‘World’s most adventurous kids’ doing 500 epic challenges before they turn 18

By Elizabeth Hunter

The 'world's most adventurous kids' are taking on 500 epic challenges before they are 18 - to spend more time with family and less in front of screens.

Brothers Ollie and Harry Ferguson, 15 and 12, have spent the last ten years completing 473 adventures - from a list created by them and their parents.

The youngsters have broken Guinness World Records, crossed oceans and explored caves - creating hundreds of memories together.

They have found buried treasure, had a banquet, fed birds from the hand, watched an eclipse, explored a shipwreck, visited a jail, gone worm charming and sent a message in a bottle.

They've had a snail race, flown a kite, hunted trolls, played in a rock band, explored a smugglers' cave, found a fossil, been metal detecting, baked bread and had a mud bath.

They have built a Death Star, sent Lego into space, panned for gold, ridden in a vintage car, working on a farm, go sailing, explored stone circles, built a nestbox - and 'danced like no one is watching'.

The idea began when Ollie and Harry, then 5 and 2, began showing more interest in electronics.

Their parents from Turriff, Aberdeenshire, were eager to make sure they spent time outside, said Dad MacNeill, an environmental consultant.

"We’d started to notice that the boys were getting more and more interested in screens – and we didn’t really want them to grow up with' digital nannies' said MacNeill.

"We wanted to make sure we were spending time with them and doing things that were fun and interesting and exciting.

"The initial concept came when we asked the boys one day what they wanted to do – we said, 'let’s go on an adventure'.

''Their responses were quite endearing – Ollie wanted to go on a mission to Mars, and Harry wanted an Intergalactic Sausage Day.

"We had no clue what that meant or what he was talking about – but we ended up turning it into an adventure.

"Now, on 1 November every year, we go and cook sausages on the beach – we’ve made it a real holiday. Really, it’s just an excuse to go out and do something together as a family.

"That’s where it all started – they were so interested and excited, so we wanted to expand on it and create a list of things to do as a family all together. It kept growing and growing, and we ended up with a list of 500.

"We thought it would be a perfect way to spend time with the boys over the next few years – actively going out and doing and learning things.''

Harry, 12, added: "My favorite adventure was when we went potholing on Skye.

"We had to swim to the cave because the tide was in, and then using head torches, followed the cave down to a natural pool and got to swim in it - it was really exciting."

Ollie added: "I really like the adventures where we're engineering, as that's something I'm really excited about doing.

"The boat adventure where we tried to circumnavigate Antarctica was probably my favorite."

The family's list is subject to change, with ideas tailored to suit the boys' ever-changing needs and interests.

"A lot of them we came up with beforehand, like sleeping in a cave, learning how to sail a boat, or doing falconry – anything that seemed exciting and interesting," said MacNeill.

"The adventures have grown with the boys – we started with really simple things when they were younger, and as they’ve grown and got older, the adventures have evolved with them.

"Everything is carefully planned and risk assessed – the boys have never been in any danger. We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve only had two injuries over the past two years – one was a blister and one was a cut finger from using a knife to chop vegetables."

Ollie and Harry were even featured in a Guinness Book of World Records - after sending two toy boats nearly 10,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

They have sent Lego into space, learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, foraged for food, crafted a birdhouse and learned first aid - with their parents eager to help them live in the moment, all while learning and experiencing new things.

"The boat adventures went way better than we expected," said MacNeill.

"They were initially just boats from their toy box that we repurposed to survive in the sea.

"They also loved sending Lego into space – that was an exciting one. They also loved catching lobsters and sleeping in a cave.

''Probably one of the most exciting ones we’ve done was an expedition to Skye last year, to the Spar Cave.

"Inside the cave, there’s actually a natural pool – and so our challenge was to see if we could have a swim underground in this cave. We had to plan because you can only get to the cave at certain times due to the tide.

"They also understand that it’s good to give back. One of the things we did last year is convert an old red phone box in a nearby village into a library – the Fintry Book Nook.

"That went really well; it’s been really popular. People can come and take a book away to read and leave a book, so the library always stays full. We found out that the local school actually take classes down to take books out, which we really love."

