ARTS and crafts toys are a great way of letting children get creative, have fun and maybe get a little bit of messy at the same time.
These creative products are also an ideal way for mums and dads to get involved in their children’s play time, but how many do, and how often do they play together? Is arts and crafts – including activities like painting – a dying pastime? We put the questions to users of Mumsnet, Facebook and Netmums. More than half we spoke to (54 per cent) said they play with their children using arts and crafts products each week at least, while almost a quarter (23 per cent) play every single day.
Around 18 per cent play each month or so, and just five per cent play once a year or less.
JULY 2012 “We play loads together,”
Facebook user Kris Slaven tells ToyNews. “He’s into a variety of things as you can imagine at three years old – including my old Star Wars toys that I got out of the loft. In terms of arts and craft stuff, I would
to don’t have enough time to play with their kids. Almost half would like to spend more time playing with them.
say we play together at least once a week. We draw, play with stickers, glue collages together and other things like that.”
Netmums member Joanne H(512) adds: “I am a childminder and I play
use arts and crafts products so much, due to their messy nature.
Almost half of the parents (45 per cent) admit they’d like more time to spend playing with their children, while one third (32 per cent) said
How often do parents play with their children using arts and crafts products? Dominic Sacco asks parents on Mumsnet and elsewhere to find out…
with my children every day. It’s sometimes draining and I do not want to do it all the time, but one- on-one time is very important.” Around one fifth of the participants in our survey say that although they play with their kids, they tend not to
Work and other commitments are the reason 59 per cent of parents we spoke
they spend enough time and a quarter (23 per cent) aren’t sure. Work and other family commitments are the reason 59 per cent of parents we spoke to don’t have enough time to play with their kids.
While several users say they do
take part in arts and crafts activities with their kids, around one fifth tell ToyNews they prefer playing with their kids using traditional toys – and their imagination.
“Playing to me is imaginative play – and I did a lot of that with the children when they were little,” says Mumsnet user Cory. “As for arts and crafts, we did some of that too, but I always thought playing at pirates or lions was more fun. To me, it made sense to let the playschool and childminder spend more time on that sort of thing, because they were