That Big Kid Ellen: The List

Written By Ellen Guthrie

Some inspiration from little kid Ellen

(Check out my intro post for context!)

Here’s the list of 100 things that Big Kid Ellen plans to do in 2022 (in no particular order):

  1. Climb a tree

  2. Complete a coloring book

  3. Rock some colorful overalls

  4. Jump rope, double dutch

  5. Make a robot

  6. Play foursquare

  7. Play tetherball

  8. Create a magazine collage memory box

  9. Make a science fair entry (complete with trifold poster)

  10. Decorate my bike and have a bike parade

  11. Pick out a bag of geology rocks

  12. Write a fan fiction story

  13. Barrel roll down a hill

  14. Decorate cupcakes

  15. Eat frozen hot dogs and peas

  16. Make homemade root beer

  17. Plant a flower garden

  18. Go sledding

  19. Write a poem

  20. Play with a puppy

  21. Host a themed birthday party

  22. Braid a gimp keychain

  23. Braid a friendship bracelet

  24. Braid someone’s hair

  25. Do a handstand in a pool

  26. Jump off the high dive

  27. Roller blade

  28. Use a piece of grass to whistle

  29. Paint a self-portrait

  30. Make a sand castle

  31. Ding dong ditch

  32. Prank phone call someone

  33. Buy a pack of basketball cards

  34. Sculpt something totally useless

  35. Paint my nails

  36. Paint my face (or someone else’s face)

  37. Read a Goosebumps book

  38. Go to a book fair

  39. Wear a bunch of different watches at the same time

  40. Make a short video

  41. Go to an aquarium

  42. Go to a planetarium

  43. Go whale watching

  44. Catch lightning bugs

  45. Play Scrabble

  46. Watch Malcolm in the Middle with my family

  47. Eat Blue Moon/Superman ice cream

  48. Play a game of “calabaloos” at night

  49. Play with Nickelodeon slime

  50. Make homemade popsicles

  51. Run through a sprinkler

  52. Have a water balloon fight

  53. Slide down a slip and slide

  54. Make homemade paper

  55. Twirl a baton

  56. Make an ironed bead art design

  57. Make an embroidery project

  58. Play a game of HORSE

  59. Buy some crazy, colorful shoes

  60. Play an old video game

  61. Do leaf rubbing art

  62. Jump on a trampoline

  63. Star gaze

  64. Invent a sandwich

  65. Hop scotch

  66. Build a fort

  67. Ice skate

  68. Go camping

  69. Put on a puppet show

  70. Play dress up

  71. Compete in a pie-eating contest

  72. Skip stones on the water

  73. Fly a kite

  74. Dance and run around in the rain

  75. Catch a fish

  76. Go apple-picking

  77. Get buried in the sand

  78. Swing on a rope swing

  79. Raise butterflies

  80. Learn a card trick

  81. Do kitchen experiments

  82. Play Spud

  83. Make up a handshake

  84. Have a picnic in the park

  85. Feed the ducks

  86. Get someone to sit on a whoopee cushion

  87. Interpret my dreams

  88. Memorize the lyrics to an entire song

  89. Design a treasure hunt

  90. Hit a piñata

  91. Make a fortune teller/cootie catcher

  92. Send a message in a bottle

  93. Hula hoop

  94. Make an obstacle course

  95. Have a Field Day

  96. Play a game of mini golf

  97. Create melted crayon art

  98. Play M.A.S.H.

  99. Play with a Skip-It

  100. Keep a Tamagotchi alive

For each one, I will document my experience — I’ll let you know why little kid Ellen loved each activity and how Big Kid Ellen fared in attempting to recreate the joy.

And remember: if any of these sound particularly interesting to you and you want to participate with me, please let me know! I’d love for a secondary outcome of this project to be reconnecting with my community after two years of isolation.

Cheers to being a big kid!

Click to see all blog posts: That Big Kid Ellen

Ellen Guthrie
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That Big Kid Ellen #19: Write a poem
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That Big Kid Ellen: Intro