Not every adventure is a success, however, with the family experiencing their fair share of failed experiments - but MacNeill says they teach important life lessons.

"Last year, we spent a year trying to do our third boat adventure, which was to get a one-meter boat to navigate its way around Antarctica," he said.

"We spent a year building this boat, replicating the scientific expedition of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.

"We built these two boats – and had a lot of help building them – and they went out to sea last year.

"Unfortunately that adventure is over now – we’ve lost contact with both of them after a technical issue with the satellite receiver that we were using. They’re still going – we just can’t tell where they are!

"We learn as much from the things that we fail at as the things that we’re successful in. We feel that the boys are getting some amazing life lessons from a lot of the adventures that we’re doing."

Ollie and Harry's latest adventure is one of their most ambitious yet - as they plan to launch their own deep-sea lander to snap photos inside the Mariana Trench.

The family have even written their own book, titled "Ollie and Harry's Marvellous Adventures" - a how-to guide covering some of their most enjoyable experiences.

"The boys were actively involved in the process and had a say in what adventures we were going to share and what we were going to talk about," said MacNeill.

"It was an exciting part of their adventures – it was well-received and it’s a nice thing to look back on.

"The book is a sort-of how-to guide on some of the adventures, to show people that even if they seem quite extreme, they’re more than doable. With a bit of imagination and planning, you can do quite a lot of cool things."

The Fergusons say they plan to continue with the list until eldest son Ollie turns 18 - and says planning has become more difficult as the boys get older.

"We're a normal family; both of us work full-time," said MacNeill.

"The boys also have their own interests and still go to after-school clubs.

"We have to slot the adventures around normal life – and it’s getting harder as the boys are growing up.

"They’ve got their own interests, and they want to spend time with their friends, and so we have to be mindful of that.

"Our goal is to finish all of this before our oldest, Ollie, turns 18 – so we’ve still got three years, and we’ve only got 27 left to do."

MacNeill says the family loves spending time together and experiencing new adventures - and couldn't be prouder of his intrepid sons.

"The goal from this was to encourage us to be spending time together, and actively participating in the world around us," he said.

"It’s exposed them to lots of opportunities and activities and they understand how lucky they are to get to do some of the things we’ve done.

"We couldn't be more proud of who they're becoming."

Ollie and Harry's 500 adventures :

