I'm a bit rhymy today aren't I?
Well today I'm sharing some news from my friends at Ikea. They have today released the Play Report, the largest global study into child development and play, which reveals how Australian parents, and kids feel about the world today and the effects of play on family life.
I've had a read through it and found the following parts quite fascinating:
FAMILY AND FOOD
- 68% of Australian kids would prefer to spend more time baking with Mum and Dad - yet only 50% of parents see cooking or baking as good for creativity.
- 85% (58% strongly) believe that it is important for the development of their child/ren for the family to eat together at mealtimes.
- 91% (59% strongly) believe their children should learn about food and nutrition at home
- Time pressured working Mums though placed slightly less (by 2%) emphasis on meals together
Are you surprised by any of these results? Do you think Masterchef has something to do with the first statistic or is it that kids want to spend time with parents doing what they think is fun?
PLAYING WITH OUR KIDS
- Almost half (46%) of parents feel that they don’t have enough time to play with their children
- Over half (52%) of Aussie parents say that they often feel guilty that they are not spending enough time with their kids
- 70% of Aussie parents would like more time to just ‘chill out’ with their children
- But most interesting (to me anyways) was that 74% (that's almost three of any four of us!) feel that they should be doing more to encourage creativity at home.
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids? How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
Ikea and I would love to hear your thoughts on the two questions I've just asked - so much so Ikea are going to give away 5 of their NEW Duktig 14 piece vegetable sets - (Something for you to play with too!)
So...
- Answer one of the 2 questions above (or both in separate comments for 2 entries!)
- Share this post on Twitter or Facebook for an extra entry*
Entries close this Sunday 7th November at midnight
Entries open to those with Australian postal addresses only.
* please quote @frillyhills on twitter and post on the Frills in the Hills Wall or the Ikea Facebook Wall so we can Identify the entries.
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24 lovely comments:
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids?
I know a lot of ppl who don't like to doing cooking/craft with the kids because of the mess factor. I also think a lot of ppl don't have the time, with work/studying.
I honestly think there's so much going on in our lives these days, that we HAVE forgotten about what making your own fun means. I do blame a bit of that on technology. But also changing of times. I'm so scared I'm going to raise recluse, TV addicts!
Q2: I do bake with my kids but not often. Usually because I'm in a bloody hurry!
Will post on twitter now.
How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
I cook, paint, glue, make goop and play dough with my boys.
We all love doing it and i try to encourage the boys to help clean up after it (doesn't always work!!).
My eldest boy is 4 and i don't let him use the stove/oven etc but will let him use a knife (its pretty blunt, but still cuts well).
"How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?"
Although I wouldn't call myself overly creative I make a real effort with my 2 girls to provide them with a range/variety of opportunities and experiences.
We bake together every week, my eldest loves to measure, mix, stir, crack eggs, roll the biscuits etc and they both LOVE to lick the beaters and eat the finished products :-)
I am slowly building up a range of craft materials such as glue, paints, different papers, scissors, wool, icypole stick etc and explore using these is a variety of ways (with the help and ideas from a range of blogs/books and sometimes I surprise myself and come up with something!!)
My girls LOVE to play outside and would happily live out there in the cubby house if I let them! They have a "cafe" set up out there at the moment and bake and serve sand cakes and dirt cuppas!!! And sometimes the odd mud pie!
However in embracing all of this (and being a SAHM I have more time to be able to do so) I do at times feel like the minority! Quite a few of my friends commented on pictures of the girls all muddy and said they would NEVER do that! Yes its horses for coursed but I do think we need to spend more time "playing" with our precious children. I have very fond memories of an amazing childhood growing up in rural Victoria and hope my girls look back in years to come with fond memories of the fun they had!
Wow sorry for such a long comment!!! I didn't realise how much I had to say :-)
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
Yes I always try and encourage my son (4yrs) to help me cook in the kitchen. I classify this an another 'activity' we do together, it gets him doing things he doesnt normally do and het gets suvh satisfaction from achieving something and of course seeing and eating the results too.
I don't worry about the mess at all, I dont find it to be any more messier than cooking myself. Masterchef has certainly encouraged him to want to do more than just pour/mix/stir though, now he wants to try to peel things and slice them and under careful supervision I have even let him stir at the stove too.
