The British Toy & Hobby Association under its consumer brand, the Lion Mark, has partnered with Play England to ask parents to pledge time to play with their kids this summer.
Research released by the BTHA and Play England today, in the week leading to the start of the school year, shows that parents feel children's school playtime is being limited to the detriment of their academic progress. This follows on from the research earlier in the summer that highlighted parents concerns that children do not get enough play each day. With children about to go back to school time pressures will be increased and the BTHA and Play England have called on parents to pledge time in the day for their children to play. To read the full press releases click here.
Two adverts have been produced that will run from the 14th June through to September which encourage parents to think about making more time to play with their children, and more time to just let their children play. These days children have increasingly structured days and less time to just be children.
The adverts will run on a number of children's channels over the summer weeks with the airtime kindly having been donated by the media networks; Turner; Nickelodeon; Dolphin; Disney XD; Five, CiTV and GMTV2.
A dedicated website - www.maketime2play.co.uk- has been set up to help explain the benefits of play and gives parents ideas of what to do to keep their children entertained over the coming months.
A Facebook application also allows parents to share their own tips and ideas of what to do with the kids over the summer and asks parents to pledge extra time to play.