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Animals

• become an expert on some rare, exotic animal or bird.
• become very knowledgeable about one kind of animal.
• borrow related National Geographic videos from the library.
• collect and mount insects.
• get friendly with and learn from an expert in a pet shop.
• learn to groom and care for an exotic pet.
• learn to raise tropical fish.
• offer to animal sit as a business.
• start a dog-walking service.
• study animal biology.
• teach your pet some tricks. Put on a show for others.
• visit the zoo and talk to animal experts.

Art

• borrow art works from the local library.
• design and sell your own special greeting cards.
• develop a portfolio of sketches of how you see life.
• develop art ideas for kids and/or kid parties.
• learn to do art in large form and do paintings on garage doors.
• learn to do clay sculptures.
• learn to do picture framing.
• learn to use various kinds of media in expressing yourself.
• make a scrap book of famous paintings you like (from newspapers).
• study the works of different artists.
• visit a school of art in the city.
• visit art stores and talk to the owners about art.

Business

• become a sales representative for a company. e.g. Avon, Regal, Jocus, Pampered Chef, etc.
• find a niche and start your own internet business.
• find a person who is willing to teach you a job in an office or small business if you volunteer to help them for a time.
• find good stuff out for the garbage and sell it at your garage sale.
• join a Junior Achievement group.
• organize ideas for starting your own little business.
• start your own garden, mini greenhouse, plant emporium. Sell them through free ads in local papers, craft shows, lawn sales.
• start your own little company e.g. babysitting, house-sitting, lawn mowing, painting, flowers-to-your-home service.
• start your own newsletter to save people money while shopping or on any other topic that you think people would find interesting. Get others to help you and form a team.

Careers

• attend career fairs in the community. Watch for newspaper ads.
• cut out interesting articles about people with odd jobs/careers and investigate them for educational requirements.
• explore a library for careers.
• interview people in various professions to find out if you want that career.
• read books about the future and try to invent your own career.
• study university calendars for a possible career.
• write, write, write and really talk to yourself about what you want.

Clubs, Informal/Start Your Own

• check out church groups in your area.
• find out about unusual clubs in the city and visit them. e.g. model railroad club, miniature soldiers club, reading groups, kiteflyers.
• join a choir, dance group, hobby group or start your own with your friends.
• join the cubs, beavers, scouts as a leader.
• start a club of your own based on a talent/skill/interest.

Collecting

• collect stuff according to your interests and enjoyments.
• design and fill a time capsule that will be opened in 50 years.
• go to antique shows, flea markets, and see what people collect.
• start a collection of something you think will not be around when you are an adult, e.g. Macdonald's stuff, stamps, coins, toys, etc.
• start a scrapbook on an interesting subject or person.
• start collecting antique items e.g. toys, glass, vases, buttons.

Communication

• arrange to discuss an interesting topic with family each night.
• check with your local phone company and see if they have a communications library. Visit them and talk.
• develop your vocabulary. Add new words to yours.
• learn and develop expert public speaking skills.
• learn sign language and volunteer to help deaf people.
• learn the Morse Code.
• learn to lip-read.
• listen to famous speeches on video/audio tape.
• practice improving your voice and oral presentation style.
• read inspirational books.

Computers

• explore a complicated software on your computer.
• learn to use the internet.
• learn to write programs from somebody you know.
• read the free magazines (e.g. WE COMPUTE, THE COMPUTER PAPER, TORONTO COMPUTES). They are available in many shops & stores.
• visit computer shops and ask to watch them assemble/repair them.
• volunteer to help senior citizens learn to work a computer.

Cooking

• buy some new and different vegetables and learn to cook them.
• find out what ingredients used in cooking and baking do in recipes.
• improve your cooking skills. Try new recipes with ethnic foods.
• learn macrobiotic cooking.
• learn to bake new and different cakes and cookies.
• visit a local restaurant and ask if you can watch the chef.
• visit neighbours/friends/relatives and learn how to cook from them.

Crafts

• collect craft materials for a nearby school.
• create some kind of craft that you can sell i.e. stained glass, origami, silk flowers, animal figures, dolls, pioneer crafts, kitchen utensils, bookmarks, etc.
• invent your own new kind of craft using scraps of some sort.
• learn a new craft - needlepoint, painting, rug hooking, sewing, carpentry, foil art, origami, leather tooling, sculpture, woodcarving, flower arranging, etc.
• make something and sell it at flea markets.
• research pioneer or ancient crafts.