I also try and get his input on what to cook also.
I find cooking and baking are brilliant activities to do with my 2.5 year old. I usually try and prep everything first but then we get into cooking (him usually just eating what he can) and then there's the clean up which involves him just playing at the sink.. but he LOVES it. So much now that when I'm doing any cooking he's dragging his little (Ikea, no less) steps up to the counter.
We do a lot of glueing, drawing and painting too. I've a old big vinyl tablecloth that I put on the ground for painting on, then it's really easy to clean up afterwards.
We live in Ireland so finding easy, fun, indoor activities that we can do together is really important.
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
I bake all the time with our kids and its something that we all enjoy, although admittedly some days it would be nice to do it by myself in half the time. But in the end there is nothing cuter than bringing out a tray of freshly baked biscuits and knowing that the oddly shaped and sized ones were made with a lot of love by your own children!
And I always remember that all the fun things in life create mess and it can always be cleaned up.
I bake and cook all the time with my 3 year old. He actually initiates a lot of it and although sometimes it's a pain I always try and find something for him to help out with, chopping soft veggies with a blunt knife, washing veggies, whisking eggs etc. I think it's really important that he understands where his meals come from and it's great for him to learn about new veggies and taste things.
I think it's easy for us to say we're too busy to play (and I sometimes use the excuse myself) but surely the vacuuming (or whatever) can wait while we have a quick play. That's what I try to tell myself anyway.
"How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?"
Hmm.... I don't do a lot of cooking with my now 7 year old... it is the mess factor and also that I hate waste... he loves masterchef though so maybe as he gets older it will be something he will get into more.
Are we too afraid of mess? When I had my first child I had all the intentions of 'messing up' with her - you know - foot painting, face painting, glitter pictures - and a friend (who had 4 kids already) laughed and said "you'll do it ONCE" - I hate to admit it but she was right. So, I guess the answer is yes! Sadly but true.
How down and dirty do you get? I try, I really really try to let my 4yr old bake until her heart's content - it's not the baking - that is always fun - it's my suecontrol need to tidy around me all the time - still her sticky face after licking the bowl and spoons seems to satisfy us both. :)
Are you surprised by any of these results?
Not at all surprised... i think with tv, computers video games, work and wanting some time to outselves.. play often comes way down the list
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids?
I think that most of us mums are too afraid of mess, so in that way we tend to stifle our kids creativeness.. Mums are so time-poor and/or stressed that cleaning up extra mess is just another headache for mums! I also think that because us mums are time poor, perhaps we have forgotten to take "time out" with our kids to sit down and play with them.. this is really sad, but unfortunately one of the truths of today..
How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
I love getting in the kitchen with my 3 year old son and baking up a storm. We end up with flour, water, milk etc absoloutely everywhere, but I don't care about the mess as we have so much fun..And he loves eating the finished product (and licking the bowl !!) Nothing that a bath and a mop won't fix!! I let my son use knives under supervision and also put items in the oven. I am not afraid - as long as he is supervised I think this is totally fine..
Are we too afraid of mess or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids? How down and dirty do you get? Do you bake or cook with your kids?
Kids, especially toddlers, have an ENTIRELY different view on what "play" means !!!
I believe many have forgotten how to play with their kids; it tends to be quite a vicious cycle.
My Mum never played with my Siblings or I. She was a young Mum too concerned with outward appearances and an extraordinarily clean & tidy home, and Children!!! My Dad used to love to wrestle with us, but not much more.....
I have a wonderful playful and loving husband, who is just as involved as I am in terms of "hands-on" with our 3 kids.
We have a modest 3 bdrm home, we don't own a flat-screen tv and our Kids do not have GameBoy DS's ....!
BUT, what we do have is an acre & a quarter of yard, just across the road from the beach, numerous variety of native wildlife that visit day and night, AND our kids know how to PLAY .... really play! They have lots of dress-up costumes, and have many imaginitive adventures playing together around their yard. And yes, with 10yo & 8yo Boys, and 4yo Daughter, this almost ALWAYS involves dirt/mud, grass, leaves, sticks & branches, SAND, water. However, this type of activity is often instigated by their Dad!!
