Deployment Bucket List Ideas

Five things for the family at home to do around a deployment, each with a first step.

Done: Film an ordinary breakfast with everyone in itFilm an ordinary breakfast with everyone in itFree. Prop the phone on a shelf and let it run for ten minutes.
Done: Hold their birthday party without them and mail the photosHold their birthday party without them and mail the photosSmall cost. Bake the cake they like, sing, and photograph every face.
Done: Mark the halfway day with half a cakeMark the halfway day with half a cakeSmall cost. Count the days, circle the middle one and invite someone to share it.
Done: Send them off with a deck of cards, a note on each oneSend them off with a deck of cards, a note on each oneSmall cost. Write a memory or a joke on every card and ask them to draw one a week.
Done: Make a book called While You Were Gone, a page a weekMake a book called While You Were Gone, a page a weekFree. Staple twenty sheets and fill one each Sunday with drawings and news.

Next step Draw questions for them to answer Questions for the kids to send

How it works

These deployment bucket list ideas are 100 things for the ones at home: record them reading six bedtime stories aloud, grow something to eat at the welcome-home dinner, chalk the driveway from the road to the front door.

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The first stage has a deadline

Before they leave, While they are away, For the kids and For the homecoming hold 25 ideas each. The first group is the one with a deadline: the recorded stories, the hidden notes and the photo you will retake all need them in the room.

A countdown that can stretch

Three cards count toward the return: a candy in a jar for every night, a paper chain that grows by a link a day, a bead for every week. Each can run longer without spoiling. The jar gets a spare handful, and the chain is added to, never torn down.

Questions and answers

What are good deployment bucket list ideas?

Ones that leave something to hold: trade sweatshirts before they go, keep a kitchen clock set to their time, mail a crossword half done for them to finish, and retake the family photo from the day they left.

What can kids do during a deployment?

The For the kids group has 25, and 69 cards in all are tagged With kids: pin a wall map with a thread from home to where they are, mail a paper hug, or thread a bead for every week.

What should a family do before a deployment?

18 of the 25 Before they leave cards are free: record them saying goodnight to each person by name, have them hide notes around the house to be found later, and mark the kids' heights on a door frame.

What are homecoming ideas after a deployment?

Paint a welcome-home banner on an old bedsheet, ask a friend to photograph the first hug, hold every holiday they missed in one afternoon, and leave the first whole day at home with nothing planned.

All 100 ideas

Before they leave 25

Agree on one small thing you both do at the same hour Free. A cup of tea, a walk, the same song: choose one that needs no signal.
Book one dinner out for just the two of you Small cost. Choose the week before they go, not the last night.
Build a playlist together, taking turns one song at a time Free. Start with ten songs and leave the list open so both of you can add.
Cook their favorite dinner together and write it down Small cost. Ask which meal they will miss most and shop for it this week.
Film an ordinary breakfast with everyone in it Free. Prop the phone on a shelf and let it run for ten minutes.
Follow them through every household job that is theirs Free. One Saturday with a notebook: the trash days, the filters, the car, the furnace.
Give each child one whole day alone with them Free. Let the child plan it, and put it on the calendar before the last week fills up.
Have the kids draw a family portrait small enough to pack Free. One sheet with everyone in it, folded to fit a wallet.
Have them hide notes around the house to be found later Free. Hand over a pad of sticky notes and take the kids out for an hour.
Hold the birthday or holiday they will miss, early Small cost. Count which dates fall inside the months away and choose one to keep now.
Make a pocket card with a thumbprint from everyone Free. An ink pad, a card the size of a bank card and a name under each print.
Mark the kids' heights on a door frame the day they leave Free. Pencil, initials and the date, with room above each mark.
Pick one book to read at the same pace while apart Small cost. Get two copies and agree on a chapter a week.
Pick one thing in the night sky to look at from both places Free. Go outside together tonight and pick it.
Plant something that will be tall by the time they are back Small cost. Bulbs, a berry bush or a young tree, with a photo on planting day.
Record them reading six bedtime stories aloud Free. Pick the books tonight and film one story a night until the day they go.
Record them saying goodnight to each person by name Free. One short clip each on your phone, saved where the kids can press play.
Send them off with a deck of cards, a note on each one Small cost. Write a memory or a joke on every card and ask them to draw one a week.
Slip a letter into their bag to be found on day one Free. Write it this week and tuck it between the folded clothes.
Start a notebook that will travel back and forth by mail Small cost. Write the first page together and decide who posts it first.
Take a family photo in the spot you will use at homecoming Free. Choose the front step or the big tree, somewhere easy to stand again.
Take a portrait of them with each child, one at a time Free. Same chair, same light, and a print for each child's room.
Trace everyone's hands on one sheet of paper Free. Biggest hand first, the smallest inside it, and the date in the corner.
Trade sweatshirts before they go Free. Each of you gives up the one you wear most.
Write down their answers to twenty small questions Free. Favorite breakfast, first job, best day so far: the kids ask and you write.