Creativity, Just Having Fun

• create another planet with inhabitants and other forms of life.
• design your own fantasy playground and equipment, amusement park.
• invent games for little kids and present them to a JK teacher.
• put ideas together for parties i.e. birthdays, New Years Eve, etc.
• read about inventing.
• read books written about developing creativity, creative problem-solving, fantasy and imagination stimulation, (Trefinger, de Bono)
• search your home for things that need to be invented.
• study and learn to be a clown. Design your own costume.
• visit local restaurants and offer to create a new menu for them, for a fee or just for practice.

Dance

• find "teach yourself" dance books at the library. Learn the steps.
• instead of just listening to music, move to it.
• learn to tap dance.
• participate in a school production of a musical/dance production.
• use videos from the library and learn folk dancing, ballroom, line dancing,etc. with a group of friends.
• visit a dance studio to watch lessons.
• visit university dance classes.

Drama

• become a great storyteller.
• design and put on puppet shows for birthday parties.
• entertain little brothers and sisters with playlets.
• learn to do mime.
• start a scrap book of articles related to drama.
• start your own Shakespearean company and put on plays in your neighbourhood or school.
• study characters on TV and note how they act and how well they act.
• write letters to famous actors and ask them about their technique.

Expert, Become one

• explore and learn about all the countries of the world. Learn to locate them on a map.
• learn about and become an expert in a field - antique dolls & toys, some disease, animal behaviour.
• learn all about astronomy and study the stars each night.
• learn how to forecast the weather.
• learn how to use your computer as fully as possible.
• learn how your camera works and become a good photographer.
• learn the basics of how your house/apartment was built.
• learn to be a magician.
• learn to raise and grow your own tropical fish, tropical plants.
• with binoculars become a bird watcher. Set up a feeder.

Family & Friends

• develop a family tree and share it with relatives and family.
• go for walks in the woods on a regular basis.
• organize a family picnic, outing, party, get-together, reunion.
• organize a weekly family games night.
• prepare a special meal and everybody must attend at least once a week.
• try to find all your classmates from kindergarten.
• visit relatives, friends you haven't seen in a long time.

Games

• get a book and learn as many card games as you can. Try to invent a new one yourself.
• invent your own board game.
• organize a games night at your church, school, club.
• research to find the best and play board games with friends/family.
• visit stores specializing in games and get to know the owner as well as the many games and their histories.

History

• choose a time period in history and find out all about it.
• find out about historical battle re-creations in your area.
• go to an antiques auction.
• interview very old people and ask what life was like way back when.
• make a timeline of all the most important events of your life. Interview family and friends to get ideas.
• research your family tree.
• study famous people and how they can help you be successful.
• study the history of your country.
• study time lines and the events on them.
• visit local historic sights, greenhouses, museums, civic centres.
• watch TV shows such as Antiques Roadshow.

Indoor Activities

• clean and reorganize your room into total efficiency.
• learn about Feng Shui.
• learn to make different kinds of curtains.
• learn woodcarving, whittling.
• organize and review escape plans if there was a fire in your home.
• paint a giant mural on one wall of your room.
• redecorate your room in a theme.
• redecorate your room with as little money as possible.

Languages

• get a penpal on the internet or through clubs and learn from them.
• learn a foreign language through tapes and texts in libraries.
• learn the sign language used in sports, stock trading, military, etc.
• study the history of languages and how they came about to be.
• try to get a friend that speaks another language to teach you.

Literature

• join a book reading club or start one yourself.
• read as many award winning books as you can.
• research to find the best books in history and read them.
• specialize in an area of literature and become an expert e.g.. spies.

Literature References

• do some specialized reading e.g. history of Toronto, the science of electricity, philosophy, psychology, series, special topics,etc.
• find lists of books to read e.g. award winners, best of the century, all time favorites, etc.
• read a novel, newspaper, magazine, encyclopedia, technical book, instruction book.
• read all the articles in the newspaper that you usually avoid.
• read aloud to a younger brother/sister or parents to read more for yourself.
• read books in areas that you know nothing about.
• take a speed reading course or invent your own.

