That Big Kid Ellen: The List

(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. Rollerblade
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
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

Some inspiration from little kid Ellen

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!