Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do) is a book by Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler.  The title explains it all as the book contains fifty different dangerous projects for kids to do with care and supervision.  The book includes a section for parents because the purpose of the book (according to Tulley) is to “start a deliberate effort to start a national and global dialogue about what we are really doing when we [parents] overprotect children, which is to keep them from having the kinds of experiences that lay the foundations for creative genius.”

Here are some of the activities:

  • Throw a rock
  • Climb a tree
  • Put your hand out the window of a car
  • Play with the vacuum cleaner
  • Put strange stuff in the microwave
  • Cook something in the dishwasher
  • Super glue your fingers together

This is an interesting book for me because I’m always looking for new, creative resources and ideas to use with kids.  But the more I looked into the book, I realized that this might be a great tool for parents, especially dads to use with their kids.  As a dad, I’m always trying to answer the question, “What should we do today?”  I want my time with our two daughters to be amazing and heart-shaping.  So I plan on using Fifty Dangerous Things in this regard, maybe I’ll look for corresponding dangerous things from Scripture to relate to each experience in the book.

For more on Gever Tulley watch “Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do.” or Life Lessons Through Tinkering or view the Tinkering School web comic.