Added by: Shropshire Mums on Thu Apr 30 13:47 2020
Over a third of parents believe the school shutdowns are helping them to build better relationships with their children – despite almost all claiming it is making home life harder
• Over a third are playing more, and doing more activities as a family
• Keeping kids entertained is the biggest concern for almost half of dads, and a quarter of mums
• But over half say getting the kids to do their schoolwork is the biggest difficulty!
28 April 2020: New research from kids’ snacking brand, Strings&Things, has found that over a third of parents believe the school shutdowns are helping them to build better relationships with their children, despite almost all (93%) admitting it is making home life harder.
The study found that since schools shutdown in March, the biggest struggle for half of parents (54%) is getting the kids to do their schoolwork – with one in five (19%) confessing that they find the schoolwork too difficult to be able to help. Making sure youngsters keep active was also a concern for just under a third (29%) of parents as well as almost half (42%) of dads and just one quarter (26%) of mums saying keeping the kids entertained is the biggest struggle.
Despite all of this, there are positives to having the kids at home – almost two fifths (39%) say they’re playing more with their children, and over a third say they’re enjoying doing more activities as a family (34%) and feel that they’re building better relationships with their children as a result (33%).
Following the research, to help parents entertain their kids as well as encourage fun and creativity during the school shutdown, Strings&Things has launched ‘Doodle Time’, a virtual doodling workshop with leading children’s illustrator Steven Lenton.
For 15 minutes at 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays every week, Steven Lenton will be hosting a live draw-a-long workshop to help kids spark their creativity, and help parents get a little time back for themselves.
In each session kids will learn how to draw a different scene or character which they can colour and display in their windows to spread joy to their neighbours over the coming weeks.
Steven Lenton said “I am so excited to be working with Strings&Things to create a fun and engaging afternoon doodle workshop for kids across the country. If you’re in need of 15 minutes back to yourself, or are running out of activities for the kids, this will get their creativity and imagination sparking with just a pen and paper!”
Steph Allen, Senior Brand Manager at Kerry Foods said “We're really excited to be working with Steven to host these workshops - we know how tough the coming weeks will be, and hope it's a great way to give some time back to parents, and sparking some imagination for their kids.”
To join in, watch live on YouTube at Strings&ThingsUKI at 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays every week for the next five weeks. Share all your creations on Instagram tagging @Strings&ThingsUKI and #DoodleTime for a chance to see your drawing up on Stevens wall the following week.