1. Find buried treasure 

2. Conquer a new land 

3. Explore the deepest jungle

4. Build a shelter in the woods to sleep in

5. Go on a desert expedition

6. Launch a rocket

7. Have a shower in a waterfall

8. Survive a zombie outbreak 

9. See the northern lights 

10. Go orienteering 

11. Bag a rarity 

12. World’s biggest snowman

13. Have a Roman banquet 

14. Go sand sledging 

15. Catch a fish with a net 

16. Feed a bird from your hand 

17. Catch ten rainbows in photographs 

18. Save up to buy something big 

19. Paper planes from the highest mountain

20. Raise butterflies 

21. Do a scavenger hunt 

22. Watch an eclipse 

23. Attract twenty bird species to the garden 

24. Help animals survive the winter

25. Create a family tradition 

26. Explore a shipwreck 

27. Visit ten historic sites 

28. See a golden eagle

29. Watch a sunrise

30. Be a Neanderthal 

31. Hunt for seashells 

32. Go on a road trip

33. Watch dolphins 

34. Rock pooling 

35. Visit a seabird colony 

36. Find the oldest dated gravestone

37. Do a Tree top obstacle course 

38. Visit a national park 

39. Go to jail 

40. Cast metal 

41. Catch butterflies 

42. Carve pumpkins 

43. Make a parachute

44. Feather headdress 

45. Find the Bennachie dragon 

46. Go worm charming 

47. Climb a tree 

48. Go wave hopping

49. Science Festival 

50. Toast marshmallows 

51. Pay it forward 

52. Slime

53. Explore the coastline from the sea 

54. Message in a bottle 

55. Make a movie

56. Poo sticks 

57. Camp in hammocks 

58. Make landscape art

59. Host a mini Olympics 

60. Make some art for the house 

61. Collect sea glass 

62. Take on the elements. All of them. 

63. Roll down a really big hill 

64. Fly a kite  

65. Make an airfix model 

66. A surprise for Ollie

67. Have a Snail race  

68. Eat an apple straight from a tree

69. Have an outdoor movie night 

70. Make rubbings 

71. Go to Disney

72. Solve a mysterious mystery

73. Build an Igloo

74. Go indoor camping 

75. Be a superhero 

76. Do apple bobbing 

77. Collect and play conkers 

78. Do indoor potholing 

79. Go crabbing 

80. Make a sand sculpture

81. Go to the theatre 

82. Go troll hunting 

83. Make popcorn without a lid 

84. Engage in piracy

85. Storm a castle 

86. Have an epic snowball fight

87. Ride on a steam train

88. Play truant from school 

89. Learn about an extinct animal 

90. A surprise for Harry

91. An eating challenge 

92. Go to a car race  

93. Keep a snowman alive for a year 

94. Play in a rock band 

95. Feed lambs 

96. Make monster tracks & scare the locals

97. Go to a live music concert

98. Harry’s choice

99. Build a snow fort

100. Dishwasher cooking

101. Go to a big sports event

102. Send secret valentines

103. Ride a tractor 

104. Go up the down escalator

105. Plant, grow, eat 

106. Catch snowflakes on your tongues 

107. Be king for the day

108. Cook in clay 

109. Fly seed helicopters 

110. Build a secret den 

111. Make a catapult 

112. Create amazing ice cubes

113. Twenty parks in a day 

114. Make a rainbow

115. Bubble wands 

116. Make a cactus garden 

117. Snog a frog. Kiss a puddock 

118. Time in chalk shadow

119. Make a fairy ring

120. Find a smuggler's cave 

121. Sleep in a bothy

122. Mission to Mars 

123. Create your own style 

124. Build a waterslide

125. Erect an inukshuk

126. Painting pots 

127. Make something from natural materials 

128. Choose a species to protect

129. A random act of kindness

130. Read a banned book 

131. Track wild animals

132. Make a driftwood shelter  

133. Visit the NHM 

134. Grow crystals

135. Make a bird feeder 

136. Find a bird’s nest 

137. Learn to speak another language

138. Explore a hill fort 

139. Bank seeds to grow 

140. Go to a living history event 

141. Cross a river without getting wet 

142. Make something from the strandline

143. Make a Butterfly bar

144. Create a nature photo-journal

145. Build a luxury birdbath

146. Time thunder and lighting

147. Grow plants in a glass

148. Make a pooter

149. Find canopy bugs

150. Build a bivouac

151. Unearth a fossil 

152. Seaweed safari 

153. Dragonfly hunt

154. Visit a lighthouse 

155. Go metal detecting 

156. Watch a seal haul-out site 

157. Hear a dawn chorus

158. Go on a safari

159. Forage at low tide and cook

160. Bivi bagging 

161. Ride the funicular 

162. Wildlife hotels

163. Ride a combine harvester 

164. Build a pitfall trap 

165. Do an insect safari

