London 

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