While they are away 25

Film one normal Saturday from breakfast to bedtime Free. Ten-second clips through the day, joined in order that night.
Finish one house project as a surprise Small cost. Choose the job they kept meaning to get to and buy what it needs.
Grow something to eat at the welcome-home dinner Small cost. Count back from the month they are due and sow then.
Host a monthly dinner for families whose person is away Small cost. Ask two families first and make it a potluck.
Keep a kitchen clock set to their time Small cost. Hang it beside your own and label each with a name.
Keep a list of every first they miss, with the date Free. Tape a sheet inside a cupboard door: first tooth, first goal, first snow.
Keep a notebook of things too small for a letter Free. One line a day: what the dog did, what broke, what made you laugh.
Keep every letter they send in one box, in order Free. Write the day it arrived on the back of each envelope.
Learn the one household job you always left to them Free. Ask a neighbor to show you once, then do it twice on your own.
Learn to cook the dish they always order when you eat out Small cost. Find a recipe this week and make it three times before they are home.
Mail a crossword half done for them to finish Small cost. Fill in what you can, post it and ask for it back complete.
Mail a photo cut into pieces, a few in each letter Free. Print one picture, cut it into twelve and number the backs.
Mail the front page of the hometown paper once a month Small cost. Buy the first one this week and write a line in the margin.
Mark the halfway day with half a cake Small cost. Count the days, circle the middle one and invite someone to share it.
Pack a care package where every item is one color Small cost. Choose the color first, then hunt for socks, candy, a pen and a card to match.
Post a letter every Sunday, numbered on the envelope Small cost. Keep the paper on the table and write the number in the corner of each one.
Press a leaf or flower from each season and mail it Free. Start with whatever is on the ground outside today.
Read the book they keep telling you to read Free from the library. Reserve it today and write to them about chapter one.
Record the sounds of home and send the file Free. The kettle, the front door, the dog's welcome, the street at night.
Send a postcard from every place you go while they are gone Small cost. Buy the first one in the next town you stop in.
Take a photo every day they are away and print the book Small cost. The same hour each day is easiest. Start tomorrow morning.
Take the class they would never sign up for with you Small cost. Look for a six-week course that starts this month.
Tie a yellow ribbon to the tree out front Small cost. Wide ribbon from a craft shop, tied where it shows from the road.
Visit their parents and bring a stack of photos Small cost. Phone this week and offer two dates.
Walk the miles between you, added up over the months Free. Look up the distance, divide it by the weeks and keep a tally on the fridge.

For the kids 25

Braid two matching bracelets, one to keep and one to mail Small cost. Three colors of thread, knotted and taped to the table edge.
Bring their picture on a stick to every big occasion Small cost. Glue a head-and-shoulders print to card and tape it to a ruler.
Camp in the living room on the first night they are gone Free. Blankets over chairs, flashlights and a film everyone agrees on.
Draw a picture every Friday for the weekly envelope Free. Keep a folder by the door and write the date on the back of each one.
Fill a jar with one candy for every night they are away Small cost. Count the nights together and add a handful in case the day moves.
Find where they are on a globe and read a book about it Free from the library. Ask the librarian for a children's book on that part of the world.
Give each child a soft toy that speaks in their voice Small cost. Look for a toy with a record button and fill it before they leave.
Grow a paper chain by one link for every day apart Free. Cut strips of scrap paper on the first night and hang the chain along the hall.
Hold their birthday party without them and mail the photos Small cost. Bake the cake they like, sing, and photograph every face.
Invent a secret handshake to use the moment they are back Free. Three moves is plenty. Practice it on the last night before they go.
Keep a box of things to show them: tests, ribbons, teeth Free. A shoe box with their name on the lid, where the child can reach it.
Learn a song or a poem to perform on homecoming day Free. Choose it this week, practice on Saturdays and keep it a secret.
Let each child pick one job that is theirs until homecoming Free. Write it on a card with their name: feed the dog, bring in the mail.
Mail a paper hug: the child's arms traced at full stretch Free. Lay the child on wrapping paper, trace fingertip to fingertip, cut and fold.
Mail a tracing of a growing foot on the first of each month Free. Trace round the foot in pencil and write the date beside the heel.
Make a book called While You Were Gone, a page a week Free. Staple twenty sheets and fill one each Sunday with drawings and news.
Pin a wall map with a thread from home to where they are Small cost. A world map, two pins and a length of red wool.
Plant a sunflower and report its height in every letter Small cost. One pot and one seed each, with a ruler taped to a stick.
Play one of their recorded bedtime stories every Sunday Free. Put the films in one album so the child can press play.
Save one keepsake from every holiday they miss Free. A card, a paper hat, a painted egg, all in one labeled bag.
Send a one-minute voice note from the child each week Free. Same chair, same day, and the child holds the phone.
Send five questions the child wants answered Free. The child says them, you write them, with space under each for the reply.
Teach the pet a trick to show off at homecoming Free. Start with a paw shake, five minutes a day after school.
Thread a bead for every week, a big one for each month Small cost. A bag of beads and a cord, hung on the bedroom door.
Turn one of their shirts into a pillow for the child's bed Small cost. Button the shirt over a cushion and stitch the hem and sleeves shut.