166. Make and test an anemometer

167. Build a log pile house

168. Woodlouse maze 

169. Grow hitchhiker seeds

170. Frame pressed flowers

171. Make leaf skeletons

172. Explore a ruin 

173. Do a 1000 piece puzzle

174. Erect a tent 

175. Make snow tea 

176. Learn how to use tools 

177. Bake bread 

178. Do a magic trick

179. Learn CPR

180. Walk on stilts 

181. Lego World Tour 

182. Make a twig raft 

183. Disassemble an old appliance 

184. Have a mud bath 

185. Slide down a fire pole 

186. Sleep at the top of a mountain

187. Plan and go camper vanning

188. Race to the Pole

189. The Jungle Temple challenge

190. Retrace the Beagle expedition

191. Build a tree house

192. Watch a meteor shower

193. Go surfing

194. Do a winter summit

195. Choose a good cause to support 

196. See 100 bird species in one day

197. Arboreal traverse

198. Invent an entirely new sport

199. Call an owl 

200. Try slacklining 

201. Learn to Juggle

202. Make a family newspaper

203. Plan, shop, and cook a meal 

204. Make a trebuchet

205. Go skiing 

206. Make decisions by dice

207. Hold a snake

208. Hold a Butterfly species marathon

209. Sledge down a mountain

210. Make a primordial soup

211. Take photographs of the seabed 

212. Small mammal detection

213. Make a fossil for the future

214. Ten keepie uppies

215. Get lost in a maze 

216. The Ten Mammal marathon

217. Start a rock collection

218. Bird bingo

219. Find space rocks

220. Watch an otter in the wild

221. Go on an archaeological dig 

222. Go geocaching 

223. Go fossil hunting

224. Climb a mountain via your own route

225. Go on a nature walk at night

226. Be a rockhound

227. Go abseiling

228. Make a time capsule 

229. Sleep in a haunted castle 

230. Do a paper chase

231. Write a play and perform it

232. Identify birdcalls 

233. Make candles 

234. Learn to sign 

235. Hit a bullseye

236. Fly a falcon 

237. Go to a music festival

238. Snorkel a river, lake & ocean

239. Ride the waves

240. Go jousting 

241. Go wild swimming

242. Viking funeral 

243. Find a Selkie

244. A surprise for mummy

245. Movie magic 

246. Have a really fancy afternoon tea 

247. Make a scrapbook

248. Make a life soundtrack

249. Go ice-skating 

250. Invent a new species

251. Eat a bug 

252. Go to a highland games

253. Create a Scooby Sandwich 

254. Create a secret society

255. Have a food fight

256. Make a wigwam

257. Learn Ninja skills

258. Visit Legoland 

259. Daddy’s choice

260. Celebrate half birthdays 

261. Have a water balloon fight 

262. Have a midnight feast 

263. Watch a silent movie

264. Muddy puddles  

265. Build a monster leaf pile

266. Make a bumblebee box

267. Create a bee-friendly garden

268. See sunspots

269. Go body boarding 

270. Collect 20 shells 

271. Mushroom spore pictures

272. Lie down and listen

273. Nature treasure hunt

274. Measure hailstones

275. Make compost

276. Help birds nest 

277. Dissect Owl pellets 

278. Observe rainwater life

279. Feather collection

280. Measure rainfall for a year

281. Tag and track 

282. Make a stone float

283. Make a wormery 

284. Measure tree age 

285. Follow in the footsteps of a hero

286. Have a disability for the day

287. Read a classic

288. Paint a self-portrait

289. Go to an art gallery 

290. Eat the world

291. Dissect an animal

292. Do a scientific experiment 

293. Help an elderly person

294. Break the rules 

295. Make a collection

296. Create a flag 

297. Help someone at Xmas 

298. Watch an animal give birth

299. Drive a car 

300. Fish for tea and cook on a fire 

301. Learn sword skills

302. Have an archery competition 

303. Make a meal out of foraged food

304. Build a bridge

305. Skin and cook a rabbit

306. Explore a tunnel 

307. Learn tracks and signs

308. Make a wildlife hide 

309. Light a fire without matches 

310. Navigate using a map & compass

311. Learn to play chess

312. Make a bow and arrow 

313. Learn first aid 

314. Clubhouse 

315. Play a musical instrument

316. Feather for mackerel

317. Ride a horse 

318. Row a boat

319. Leave a trail to be followed

320. Try curling

321. Tickle a trout 

322. Teach the dog a new trick

323. Make some jewellery

324. Rebuild the Death Star 

325. Learn to dance

326. Make a map

327. Make a fish trap

328. Cast footprints

329. Droppings ID

330. Make Camouflage to watch wildlife

331. Train bees

332. Spider web catchers 

333. Make a waterfall

334. Create a woodland terrarium