Music

• contact and visit the opera, symphony, a musical stage production.
• create funny songs for all kinds of special occasions.
• find out about free concerts in parks, civic centres, clubs,etc.
• listen to radio stations that you have never listened to before.
• listen to world radio stations on the internet.
• teach yourself to read music or play a new musical instrument.

Outdoors, Just Enjoying It

• find and go on hiking trails.
• go for a walk, run, jog, speed walk each day.
• join a cycling club and/or find out about bike paths in the city.
• learn to cross-country ski.
• make a snowman or snow fort.
• visit a farm.

Personal Development

• go to summer camp and become a camp leader.
• interview people to find out what they know or feel about you.
• learn to pray and be silent with yourself and your God.
• read psychology books.
• read religious books about self-improvement.
• start a diary/journal/personal life study.
• start going or go more regularly to church.
• try to make friends with a student who appears to be alone or ostracized by others in the class/school.
• visit a counsellor and go over your life with the person.

Politics

• contact special interest groups and get information on how they put pressure and influence on government.
• find a cause (Environmental, social, economic) you are interested in and send a message to the world. e.g. Craig Keilberger.
• find out all about policy making from a politician.
• get involved with your local MP, MPP during an election.
• go to political meetings in the neighbourhood, city. Find out what the issues are and join a group.
• join a political party.
• read the newspapers and create a scrapbook of politicians.
• run for a student council position.
• write letters to government representatives asking them about various policies and laws.

Religion

• design a brochure/pamphlet that makes religion a “cool thing for kids.
• find out all about nuns and monks.
• find out all the things in the Bible that science figured out centuries later e.g. the earth orbits the sun, the earth is a sphere.
• find out what great philosophers thought God was.
• interview/call leaders of various places of worship and ask the questions you’ve always wondered about.
• learn about and become an expert on world religions.
• make a definitive list of all the great religious movies ever made.
• read the Bible from cover to cover.
• study and find out from the experts how to prove there is a God.
• study the changes in religion over the last 100 years.
• visit different places of worship in your city.

Science

• ask for a microscope as a present during the year and study the world of the super small.
• learn to build model rockets.
• learn to repair small appliances. Start with ones that have been broken and sitting around the house.
• read science magazines in the library.
• try to get in with a scientist who would be a mentor to you.

Sports

• attend a meeting of a car club.
• get into physical shape by setting up your own fitness program.
• get involved with friends and meet regularly for a game of football, soccer, basketball, Ping-Pong, road hockey.
• go swimming, hiking, skating, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, exploring the neighbourhood.
• learn how to be a coach.
• learn the rules and become a referee, umpire, judge in some sport.
• learn to be a kite designer, sports equipment designer.
• learn to do tricks with your bike.

Stress Reduction

• collect articles on stress reduction.
• contact important people and find out how they deal with nervousness.
• have a nice hot bath with candlelight and soft music.
• learn about diet and foods that are related.
• learn to breath deeply for relaxation.
• learn to pray.
• learn to: meditate, deep breath, think positively.
• learn Yoga exercises from books in the library.
• listen to some calming "New Age" music, especially classical.
• make the longest list of nice things to say to people.
• watch TV programs related to the topic.

Trips & Outings

• check local papers for events of the week and attend some of the free lectures, openings, reviews, showings, etc.
• contact bus companies, train services, airlines and find out how they schedule trips.
• find out about standby travel opportunities and go for almost free.
• get a copy of the book all about specialized libraries in Toronto.
• get on a city bus and using transfers, do a full tour of the city. List all the interesting sights along the way that you might like to visit or explore more fully in literature or visit. Do it.

Writing, Skills Development

• call Harlequin Romances (in the Toronto phone book) to learn to write novels.
• enter contests presented in magazines, newspapers, etc.
• find out all about "do-it-yourself" books and write one.
• get on your school newspaper writing staff.
• join a penpals club.
• start your own book of movie/book reviews.
• write children's books and try to have them published.
• write letters to friends and relatives you haven't seen in a long time.
• write letters to the editors of newspapers, magazines, etc.
• write your own, collect and learn jokes to become a comedian.

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