School is out for the summer and the weeks of the holidays span ahead of us. Right now, the age-old question is at the forefront of parents' minds - just what are we going to do to keep the kids occupied for six whole weeks? LIberty X's Michelle Heaton is a mum herself and spoke to us about her favourite ways to keep little ones busy.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This new research talking about the competitive nature of families, what does that research
00:06 tell us and is that something that you experience in your own family life as well?
00:11 I'm laughing as you read that out because yeah, absolutely. We've got a very competitive
00:16 family going on here and the research that Hollywood Balls carried out actually shows
00:20 that dads are the main culprit of that competitive nature and that is no different in this household.
00:27 So my husband Hugh is one of those annoying people that wins at everything and is good
00:32 at everything and that includes bowling. He doesn't really care that we've got two young
00:38 kids that want to win as well, he just goes for it. I think that speaks volumes and that's
00:42 obviously what the research has showed as well. But yeah, very competitive. I now, I
00:49 think with age, have come to accept that all I want is a happy time, I want the kids to
00:55 not argue and I want us all to have fun.
00:58 More than half of parents worry about struggling to fill the days of the summer hols with fun
01:02 and entertaining things to do while not breaking the bank. Here are the go-to activities that
01:07 Michelle and her family enjoy at this time of the year.
01:11 Well, when the weather's not great, we do like going to the cinema, but we like indoor
01:15 paddle tennis actually as a family. It's competitive, everyone can be good at it because the ball
01:22 doesn't go out of court, it's like squash. So it's actually a really good way of kind
01:27 of getting the kids some exercise and participating as a family and you can't help but enjoy yourself
01:33 because you've got to move, right? We also like golf. Hugh and my son AJ are keen golfers
01:40 and they're actually very, very good. So I don't golf, I let them go do their own nine
01:44 holes.
01:45 Golf's a great one as well, especially if you've got other things to do because it takes
01:48 so long to do, doesn't it? You send them off to get your own stuff done.
01:52 Exactly. Do you know what was really good is that the other day actually when the weather
01:55 was better, Hugh and AJ went and done their nine holes and me and Faith came along and
02:00 just walked with them and it was just really nice. It wasn't fast activity, but it was
02:06 good to be outside and we all got involved.
02:09 More and more, parents find their little ones would rather spend time on their devices than
02:13 out and about. And while screen time can have its advantages, it can be harmful too. Here's
02:19 what Michelle advises for pricing your children away from the digital world and into the real
02:24 one.
02:25 We all struggle, we all struggle with that as parents. You know, screen time has its
02:29 advantages. I can get on with the cleaning and the washing and things like that. But
02:33 what you don't want is the kids to be on it all day. And unfortunately to get them off,
02:37 you've got to present them with a different opportunity, whether that's going bowling
02:41 or whether that's going for a walk with a dog, entice them, you know, drop them in little
02:45 favors. You know, if they, if they go for a walk with you and the dog, then when we
02:49 get home, we'll play a board game or something like that. There's no point in trying to get
02:53 them off the screen if we're not presenting them with different ideas to go along with
02:57 it to make them want to come off the screen. Right. And for me, I want to be able to enjoy