335. Follow ants 

336. Bee id

337. Test bird brains

338. Wall or roof gardening

339. Watch a newt grow

340. Coasteering

341. Inflatable portaging

342. Go hunting 

343. Sleep in a stone circle

344. Mini Everest climb

345. Spend the night in a cave

346. Follow a river from source to sea

347. Be modern-day Robinson Crusoe

348. Make a raft

349. Ghyll scramble

350. Mountain bike a mountain

351. Make a pond

352. Get a story in the local paper 

353. Get behind a waterfall 

354. Go on a zip line

355. Write and publish a story

356. Make furniture out of driftwood

357. See dawn to dusk in the same day

358. Do a 5 till 9 adventure

359. Make nettle soup 

360. Go on a reptile hunt

361. Compose a song

362. Invent something and build it

363. Do an obstacle course

364. Make a lobster pot & catch dinner

365. Drink milk from a cow

366. Mother hen Challenge 

367. Cook a cockatrice

368. Send a balloon camera into space 

369. Complete an assault course

370. Climb a volcano

371. Find some cave paintings

372. Build a cairn

373. Do a river float

374. Explore a foreign city

375. Go whale watching

376. Find a trig point 

377. Be lost and find your way back

378. Go on a long hike

379. Watch a badger den 

380. Explore a Broch

381. Set up a moth trap 

382. Explore using an ancient map

383. Watch bats at night 

384. Ride in a vintage car 

385. Explore a tall ship

386. Blindfold map home

387. Pan for gold 

388. Go white water rafting

389. A surprise for Daddy

390. Have an outside birthday

391. Make a rope swing

392. Swim in the rain

393. Go paintballing

394. Bid at an auction

395. Go to a ceilidh

396. Plan & execute a jewel heist

397. Go to a musical

398. Paint a mural

399. Send balloon gifts into the ether

400. Go incognito

401. Go on the biggest rollercoaster

402. Escape from Colditz

403. Go Karting

404. Ollie’s choice

405. Go rock climbing 

406. Help for Neonatal

407. Do charity work abroad

408. Work on a farm 

409. Take a stand

410. Discover local history

411. Map the solar system

412. Live in a different era

413. Make a mistake and learn from it

414. Photograph the Milky Way

415. Help a friend

416. Do a beach clean 

417. Help an injured animal 

418. Make a pinhole camera

419. Help somebody who is stuck

420. Recycle something thrown away

421. Be homeless for a night

422. Fungi ID

423. Organise an expedition

424. Go Sailing 

425. Go bouldering 

426. Do a backflip

427. Make a signal fire

428. Cook on a rock 

429. Change a wheel

430. Set a Wentworth trap 

431. Make charcoal and draw with it

432. Go on a reconnaissance mission

433. Take a panoramic photo 

434. Create a new recipe and cook it

435. Cuillin ridge overnight

436. Explore a kelp forest

437. Coast to Coast

438. Three-peak challenge

439. Bog snorkeling

440. Go night swimming

441. Go quad biking

442. Dinner at the top of a mountain

443. Cook the days meals on a fire

444. Go caving

445. See a basking shark

446. Walk on a glacier

447. Stick a pin in the map and visit

448. Take part in art 

449. Run a trail race

450. Play extreme golf

451. Have a beach bonfire party

452. Have a movie marathon

453. Spend a holiday in a cabin

454. Mummy’s choice

455. Pick an obscure holiday and celebrate it 

456. Stargazing 

457. Domino pebbles 

458. Make lemonade

459. Become a knight 

460. Tree swing

461. Make a dinosaur garden 

462. Leave earths orbit 

463. Create a froggery 

464. Ten Castle Trail 

465. Cloud spotting

466. Raise chickens 

467. ID and follow tracks 

468. Cook on a griddle 

469. Sieve a mudflat 

470. Make amber insects

471. Grow stalactites

472. Learn trail symbols 

473. Do a plant sense experiment

474. Sunflower tracking

475. Stone circles 

476. Learn to draw birds

477. ID spider web types

478. Work as a stablehand 

479. Create a sundial

480. Insect sanctuary

481. Use a quadrat  or a tetrad

482. Grow an oak tree

483. Build a nestbox 

484. Lichen hunt

485. Attract butterflies

486. Dance like no one is watching 

487. Cloud in a jar

488. Feed a carnivorous plant 

489. Spot the planets

490. Do something that scares you

491. Make an ice slide

492. Cook on a spit 

493. Start a rebellion

494. Do something for the community

495. Pay something for the person behind you

496. Do wildlife photography

497. Indulge in luxury camping 

498. Go spearfishing

499. See something truly spectacular

500. The final adventure!