- Tim and Kerry Meek set challenges to stop daughters watching TV
- The couple who aren't 'naturally adventurous' took part in all the tasks too
- Documented adventures on website encouraging others to get outdoors
- The family are now working on a new list to complete next year
Tim Meek with daughters Amy (front), Ella (back), and wife Kerry. The family completed 100 outdoor activities in one year to avoid becoming too lazy
Kerry and Tim Meek were eager to get daughters Amy,10 and Ella, eight, out of the habit of watching television and playing games.
So the parents from Arnold, Nottinghamshire, challenged their children and themselves to complete the gruelling activities in just 365 days.
Walking on high ropes, foraging for food, snorkeling and cliff jumping were among some of the daring challenges which the family completed on Saturday after spending the night in a suspended tent tied between two trees.
Mr and Mrs Meek also wanted to test their daughter’s social skills by encouraging them to get up in front of the school to announce a bake sale they were holding to raise funds for a charity - the aim of another task to stand up for a cause.
Mr Meek, 44, said the family had taken on their 'year of adventures' to encourage a positive mindset.
'This is something we have been doing every weekend, regardless of the season.
'We started from scratch, Kerry and I are not very adventurous people and as our kids have grown older we have wanted to give them that mindset that means they don’t want to sit in front of a TV or computer game all the time.
'Now the girls instigate the ideas themselves and they are determined to sleep on a mountain, which one day we will do.'
'We don’t force them not to watch it but now they just don’t so much.
'We want them to be confident and outgoing people and so when we are out on walks we
encourage them to talk to people.
Canoeing down a river was just one of the 100 outdoor activities undertaken by the girls and their parents who are both school teachers
The family taking part in a kayak safari. Mr and Mrs Meek didn't want their daughters to spend all their free time watching TV and playing video games
Snorkelling was one of many water activities the family undertook in coastal parts of the country such as Cornwall
'We are hoping to help parents have a positive impact on their kids.
'Kids are resilient and I think we wrap them up in cotton wool too much.
'One of the scariest moments was when we took the girls climbing in the Peak District and I was responsible for their ropes.
'We began looking forward to each challenge and planning it as a family. Most of the tasks were very cheap and we could do most on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, it just brought us all together which was great.'
The family, who documented their adventures on a website, have been invited to several outdoor activity centres and festivals to encourage people to be more active.
So as to avoid wrapping their daughters up in cotton wool the parents encouraged them to take part in a variety of activities they wouldn't normally do
Ella and Amy pictured while damming a river. The family only left the UK once as part of their adventures when they visisted the Eiffel Tower while on a holiday to France
Coasteering was eight-year-old Ella's favourite activity, while sister Amy enjoyed bivvy-bagging
under the stars
under the stars
The family also set more bizarre tasks to test their survival skills like hunting for food and even going to the toilet outside.
Mrs Meek, 39, who a primary school teacher, added: 'It’s just about giving things a go and trying things out.
'My favourite activity was bivvy bagging as we got to sleep under the stars and saw a meteor shower on a beach on the Norfolk coast.
'I didn’t like the idea at all at first but it was incredible. You wouldn’t have witnessed that in a tent and we saw it together as a family.'
The family have been invited to speak at a number of outdoor festivals and activities to encourage other families to do similar activities, such as a wild river swim
Climb a winter summit and skiing were among the tasks which the family took in their stride in all weather conditions
All of the 100 adventures cost the family less than £500 put together, including walking to tidal islands (pictured) and kayak safaris
Foraging for food and cooking for Kerry Meek on mother's day using just one pot were other challenges
The family is now planning a list of activities to take on next year, with the hope that other families will be inspired to do the same
Ella, whose favourite task was coasteering in Cornwall, said: 'You jump off the rocks again and again, then when you’re under the water you can see all the fish through your goggles.
'Our friends spend a lot of their free time watching telly or playing on computer games in their bedrooms, luckily we’ve had the chance to do something different.
'We just want to share the fun we are having with other people.'
THE 100 OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT TORE THE MEEK GIRLS AWAY FROM TV
The girls pictured sleeping on a pebbly beach during one of their first adventures
2. Scooter Safari
3. Caving
4. Spend the night in a hammock
5. Canoe down a river
6. Adventure led by the girls
7. Sleep in a wood
8. Watch rutting deer
9. Learn survival skills
10. Sleep on a beach
11. Forage for a meal
12. Support a cause (Comic Relief)
13. Snorkelling
14. Go for a reptile ramble
15. Find a private beach
16. Climb the Eiffel Tower
17. Kayak Safari
Indoor climbing and abseiling were included on the list of activities
19. Swim in a natural pool
20. Sleep in a cahutte
21. Coasteering
22. Orienteering race
23. Outdoor birthday party
24. Walk on high ropes
25. Make a rope swing
26. Sleep in a Bivvy-Bag
27. See a henge from sunset to sunrise
28. Sleep in a family-size sleeping bag
29. Kayaking
30. Community work
31. Climb and abseil
32. Sailing
33. Walk a peninsula
34. See a puffin
35. Watch wild seals
36. Play conkers
Standing behind a waterfall is yet another task the girls ticked off their list of challenges
38. Sleep in a shelter
39. Climb an epic summit
40. Camper-vanning
41. Cook and eat in the wild
42. Wake and run
43. Bivvy by a river
44. Tag team cycle trail
45. Learn a constellation
46. Whittle (carve) while you walk
47. Sub-zero camping
48. Snow walking
49. Floodlit swan feed
Hunting for waterfalls and finding a summit were included in the list
51. Find a summit
52. Go without electricity for 24 hours
53. Weaseling (climbing between gaps in rocks)
54. Night-time descent
55. Eat nettle soup
56. Enter a race
57. Explore rock pools
58. Cook on a beach
59. Dam a stream
60. Explore a cave
61. Explore a wreck
62. Find a waterfall
63. Take on the elements
64. Body-boarding
65. Wild river swim
66. Mountain biking
67. Going to the toilet outside
68. Go behind a waterfall
A visit to London was one of the few activities that didn't involve camping
70. Music festival
71. Visit a landmark
72. Walk to a tidal island
73. Sleep in an eco-tent
74. Spot red squirrels
Cooking with snow was among the more unusual tasks
76. Walk down a river
77. Geocaching (GPRS treasure hunting)
78. Clean a beach
79. Scramble
80. Walk around a city
81. Orienteering
82. Night-time wood walk
83. Snow hiking
84. Cook with snow
85. Visit a suspension bridge
86. Three peaks in three day
87. Climb a winter summit
88. Ghyll scrambling (walking through gorges)
89. Make meal for mum on Mother’s Day
90. Play in snowdrifts
91. Backpacking
92. Tracking and mapping
93. Visit London
94. Build a bridge
95. Crabbing
96. Night walk in a forest
97. Off-peak camping
98. Skiing
99. Climb indoors
100.Tentsile (hammock-like tent)
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