Do you feel you need help in knowing how to get your kids playing actively?
MUM KNOWS BEST
ToyNews asked Mumsnet and Facebook users about how active their kids are…
“My son needs no encouragement to be active. Most of our walking is actually usually running or jumping. Yes, he jumps to get from place to place.” Tee2072
“Does chasing mine to school count as active play? I call it the school run, but I have to ‘play’ or he won’t get there quick enough. I make him go to rugby on a Sunday morning for a couple of hours, and a sports club after school once a week. He also does a theatre
YES – 13 per cent NO – 87 per cent
Do your children take part in at least an hour a day of active play?
group, which is a bit of running about.” NagooBunnytail
“My children ‘actively play’ whenever they are not asleep, I don’t need to encourage them, it’s hard
enough to get them to sit still to eat.” Colditz
“She’s mostly active though… At the moment she’s supposed to be watching Finding Nemo. Instead, she’s doing backflips and backward walkovers in front of the
TV.” MrsLetchlady
“My problem with active play is that mine can’t play out. Where we live, there’s a busy road outside, so they have to stay within the house and garden (which is modest in size). They often run around the house/use the scooter for an hour after school if the
weather is nice.” Pleasehelpifyoucan
Yes – 77 per cent No – 15 per cent Usually – 8 per cent
AnxiousPanxious comments: “I haven’t a clue how to engage my children in it. One of them is quite sporty and does her own thing with her friends. The other one refuses to (for example) come swimming or cycling with me, and I don’t have any other ideas, since these were the things I enjoyed at this age and I’m not hugely sporty myself. I’d appreciate some ideas to be honest.”
On the other hand, Ragwort doesn’t need any help at all: “I’ve never found it a problem, but then my DS [Darling Son] loves sport, he’s always been actively involved in sports activities. If the weather is bad, we still go out and about, biking, walking, football in the park etc.” We also asked whether parents felt their schools did enough to get pupils active.
71 per cent thought they did, while 29 per cent thought their children could be more active at school. Indith explains: “At school, they do
plenty. My DS’s school do lots of active stuff, they go into the woods and explore and the whole school does a daily active dance thingy.”
So our respondents seem to be happy, on the whole, with the amount of active play their children are engaged in and only a small percentage could do with help in encouraging their children to get active – help which is on hand from the BTHA with the Make Time 2 Play campaign, which is being backed by celebrity mum, Kym Marsh. Research based on 15 Mumsnetter and Facebook users’ responses.
“Buy them a scooter for outside and a shopping trolley and till for inside. It’s amazing what things my DD
walks around the house trying to buy.” Facebook User 1
“I don’t think an hour a day is enough! Especially not for older kids. Surely they should be active for longer
than that?!” Facebook User 2
“I’ve always been more of the view that play is something children can just get on with and doesn’t need much parental input or lots of products, but I’d like to see more outdoor play areas for more structured play, plus something for older children, like