For the homecoming 25

Ask a friend to photograph the first hug Free. Choose someone steady with a camera and tell them where you will stand.
Ask the neighbors to wave from their steps as you drive in Free. Knock on three doors the week before with the day, not the hour.
Chalk the driveway from the road to the front door Small cost. A bucket of chalk and the evening before to draw.
Cook the first-night dinner they asked for in a letter Small cost. Ask a month ahead what they have been craving and shop the day before.
Drive home the long way, past the places they missed Free. Plan the route on a map: the old school, the bakery, the river.
Film the walk through the front door Free. Prop the phone in the hall before you leave for the pickup.
Give them a tour of everything that changed in the house Free. Let the kids lead: the new paint, the gap in the teeth, the taller plants.
Go back to the restaurant you ate at before they left Small cost. Ask the sitter now and book the same table if you can.
Hand over the letters you wrote and never sent Free. Keep a notebook for the days there was too much to say and tie it with string.
Have the kids make them breakfast in bed Small cost. Decide the menu the night before and set the tray out ready.
Hold every holiday they missed in one afternoon Small cost. List what they missed and give each an hour: the gifts, the eggs, the cake.
Hold the welcome party a week later, not on day one Small cost. Pick the Saturday after and ask each guest to bring one dish.
Leave a welcome-home letter on their pillow Free. Write it the night before, so it is the last thing they read that day.
Leave the first whole day at home with nothing planned Free. Tell the family the party comes later and keep the door shut.
Let each child show them one new thing they can do Free. Draw straws for the order: a cartwheel, a song, a times table.
Make matching shirts for the welcome Small cost. Plain T-shirts and fabric markers, drawn the weekend before.
Mark the homecoming date on the calendar every year after Free. Write it into next year's calendar now, with what you ate that night.
Measure the kids against the door frame again Free. Add today's heights in pencil with the date, above any marks from before.
Paint a welcome-home banner on an old bedsheet Small cost. Sketch the letters in pencil first, then fill them in with markers or paint.
Retake the family photo from the day they left Free. Find the first picture on your phone and stand everyone where they stood.
Set out their chair, their mug and their blanket Free. Wash the blanket, find the mug and put both where they always sat.
Show them a ten-minute film of everything they missed Free. Take one clip from each month and join them in order.
Spell out a sign for the arrivals hall, one letter each Small cost. A sheet of card per person and a practice line-up at home.
Stock the fridge with every food they said they missed Small cost. Keep a running list on the fridge door from letters and calls.
Take the trip you planned in letters Save up. Start the list in your first letter and book once the return is certain.

How this list was compiled

All 100 lines were written for this page; nothing is copied from another list. 6 of the ideas are also, in other words, on another idea page of this site. The rule for getting on the list: it is something the people at home can do because someone they love is leaving, away or coming back. Each line gives the cost in words (Free, Small cost or Save up; no prices are given), then the first step. Left out on purpose: anything that depends on alcohol, gambling, dieting, cold-water dips, heights, trespass or pranks. Nothing on the list is about the service itself: no branch, rank, unit, place or mail rule is named, and no place, price, date or rule is stated as a fact. Groups: 25 ideas each for Before they leave, While they are away, For the kids and For the homecoming; by cost, 58 Free, 41 Small cost and 1 Save up. 69 cards are tagged With kids. Read and counted on 2026-10-08. Licence: own work