It is nothing for me to direct them towards the shower - clothes & all - for a wash, where they often plan their fun for the next day!!!
We feel extremely lucky to live our simple life, knowing that our children are getting to experience "real" kid-fun !!!
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids?
i have trouble getting myself off the internet to play with my 2 year old son due to the fact that he is quite happy to play on his own and scatters from here there and every where when playing he doesn't just play with one thing he changes every 2 seconds it seems like
alana(dot)francis(at)hotmail(dot)com
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)
i love to bake with my son i am a baker by trade and so is my husband and he loves helping in fact he asks when we are cooking dinner for his own cutting board and i let him use his plastic knife to cut up vegies.. i am scared he is going to get burnt in the kitchen though but i believe it is a rational fear!
alana(dot)francis(at)hotmail(dot)com
My eldest is almost 2 and loves nothing more than mixing all the ingredients to bake a cake with me and eating the batter from the bowl. Sometimes you must let go of the mess they make and enjoy it with them. We do it the day before cleaning day so you don't have to stress about cleaning every mark ;) Simple! x
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids?
I'll be honest, I really really really hate the mess. The kids love to craft, cutting things and gluing, sequins, feathers and little bits of paper everywhere. I dread it.
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
I love to bake with the kids and they love stirring and adding things to the bowl etc etc. But my 3yo is currently at a stage where he has a tantrum when it's time to put the finished product in the oven, he wants to stand and stir for hours. So as much as I like the idea of teaching them to cook, more often than not I find myself sneaking in my baking while they're busy elsewhere.
Are we too afraid of mess or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids? I have forgotten how to play; I find the pretend play VERY difficult. I like games with a purpose and puzzles, blocks, LEGO, etc but pretending that a stick is a princess with a prince issue is so hard!
I am also very frustrated with extra mess on top of all the mess I have already! I want to cook and play with dough but in a very controlled manner!
Please don't think I keep my kids locked up without toys, I let them outside a lot to make mess! and keep the other mess contained in the playroom!
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
I worry about the kids perched on a stool together. A large bench with a back or a low cooking surface would be ideal! I think letting them learn to use knives, stir hot things, navigate their way around the kitchen is a very good thing. But not at 5pm!
I remeber so findly all the cooking I did with my mum and the basic cooking skills like measuring and calculating, greasing, lining, preheating and I look forward to doing all these things with my kids!
I am so glad I came across your blog (Thank you Ikea).Here is what I have to say in response to your questions:
I love to play with my son and since I love to cook my favourite activity is to involve him in the kitchen. I am not afraid of the mess, and I keep kitchen playtime in early part of the day so I can clean up before lunch. Being an artist I love to paint with my son. He is very gifted in painting and drawing. My husband builds blocks with him and together they build wooden cars and trucks.
I recently did a post on my blog about this, that how I got him to eat his veggies by recruiting him to help mama in kitchen :)
Today we made donuts :)I also love to sing songs with him, and we dance to all his favourite Hi5 songs (good exercise for me).
We bake, make sandwiches, salads, milkshakes, and excitedly wait for our porridge or popcorns before micorwave. My son loves to press numbers and "start" button on the microwave. I do this on my lazy days :)
Before becoming mother I wasn't sure how would I interact with my child, my son in 2 and a half years old..and each day I make the most of it by spending time with him..I am just too thankful to God for blessing me with a child. It means a lot to me..and together we both play and learn from each other. Who would have thought of that?? He teaches me to not be scared of failure..children are so persistent and they have more patience than us adults.
If you have time, do have a look at my blog please :)
www.amnamehwish.wordpress.com
Are we too afraid of mess (I know I have a intense hatred of glitter....) or is that we've forgotten how to play with our kids? How down and dirty do you get?
We do heaps of messy activities - dying wool or fleece with food dye or jelly is a fave :) He loves seeing me knit with 'his' wool.
Do you bake or cook with your kids or is that something that worries you (in terms of danger in the kitchen or mess again)?
We bake and cook often, I do the oven and stove top stuff.. Tonight we made mini chocolate cup cakes, the other night it was meatballs and spaghetti, last week chocolate crackles (guess what his fave tv show is at the minute?)
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